Family Sanity

Today's episode describes what Batch Scheduling is and how to do it. For some more context and examples check out my Batch Scheduling 101 eBookHere are some notes:Batch scheduling is:1. Grouping similar things you need to do 2. Assigning times for doing themAfter making categories you can do 1 of two things:Plan times to do certain categories Sundays from 3-4 I will do all my meal prepTuesday mornings before kids wake up is when I do family related things on the computerORCreate a mini to do list which is what I like to use. This is a list of things you can do when you have a mini opportunity to get something done. Like when baby sleeps an extra 15 min or you find yourself with 5 min of free time. Look at your mini list (which is batch organized) and cross some thing off from thereMini training on this will be on my Instagram page on Thursday!

Today I want to discuss why schedules are important and but how you can have a scheduled but not let it dictate your life.Definition of a schedule is a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intended events and times.Key words are plan and intentionYou can plan anchor times (which we talked about in episode 24)You have an idea of what's happening in your dayYou can plan predictable routines in your dayThese are great, but if you don't follow them perfectly THAT'S OK!!!They are just there as a guide. Maybe one day it makes more sense to eat lunch half hour earlier, or you forgot your child’s zoom meeting was at a certain time so you adjust.The main goal of having a plan or a schedule is to provide some predictability to your day.Predictability is SO IMPORTANT! Allows for the brain not to be in alert mode at all time because you know what's coming nextHelps your reptilian brain not sabotage your abilities to do anything beyond surviving (see episode 10 for more on this)Predictability is calming for children because they know what to expectWhat is easier for you to do, go to a grocery store you know well and you know where everything is placed or going to a brand new store where everything is labeled in another language? Predictability makes it easier for you to accomplish a task and having a schedule gives you this net, this support!If you're not sure where to start to make a schedule that allows predictabiltiy check out my IGTV on instagram @familysanitytips for mini trainings on How to create anchor times Plan for the 4 basic needs in a family’s schedule ecosystem (episode coming this week). If you want a step by step guide, check out my eBook "How to Make Sanity Saving Schedules For Your Family"!It will be available next week and it includes the things you need to think about before you even start making a schedule and then it has 5 clearly labeled and color coordinated steps to build a schedule that is perfect for your family.I will fill you in about where you can buy this resource in my show next week once it's launched! Until then, join my email list to get a 50% pre-book launch coupon code.Join Email List!

Welcome to Season 2! This season of the Family Sanity Podcast will be shifting from daily quarantine specific ideas to weekly tips on how to manage family life especially when it comes to your schedule and teaching your child. Today's tip: time management is the single most effective sanity saving tool! Being aware of your time helps get tasks done and helps eliminate anxiety and necessary stress.When I had to create a time distribution for my classroom, it was helpful to have something to fall back on even if we weren't always sticking to the schedule. I make a similar kind of schedule for my family now!What times are constant every day at school: lunch and recess! Using eating and moving as anchor times throughout the day will help create a realistic schedule for your family.Fine me on Instagram @familysanitytips for a mini training on how to use anchor times in your schedule.Join the Community Facebook group: Schedule Tips for Your Family's Sanity

This is the last episode of Season 1: The Quarantine Diaries. Starting in Season 2 episodes will air 2 days a week and will dig into more specific tips for prioritizing parenting and maintaining your sanity while being an intentional parent and family member. Thank you for a wonderful season, see you in Season 2!TRANSCRIPTI can not believe I started this podcast a month ago! It feels like just yesterday and also like an eternity. Since quarantine life isn’t so new anymore and maybe hopefully we’ll even be out of it soon, my podcast is going to take a little shift. Today will be the last episode of season 1 the quarantine diaries. Going forward, instead of specific quarantine family tips brought to you daily, the family sanity podcast will air twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays and the main focus will be how to prioritize parenting while navigating family life with small kids. On the other days I will be hosting mini trainings on Instagram stories for things like how to read with your child, how to prioritize self care and how to set your play areas up for success. This project has become such a highlight for me and I love sharing ideas with you so I really look forward to the next season!Since you’re here, I do want to share one last quarantine quick tip: live so that you have nothing to regret. You will get through this, we all will. At one point or another life will start to look normal again, the old normal and when that time comes I want you to be able to look back at this time and know you did your best. If that means your house isn’t always clean because you’re spending time with your children, or if you had to make some changes in your professional priorities to tend to your family, know you did your best. To wrap up this season, I want to leave you with Dance Party Friday. And remember whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.This new reality is just that, something new we need to deal with, but you don't need to deal with it alone. Check in every week day for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu you can learn more about me and this podcast on Instagram @familysanitytips. I’m so grateful you are here and if you’re enjoying these tips please rate the podcast and share with your friends. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.

We all lose it sometimes. What's important is how we deal with the aftermath. Repairing the relationships is the key to moving forward even if things are bad. Try this 4 step plan to repair and renew after a time you lost it. TRANSCRIPTYou know that feeling of boiling anger where you can almost see the smoke coming out of your ears because your husband forgot to turn on the dishwasher or your child is doing something you specifically told them not to do and they're just blatantly disobeying you? In that moment, in the smoke, there is a choice to be made. You can try to contain your emotions and parent gracefully or you can just lose it. Yell, scream, say mean words, uhhh its horrible. I am guilty of this and even though I made an intentional commitment to myself a few weeks ago to not lose it in front of my kids especially, the reality is, we are under so much pressure. The exhaustion, the fear, the unending to do lists, it can really cause an explosion especially if someone pushes the right trigger- and at least my family members are trigger experts.So instead of beating yourself up for being human, a phenomenal parenting tool is knowing how to repair the situation after the explosion. So my quick tip is on how to do this and I came across this 4 step repair plan when you lose it from Chelsea and Caitlin who are the two mamas behind @mamapsychologists. They have all kinds of amazing mom-life ideas so go check them out. I’ll link in my show notes. But they’ve created a 4 step plan of what to do after you’ve lost it. Here it is.First, apologize- take responsibility for what happened and model what you’d want your child to do when he makes a mistake. Second describe what happened so that you’re both on the same page and you can explain that your reaction was not acceptable. For example, Saying “I’m sorry I scared you, its my job to manage my own emotions. Yelling is no way to work something out with someone you love”. This allows for everyone to process what happened and solve the issues that have come up. Third, do not blame or make excuses like saying, if you would have listened or you weren’t paying attention. Own up to your mistake but be kind to yourself which is the fourth step. This is an extremely stressful time for everyone. Give yourself some grace and work on repairing the relationships. This 4 step process is a great way to deal with those moments when you lose it. Sometimes you may not need to go through the whole thing but remember no matter what happens, you have the power to restore and improve the relationships in your home right now more than ever. We all have our moments, its what we do after that really matters.This new reality is just that, something new we need to deal with, but you don't need to deal with it alone. Check in every week day for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu you can learn more about me and this podcast on instagram @familysanitytips. I’m so grateful you are here and if you’re enjoying these tips please rate the podcast and share with your friends. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.

