Do you need stay at home ideas for the coronavirus quarantine?
As more and more communities take precautions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), you may find yourself spending more and more time at home with your immediate family.
As a special needs family, we are more than used to having a small radius – staying close to or at home makes it all that much easier to handle mishaps, meltdowns and everything in between. Here are some stay at home ideas to help make the most of any social distancing, quarantine, or just a quiet afternoon at home.
1: Create a Schedule
Whatever you and your family are able to do, try to put a schedule to it. Family walk around the block? 10 am daily. Cook a meal together? Start at 5 and take your time. A show or book you will watch or read in installments – 8 pm. Tag teaming on work-from-home hours with your partner? Schedule that.
2: Get Dressed – For Real
The trap of work-at-home/stay-at-home can mean a life of endless pajamas or yoga pants. Punctuate the time passing with changing clothes at least once a day. (And don’t forget some earrings as you move your life to videos that focus on your head and face!)
3. Focus on Pantry Recipes
With the store shelves being emptied, it’s time to clear out your pantry – you might be surprised what you can come up with. You can go with classic comfort foods like lasagna and chocolate chip cookies, or you can get crafty with sugar cookies. Many of the ideas in this Dinners Without Thinking post are quick and easy to put together with ingredients that are likely in your kitchen already.
4. Stay Busy
Play some board games, or make bread or pasta or soup from scratch – the stores are low on those items anyway. Read, write, knit, craft – do some of the things that have been on the “back burner.” If you have kids, do some or all of them with your kids.
5. Get Outside
Go for a walk or hike with your immediate family- or by yourself. Sit or stand on your balcony or porch. If it’s rainy, puddle-jump. If it’s snowy, play in the snow. If it’s warming up, plant something, trim something, or just be in your yard or garden.
6. Connect Online
Use Skype, Facetime or Marco Polo to have face-to-face interactions with friends and extended family. Use Zoom or Google Meet to collaborate with colleagues – and students. You can even use Zoom to have a remote party- that way, everyone gets their own bottle of much-needed wine. (I have two Zoom happy hours on the calendar already.)
7. Practice At Home Self-Care
So massages and salon treatments are not ideal right now, and many in-person fitness classes have moved online. So take a fitness class on Zoom or Youtube. Use a meditation app – maybe with a little aromatherapy from a candle or diffuser. Give yourself a manicure or pedicure.
8. Staycation in Style
We are pros at “traveling” while staying put. You can practice this too. How? Travel through food – take advantage of the unusual grocery selection and make something international or from a region other than your own. Travel through music – like with this playlist – or make one of your own. Watch a movie from a different time and/or place.
None of us can be one hundred percent that we will avoid contracting Covid-19, but we can take steps to minimize the risk and slow the spread. What ideas do you have? Share them on our Facebook page.
Related Posts:
Coronavirus: What to Do at Home | Expert Tips from an Experienced Homeschooler via The Piece of Mind Retreat
Family Games: 10 New Favorites via The Piece of Mind Retreat
