FRI-NALLY!

We finished the first FULL week of e-learning! I don’t know about you, but I think I am going to be celebrating every Friday through these coming weeks. Honestly, working from home and doing E-Learning is NOT made for the weak. My brain is FRIED and I look like a Zombie by the time it hits 8PM. Now that we had a successful week, I thought to share the top five things that helped this working mama out so far!

1. Electronics

So we have mentioned in our previous blogs the top devices to purchase. I would HIGHLY recommend you check it out if you haven’t yet(click here). If it isn’t possible for you to purchase one of your own, make sure to get with your child’s school district to see if they can check one out for your family.

Our two older kids have google chromebooks and then our third kiddo has one of our older Ipads(click here for more). These devices have made our e-learning experience much smoother. I have younger kids, so the transition of being independent on their devices is a little on the tougher side, but we are only the first week in and they seem to be getting the hang of it.

Also, I strongly suggest you grab some kid-friendly headphones. The first day it was cute to hear the “days of the week“ high pitched morning song. However, after a few days it is a bit distracting while you are working from home. Plus, I cant stand it when it is stuck in my head. Not only that, but if you are like us with multiple children doing e-learning. Then headphones are a MUST. That way it is easier for them to stay focused on their live lessons.

2. Designated School Space

When this online scenario got thrown at us at the end of this past school year, I truly was not prepared. My kids were all over the place, walking around like confused minions. I mean who could blame them. I was working from my little desk area and we were just constantly yelling questions back and forth across our house. Fast forward to now, I thought to myself that in order for everyone to stay focused and for me to stay sane, we NEED to make a work space.

We are super blessed to have a roof over our heads, but we are also pretty close to maxing out our sweet home with 2 adults, 4 kids, and a dog. It was definitely going to be a challenge to magically make room for what I was envisioning in my anxious head. With the help of my macho husband, and some decluttering, we were able to make it happen!

My hope was to help my kids still get into “school” mode even though we are home. That is something we struggled with when this all started in March. I feel that even as adults we can relate on this work from home adjustment. Getting that work “mode” motivation can be tough at times. This designated area has helped us tremendously to stay focused and organized.

3. Scheduled Alarms

I know mom’s can multi task like super heroes, but remembering everything in my life plus these new e-learning LIVE google class times can qualify as an olympic sport. Our classes are still adjusting to a finalized schedule, but we do have some what of a tentative schedule as of now. I made an alarm for EVERY single live lesson my kids have. Just to give you an idea, My kids start school at 7:35AM and end at 3PM. That is approximately a bajillion alarms when you have multiple kids at school. Even though there are constant alarms going off through our days, it helps to keep us on top of their live lessons and staying on task.

4. Reward Chart

I know the majority teachers use some sort of behavior chart during school, so once we knew we were needing to do e-learning I thought to try this method out. I mean, it seems like my children are perfect little angels every week at school since they are always screaming about getting a small prize every Friday, so I made my own little treasure box bin and thought to see if it would work. Surprisingly it actually followed through.

I suggest this for the parents who have strong willed kiddos. I know our children are sweet baby angels, but there are some moments where they can test our patience. When the not so great moments come along, that’s when I use my new weapon of the threat of no treasure box at the end of the week. For some odd reason, some pieces of candy and dollar store toys seem to keep these kiddos in check! Parent Win!

5. Easy Meals

Groceries will be on another level during this time of our lives. I don’t know what is the deal, but I am pretty sure my kids don’t eat this much during school. I have tried to become smarter on our day to day meals and snacks. If you can make your life easier by simple options or easy quick meals, I would go for it.

Lunch times seem to sneak up on you, and they don’t have long school lunches. Therefore, if you are not on top of it, half of their scheduled lunch time will be you preparing their meal. That goes with waking them up a little earlier to get them “school ready” and wide awake. Trust me, I let them sleep in a bit one day thinking they would be in a better mood. Then it was the opposite effect. They were extra cranky and felt rushed before morning announcements. I would just keep it simple to their favorite quick meals and lots of fruits!

One Day at a Time

I’ll continue to keep everyone updated on what I feel has worked for me and things that haven’t! I know some have not started school yet, or even if you have and maybe needed some new ideas on our new normal life. Hopefully this blog will help. Every family is different, so if there is something that has helped you, please let me know in the comments! Let’s support each other and help in any way! Virtual hugs to all the parents through this online schooling experience!

Another small victory celebrated today with the completion of our first full week of e-learning! Now a well deserved stiff whiskey and sprite is calling my name tonight. Adios!