Feels like the word overwhelmed is coming up a lot these days. There is so much going on in our homes. I felt like this and needed to take a mental break so I found this amazingly simple but powerful poem. I hope it gives you a moment of peace today.TRANSCRIPTTo be honest, I didn’t want to get this episode together. I am overwhelmed and I feel like the daily podcast commitment may have been too overzealous. Since the internet is kind of a black hole, I’m not quite sure if what I’m saying is useful to anyone and I feel stretched thin. My family is severely suffering from cabin fever and I’m finding myself with a short temper and at a loss of order because of everything going on. I could give a quick tip on the importance of meditation and quiet time but I know you’ve heard it and I also know its hard to implement so instead, today, I want to give you a quiet moment by sharing this peaceful poem by Lilly Darmetko, it’s called, Just Breathe.When you feel hopeless and overwhelmedJust BreatheWhen times are tough and you can’t get upJust BreatheWhen you are filled with doubts or fearsJust BreatheRemember that God is nearHe can bring you back from your abyss When you are overwhelmed with joyJust BreatheWhen things are going your wayJust BreatheWhen you are filled with reliefJust BreatheRemember that God is in controlHe’s got you no matter whatAll you need to do isJust BreatheThank you for letting me share this with you and thank you for being here. This new reality is just that, something new we need to deal with, but you don't need to deal with it alone. Check in every week day for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu you can learn more about me and this podcast on instagram @familysanitypodcast. I’m so grateful you are here and if you’re enjoying these tips please rate the podcast and share with your friends. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.Link to poem https://smalltalkbigthoughts.home.blog/2019/03/14/just-breathe/

Everyone is dealing with Quarantine in their own way. If your child is acting out or you feel like you are constantly in a power struggle, try utilizing empathy. Consider why your child is in this state and allow for her to have these feelings and then address them when things are calmer. Showing empathy is respectful and will allow for a deeper connection with your child.TRANSCRIPTAlright I’m going to be honest here. When I was a little girl, I got spanked a lot. At least, that’s how I remember it. Now that I’m a parent I can see how it is so easy to lose your cool and how kids somehow find the perfect ways to get under your skin. But that shouldn’t fuel the way you’ve chosen to parent. There are a lot of variables but my experience definitely influenced the way I’ve chosen to raise my kids.I am a firm believer in empathetic parenting. When we put ourselves in our children’s shoes discipline takes on a different form. Rather than correcting or fixing, you are supporting and nurturing. This is so critical right now during this time of isolation and complete deprivation of life as we knew it. Kids are so vulnerable right now and it is more important than ever to show empathy and respect. I’ve been needing to remind myself of this often. Being cooped up all day with no breathing room makes it hard to deal with everyone. On the days I have a short fuse or things aren’t going how I want, its easy to snap at the smallest of offenses. I have to keep reminding myself to be empathetic. My kids haven’t seen anyone in weeks. School was abruptly stopped. Their life is so different and the adjustment period is not easy for anyone and it also looks different for everyone. Some kids may be acting out, some may be picking fights with their siblings. Some may be in complete defiance mode. This is frustrating. But by putting yourself in your child’s shoes, you are giving them respect. Respect and understanding that its ok to make mistakes, and its ok to not know how to deal with these changes.So my quick tip today which is a big for me is that the next time your child does something they shouldn’t, first ask yourself why, why did he do that? And then adjust your response to show respect and nurturing instead. If there is a deeper issue you can identify, try working on it when things are calm. Remembering that your child is going through a hard time and being a buffer for those feelings will help make the transition more tolerable for you both.

During quarantine we grieve our loss of freedom. tI realized I went through the stages of grief these last few months and I've finally reached acceptance. Today's quick tip is to think about something positive that would otherwise not have happened if you weren't quarantined. Finding the silver lining can help get to acceptance and help you grow during this difficult time.TRANSCRIPTThese last few days seem to have been better. Not necessarily easier, but there seems to be a kind of acceptance of the new normal. I’ve gotten used to my husband being around all day, the kids aren’t asking to go to the park as much, and we’ve found a tolerable groove between the housework, childcare and work work. Getting to this acceptance was not easy and I realized that since the COVID-19 quarantine started I went through all the stages common to those of grief. The stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, despair, and acceptance. I’m going to walk you through my experience through these stages and see if any resonate with you. First, denial. Back in early March, I was laughing at the fact that the stores were out of toilet paper. I refused to buy excess hand sanitizer and was even starting to buy into some of the conspiracy theories. Once I realized this wasn’t a joke. I felt a lot of emotions. But a big turning point for me was when my son’s preschool announced they would be closed for the rest of the year, I was mad. The kind of anger that makes you cry because you don’t know what else to do. This phase lasted a while and it totally spilled into my marriage and family dynamic. I really didn’t know how to cope and it lead me to the bargaining phase.This it the phase where you still want to be in control so you try compromising and creating illusions. I kept saying this would be over by the end of April. Or I still want to go to the stores with mask on. But once all the schools in Illinois were announced closed the rest of the school year and I realized masks were becoming more of a mandate than a suggestion I got really scared. So then comes despair. Despair is rough because you are vulnerable. You realize you have no control. Health, income, sanity. It’s all up in the air. And this is a horrible phase to be in but it didn’t last too long for me because I just gave in. The last thing left to do:surrender. Accept that this is what it is. And make do with the reality.The sense of loss is drowning us right now as a world. Suffering the loss of a person or if someone close to you is sick, its a horrible feeling that has no cure. If your loss is a bit more superficial, like that of your freedom or your food options its still a challenge to deal with and accept. So whatever your situation is, its ok to be grieving. And its ok to be stuck in a certain phase. Once you have reached acceptance, there is a choice to be made. You can accept what it is and move forward letting the tides take you where they may. Or you can grow in this situation. To do that today’s quick tip is this: find something positive that would never have been possible in your life if there was no COVID-19 quarantine. Are you getting a lot more family time? Have you gotten closer to someone? Are you able to pursue a hobby? Are you able to connect with your child in ways you never did before? Or are you trying out new recipes? Whatever it is Find at least one thing to be grateful for. For me its this podcast. I’ve been able to channel my creative side and share some of the things I’ve learned as a mom that I get to share while we’re in this weird phase in history together. It feels like a little flower growing in a forgotten field but in time once everyone’s random positive experience flowers have blossomed, our world will look more beautiful than before.

