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How I spent the 1st week with my kids at home #coviddiaries

The date was 15th March…………. I didn’t know the reason but I really felt energised to get things done that day. I rearranged their room because 2020 is the year my kids sleep in their own bed……of course with me by their side . I never said it was going to be easy!

Me paa, I even ironed 3 days ahead charley! I then retired early to bed with airplane mode on and Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook cut off to limit my screen time as part of my digital wellness journey (Will share the my journey and tips in a separate post. Please prompt me if I forget). Unknowingly there were lots of changes happening in Ghana whilst my kids and I were in a different world.

I woke up at 5am then went straight to hubby (with a satisfied smile because he is the one always waking me up but today this gal got the power!) to wake him up for work, that was when I was told, “no school o, the President announced it last night.” I went back to get my phone and the messages…they were just uncountable.

Ok calm down, what’s the plan for today?

I had a project to work on but I knew today dieee all plans will fall in water. So I decided to blog about my daily activities with the kids on a weekly basis as part of my “take it cool, don’t get crazy, it will be fine plan.”

If you follow me on Instagram you would already have an idea of how the week went. I had some wins and the trademark stamp of “Stop this! Stop that!” Hope this post brings a smile to your lips.

DAY 1

I had initially planned to sort out their toys during their vacation or Easter break period. This would be a good time to let them start the work. I gat this!!! I smiled. I prepared their playmat and brought out the Huggies pull-ups boxes that contained their toys and their RIP broken parts. They were excited and I was like wow! I am so creative! I emptied the contents on the mat and labelled two boxes with their names and a garbage bag for the toys that were useless and could not be reused. I was proud la..I also used that time to get work done with periodic checks on them. The last check I did I realised the toys were going back into their boxes with the garbage bag practically empty.

To my madam everything will be used for some kind of futuristic play. I had to step in and now do the sorting with their involvement. I won’t talk about the “stop this and that”, it’s even stressful typing it now…lol….in short by midday if I was a phone battery I would be running at 25%. This task was not fully completed but we made significant headway and created space in their room. Since we will be spending more time we will certainly finalise by the time Corona goes on a long vacay never to return.

My expectations for day 2 : Dad bought a tracing book for the junior man of the house and a maths book for senior madam. We were all excited yesterday and we had the “I got a feeling that today’s gonna be a good day!” Wish me luck! We have an activity for day 2. They even wanted to start work the same day but we had to convince them it was for tomorrow. Yayyy!!!

DAY 2

Before midday I was already tired! Blessing 1: God bless our schools and teachers. You do a great job!

My madam said, !mommy I want ice pops with banana.” I was happy cos this daughter of mine doesn’t like fruits at all. Come and see me like those Instagram moms who seem to have it all. I took the smoothie maker, we put in some cocopine, banana, honey, sugar. Put the blended mixture in the popsicle containers then finally landed in the freezer. Charley! every second I was asked, “is it ready? Is it ready?” I regretted it. The pressure was so much we took it out and even spoilt the popsicle. We had one good one and she took 4 to 5 licks before handing over to her brother.

As for the study we planned no, forgeerit! I pictured is as the perfect family doing some studying but the reality was my son was doing his tracing his own way and his sister was not impressed and wanted to help him. He didn’t want the help and was screaming. And my daughter was also complaining to me that her brother had it all wrong. Noise nkoaaa….but I told them to freestyle na mabr3! All this while my project’s deadline was approaching. But from the beginning I said there will be no panicking . We are doing well so far.

Day 3 expectation: No stress today. We will have some pool time and ride our bikes. Let’s hope it’s better than day 2 and 3

DAY 3

They were excited! Pool time!!! I pictured they will have fun whilst I catch up on my project. Madam had already undressed and worn her swimwear nanka if it was for school, she will tell me she can’t wear her uniform.

Blessing 2: Thank God for water o. They were splashing and doing their thing but the heat from the sun alone and all the pressure from them to quickly get the pool set up got me exhausted so forget laptop. I just sat there watching them.

After more than an hour, they were tired. I got them dried off and told them to ride their bikes whilst I got lunch ready. My friends no work that day o. I was left with, “stop running in the house, stop this, stop that, please can mommy watch something else on TV”. I was mentally exhausted.

Day 4 Expectation: Frankly, I have nothing planned for today.

DAY 4

I made up my mind that today diee I will meet deadline and still give them the room they need. TV is on and I am with them. Once I pick the laptop they come to me and ask questions. I was close to tears .

I had to be realistic. I shut my laptop down with the hope that they will eventually get tired and sleep but no o….not even one second nap. So that was it we watched TV programmes saaaa with them using me as the bed, 2 little monkeys jumping on the bed (me). At least hubby got home early so I had the opportunity to continue. I slept around midnight but still didn’t finish. Had to send an email asking for extension.

Day 5 expectation : I am just left with the financial analysis and a little write up so this one dieee some 3 to 4 hours should sort me. TV will do the baby sitting for me.

DAY 5

I almost cried again o..lol…today dieee we need a tougher skin. I arranged their playmat and laid down on my stomach with my laptop. Hmmmmm….Charley I was determined…as my mind was working they were jumping, sitting on me and all. In between I had to listen to a webinar on customer analytics by Superfluid labs (check them out) and I was told I was making noise whilst at the same time I was asked if I was doing my homework. Charley with all the mindset and diaper changes and feeding and requests in between, project was sent at 8pm. But we are grateful.

It’s really challenging working at home with the kids with no form of entertainment options so you are left to your own creative imaginations to keep them constantly engaged. Don’t get frustrated, try new stuff, journal the moments with them like I am doing, get online resources to learn with them, find fun ways of revising what they studied at school. There are lots of things I can do on my own but as a mom I don’t have that luxury so why not find something that will give you and your kids an opportunity to explore and have fun together.

We even did a video of us preparing fruit juice for our vitamin C to boost our immune system. I must say it was not easy but it was fun and I love the way her eyes lights up everytime she looks at the video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-AYu1SJwqY/

How are you counting your blessings during this period? Share your experiences and let us motivate each other. #StaySafe

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