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Now that you are here, I would just say that I hope and wish you are doing fine, your loved ones are safe and healthy, and that you are able to manage your mental, physical and emotional health the best you can.
Things have changed of course, and I am no different.
As someone who is now working from home, managing the work from and at home, and also fully involved with two kids, it's all about a new kind of lifestyle.
If you have followed any of my posts or other blogs, you may have realized that I travel a lot, and by lot, I mean at least a big road trip every two months, if not more frequently. From that to being in the house, within the apartment since the 10th of March 2020 (today as I write this is this it's the 27th of May 2020) and I've already told the kids that once the lockdown is officially over, we still won't really go out for at least a month or maybe more.
So there.......
A lot of parents are using this time to get the kids involved in a host of activities, including different types of online classes, courses and whatnot. Which is great.
And what are we doing? Well, nothing really.... Yes, nothing :) Or rather, the kids are doing and learning a lot by doing nothing :D
Going against the tide, I realized that while most other parents I know are engaging kids in tons of activities, what with so much time on hand, I actually chose to do just the opposite for them. Give them nothing structured.
And before you take offence, let me just be clear that all of this is my way of doing it, my way of letting my girls connect and refresh and learn. Since they are mine, I do get to say what to teach them, and I respect how other parents are using this time for their kids. Just wanted to clear that out first.
So what are we really doing?
Well, here's what...
A lot of reading, a lot lot lot
No kidding, but my home is about 75 percent books, and books are stacked everywhere, from bookshelves till the ceiling to bookshelves in every room to here and there and everywhere, there is never a space in the house where the kids don't have immediate access to books.
And in our case, it helps, what with me and both my girls being such avid readers, that not finding at least 2 books at a time makes us anxious! Not sure if that is really a good thing or not, but that's how it is.
And with so much reading, there's a lot of learning that automatically follows. So, the younger one at 6 has her own blog that she started, where she has already started reviewing books she loved. She also has very easily transitioned to reading very big words and understanding the meanings of her own, or finding them out on her own by referring to a dictionary. Not bad, and makes things much simpler, and interesting!
A lot of communication
With me, and with each other. This is one of those times when the girls are really talking to each other a lot, understanding about things from different perspectives, just thinking their thoughts out loud, sharing information, the older one who is about to turn a teen teaching so much to the younger one just through their regular 'sister chit-chat' as they call it.
And of course they do it all the time with me too. Lucky me!
Learning to read and write a new language
This time, I have taken it upon myself to teach them how to read and write Bangla. I do speak, read and write bengali, even though the way I speak it is not really always correct, and reading bangla for me takes up a lottt of time, but yes, I am glad my ma took the effort to teach me the language and thanks to that, I have been able to read some really amazing literature in its original language (the translations are simply pathetic I realized long back!!!). So, even though it takes me a hundred years to read bangla, I do.
And now I have started teaching the girls the same and it's going at a snail pace yes, but it's happening. I will share about this in a different post some day. The biggest reason why I want them to try and learn to read and write bangla is of course to be able to read the books, what else ;)
Becoming independent
With so much to handle, of course the girls are trying to help out in their own small bit and see what all they can do without assistance. From cooking to cleaning up to arranging their own clothes and books and cupboards to making their own beds, watering the plants, giving water to plants and all, they are doing it pretty well.
How this will help? It will eventually help them be independent, where they won't really need to rely on anyone else to help out, which is the best way to be, isn't it?
Understanding the concept of earning and saving
Not all chores are done by choice, and sometimes, bribing comes in handy, albeit in different ways ;) So I have set up a system where at the end of the day, I take a look at what all they have done through the day, and depending on the chores, the final result, the willingness and so on, they are given a small amount of money.
This will eventually go in their savings pool for now, which they are free to use up or continue saving. Already they are learning how to calculate how much to earn for a particular something and how much to save up to achieve a target. Not bad either.
Sleeping relaxing resting
It's okay to sleep and relax and be lazy, and sometimes wake up late, or sleep late than the usual bedtime and wake up time that they have been following till now. My younger one has always slept off by 7pm to wake up at 6:30 for school, while the older one has always slept by 9 to wake up by 5:30 for school.
But that's not really needed now, right?
So instead, they do wake up late, they spend more time playing, doing arts and crafts, reading, relaxing, talking and whatever takes up their interest, and then sleep late. And then wake up late. And continue the cycle. And why not? It is important to be rested and relaxed, especially now. Along with other things, mental health is one aspect that everyone needs to be careful about, including for kids. So as long as they are happy, healthy, active and relaxed, I am happy and fine with some lack of routine related to the bedtime.
Lots of art and craft
The girls have always loved arts and crafts very naturally, and it's been a great boon especially now. From canvas painting to creating small art pieces using whatever leftover art supplies they have at home, to making their entire Monopoly Indian edition board game using the cardboard from a washing powder box and re-using paper for making cards to using pista shells as pawns, they did it all on their own.
And I am proud, for I could never have done that. Will share that pic soon one day.
So you see, the not doing anything bit has really been working great for us till now, and the girls are happy. As am I.
Of course there are days when things are tough and there are fights, sulking, tears, but that is natural and how it should be with kids, and with us too, isn't it?
There's always time for routine and discipline and deadlines and more studies and all that chaos we end up filling our lives with, but for now, it's important to let them just breathe. And that's what I am doing with my girls.
Letting them breathe, spread their wings and fly the way they want, even if we are all locked in.
That's the beauty of the imaginary mind after all :)
Take care, stay safe and make sure you take time out to relax too.
Cheers
Debolina Raja
