Family Coronavirus Quarantine? 12 Coping Tips to Help Moms

There is an art to staying home. Ask most stay at home moms and you will quickly learn that while it is a blessing to be at home there are times when it feels like you never leave work. During this coronavirus quarantine, most families are probably hitting the brick wall, ready to head out the door, leave isolation and be with others. To keep our families their healthiest AND our emotional and mental sanity, I am sharing family coronavirus quarantine coping tips to help moms!

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Family Coronavirus Quarantine? 12 Coping Tips to Help Moms

Whether you are new to staying home all day or a seasoned pro, I hope you will find some encouragement and sanity saving tips with these 12 family coronovirus quarantine coping tips to help moms!

Time Block Your Family’s Day During Quarantine

The tendency when you are home all day is to be less intentional. This can allow for less productivity and the blah feeling of one long day bleeding into the next. Instead segment or time block your day!

When you block your day off in sections you can make time for the big goals on your to do list like work, quiet time, exercise, family time, and chores. This is also super helpful with kids because you can set aside specific time on your list when they will receive your full attention.

Time blocking leads to less whining from the kids that you won’t play with them. Blocking family or play time also helps kids get creative with how they want to use play time or family time!

Looking for some creative ways to keep the kids busy while you schedule some work from home time? Join Lisa Tanner’s Facebook Group Growing a Business from Home! Lisa is an expert at keeping kids of all ages busy while she works from home on her freelance writing business! Join her Facebook group Growing a Business from Home and watch her daily videos, starting March 30th, 2020, for encouragement and tips.

Care for Yourself by Getting Up and Dressed

While it is enjoyable to not have to get dressed first thing in the morning, make getting dressed each day a priority during this coronavirus quarantine. When you are home all day, it is helpful to send little triggers to your brain, that you are preparing for the next thing.

When you shower and get ready for the day, you are mentally preparing for the work you have set before you.

Getting dressed for the day promotes well being and is a great coping tip to handling quarantine life.

Keep grabbing the same old go to outfit? Treat yourself to an online style make-over. Who says you can’t treat yourself a little even while in quarantine.

Alison at Get Your Pretty On has created an online capsule wardrobe challenge for any woman, all shapes and sizes, who wants to feel her best. When you sign up for the Get Your Pretty On Fall Challenge you will receive a shopping list, customizable stylized outfits in your inbox each morning and a super supportive Facebook group to join.

And because Alison wants to make it even easier than ever, most of her pieces in this challenge can be found in the “shop your closet” category. You will also find internet friendly links to shop safely from home if you want to add a few new wardrobe pieces!

I LOVE that Get Your Pretty On style challenges brighten my day, streamline my morning with ready to go outfit ideas and have me looking my best for my next Zoom call:)

Want to get a SNEAK PEAK of what some of the outfits look like? Of course you would! Go here to snag her FREE 5 Days of Spring Outfits.

Then head here to Get Your Pretty On Fall Challenge.

Sign up here this week – Sept 7th!
Download your customizable shopping list
Shop your closet first
Order any trend essentials with your clickable shopping list
Join Facebook group
Start receiving styled outfits each morning in your inbox!!

Keep a Morning and Evening Routine During Quarantine

Care for yourself and your household by having morning and evening routines. Morning routines gives us something to look forward to first thing in the morning. Morning routines help us get up and moving.

Remember how we discussed creating triggers to tell our brain its time for the next thing? You can create little triggers such as putting on your work out clothes first thing in the morning to reinforce the idea that its time to exercise.

PIN these Ideas for Later!

I love having my Bible reading time first thing in the morning. But I get up and make a cup of tea and brush my teeth before heading back to my cozy bed with my Bible and tea. That little bit wakes me up and helps me to prepare to focus.

Some of my best writing time is also in the morning. After reading in bed, I’ll head to the couch to switch mentally from relax time to writing time.

