This blog is about how as Mummies we can best help our babies, our families and ourselves survive the Coronavirus and its many social, psychological and physical impacts.

How do I explain to my 3 year old daughter that is to turn 4 this week that she is not going to be having her Frozen birthday party that we had been planning for months? How do I explain that she will not be able to see her family and most importantly her Daddy on her birthday? Her Daddy safely got back into Australia recently but we decided to quarantine him in a Airbnb because it would be impossible for our daughter to self isolate from him. We have decided to self isolate from school and work too to try and help flatten the curve. He has now got Covid19, but thankfully has mild symptoms.

“How do I explain that she will not be able to see her family and most importantly her Daddy on her birthday?”

It is unbelievable the devastating effects it is having on the world economy, including our physiotherapy practices and home finances. Medical and political experts are trying to formulate the best advice with this unknown virus, and the advice is changing day to day. Even the elderly ladies in the spartan supermarkets said they have never seen anything like this in their lives. It is surreal, it is scary and it going to affect us all in some way. I am normally a very optimistic and happy person but even I have been affected by the anxiety of it all.

As Mummies and parents we have to remain strong and put on a brave face for our children’s wellbeing. So this blog is about how we manage this Coronavirus in terms of explaining it to our children, keeping our families safe and sane and keeping our children entertained if we have to self isolate.

Children, COVID19, schooling and risks for their grandparents

Fortunately, babies and children do not seem to be suffering badly from Covid19 even though they can contract it. They are probably carriers of the virus though. So due to their substandard skills in bottom wiping and hand washing (a doctor told me COVID19 can last on faeces for 30 days!) one could argue that they should not be really mixing with many people, especially their grandparents. We shouldn’t be relying on our parents to babysit at the moment because they are amongst the most vulnerable to this virus. For that reason, the Australian government is currently advising children to continue to go to school with the reason that the continuing education benefits and risk to grandparents babysitting may outweigh the medical risks to the child and others. This is one of the highly contested issues, with many schools closed around the world. The rules are changing daily so keep abreast of the guidelines.

“We shouldn’t be relying on our parents to babysit at the moment because they are amongst the most vulnerable to this virus.”

Look for the positives

I know positives are hard to find at the moment, but I am trying to look at this positively, and so is my daughter, in that self isolating has provided us with an enormous amount of quality play time together! These precious moments that I have treasured in her first 3 years, were greatly minimised this year with a hectic 5 day Kindergarten/ Early Learning Centre schedule. Bring on the Coronavirus and we could potentially create a priceless year that we could treasure forever.

“Bring on the Coronavirus and we could potentially create a priceless year that we could treasure forever. ”

Living life differently

If nothing else, coronavirus and self isolation presents us with time, time that we always found hard to find, time to do all those tasks you never had the time to get to. In addition to toilet paper, home improvement products are also in short supply!

Most of us are having to adjust our budgets, many losing our jobs, so we have to live life more basically with less extravagances. So whilst creating masterpieces in the kitchen with canned beans and tomatoes, learning to “just be in the moment” and “appreciating the small things” is also a healthy thing to do for our psyche in these times. Walking slowly in the park or staring up at the clouds with your children will create a priceless connection for you and your children. We also all know that young children are quite happy with cardboard boxes to play with.

“So whilst creating masterpieces in the kitchen with canned beans and tomatoes, learning to “just be in the moment” and “appreciating the small things” is also a healthy thing to do for our psyche in these times.”

Look after yourself

If you are a social extrovert like me, isolation is going to be really hard. So set up drinks with friends over online conference calls. My girlfriends and I did this, this week and it was incredibly therapeutic. With the closure of gyms and organised sporting clubs, find time to exercise in the park, do aerobics in front of the TV etc as this definitely helps keep us calmer. All my previous blogs on exercise/ relaxation ideas are based at home; Relaxation techniques, Exercise routine while your baby is settling to sleep, Hydrotherapy while pregnant or a Mummy. Spend quality time with your partner, share a lovely bottle of wine you couldn’t afford at a restaurant or perhaps contribute to the predicted Covid19 baby boom?!!

“Spend quality time with your partner, share a lovely bottle of wine you couldn’t afford at a restaurant, or perhaps contribute to the predicted Covid19 baby boom?!! ”

Home schooling

Our daughter is at preschool this year and even though to some it looks like fun and giggles it is actually a really important year of learning and preparation for entering school. In our individual situation of isolation, I have taken it on to “home school” for the past week. Some say not to do this because it may stress the parent and child out and that we don’t need more stress at the moment. We do need to keep calm for our children. It is easier to home school a pre-schooler but I really feel for those with older children and the children themselves trying to concentrate on their studies in these times. Big deep breaths!

