Hello my darlings, here I am day I don’t know what of quarantine. To say it has been easy it would be a huge lie. It has not been easy at all, well ok, at first I thought this would last maybe a month so I was anxious but excited because I saw this time as a time of transformation but now it has been four months and I don’t see any improvements, at least in my country. I feel like I have done it all, worked out, online courses, webinars, you name it and we are still locked up.
But, having said this, I also see people that are not well or dying and I know that being inside is the best thing to do for society. Now, after venting, hahaha, how has my toddler handled quarantine.
In Panama you can only take your kids out the day and time you are assigned so, it can be quite a challenge when you have a highly energetic boy. At first I thought he was handling it ok but then I saw certain patterns like misbehaving, screaming or hitting and not sleeping at all.
All of these behaviors were taken care off when we contacted a sleep expert (video on that later in the week) but his energy levels were still high so, in comes my number one helper: blue tape.
We have taped toys, hands, feet, created work space for him to play, it has been fantastic. Also, Crayola has washable paint, so I bought rolls of paper that he could just cover himself and the paper in paint, it has a soothing effect that has been remarkable.
Finally, to burn off that extra energy we have raced around the house and even played soccer (off course I removed everything before).
In the end, it has not been easy for the kids but it is us to help make it more bearable and understand that they cannot sometimes express their feelings. Also, asking for help, calling a psychologist or a friend who’s a teacher can give you tips and tricks to do with your kids, plus learn to understand and read between the lines when they ask for something, what it really means.
These are my very basic tips but I hope they help you and your family.
