Keeping your kids healthy in a coronavirus lockdown
The coronavirus epidemic is frightening and the impact on each of us is growing. My heart breaks for all the family members and friends who are sick or who have died. We all need to do what we can to slow down the spread (‘flatten the curve’) which means social distancing and hunkering down at home. A lot.
My family has made changes already. I’ve converted to video consultations to keep everyone safe and I’ve started home schooling my children. My husband, who’s also a doctor, is still working in a hospital so he’s very busy at work.
This means I’m at home with my girls most days. Initially I felt very overwhelmed by this. How can I be mum, doctor and teacher? But I took a deep breath and decided to find a few silver linings in this dark cloud hanging over us. I realised that being at home with our children brings with it stresses but it also brings opportunities. Opportunities to promote healthy eating and healthy living that I’d like to share with you.
How to help your child thrive when you’re in lockdown:
Start your morning with some outdoor exercise. This strengthens the body, readies the mind to learn, boosts vitamin D (good for immunity!) and even helps regulate our children’s melatonin and sleep. Try a few jumping jacks outside, quick sprints or a bike ride. If going outside isn’t an option there are lots of indoor exercises you can try. If you’re stumped for ideas, check out youtube for inspiration.
A new chef in the kitchen. Get children involved in preparing their meals. Not only is this helpful, it has been shown to help decrease fussy eating. You can also use it as an age appropriate learning opportunity, for example which vegetable is heavier? how much is 1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup?
Get your green fingers working. If you’ve space, consider planting your own veggie patch or herb garden. You can even plant a few pots that can sit on a balcony or windowsill. This means free organic produce, more foods to try, and playing with dirt supports our microbiome.
Do a kitchen cleanse. I am not suggesting to throw away food, but when restocking to choose healthier alternatives. A tip to getting kids to eat foods is to have them at home. No school also means no temptations from the tuck shop.
Start meditating. The benefits of this are many but include feeling calm and improved concentration. Yes please! If you’ve already a practice, teach them how. You can also use guided meditation apps (e.g. calm, smiling minds) Or you can use breathing as a form of meditation. Try a 5 minute break when you guide your child to focus on their breathing. If this seems impossible, start with 30 seconds and work your way up. What a wonderful skill to teach our children!
Connection. Connectivity has been proven to improve quality of life. Although this is a challenge at the moment there are still ways we can help our children connect with family and friends. Use facetime or one of the many apps that allow video calls (e.g. Whatsapp, Skype, Zoom, Houseparty). My kids love this.
Gratitude. Use this crisis as an opportunity to teach children about gratitude. Despite the situation, there are always things we can be grateful for, like good health, family, teachers, a yummy apple! For younger children you can ask what makes them feel happy, warm, loved and you can explain with examples. As a mum, I’ve loved learning more about what’s in my girls’ hearts.
Caring for others. Explain that by isolating ourselves we are also helping others not get sick. Or drop letters into your neighbourhood postboxes offering to help an elderly neighbor get necessary medications or groceries. There could be some very isolated and vulnerable people right now. Just be careful to limit all face to face contact. This is a very powerful message to teach our children. It teaches about giving, community and also develops their sense of empathy.
Caring for yourself. As a mum I am always putting the needs of my girls ahead of mine. But I know that if I’m depleted I’ll have nothing left to give. One of the things I’m doing is to schedule in brief (guilt free!) self care moments throughout the day. I tell my girls that ‘me time for mummy is like putting petrol in a car’, I need it to work properly. Remember also that our children learn by example, so show them how important self-care is.
I hope this blog helps you see that there can be some silver linings if we look hard enough 🙂 Please share this if you’ve enjoyed it and feel free to comment below.
Wishing you all well during this difficult time!