Go Outside into Nature Every Second You Are Not Working, Sleeping or Eating
Sara Kuepfer, Writer /
How has the experience of working from home with kids during the coronavirus crisis been (so far)? The first week, my daughter was remarkably upbeat and was quite motivated doing her school assignments and reading books. After seven days, however, it hit her: “Nothing is fun when you have to do it all alone” became the mantra when brainstorming possible weekend activities. Yet all in all, I admire the resilience kids have and their ability to just accept what is – and adjust to it.
Tips for managing family and remote work: Go outside into nature every second you are not working, sleeping or eating.
The change that helped the most: The nice spring weather. That really helped.
Favorite book to read with as a family: Selma by Jutta Bauer. It’s a story about a sheep explaining what happiness is. She gets up every morning at dawn and eats grass. Then she practices saying “Baahh” with the little sheep. Afterward, she goes eat grass again. In the afternoon, she exercises. Then she goes back eating grass. In the evening, she visits the vulture, Frau Meier, to gossip. Then she lies down for a long, restful sleep. The reporter asks her what she would do differently if she had more time. She goes over the same schedule again (she would do everything exactly the same way). Then the reporter asks her what she would do if she won the lottery. She repeats again the same thing. I think the lockdown has made us all live like Selma. And perhaps some of us will find the kind of happiness we have always been looking for elsewhere in the simple pleasures of life.
One abstract that has helped you get through this challenge: I am currently reading Sapiens by Harari – it puts our small little lives in perspective.
This article is part of our Working from Home with Kids-series. Here you will find an overview of all the articles full of useful tips from the getAbstract work-life-educate-while-in-a-video-call-and-watching-one-of-those-new-live-sessions-play corner.