Rearranging furniture is one of the main ways I de-stress. It is actually super great way to keep your family's sanity because it provides a fresh look to any room which can help get you out of the cabin fever funk. It also allows for new ways to play in that room! Follow on Instagram @familysanitypodcast for more "life with small kids pro tips". Subscribe and review if you've got a minute too! Have a great weekend!TRANSCRIPTBefore we jump into dance party Friday, I want to share with you one of my FAVORITE tips on getting out of the funk. When you don’t know what to do next with your toddler or your baby is just staring at you looking for entertainment, that funk. What you need to do is rearrange your furniture. Like move your couch from in front of the window to the other side. Or move that arm chair to your bedroom. Physically change at least one room in your home. My favorite was always the living room. Moving the couch or a book shelf would give the space a new life and it would make us play differently by giving us a new nook to sit in or using a new corner as the reading space. The beauty of this is, if you don’t like it, you can change it back. So try changing some things around and let me know how it goes! But before you do that or after really, enjoy this dance party Friday!This new reality is just that, something new we need to deal with, but you don't need to deal with it alone. Check in every week day for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu you can learn more about me and this podcast on Instagram @familysanitypodcast. I’m so grateful you are here and if you’re enjoying these tips please rate the podcast and share with your friends. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.

Does it seem like your house is a hot mess ALL THE TIME? Having small kids can really make it hard to keep the order. Here are 2 tips to help your family in the tidying department. TRANSCRIPTWe have an art closet. It's in the basement and it is the dedicated space for coloring, gluing and my kids all time favorite activity- painting. They love painting. We do it every day, multiple times and you don’t even want to know how much paint and paper we’ve gone through. Anyways, Now that they’re both a bit older and they can play independently for longer I have been letting them hang out in the basement while I get lunch ready or put a load of laundry in. One day a few weeks into quarantine, I heard silence. It was particularly quite and you know that means someone is up to trouble. When I got down there and saw the art closet door ajar I knew this wasn’t good. They managed to open the door, climb the table to get to the tall shelf housing the paint, and dumped the neon orange and baby blue paint all over. It was on the furniture, it was on the floor and it was on them. They both just stood there staring at me, waiting for my reaction. Honestly, I started laughing. I wasn’t happy, but I must've left the closet unlocked and they just love painting so much and they were really rockin the cute guilty look. This was an extreme example of a mess in my house, but let me tell you, my house gets messy and it took me a long time and I’m still working on accepting it. Toys are everywhere, crumbs are everywhere, dishes are piled high, laundry is all over and my biggest trigger is when I can’t find stuff because it wasn’t put away. It drives me crazy! Especially now that we’re all home all day it feels like the messes are unstoppable. I try to implement designated clean up times but young kids are not motivated or interested in keeping a tidy home. There are a lot of variables here including your child’s age, the space you have, and your own cleaning style, but I'll give 2 different quick tips of what has worked for us. First assess if you have clutter. Clutter, according to the dictionary, is a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass. You can find so many ideas about decluttering your home but I’ve never been one to get rid of things that could be useful at a later time. The important thing here is that you have storage for your things especially if you have clutter. If you have bins or baskets, use them! If you don’t you can use cardboard boxes or even bags. When everything has a place, it is easier to tidy up and easier to keep it cleaner for longer.The second tip is to make cleaning a family event in order to get a desired activity. So for example, before my kids can watch TV, we all tidy up the toys in the room for a few minutes. At first they would just watch me but then they realized if they helped they could watch TV quicker. Modeling what you expect is the first step in getting small kids to understand what you want them to do. Unfortunately a messy house is part of life with small kids and as overwhelming as it gets, its ok. They will grow up and understand that putting their toys away is an expectation if you model it. Until then, keep your paint locked up and have realistic expectations of what your family can do right now.This new reality is just that, something new we need to deal with, but you don't need to deal with it alone. Check in every week day for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu you can learn more about me and this podcast on instagram @familysanitypodcast. I’m so grateful you are here and if you’re enjoying these tips please rate the podcast and share with your friends. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.

Connecting with your partner during isolation may be a bit of a challenge. Check out these quick tips from my good friend (who is also a Marriage and Family therapist) Theresa Delafuente. These tips are so good! TRANSCRIPTIn the first 2 years of being parents my husband, Jonathan and I went out on a total of 3 date nights, child free date nights. Before you judge me for not taking time for my relationship, I want to tell you that we were not fortunate enough to have any consistent help and half of that time was spent in a new country. It was really horrible and we really had to get creative on ways to spend time together and connect. Especially when we first moved to Ireland and didn’t know anyone we had to heavily rely on each other for any social connection. Since then and especially now that our kids are older, we’ve enjoyed quite a few date nights especially the last few weeks we lived in Ireland. But this quarantine has brought me back to that challenge!I know I’m not alone because I have been seeing so much information about dealing with your spouse while being quarantined. Who knew being confined and bombarded with the unending childcare and household tasks could cause friction between partners?Constantly being around your spouse has pros and cons. I absolutely love having Jonathan around to participate in the daily moments and the kids have really bonded with him during this time and some the cutest moments of my life have happened like when I caught them all snuggled up together reading and kissing before turning every page. However, the additional cooking, cleaning, and mental disposition readiness of having him around can make me crazy!We definitely went through an adjustment period the first few weeks and I’m not going to lie, it was rough. Trying to figure out the new normal in our own home took communication. A lot of communication. And a lot of adjusting expectations and most importantly a lot of empathy and vulnerability. Being vulnerable was a suggestion I got from my good boy-mom friend Theresa who is a Marriage and Family therapist and she said that being vulnerable with your partner during this time is critical in maintaining trust and garnering empathy which will help create more understanding rather than more arguing. She gave me some more amazing quick tips for how to strengthen your relationship during this time and these were my favorite 2. The first will require a bit of creative thinking but the second can be implemented immediately and I really suggest you try it!First, break out of the mundane. If your home is all kinds of chaotic or in a strict routine, break out of that with your partner by doing something different and adventurous. Instead of each watching their own Netflix show, watch a movie together, or instead of scrolling through online shopping, bake some muffins. Prioritize your relationship at least once a week and get creative on ways to connect. The second tip and this is a good one. Make eye contact for 15 seconds. That’s it. Just look into each other’s eyes for 15 uninterrupted seconds. You guys, this one was hard for us. It almost felt awkward but also exciting but also silly, and then profound. Its such a super easy way to just touch base in a non verbal way. I’ll add some more ideas and link to some of my favorite marriage accounts in the show notes for more inspo. Check out @fridaywereinlove and @aprioritizedmarriage for great ideas for couples!