“Some say not to do this because it may stress the parent and child out and that we don’t need more stress at the moment. We do need to keep calm for our children. ”

Home schooling ideas for young children

Education is extremely important to us and we will ensure Misaki receives the best we can afford. I hope that she will return to her formal education asap but if we find ourselves in this unusual situation of self isolation I have brainstormed a few ideas to get you and them through (mentally and physically). I would love people to share their age appropriate ideas below in the comment section so we can help each other out (rather than fight each other for toilet paper).

Lesson 1: Explaining COVID19. You have to use age appropriate language, but I think being honest without being scary is best. To my 3 year old I said there was a bug that was jumping around to people and making some people sick, so to make sure we stayed away from the bug, we would have to stay home for a while. She then made me feel the best I had all day by making this horrendous coughing sound pretending to be sick. It was the laugh I really needed.
Writing books. This is something they are doing in Preschool (Kindergarten) at the moment so I followed suit and we did one about “The bug” so that I could get a sense on how she was feeling about it all. She seems pretty calm and collected and made a pretty good summary of it all.
Role play. It is really good for children of preschool age to role play and this is her favourite thing to do. Cooking, teaching, doctors, shop keepers, princesses and mermaids…
Spelling and arithmetic. I found this brilliant puzzle called “Match It!” Spelling. I think there is an arithmetic one too. I have been using this to help her with phonetics and letter recognition.
Reading. 3 books a day is what is recommended.
Art and craft. Also very big at Kindy and ELC so we are following suit with painting, scissors, glue etc. We had fun making a mermaid’s tail today just out of paper, paint, decorations, glue and sticky tape. Entertained us for much of the day.
Music. My mum kindly lent us her ekulele which has made a ‘lovely’ accompaniment to me learning the saxophone. We shut the doors during this time! She (and I) were most impressed when I guessed how to play “Old McDonald had a farm” on the sax. Another positive, I’ll get to nail this new saxophone! We also spend much time singing and dancing to the Frozen soundtrack and occasionally my favourite music.
Home economics. Young children love to copy their parents. Cook, water the garden, vacuum together. Probably the top three tasks are learning to wipe your bottom and wash your hands really well and planting a productive garden together to prepare for the large possibility of bunkering down and food shortages!
Exercise. This is very important for you and your child’s mental and physical health and could be hard if restricted to your home, especially if you live in an apartment like in China or Italy. Thankfully we live in Adelaide, almost as spartan as the supermarket shelves, so many of us have the luxury of backyards so we can jump on the trampoline, run under the sprinkler, swim in the pool, throw and catch the ball, play hide and seek or catchy, work on their balance striking animal poses or creating obstacle courses, have scavenger hunts in the “jungle/ woods” or learn to climb trees if they are old enough. We have also walked to our local park and explored nature but have refrained from the play equipment and have not touched anyone to minimise cross infection. COVID19 lasts 3-5 days on metal, so slides and swings etc should be a no go! (https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/How-long-coronavirus-lasts-on-hard-surfaces-15118173.php). If you are restricted to an apartment, do as we did today- do laps around the house, do aerobics on TV, skip with a rope, dance to your favourite music. Try baby yoga. Breath. If your baby is an infant try these exercises together in the blog Baby bonding exercises - Mums and Bubs.
Screens. They have their place, let’s face it. Short periods give everyone sanity and a breather. Many shows are quite educational. There are websites that give audio visuals tours of places like zoos and National parks. Look at this one as an good example:
https://www.waterford.org/resources/3-great-virtual-field-trips-for-early-learners/.
Online learning. Schools and kindergartens are starting to get on board with online learning and resources so approach them about this if they haven’t already approached you.

I wish you all the very best in surviving this global pandemic. It is going to be tough but we will get through this. Learn lessons, look at life differently, perhaps with changed values about what is really important in life. Having a healthy family I love more than anything in the world, rather than possessions or wealth, is really what I am grateful for. Come home soon my darling husband. xx

“Learn lessons, look at life differently, perhaps with changed values about what is really important in life. ”

Summary

Coronavirus and 2020 is going to be very tough for all of us so look after your own mental and physical health, so that you can look after your babies and family.
Look at the positives about what isolation can allow you to find time to do.
Enjoy the opportunity to spend precious time with your babies with home schooling ideas to entertain and educate.

Melli Tilbrook is a Physiotherapist at Adelaide Physiotherapy and Pilates Studio, Beulah Park

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Coronavirus and protecting our families