Evening routines allow us to prep for the next day and then shift into winding down mode. Allowing time to unwind from the day helps us to set aside the worry and stress from the day!

Use the time to clean up the kitchen, tidy up a few things and then do something relaxing after the kids are taken care of. If you are going to get in another hour or two or work, try not to work up until right before bed. Save a half an hour or so to do something relaxing.

Cope Mentally with Stimulating Books and Podcasts

Staying at home can be slightly less stressful because you can focus your energy in one place. But at times, I feel a bit out of the loop. Sure I can jump on Facebook to feel apart of the bigger world. But I want to learn fresh ideas and not just pass along memes (at least not all day;)

Be inspired and educated when you listen to podcasts or download a new book.

Plus an added benefit, when you are learning you are modeling a love of education to your kids. And you typically have something fun to share around the dinner table in the evenings.

Create a Work Space for Your Home Office/ School

Even if you enjoy working in different areas of the house, try to keep things put away in the evening in a central location. When you work from home you can tend to spread out too much leaving papers and books everywhere. It may leave you feeling that work has followed you home.

Designate a central location to put away your work things. Yes, you may drag out everything the next morning, but it will make you feel so much more organized.

When the kids were younger, we tended to do school around the kitchen table. So we designed one kitchen cabinet to have a hanging file on one side and a bookshelf area on the other side. This way when school was done for the day, everything could be put away and out of sight.

Even though we didn’t “leave” school, we felt like we did since all the school books and tasks were stored away.

Cope with Stress by Creating a Daily Quiet Hour

Every home office and school needs a quiet hour. When I ask moms if they have some quiet time during the day, they remark that their kids no longer took naps. What?

Mom NEEDS some quiet during the day to cope with family quarantine!

So no matter if your kids have outgrown naps or are full grown, have some kind of quiet down time in the day.

When the kids were younger, they were allowed to play, but they had to stay in their room and do something quiet. Now that everyone is older, the kids usually enjoy some electronic time.

Tell your kids the plan and train them to do something quiet and keep their questions until AFTER the quiet time.

Coping with a lot of stress? Check out all the valuable posts here at BetterHelp on stress management strategies!

Schedule Daily Tidying into Your Family Quarantine

When everyone is home all day, everyday, it gets messy! Yikes! Have you seen those funny memes going around with the homeschooling chart that looks like a chore chart. There is some actually truth in there:)

When you are home all day, you need to build chores or some tidying up into your day. Some moms I know have the kids do chores before school starts. Others do it after. I like to do some general tidying up in the morning, such as unloading the dishwasher, putting away breakfast dishes and make sure the beds are made.

And household chores have the added benefit of burning calories as you can see thanks to this info graphic from www.bintheredumpthat.com

In the afternoon, we will do some more cleaning after our lunch/ quiet time.

Care for yourself as a mom and expect your kids to help by building small cleaning tasks into each day. When everyone is home it may not always look tidy as there are books and dishes out. But we can still keep it clean by expecting our kids to each have one thing to clean a day.

Need some appropriate chore ideas based on your kids ages?

Check out Amanda Sue’s Best List of Chores for Kids at Miss Sue Living. I love how she breaks chores down by age. And she has several fresh ideas I actually hadn’t thought of myself! I am so going to train Teen Red how to clean out the fridge on the weeks I am too busy!!

Learn Something New During Stay at Home

Use your time to take a course or learn something new that you know would improve your life and give you a little something to look forward to each day…JUST FOR YOU!

Completing courses is one thing that really helps me wake-up in the morning excited. And a beneficial course reigns in anxious thoughts as it gives me a focus and direction for the day.

Have you ever wished your day started more smoothly?

Crystal at Money Saving Mom created a course just for you called Make Over Your Mornings! Go here to sign up for the course. You will gain access to videos, printables and small daily action tips.

Ever wondered how some people seem to get it all done and stay all track? It starts with a morning routine! Learn from Crystal how to create a morning routine that works for you and your family goals!