Things are not getting easier. They may actually be getting harder and a reason could be that you or your child are going through a withdrawal period similar to that of someone going through a substance withdrawal. Removing something that you heavily relied on in this case socialization and everyday routines can cause physical and mental symptoms. Especially since this was done abruptly it may be taking a much longer time to adjust, especially for kids.TRANSCRIPTIn one of last week’s episodes I talked about how it seems like the days are getting harder instead of easier during this quarantine. That episode quickly rose to one of the most listened to episodes so I know I’m not alone.After reflecting on that and trying to understand why the kids seem to be getting needier, and the routine just isn’t settling in, I realized many of the things going on are similar to that of someone going through a withdrawal. Usually withdrawal occurs when a person stops taking a certain substance that their body has become dependent on. And what happens once the substance is abruptly removed is that negative symptoms arise such as headaches, fatigue, moodiness and even anxiety. What has happened by making us all have to stay home has essentially made us remove something we’ve gotten used to. Seeing friends, our morning routines, not feeling like everyone at the grocery store is giving you dirty looks, these are all things we became dependent on. This removal of social and regular life can cause us and our kids to be moody, anxious, depressed, and it may even manifest itself into physical pain. So even though the physical chemical reactions may not be the same as with substance withdrawal, it certainly feels like a huge adaptation many of us weren’t ready for. This applies ten fold to your kids. Depending on their age and temperament you may see all kinds of withdrawal symptoms or behavior issues from defiance, to blatant ignoring, to constant head banging. It might be at the point where it’s unbearable to even try to rationalize with them. Of course as parents we know this is hard for everyone so what can we do about these symptoms of social isolation induced withdrawal? Well I did some research and A main treatment methodology of substance withdrawal is to find your triggers to get ahead of them. I think this could definitely apply to our situation so my quick tip is this, find your and your child’s triggers and have a family meeting to discuss them and avoid at all costs. One of my son’s triggers is when we try to get him to eat certain foods. He will shut down, not eat at all and throw a huge tantrum. I’ve learned that by being aware of the foods that trigger this response I can control the situation by offering prefered foods first or offering a nutritionally equivalent alternative. A trigger of mine is when I have to repeat myself a thousand times. Since I know this about myself, I can prevent getting very angry by making sure everyone is paying attention and understands what I’m saying instead of just yelling out directives. Whatever your triggers are, find them and communicate them. If your children are too small to understand your triggers, talk to your spouse or the other adults in your home and be honest about what has been driving you crazy so that you can all help each other cope with the pressure. We can’t change the situation but we can work on our reactions within this situation and in time a normal groove will inevitably arise.

Being with a baby or toddler 24/7 is so physically and mentally exhausting. The constant need to entertain and provide attention is overwhelming and can wear you down quickly. Today's quick tip is a method I started using with my first child when he was a toddler and it helped me keep some of my sanity. Hope it inspires you too!TRANSCRIPTIf you’re quarantined with a baby or toddler or both I am sending you all the positive vibes right now. I feel like this is one of the most challenging situations because the little guys need SO MUCH ATTENTION and since you can’t get out they are probably getting in all kinds of trouble inside your home. It is also challenging that you are physically around them 24/7 which means they are consistently trying to seek your attention.When we moved to Ireland we had a one year old and the initial solitude with a toddler was excruciating. For the first 4 weeks we lived out of suitcases so we didn’t have many toys, books, or anything really. He wasn’t able to do much independently and even if I came up with what I thought were fun activities they would only engage him for a couple minutes. Which drive me crazy when I put in so much effort. When our second was born it was hard to manage both of their attention needs and it just ended up being frustrating all the time.The constant need to give attention to and entertain small children is draining and can feel impossible. If you are also working from home right now, I actually think it is impossible unless you have help because young children especially younger than 2 really can’t be independent for very long therefore constantly need attention.You can definitely make a schedule if you’re lucky enough to have a consistent napper but it can still feel like the days are never ending. So if you are one of the lucky mamas or dads in quarantine with a young child, my quick tip is this: make a list of at least 5 things your child loves to do and rotate through this list throughout the day. So for example, our 5 things are playing with the train set, painting, listening to music (my kids particularly like Disney’s greatest hits and Owl City), reading books together, and playing with kitchen utensils. Within the day’s set agenda items like eating, napping watching TV, and going out, I rotate through these activities when I don’t know what to do next. By having 5 things you know your child loves at the ready you can keep rotating them in. You may need to do some trial and error or work up to getting your child to love certain activities. But once you’ve got your 5 it’ll be easy to utilize them whenever you need. Even if you need to do all 5 in a row 3 times to get you an hour, it will make the time pass faster than not knowing what to do. You can definitely add some more adventurous play to have up your sleeve like a taste safe sensory bin using things like rice, edible playdoh, or even just water.Keep it simple and flexible. Sometimes we don’t get to all 5 things in a day because we were too busy playing with other toys or have other things to do. But by having a set list of things you can provide entertainment at the ready and save yourself the agony of not knowing what to do next. In my experience, kids don’t mind doing the same things on a daily basis and as they grow up or get bored you can come up with new activities in your rotation. Most importantly, remember this too shall pass. It is so draining to deal with the 24/7 needs of babies and toddlers but this time will pass and whether you like it or not in 10 years you will look back and smile.

You only have so much energy. I challenge you to realistically quantify your energy and ration it to last for the long haul! Happy Dance Party Friday! See you next week!TRANSCRIPTAs we wrap up this week you may be feeling really overwhelmed and tired. I am at the point where I’m asking myself how much longer can I handle this? How much longer will I be stuck not going anywhere and not seeing anyone? Its so hard to keep going when you don’t know when it will end. Especially since we may be in this for a longer time than expected my quick tip is this: ration your energy. You have so many demands right now, kids, job, housework, spouse, self care… and you can not do it all. Take some time this weekend to recharge by planning something for each family member that you wouldn’t normally do. For us that’s going to be a water balloon session for my 4 year old, a paint with your body session for my almost 2 year old, some no-kids-bothering you video game time for my husband and a bubble bath for me. I’ll let you know next week if any of those actually happen. I challenge you to realistically quantify your energy and ration it and whenever possible recharge. Now get your family together or just jam out by yourself because its dance party Friday!

