We are only on our day 6 of community quarantine and day 11 since the school shut down.. I would like to share with you how are we coping, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally in this trying time. I am writing this down so that one day, I can go back to it and it will paint a smile on my face. During this quarantine period, so far, we have done and are continuously doing the following:
1. Establish a routine. We follow the 9-4 "home schooling" and in my case, I continue to follow the 9-20h (or even later) work schedule. We do attend a lot of conference calls. It is imperative that while we are in our conf calls, my son is busy with his seatworks and school activities. We also try to respect our sleeping hours, trying not to deviate from our usual routine.
2. Be agile or flexible. While I am usually monitoring my son´s use of the gadgets and his screening time, in this quarantine period, we watch the tv together during lunch. It gives us all an insight on the evolution of the covid. It is also a good way to increase my son´s social awareness.
3. Exercise. We make sure that we do our share of physical activity on a daily basis. We make it a point to do our basic yoga and meditation, to ride on our stationary bike, do the XBOX version of Just Dance and do some basic aerobics set. This is important as we are not moving a lot compared to when we take the public transport nor when we do our typical long weekend walks. We need to ensure that our motor skills and mobility are intact. Besides, we eat a lot so it is a good way to burn calories, albeit very low mount of calories.
4. Do things as a family, together. We are a small family of 3 but we love doing things together! We watch tv, eat, talk a lot, read and laugh a lot together. We share in doing our household shores. It is healthy for our souls!
5. Respect each other´s privacy: While we love doing things together, we also respect each other´s space. I will not deny the fact that it can be exhausting spending all the time together and not being able to go out and breathe some air. We understand each other´s needs for personal space and we respect that and we create that ambiance. We are fully supportive when dad wants to stay longer in the study room, when my son wants to spend longer time in the toilet or when I want to watch my tablet while cooking the kitchen. We give each other the space needed to recharge and disconnect.
6. Cook: Kitchen and cooking are therapeutic measures for me. I can say that cooking is one of my love languages. I love it when my family enjoys all the simple dishes that I whip!
7. Seize the day: We know that we are all facing a very very distressful, sad and hard times. But my husband and I are chill about the whole thing and I am glad that we share the same mindset as we impart this sense of tranquility and confidence to our son. We trust that our government is doing their part. We trust that by doing our contributions through quarantine and social distancing, covid will pass. We are seizing the day. We are being like water, going with the flow. After all, what good will it bring if we become hysterical? Carpe Diem and trust that this too shall pass.
8. Keep the home clean: We do our best to keep our house neat and organized. This ensures that build a space that is conducive for family living but at the same time, conducive to learning and working, which our home also serves right now during this community quarantine. We make sure that books and all of our personal effects are in their proper places.
9. Speak words of love: Nothing much has changed as this is one of our family´s trademarks. We are cheesy and an affectionate bunch. Amidst this crisis, we continue to say good words and words of love to each other to boost each other´s esteem.
10. Organize: I have observed that during these 2 weekends, I really have a lot of free time as we haven´t been going out. I use that free time to organize. It has enabled me to fix our stock room (Before it looks like a junkshop hehehe but not it is a family/residential stock room, with the tool box, christmas decors and other personal stuff properly labeled!). I also organized our drawers. I did a sort of early spring cleaning. The winter clothes are properly stacked and our spring and summer clothings are so ready to used, hopefully soon! I also organized my bag collection and my heart turned all giddy and blushing again seeing all my beautiful bags tidied and properly lined up! Love it!
11. Think of Happy thoughts and happy sights: I now take the time (because I have time, yehey!!) to look at our family albums and look at my collection of korean actors´photo albums! Happy thoughts are good food to the soul. They send a positive vibe that radiates from within and in the process, help sustain a positive disposition.
12. Connect with people: It is part of our routine to connect to people - make random phone calls, video calls or voice messages to our family and friends.
13. Breathe. May sound so simple but to reach and to practice mindful breathing is very challenging. Breathing helps relax our muscles and helps clear our mind. Practice deep breathing.
14. Pray: Man may fail us but we always have God, Lord, Papa Jesus who will always be with us. I spend time to say my rosary, say my prayers and read the Scriptures, Bible. After all, when man prays, God works. God will always provide.
Let's cheer up because this too shall pass.
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