How I Stay Sane While Quarantined With A High Energy Toddler

First off, let me say that I lose my marbles just like every other mom. I’m not here to tell anyone what they should be doing. (I hate posts like that!)  Every household, every child and every mom is different. We all do what works for us. I’m here sharing what works for me.

The fact that I’ve been a stay at home mom for some time now has helped to make this crazy time a little easier to deal with. That and my natural inclination to be at home, anyway. But easier doesn’t mean easy. My usual activities consisted of play dates, visiting the trampoline park and going to the library to name a few. Sometimes, my son gets quite upset that he hasn’t been able to do any of those things that he loves. It’s hard to see him feeling so down. I get upset that we can’t do those things too, as well as not having enough time for housework or for myself. So to ease our troubles, I’ve come up with 3 solutions to help me through.

The first is waking up early. My son wakes up between 7-7:30am so I rise at 5:30am. This gives me two hours of uninterrupted quiet time to use however I want. I usually read my bible and/or do a devotion, work out or do yoga and if there’s still more time I look over my schedule for the day then scroll away on Facebook and Instagram. All the while, the sun is slowly rising. The Earth feels calm so I feel calm. By the time my son comes downstairs I feel accomplished, my mind is clear and I’m ready to receive him at whatever level he woke up. (Ten. It’s always level ten.)

The second thing I’ve found that helps keep me together is following a schedule. Not everyone’s brain works the way mine does but I have a very detailed schedule for each day. I take the time to create it every Sunday so that I have guidance through the week. My schedule outlines what lessons I’m teaching for the day (we started homeschooling in January), activities I’ll do with my son, books we will read, small tasks I need to accomplish and what we will eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. I know. It’s extreme for some but absolutely necessary for me. Without the schedule I feel unfocused, unproductive and by the end of the day, drained or depressed. Creating a schedule means I have very few decisions to make during the week. My energy can go into keeping my son entertained, learning, engaged and not thinking about all the things he can’t do for a reason he doesn’t understand. For me, the schedule works!

This last thing works in conjunction with the second. It’s getting housework and other tasks done during nap/quiet time. The schedule allows me to preplan to do these things so that they don’t pile up and overwhelm me. While my son takes his mandatory rest for the day, I tackle dinner and dishes. If it’s an easy meal and I finish cooking and busting suds fast enough I move on to the tidying the living room area, my bedroom, doing a load of laundry, whatever! By the time he wakes up, dinner is finished and our space is clean enough for me to rest easy through the evening.

Do these things happen every day? No. Sometimes I’m too tired to get up at 5:30. Sometimes I just declare “No School Today”. Sometimes I don’t start cooking til 6, dinner is pushed to 8 and my son stays up way past his bedtime. Being too rigid and pressuring myself to do these things every day would make me feel like I’m losing it on the days I don’t. I’m trying to keep it together, remember?! I give each day my best effort and thank myself for doing it. This, friends, is how I’ve been maintaining my sanity in these frustrating times.