I took this course when it first came out and really loved it! I was new to the idea of courses and Make Over Your Mornings course was a perfect introduction to why courses can be so effective.

Crystal shows you how to revamp your morning schedule but with lots of encouragement and hand holding. Each morning you have a short video that you (and even your kiddoes) can watch. Next you have a simple reading exercise in your workbook. Thirdly, you complete the daily project. And this is where you start to take action!

After just a few days you will start to see how small changes can have BIG results! And by day 14 you are all your way to setting new habits for your morning routine

Head over here to get all the details.
Learn how others have benefited from this inexpensive course.
Hit the BUY NOW button.
Receive all your 14 Days to a Better Morning Routine straight to your inbox!
Start right away on creating a smoother, stress-free morning routine.

Planning Fun Activities is a Key Coping Tip

Scheduling fun sounds…well, not fun. But actually when you schedule fun it can be beneficial for a variety of reasons.

When I stop to do something for myself, instead of feeling guilty I can relax more because I “planned” it. I’m not just wasting time. I am doing what I had scheduled to do!

Planning fun also helps your kids distinguish “fun time” and “work time”. Some kids can want your attention all the time. And I’m not just talking little kids. Scheduling out family or fun time gives you the ability to tell your kids, without feeling guilty, they will have to wait for your full attention til later.

Many tasks, moms can do and still listen to their child chat on and on about the latest show, or game or podcast. But sometimes, we need quiet to send an email, to complete a task for work or take care of bills. So utilize the “schedule fun rule” and give yourself the ability to focus on one thing at a time as needed!

Need Some Ideas on Fun Activities for Kids

Read here for 101 Things Teens Can Do When They are Stuck at Home

Free Educational Games, Apps, Books and Programs for Kids During Quarantine

20 True Survival Books for Teens and Tweens

Start a Container Garden with your Kids + Free Garden Printable

Cope with Isolation by Connecting to Others During Quarantine

My kids are constantly teaching me new ways to connect! I had no idea that you could talk by video through Facebook til my daughter-in-law and grandson video called me the other day! Or that you can download the Google Duo app so that Android and Iphones can video chat with another.

I had one of my techie brothers set up a Zoom call for all of us last Sunday. It was lovely to hop on and see everyone!

Make sure that you are finding ways to connect. Schedule a coffee phone date with a friend. Skype one of your kids if they no longer live with you. Or get everyone on a Zoom call!

Practice Self-Care by Sharing Your Fears and Struggles

Honestly, I struggled more with anger in the beginning of this pandemic than fear. I was angry about the government shutting down everything, crippling the economy, and how the media seemed to be hyping things up.

But I knew I needed to let go of my anger. So though our fears, anger or struggles may or may not be rational it is still good to acknowledge them. Reach out and send a quick text to a friend and tell them you hurting over it. Don’t act like you don’t feel the way you do, or just tell yourself you shouldn’t feel that way. At least grieve or feel the feels before you let go.

PIN! Sharing is Caring!

A Facebook friend of mine put a post online asking people to not downplay her disappointment over a sports season being over. She was right. Even if I don’t understand her loss, because we aren’t a sports family, I totally get that as a mom she is feeling her son’s loss. We can all support one another even if we don’t understand exactly.

Evaluate Your Family’s Priorities

Use this downtime to evaluate your family’s priorities. Though this quarantine has been forced on you, it can be a good time to take a step back.

Has life been any different? For some of you life may be radically different. Others of us may not feel as affected by it. But we all can learn something.

Are your kids happier and less stressed with more downtime at home? Is your family talking more? Who are you missing seeing the most? What has it been like having so much less to do on the weekends? Are you surprised at how little you have to talk about as a family?

Have you enjoyed working from home without the office drama? Or do you miss the stimulating office conversations and collaborations.

Take a minute during this next few weeks and think. When life starts to get busy again, what do you truly want you and your family busy doing?