Need some ideas on how to make schooling at home with your diverse learner more tolerable for you both? Check out these ideas!TRANSCRIPTWhen I was a little girl, I would love sitting at my desk and organizing my colored pencils. I loved sketching dresses for my Barbies, filling pages of coloring books and I was one of those kids who loved doing homework. I loved school so much that all I wanted to do was play teacher and eventually I became one. This is the exact opposite of my husband who hated school and wanted nothing more than to play video games all day. As his Kindergarten teacher so eloquently put it on his first report card, Jonathan can do so much, but he is distracted and lazy. Our kids haven’t started school yet so I don’t know what they’re going to be like (although I have a feeling we each have one minion). But as a former teacher and mom of a preschooler with a diverse learning style I can say for a fact that if you have a child with any unique needs schooling at home is probably very hard. Your child may be jumping up and down, you may not be getting through any of the school work sent by teachers, or you may just be exhausted from the day to day caring of your child to do any kind of academic anything....Providing a safe environment, basic needs, and a calm atmosphere is the most important thing you can do for your child. Like I mentioned in Tuesday’s episode true learning can not happen if your brain is in survival mode and the mere fact that we’re in this new reality can put a child or even adult in this state. If you do feel like you’ve gotten to a place where your child is able to learn then I have 3 mini quick tips for how to make it more tolerable for you both. These have helped my students in the classroom not get overwhelmed with work and I also apply these to when I do academic work with my own preschooler.First, learning is most authentic when experiencing what it is you’re learning. You are more likely to remember how to cut a pizza in half as opposed to looking at a circle with a line through it. So whenever possible, provide a learning experience for your child to engage with the content. Something like acting out the story or using legos to figure out the math problem would work. Also remember that focusing more than 15-20 min is hard even for adults so have realistic focus expectations for your child’s age and ability. A great way to do this and to keep them motivated as well is to use a visual timer. This provides a concrete way of quantifying what is expected for you both.Second, choose curriculum wisely. Teachers have been given such a hard task to provide online learning in this short amount of time and they may not have been able to differentiate their lessons. So really choose what you think your child can do and feel free to touch base with teacher as they know your child almost as well as you if not better when it comes to their academic abilities. If your school district hasn’t implemented e-learning or its really thin, you can check out learning websites like Khan Academy which is free or ABC Mouse.Third, build in supports for your child such as brain breaks, adaptive seating, and focus rewards. When I knew something would be really challenging for a student, I’d allow them to START with a brain break which would be a dance party, or doing an activity they enjoyed such as a puzzle or board game then we’ve dive into the lesson. Using brain breaks during lessons or school work can work also as long as they’re not more of a distraction.Most importantly, remember this is a unique time in everyone’s life so If you need to put academics on pause, work on life skills like cooking and cleaning and character education. When your child goes back to school it wont matter where she lands academically, what will matter is that you got through this together and can appreciate the normalcy we didn’t even realize w

Why does it feel like the days are getting harder instead of easier? Today's quick tip will talk about how to find a social outlet for your family so that you can build in a mental break from the tension building up inside your house.TRANSCRIPTI had a really hard moment yesterday. After our telehealth speech therapy session my 4 year old looked at me and just started bawling. I knew exactly why he felt this way. He misses seeing people, like really seeing people. He misses going places and just living his life. I couldn’t help but start crying too. This time we’ve been cooped up in our homes is getting really hard. Despite the worries of health, finances, and the uncertain future its most confusing because usually things get easier with time. So why does it feel like things have been getting harder while in quarantine?I remember this feeling well when we had moved to Ireland and still didn’t have many friends. The days would drag and no activity or plan ever seemed good enough to get us out of the rut. Being social is a foundational part of our human nature. We crave connection and we want to experience life with others. We want to feel joy together and we want to feel sadness together. And especially for our kids, virtual social experiences are just not cutting it. Since we’re not getting our social fill, the days are getting heavy and tense. A logical solution would be to spend more time with each other as a family but this isn’t really possible when we have so many other things to do like cook, clean, schoolwork and work full time. So my quick tip is this.To deal with the lack of social opportunity you need to provide an outlet for your family. Getting out of the house every day for a planned activity will reboot your energy by giving everyone a change of scenery and help you connect as a family differently than if you stayed in your home. Of course all the activities should be things that are allowed in your State and that will keep you and others safe. But getting out of your actual house or apartment even if for 10 minutes will relieve some of the pressure building up inside your walls.Some examples of things we’ve been doing as a family is-just going for a drive and listening to music-going for a walk on near by trails-going for bike rides-having a picnic in our yard or a nearby field -and a particular favorite of my kids is -getting a car washFind something that works for your family and that you are comfortable with but most importantly provide an outlet for the tension by changing the scene and spending authentic social time with each other.

As more schools are closing for the rest of the year, a lot of parents are forced to figure out how to incorporate e-learning and homeschooling into their day. This episode is about setting realistic expectations for your family right now. TRANSCRIPTAhh e-learning or distance learning or remote learning….whatever it is that your school district is calling it if they’re providing anything at all. This is a brand new chapter in the evolution of education and we’re all oblivious to how its going to end. Depending on your child’s age you could have concerns such as will my child fall behind academically, will my child’s social skills be affected, will my child be able to understand why school is closed for the rest of the year? Before I dive into how to deal with these e-learning struggles I’m going to give a quick history lesson on the evolution of school. Education has been an important part of human progression since the beginning of time. The need to pass on knowledge, skills and traditions was an important factor in building societies and the development of the world. As populations grew over time and societies began to form, humans found it more efficient to educate their next generations by increasing the ratio of children per adult as opposed to requiring every family to be individually responsible for educating their own children. In the 1800s the Common School Movement initiated more organization of public school and it began the push for teacher accreditation and planned content curriculum. Since then schools have evolved and so have the challenges. As a public school teacher some of my biggest issues were class size, content accessibility to diverse learners, and in my particular school building we had over 60 languages spoken so I had to learn how to deal with these issues. Teachers are good at dealing with all kinds of issues. But all this to say, although educating children at home was the root of schooling and is very possible, most of us don’t know how to do it as well as teachers do. So how do we deal with e-learning? What should we expect of our children? What should we expect of ourselves? There is no set answer here. Every child is so different and every family is so different. Especially for as long as your family is in survival mode, education beyond daily living skills is not a reasonable goal. ...So today’s quick tip is this, allow yourself the time to adjust to this new normal before you try to enforce higher order thinking and learning. Just like you couldn’t learn a new language if a tiger was chasing you, your child may not be ready for e-learning if everything else is chaotic. If it makes sense to participate in the activities your school district has provided then do it. If not, give yourself some grace and then take a more child led approach in which your child can decide what they want to learn about and go from there. Once things get more stable (and if that feels impossible check out my daily family survival checklist also on IG) then start to build in the education. You can follow the lead of your child’s teacher or find online resources to help you create learning opportunities. I’ll talk about specifics on how to do that, how to school at home especially if you have a diverse learner in an upcoming episode As far as the social aspect which is my biggest concern for my preschooler, all I can say is that humans learn to adapt and if our history shows us anything its that humans learn how to thrive despite challenges. I truly think that this isolation will lead to a profound yearning for social connection once its allowed.

