Working From Home With Toddlers During Lockdown
After having several conversations with family, friends and colleagues with young children (especially toddlers) during this lockdown, it is okay to say this has been a challenging time for us all.
On all the conversations which I have been a part of, I have been discussing strategies to help working parents keep kids entertain while being productive with work.
Two thing which stood out during my conversations are;
The importance of having structure not just when things where normal but especially so during the lockdown.
Enjoying the time, we are spending with our kids which we will normally not be able to.
Based on all the conversations I have had with different groups of working parents and the discussion on structure, I decided to share what my schedule looks like while we are on lockdown and how I managed to get stuff done.
Time And Activity
5:30am - 7:00am - Wake up, meditation time and work till about 7am
6:00am -7:00am - Wake up time for the kids
7:00am - 8:00am - Breakfast and bath time for the kids
8:00am - 9:30am - Activity time for the kids (this can be anything from colouring/drawing, to building blocks, building train tracks, doing alphabets or identifying objects. While this is going on, I am working.
9:30am - 10:00am - Snack time. I usually just place this on the table and the kids will have it when they are ready.
10:00am - 11:45am - Screen time for the kids. I get a lot of work done as it gets quiet when the kids are watching tv.
11:45am - 12:15pm - Light lunch and nap time
12:15pm – 1:30pm - Kids are asleep. Quick lunch and continue working as I do get a lot done while the kids are asleep.
1:30pm – 3:00pm - No activity scheduled. It might be screen time or if the weather is great, it can also be time to play in the garden. I usually open the garden door and let the kids run in an out while am working. My husband normally takes over at 2pm and I can concentrate on work.
3:00pm – 4:00pm - Meal time for the kids. (It’s daddy day care)
4:00pm – 6:00pm - The kids are with my husband. They are normally doing some fun activity or just relaxing. I just carryon working.
6:00pm – 7:00pm - Family dinner
7:00pm – 8:00pm - Bath time, reading time, prayer time and bed time for the kids (we do this together).
Once the kids are in bed, we sit down and have downtime. I normally write down notes in my containment journal just to celebrate simple accomplishments of the day.
You can find a copy of the schedule under the resource page – you can download and move things around to make it work for you.
Let me know how you were able to make parenting on lockdown work.