COVID-19 Homeschool, Day 20

We did nothing.

In all seriousness, today we did nothing. We decided that, despite the fact we had taken a holiday due to Good Friday and we'd just had a weekend, we all needed the day off. So we took it.

Such is the beauty of homeschool. My son missed an online Google Meet with his teacher, and I don't even care. There is nothing they need to learn today that is as important as just having a day of relaxation and rest.

Neither of my children has outwardly expressed anxiety, but my daughter has complained of a stomach-ache for several days in a row. I am convinced that it is stress over all the changes that have happened in our lives over the past month. I give my kids lots of opportunities to talk about anything that's bothering them, but sometimes it's not something they can express, and sometimes it's not even something they're aware of. But my daughter has stomach-aches, and my son has a fresh mouth. That's how they show their stress. I try not to get upset, but to just give them whatever kind of break I can. And today, that meant no school.

And it was wonderful.

They actually spent quite a bit of time playing online games together, laughing and squealing and teaming up against other players and occasionally playing against each other, but just generally having fun and enjoying each other's company, and relaxing. Relaxing. That's what's missing sometimes, a chance to just relax and not think about the weirdness going on around us.

I can use that, too. I didn't do an awful lot myself today. I probably should have. I definitely could have. I sewed a few masks, I made a nice dinner, but other than that, I didn't do much "work." I read a book, I played some online games, I did a jigsaw puzzle, I lingered over my coffee. I unloaded the dishwasher, I guess that counts as work. But really, I just spent the day...relaxing.

I hope all of you out there can take a day, or at least a few hours, to do the same. When you're working from home, it's so easy to just keep cranking along, without taking a minute here or a minute there to chat with a friend the way we do when we're working in an office. We often don't bother with breaks, we answer the phone after hours, we eat lunch at our desks, we work late because we're saving our commute time, right? We don't need to take our vacation time, because there's nowhere to go, right? We're just stuck at home, so we might as well work extra hours, right?

But we need to be careful not to burn ourselves out. Even though we don't have anywhere to "go," we still need to get "away." "Away" may not mean a change in geography, but it's really important to have a mental change. So I would encourage all of you, whether you're working from home or not, to give yourself some time off, whether it's a whole day or just a few hours. Read a book, do a puzzle, take a long soak in the tub, go for a walk around your neighborhood (don't forget your mask), write a note to a friend, call your mother. Do whatever it is that you do that relaxes you. We all need that, now more than ever.

You can't take care of everyone else unless you're taking care of yourself first. Listen to the flight attendants when they tell you, "Put on your own oxygen mask before helping your child." If you can't breathe, you can't help anyone else breathe.

Breathe.

Then help someone else breathe.

But first, breathe.