CORONAVIRUS IS ALREADY OVERWHELMING: Let's not overwhelm ourselves further with classes, meet-ups, & homeschooling!

At this point into this Covid-19 crisis most of us our stuck in our homes with little to no going out.  Luckily we have things like Netflix, grocery delivery, and most of all internet!  So many cool online opportunities have popped up in the past week or so including online live classes through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Zoom.  You can learn anything you want right now from the comfort of your home and with all this new-found time you've got... dance, workouts, crafts, cooking, really anything!  Being a dancer, fitness instructor, and YouTuber, I of course jumped on the bandwagon, offering online dance and workout classes as well as new live YouTube and Instagram daily workouts.  Being a suburban stay-at-home mom with a young child I was also  excited that a lot of my favourite dancers and fitness pros were now offering online sessions and I could actually take classes with them without having to find childcare or leave my home (I would've loved this even if we weren't in lockdown, but this is what made it happen).  People are also holding all sorts of online meet-ups with friends and family... tea times, wine hangouts, zoom karaokes, etc.  which I think are great when many people may be feeling alone and isolated.   With all this new online awesomeness out there all of a sudden, there is a temptation to feel like you have to do it all - I'm here to tell you YOU DON'T!  Normally someone might take a class or two  a week if they were lucky, now I feel people are signing up for a few a day, making an overwhelming schedule for themselves!  This is a tough time and I believe in a bit of routine, working out daily, eating well, spending quality time with your kids/family, as well as just sitting back and enjoying this strange moment in time in your home - you may never have another period of time like this in your life!  If you're feeling empty and bored a few fun online activities you can participate in can help, but also try to look inside and figure out why you're empty and bored, now that there are less outside distractions things may become crystal clear.  What do you want your life to be about? Deep thoughts...  Try to really figure out how to make the best of this time and enjoy it, rather than distracting yourself completely and not looking within.  I believe everything happens for a reason and maybe this is happening so we can pause and really figure some things out!  You don't need to book your whole day with classes, meet-ups, phone conversations, organizing... you can just be... this is the perfect time to try doing less and not being stressed about it.

Same goes for your kids... I constantly see people having whole days of homeschooling, crazy routines for their kids, recess bells, etc. at home already!  March Break just ended for us here (they wouldn't have had school anyways until this week, it's not like we're WAY behind).  Plus when everyone gets back to school, the whole world will have had the same experience, your child won't be the only one who fell behind through these coronavirus weeks or months.  This is a crazy experience for your kids too and I don't think they (or you) need to start full-blown homeschooling at this point!  Everyone's different, but I'm finding learning naturally happening for both my boys through all sorts of fun activities that we now have the time to do together through this time... cooking, working out, cleaning, crafts, reading, making vision boards, etc.

Maybe because everyone is basically living online these days, people have a lot of time to write and read posts/videos/etc. and this has caused a lot of pressure and overwhelm for people to do too much through this trying time.  Let's all remember that this is a very unique situation and we need to have a lot of grace for ourselves and the people around us.  Not everything is right for everyone.  You do what works for you and let others do what works for them, let's support each other through this and try as much a possible to stay calm and happy!