HOW TO PRODUCTIVELY SPEND TIME DURING LOCKDOWN.

Hi parents/guardians 

My apology, I was meant to write/post this last Friday but it has been a pretty busy moment for me. Not forgetting it was Gweth's Birthday which we celebrated on Saturday, though her real birthday was on a Thursday.

Now, I was to write the second part of “HOW TO PRODUCTIVELY SPEND TIME DURING LOCK DOWN FOR TWEENS AND TEENS.” The first part was written by Gweth last week. Please check it out. 

In most countries, schools are still closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Here in Kenya, the children have been out of school since March 2020. We were recently advised by the Government that schools will not reopen until 2021. So children will be in the house all this time. A whole year of school is generally lost....just like that...This is definitely tough and frustrating especially for children who were preparing to sit for their final National Exams to graduate to either High school or University. I remember vividly how, at that age, I badly wanted to complete school and become “free”, to face the world as an independent citizen haha! I totally agree with the Government though, since the danger to our children returning to school, supersedes all other benefits. 

So parents/guardians, it is real. We are stuck with our children until 2021. What do we do? How do we manage them and our own lifestyles too? It is not easy. However, looking at the flip side, Here are some of the ways we can make use of this time with our children being our sole responsibility (different from when we’d share the responsibility with the teachers):

1. It is time to spend time with the children. You may have been that busy parent who only spent time with the kids perhaps after working hours and weekends, which frankly is not enough time to spend quality time with them. Or you may have had almost no time to spend time with them at all especially if the kids were in boarding school. My advice, if you are working from home or you have to go to workplace, make deliberate effort to spare time for them. This may mean you take leave from work specifically to be with them. This is the time to build your relationship. You may also get to learn/understand your kids character better.

2. A good number of children are enrolled in online classes. This is a good stop gap measure but can get monotonous and boring at times. If you are not keen, your child may have lost interest and is just showing up for the zoom class as a mere formality thus being a waste of time and money. So always monitor the child and get his/her feedback and evaluate whether the online classes are really working for both of you. If not, critically think of the best way forward.

3. Teach the children life skills. In case the child has not enrolled for the online classes, then this is the opportunity to teach them life skills. These include teaching them how to help around the house e.g. how to cook, make their beds, clean/tidy up the house, do laundry. If they are in the countryside they can learn how to farm, milk the cows, gardening, etc. You may also want to teach them skills such as financial management, self management, problem solving skills, etc. 

4. Develop a To-do-list - sit down with your child and come up with a daily timetable. Do not allow them to sleep so late at night and wake up at midday. Try to maintain a schedule that is close to what they had during school time. This will make them more active throughout the day. Remember, you are discussing and agreeing the schedule with the child and not pushing it down their throats. My number one (1) constant routine on the to-do- list is to always spread the bed immediately after waking up. This works magic even for adults since it gives a sense of being organized. 

5. Moderate Screen time - while agreeing on the to-do-list, you must also agree on the time spent on the screen,  be it the TV, mobile phone or the laptop. You do not want your child to be a couch potato spending all day on TV and social media. While at it, monitor what they are watching to avoid some unsuitable sites. 

6. Develop a hobby/enhance an existing hobby. Discuss with your child and get to know their interests or if you already know what they are good at, then this is the time to invest in the hobby/talent. This will not only enhance their skills but also give them a feeling of achievement. My tween daughter expressed her interest in writing, and that is how we have found ourselves writing blogs. I must say that I am really happy at her decision, it keeps her quite busy reading, researching, listening to pod casts to enrich her writing. I will definitely keep supporting her as much as I can. You never know, this could be your child’s future path. 

7. Attend Church - just because children can no longer physically go to church does not mean that we forget church all together. What we do, and it really works for me too is that on Sunday we wake up as though we are actually going to a church. We take a shower, dress up well, have breakfast then switch on the TV to attend the online church. Try this, you will love it and the children will remain connected to the Lord. 

That is it for now, thank you so much and continue supporting my 11year old daughter in her journey as a blogger. If you have any areas of interest that you would want her to write about, or any feedback please do reach her through her social media platforms listed below:

My social media accounts

1.Instagram - dietandfitnessblog

2.Tiktok- yuhtzg.w.e.t.h

3. Pinterest - Meg Maina.

Note: This post was written by my mom advising parents/guardians on how to spend time with us. I hope it was useful.