If the days are starting to blend and its getting harder to stay focused or there just seems to be constant conflict in your home since the COVID-19 quarantine has started, it might be time to assure your family's basic needs are being met. Use this checklist every day to set yourself up for less chaos by outsmarting your reptilian brain. See the checklist on instagram @familysanitypodcastTRANSCRIPTWhen our first son was 6 months old, we thought it would be fun to go camping. We got everything ready, an overly full cooler, a brand new baby friendly bike trailer, and even mosquito repellent tattoos. Yeah, We were prepared. Once we got to the campsite it started to drizzle but that didn’t bother us as much as the car ride in which we drowned in screaming because as we later realized our little camper was teething... Survival mode is not fun. Its stressful, its exhausting and it prevents you from doing absolutely anything else but surviving. Soon after having kids you quickly learn that survival mode is a normal part of parenting. Some days you just have to do what you have to do. Feed them whatever is in the freezer and ignore the amount of screen time going on. However, feeling this way for an extended amount of time, like you’re just hanging on for dear life for days on end is extremely lethal. I have felt this way 3 times in my life. The first time was during the newborn stage with my first child when sleep deprivation along with the colossal reality check that I’ve lost all freedom were making me crazy. Second was when we moved to a new country with no real plan and no support, like we didn’t even know where to go grocery shopping. And the third time is NOW in the COVID-19 quarantine. In each of these times there were stressors that affected our basic living needs. Consistent lack of sleep or fear of the unknown can affect your everyday life and cause your reptilian brain to take over. The reptilian brain is responsible for involuntary functions like breathing, the beating of your heart and function of your organs. This part of your brain also is in charge of fight or flight, and responses to danger and fear, all which are automatic responses that you don’t even really think about. This COVID-19 reality has put many of us parents in this mode all day every day. The fear of the unknown including how long this will last, any health concerns you have for yourself or family members, or worrying about your current and future financial stability. Most importantly worrying about your child’s wellbeing and how it will affect her future is activating your reptilian brains. In this state of being, your family life will inevitably be tense. It will yield arguing and probably lots of yelling. To deal with isolation while you are in survival mode, you need to outsmart your reptilian brain by confirming to yourself and your kids that everything you need is accounted for each day. Once you no longer feel subconsciously threatened, you will see how each family member will no longer act in extremes and the days will get calmer and more tolerable. So how do you confirm to yourself that everything you need to feel safe is accounted for?Let me introduce you to the Daily Family Survival Checklist. When I was in survival mode for an extended period of time, I realized I needed to have a plan for these 5 basic things every day or else our day would be chaotic. The 5 things are1.Food, do you have the right ingredients and enough for everyone to eat 3 meals today?2.A schedule or loose plan accounting for everyone’s needs including naps, academic time, chores, and professional tasks3.When to go outside or a physical activity during inclement weather4.When would kids be getting screen time5.What social activity are we doing today such as a video call with grandma or intentional family dinner timeGetting from survival brain to today is going to be ok brain wil

It's Dance Party Friday!!! Before our weekly family jam session check out this idea of using a time capsule to inspire gratitude both now and when this storm has passed.TRANSCRIPTIt’s Dance Party FRIDAY!!! I don’t know about you but I love dance parties as I explained in last Friday’s episode called when all else fails...dance party SO I decided that at the end of each episode on Fridays we’ll end with a little something for you to jam out to with your family. So feel free to stretch a bit while we go through today’s super quick tip. Ok so I came across this idea for a COVID 19 Time Capsule journal and I thought what a great idea for our future selves remember this extremely strange time and stay grateful for when things go back to normal. This is an especially great activity to do with your kids because it will take up a good chunk of time and will be an amazing keepsake in 50 years. I’ll link to the one I saw from @longcreations on my instagram page @familysanitypodcast. If you would rather not remember this time or your kids are too small to write or your just not the journaling type my quick tip is this. Take some time today to be grateful. I know you might be thinking there is a lot of things to be angry about but try to think of what you still have and of the way we’ve come together as a world. I want to give a big shout out to all the people who are putting their lives on the line to keep us safe we are all beyond grateful for your sacrifices and bravery. Although much of what we knew has been taken away, no one can take away your gratitude. Now get your family together and dance party Friday!

Are your kids starting to whine all the time? Living in isolation is really challenging and everyone can get edgy. Today's quick tip is about how providing more high quality social connection will help your child be more independent... and stop whining so much!TRANSCRIPTLiving in isolation can really bring out the worst in your family members. You can’t get what you want, you lack variety in your day, and you’re cooped up in the same space with the same people. And no matter how much you love them, it can still get, well annoying. This is especially true if your kids have started whining or complaining all day long.So what can we do as parents to make the whining stop? Whining usually occurs when someone wants or needs something. If your kids are older maybe what they want is answers. If you need some ideas on how to have that conversation check out episode 5 where I talk about explaining isolation to kids. Maybe your child needs extra food or a nap. You can probably assess these needs or wants and fix them but if the whining doesn’t stop maybe what your child needs right now is more social connection. Social connection is a psychological need to feel close to other people. Now you might be wondering, how can my child possibly need more closeness? We’re spending alllll day together. Well my quick tip today is to assess if you are providing the right amount of high quality social connection. Social connection comes in many forms. Talking to each other, playing a game with each other, or even arguing. Any time you are interacting with another human you're getting some kind of social connection. You do this without even thinking about it. But what I’m suggesting in order to minimize the whining is that you assess how much as well as what kind of social connection your child is getting. If you’re sitting next to each other all day on your phones the social connection is not as powerful as when reading a book together or going for a walk together.High quality social connection comes when all parties are fully and positively involved in the interaction.So what does high quality social connection look like and how much does my child need? The answer to this will vary based on your child’s age. Babies need a lot more social connection because they can’t be independent and much of their learning comes from being around other people. Toddlers are starting to be more independent but they still need a lot of face time with adults and other kids. Once in school, kids can be more independent so they don’t need as much and they would also get to connect with their peers and teachers. Now, due to the COVID 19 situation, and were home all day YOU are the main source of social connection. And unfortunately the younger your kids are, the more time you have to put into this in order to get them to feel calm and for the whining to stop. This makes it really hard to get anything else done. If you feel overwhelmed by that check out episode 1 where I give a quick tip on how to divvy up your day to account for your child’s social connection needs.This is a huge burden for many families especially if schools in your state have been closed for the rest of the school year. But understanding these needs and planning for them will help with the day to day struggles while at home.I’ll also post on my instagram @familysanitypodcast a table of how much time your child needs of social connection each day based on thier age. Now don’t get scared when you see that a 3 year old needs 5 hours a day. That doesn’t mean you need to sit with them for 5 whole hours at a time. Instead weave into your day times where you are intentionally giving your 3 year old your full attention even if its 10 minutes at a time. Reading a story, having lunch together, using chalk are all examples of high quality social connection. Spending time with siblings or video calling grandma are al

