Friday Five: 5 Kids Activities During Quarantine and 5 Things on My ‘To Do’ List

When I kicked of this series a couple of weeks ago, it was just supposed to be light and fun. Sharing what I was thinking about the week before, from IG videos that resonated with me to what I bought that week, from election coverage to my plans for the upcoming year. Welp, as I saw on Instagram, “What a month this week has been!”

The world has changed a little bit since last Friday. If you had told me last Friday that California would be on a mandatory lockdown, businesses would be closed, much less, that I wouldn’t be able to go to OrangeTheory, I would have thought you were crazy! And now, being at the house all day is the new normal.

So here are 5 Things We are Doing to Survive, with five things in each to give you some ideas and encouragement.

Activities for the kids

Being at home, with no plans and nowhere to be, {not to rub it in}, is my own personal idea of heaven. I am a socially awkward homebody through and through. Neverless, with two kids 5 and under, I am still finding it hard to keep calm and carry on 100% of the time. Here are some activities that we’ve been doing to keep the kids happy, active and entertained.

1. I bought this paper last summer for this Playhouse Project. {see the post HERE} I began rolling it out on Day 1 of social distancing and let them draw on it. I quickly realized that this would be more fun with more markers so I just ordered these and these from Amazon. They were entertained drawing on it for about 2 hours straight yesterday.
2. Coloring Books : We learned quickly, after green marker ended up all over our coffee tables, that we had to set coloring area limits. But I love these metallic “coloring” books. No mess! It is great hand eye coordination for our five year old daughter, Madrid, to work on tracing. For our 3 year old, Leo, these books have been great to practice gripping the pencil correctly and having to color in the lines.
3. My kids both love Legos. I got these for Leo and these for Madrid. They are hiding in the pantry for an emergency day or as a reward for good behavior.
4. My kids both love to read. So I try to remember to randomly let them each pick a book 2-5 times a day for me to read to them. It allows for a mini break and as a chance for us to discuss topics covered in the book and review reading comprehension. Leo loves anything PJ Masks and I recently got Madrid this book all about getting ready for Kindergarten.
5. Our kids go to Yoga once a week. Welp, not anymore! So I am trying to incorporate yoga time, via youtube and kids apps {recommendations welcome!!!} into our morning routine. Not only will it allow for activity, but a chance for us to do something and Namaste together.

Things on my ‘To Do’ List

1. As I joked about last week, I was hoping that San Diego would go on “lock down” so I would have an excuse to tackle organizing my house. Little did I know that this far out idea would become our reality. Here are the sections of our home that I am planning on cleaning out and organizing.
   1. The Master Closet: This has already taken 2 days and I am not done yet. Surprisingly, this is all fun to me and I’m being productive cleaning out and organizing my closet to make it easier to make my wardrobe most functional.
   2. Bathroom drawers: Our master bathroom has a ton of built in drawers and I need to clean these out. I have completed my underwear draw, workout drawer, and one bathroom drawer. Many more to go!
   3. Garage: We have a 4 car garage, so this tends to be a “catch all” especially with my minivan a moving apartment at all times. {there is always a change of clothes for at least 2 people and food for a while in there!} I would love to clean and organize what we have, especially since we have been buying in bulk.
   4. Kids’ Rooms: I know that my kids are not the only ones that grow like weeds. I plan on going through toys, books and clothes that they’ve outgrown.
   5. Kitchen: I am very proud of myself for doing the pantry on Day 2 of Quarantine. It is so much more functional and I now am not panicked about how much food we have. I also organized the junk drawer, so I am very proud of myself.
2. Recipes: I need some new ones! Cooking is not my favorite. This has been the most daunting and boring part of this quarantine so far: cooking 3 meals a day for the four of us. Send me veggie recipes!
3. We have two dogs: Reagan, a German Shepard, who looks like a police dog and Jackson, a black lab. They are the most happy with this quarantine, except when I first starting to clean out my closet. They thought I was packing for a trip. I want to take them on weekly walks. Not just for them, but as a little break for me to get out of the house for a minute.
4. Blog and LIKEtoKNOW.it weekly. I want to use this time to create content for you. At first, I thought I wouldn’t make this a priority, but since I myself am enjoying following along other influencers and bloggers, I want to pay it forward and continue to create content for you!
5. Still go to bed 9/9:30. I have not been good about this this week. {I blame all the wine.} About 2 weeks ago, after my husband listened to a podcast about the importance of sleep, we implemented a bedtime to head upstairs. Honestly, I was feeling amazing! I no longer had to struggle without a nap or take a mini afternoon catnap, my workouts felt better and I felt less stressed. Then the Corona Virus happened. We need to get back to my bedtime to decrease chances of getting sick, feel less stressed and feel great!

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