Working from Home

I needed us to find a balance for their school work, my work, and sanity.  I first created cards so the girls could track "to do" on the left of the envelope and "done" in the right pocket of the envelope.  Mena helped me carry the table from the basement to my bedroom so I could work with the door closed while on Zoom for my building or department meetings.  

As the week wore on and the novelty of being home started to wear off, I heard comments like, "I'm bored.  Why won't you do something with us?  When can we go somewhere?"  I told the girls that I had work I had to get done and they needed to choose what to do with their time.    

Maggie found ways to entertain herself but they weren't good ideas.  She rubbed liquid hand soap all over my electronic scale that measures weight, body fat, and water percentages.  The next day she said she was going to wash the flashlight where the battery had corroded.  

At one point Mena dramatically stated that her life was ending with the coronavirus.  She was perfectly healthy; this was purely a response to being stuck at home with me and her sister.  I would have told her to take the stage but the theaters are closed so...I came up with an idea.  

The left pocket holds cards I created with different toys or activities they could do that would be fun that they can pick from.  If they don't find something to do and keep interrupting me, then I would pick a chore card from the right pocket.  I only had to do that twice (once for each girl) and they started finding stuff to do by themselves!