When your entire planet is in quarantine, it is quite understandable to feel helpless. In today's episode you'll hear a quick tip on how to frame your thinking to help cope with this struggle and lower stress in your home right now (including a wisdom bomb I learned from Mind Valley's @littlehumans).TRANSCRIPTDo you feel like your cooped up or caged in during this COVID-19 pandemic? Are you itching to get back to life as it was when you had… freedom, when you had control? I hate to admit that I used to be extremely invested in controlling everything in my life. I had to do lists within my to do list. I had minute by minute schedules within my daily, weekly, monthly and yearly calendars. Yes. Crazy, I know. Learning to let go of some of that control was forced upon me when having kids and then again when my family moved to Ireland for 2 years.This lack of control can drive you crazy. It can cause more chaos in your home which will cause more stress which will lead to extremely frustrating situations. Today’s quick tip is going to be about how to cope with this lack of control during these uncertain times and a way to frame your thinking to help accept hat this is a difficult phase much of the world is in.Before I get into this quick tip, I wanted to share something I learned earlier this week from joining in on a call hosted by Little Humans. If you don’t already know about Little Humans, this is an amazing resource for parents and teachers. And especially right now, they are hosting free parenting coaching calls on zoom for anyone to join and get amazing tidbits of parenting wisdom. I stumbled across them on instagram @littlehumans I highly recommend you go check them out! Ok so a big takeaway I had from the call was that the lack of predictability we are currently facing is causing a lot of anxiety. This anxiety is making us want to clench on to as much control as possible. Since there is so much we can not control in this new reality we end up spiraling and really getting to a dark place. It can manifest itself in different ways. You might be taking it out on the kids, or you may not have motivation to keep up with your work. This feeling of helplessness turns into an obsession for control. Since control is a sparse resource right now, we need to cope another way. So today’s quick tip is on how to cope when you feel like things are out of control. Think about what is making you anxious and really reflect on it. Are you anxious that your child won't do well in school now that it has moved to being completely remote? Are you worried that you can’t simultaneously continue your job and caring for the children? How does this anxiety affect your need to control the situation and is controlling it really going to help your family? Once you’ve addressed what anxieties you have try rationalizing through them or accepting them as they are. Doing this wont necessarily give you the control you want back but it will help you deal with it better and in turn help your family cope better. If there are specific anxieties you can pinpoint like missing your alone time, explaining social isolation to your kids or dealing with the new reality of working and parenting make sure to check out previous episodes for quick tips on dealing with those.

How do you talk to your child about social isolation? Today’s quick tip will give some ideas on how you can frame your answers to help lower everyone's anxiety.TRANSCRIPTAs you’re entering week 2, 3 or even 4 of quarantine you may be asking yourself how will you be keeping it together for the next… insert indefinite amount of time.Not knowing is probably one of the most stressful things to deal with right now. How long until we can see friends again? How long until my kids go back to school? How long until I can get my sanity back?I do not have answers to any of those, however, I do want to share some ideas on how you can answer your child when they ask you these exact same questionsA huge issue in many families right now is how to help their child understand and deal with this stage of isolation. You might be hearing, when will I get to see my friends again, when will we go to grandma’s house again or why can’t I have a birthday party? These questions are hard for us as adults to cope with and trying to answer them is pretty much impossible especially since the future is still so uncertain. So this just spirals into a rollercoaster of anxiety for everyone.Now, how you respond to your children about this will look different in every family because everyone has different variables to consider. Explaining to a 2 year old why grandpa can’t come over is different than explaining to a 8 year old why her birthday party was cancelled which is different than explaining to a 14 year old why his middle school graduation was cancelled. These are all REALLY REALLY HARD conversations to have. So its understandable that this is one of the main issues parents are having a hard time dealing with.On top of that since there has never been a situation such as this, there’s not really any research based advice on how to deal with it. So although I don’t have the verbatim answers for you, I hope today’s quick tip about what 3 things to consider when framing the response to your child about living in isolation are useful and can take some of that stress away. OK, so when deciding how to talk to your kids about quarantine, here are the 3 things to consider. First, consider that kids are resilient. They will come out of this experience stronger and the stress they are dealing with right now will prepare them for the future and will help build skills that are important in their adult life. Second, consider that honesty can help cope with anxiety. Being upfront with the fact that you too are uncertain about what will happen next will allow your child to trust you and take your lead. Third, make sure you’re allowing time for your child to tell you how he or she is feeling. Social connection is so important especially in such an uncertain time. Allowing for your child to connect with you and others through face time or zoom calls is really important in ensuring for your child that even though things look different now, there are still people who love you and care about you.So when you need to answer your child’s questions, remember they are resilient. Remember that being honest will allow for a stronger relationship, and remember to make sure you are connecting with and listening to your child.This new reality is just that, something new we need to deal with, but we don't need to deal with it alone. Join us tomorrow for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu you can learn more about me and this podcast on instagram @familysanitypodcast. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.

Do you find yourself missing sitting in the car or any other alone time you took for granted? Being quarantined in your home has made alone time nearly impossible. Listen for a quick tip on how to get some time for yourself back.TRANSCRIPTWould you have ever believed you could miss sitting in traffic? The COVID-19 quarantine has put us in such a paradoxical reality. We are in our homes all the time, yet we have no time to feel like we’re at home. Why can’t I just take a shower in peace? Why can’t I just put my feet up and watch netflix in peace. Well, I have an answer for you. It is because you have been tasked with doing 3 separate jobs at once: parenting, teaching, and working.Each of these is its own job that requires its own goals and its own time. Yet right now, because you’re a good parent, and good person really, you are trying to do all 3 at once. Obviously you can’t possibly do all of it but you’re really trying and what you’ve cut out to make more room for these other jobs is your alone time. Your self care time. Now, I'm sure you’ve heard it plenty that self care should be a priority but that’s not my quick tip today because I will be the first to admit that making self care a priority doesn’t always feel right so it almost seems counter productive. For example, why would I go take an indulgent bath with candles and a delicious bath bomb when there are still dishes, meal planning for the next day, laundry, overly screen timed kids and a tired husband? And especially in this current reality, there are just SO many other things that need my attention. So instead of telling you to prioritize self care, my quick tip is this. Find a realistic way to build self care into your life right now whether it be daily or weekly. If you’re like me and you try to get everyone else in a happy place before tending to yourself, I suggest you start with an intentional alone time every 3 days. It should be at least half an hour and it should be something that you really enjoy with absolutely no distractions. This is where you need to enlist your TV, tablets, and/or spouse to watch the kids. Make sure your family members know this is your time in which you wish to not be disturbed. Also make sure you return the favor to your spouse the next day. If you can find a way to get enjoyable and INTENTIONAL alone time daily even if for 5 minutes then do it. The benefits of prioritizing self care are clearly evident especially once you've done it. As we wrap up I want to reinforce the fact that it needs to be intentional. If you don’t plan it, it probably won't happen. If you dont know where to start, try by asking your spouse to watch the kids tomorrow for 15 minutes while you go for a walk or take a shower. You’ll see that planning ahead will get you even more excited for that little bit of freedom.Join us tomorrow for another quick tip on how to maintain your family sanity. I'm your host Naomi Bocaniciu. You can learn more about me and this podcast on instagram @familysanitypodcast. Until next time, whether your family is going insane or you've got it all together, these are definitely times you will always remember.

This is the quickest sanity tip there is. Get moving and get your family back in sync!TRANSCRIPTToday’s quick tip is going to be super quick. There will be moments where you will just want to explode. Kids screaming, messy house, lagging internet, laundry everywhere. In these moments you need to find a way to get it together. SO when all else fails, DANCE PARTY I know you think I’m joking, but I could not be more serious. it is one of the most tried and true ways to get the whole family back in sync. This even worked in my classroom when students just needed a break. Get up, get moving and get those endorphins going, dance like there is nothing else going on. This gives you complete freedom to forget what is happening in the moment. SO If all the chaos is just piling up and you feel so out of control get out your phone, your radio, or just start singing and MOVE. It wont fix your problems but I promise it will make things a bit better. If you don't believe me, start now. Like right now. Here you go….Instagram @familysanitypodcast

If you feel like your whole day is just one distraction after another, try these 2 quick tips to help you manage the mayhem and start being productive.TRANSCRIPTRaise your hand if you can not believe how many distractions happen throughout the day. Ok don’t raise your hand but I see you. Being distracted is the number one issue families are having while learning to navigate this new reality of being home all the time.Kids try to delay doing their work so they find ways to bother their parents or start arguments with their siblings. Parents want to do their work but feel like there’s no way to do it in one shot because they constantly have to cater to whatever comes up with their kids. So today’s quick tip on maintaining your family’s sanity is about how to minimize distractions.There are two main types of distractions I want to highlight. First, the working parent getting bombarded with something whether it be the kids, the other partner, the loud garbage truck outside, whatever it may beThe second type of distraction is the one preventing your child from fully engaging in the online learning their school district has implemented. In today’s episode we’ll just be discussing the first because parents need sanity before they can help their kids. But I did want to mention that e-learning is a huge challenge especially if you haven’t been trained in the education field. So we’ll have a whole other episode dedicated to this topic but for now, follow the lead of your school district and if they haven't implemented online learning I recommend you check out the free khan academy online learning resource.Alright so lets talk about how to minimize distractions as a parent. This COVID-19 situation has many people doing a job they would normally do in an office setting in their own home. Although your workplace probably also had distractions they probably weren’t as distracting as the ones you are dealing with now at home. If you were already a stay home parent or even a part time working parent you may already have some tricks up your sleeves about dealing with distractions but the fact of the matter is, everyone deals with them and they are annoying. Distractions make you lose your focus, they require you leave tasks incomplete, and they can create huge chaos in your home.So today’s 2 actionable quick tips to help you minimize distractions are to get organized and model mindfulness.I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times by now but truly getting organized will liberate you. Both for you and your kids, knowing when things are going to happen will allow for less friction between everyone’s needs. If your family benefits from a minute by minute schedule, go for it, make one. If your family is like mine, every day is a little bit different so we have anchor times throughout the day to stick to and the rest of the day is flexible. For example, my kids are watching TV everyday at 8:30am, during that time I get ready for the day, do some work and they get their screen time fill. We have lunch at 12 and yard time at 4. EVERY day, we stick to these anchor times and the rest of the day is flexible. This helps chunk the day up and it helps everyone know where we’re at in the day. By not feeling overwhelmed by what comes next, it is easier for everyone to stay on task whether that be playing independently, doing school work or whatever work the parent needs to do.Once your family has some routine, YOU can get organized by prioritizing what to do while your kids are occupied (if you need a quick way to figure out how to do that listen to episode 1 making reality the priority). Secondly, minimize distractions by modeling mindfulness. What this means is that your kids are SEEING you off your phone when its family time, they are seeing you being productive with your job goals by asking that they don’t bother you during a ce

By making reality the priority, families can set realistic expectations that will help maintain everyone's sanity while in COVID-19 quarantine.TRANSCRIPTIn this first episode we're going to talk about the new reality the coronavirus pandemic has put us in as parents and where to start to get some sanity back. Schools are closed. Restaurants are closed. Even the playgrounds are closed. So what are we supposed to do with our kids while they're dancing around us all day? This is especially tricky if you are still working full time, have a suspended or lost income, or are caring for anyone who is sick.Throw in your child's boredom, lack of social opportunities, and constant need to cook and clean- and you've got yourself the perfect storm. Unfortunately we don't know how long this new reality will last so many of us need to readjust a few things to make it work for the long haul.New variables to consider are navigating e-learning, lack of social exposure because you cant see family or friends, does screen time need a limit, is it actually detrimental or is it the perfect quarantine tool? We'll dig into all of these and more in upcoming episodes. For today, I want the big take away to be that the most important thing you can do for your family is to make reality the priority. Reality is the actual way things exist as opposed to an idealistic notion of them. We must accept that our new situation is a new reality and tweak our daily expectations to accommodate for this.Readjusting your expectations is a mindset shift, and it will set the stage for success and ultimately less chaos in your home.Start by considering what is not realisticIt is not realistic to expect to do your job the same wayIt is not realistic to expect your kids to adapt to this new isolated life style quicklyIt is not realistic to think the distractions will go awayBy making reality the priority, this is what is realistic right nowIt is realistic to accept that your child needs you right nowIt is realistic to make your job a priority because you need an income to liveIt is realistic to accept that you need to purposefully plan your day to accomplish all the things that have fallen in your lapIt is realistic to expect hard momentsIt is realistic to expect beautiful moments that otherwise wouldn't happen if you were at work and your child at school.Alright before I lose you here, I'm going to end this episode with an actionable quick tip.Make reality the priority. Once you've accepted this new normal and reevaluated your expectations you will notice the chaos in your family start to dissipate.Your kids will start to seem happy that they aren't expected to adjust at an impossibly quick rate. Your job will seem more doable because you've outline realistic goals. Your marriage or partnership will get more in sync as you gravitate towards the same expectations. The expectations that are logical of your new reality.Once you've made realistic expectations of what your family needs right now, you can distribute the childcare responsibility. A quick way to do this is to Sit down with all the adults in your home, parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles even older siblings and decide who is going to be responsible for the childcare at various times in the day.Split up the day into hour chunks or even half hour and decide who is responsible for the kids during that time. Whoever is not responsible has complete freedom to do whatever they want. If they need to work, or take a shower, or a quick nap. Whatever it is take that time.If there are any gaps this is where you can use screen time and e-learning as a parenting tool as well. It's important to note that this will look very different for every family but by assigning the childcare responsibilities, it allows for less chaos throughout the day.