Confessions of a Quarantined Working Momma

Confessions of a Quarantined Working Mom

I remember always hoping for a job that allowed me the flexibility to work from home. I have little ones and at times, its challenging to find coverage when schools are closed due to inclement weather conditions and/or holidays. I thought that if I had the opportunity to work from home, It would just make life a bit easier for me.

Thanks to the coronavirus, I am more than grateful at having the opportunity to work from home, especially since there are so many who do not have that option. At first I just knew this would be perfect for me; to be able to stay home with the kids and also work. I even thought I would be able to squeeze in some blogging content, whether its photo sessions or time to write content.

However, now I am a stay at home mom, working mom, cook, caretaker, teacher, etc. I am juggling many hats trying to find a way to normalize this new way of life and create a sort of routine that works for everyone. I have no time for anything!

Ariel is also working from home however between the hours of 7am to 3:30pm, we are busy being employees. I scrolled through my social media accounts to see other moms posting their schedules and routine and appear to have this whole thing under control and down to the T. Although, I too put a schedule together, no day as been the same and keeping a schedule has yet to be possible for me. I was trying to have everything done by 6pm and have the afternoon for myself and on some days, I am able to finish up with work and homeschooling by then, but I still have chores and stuff to do around the house. Unfortunately for me, my blog was bumped down to the bottom of the pile.

Some days have been much better than others. There are days that Amelia, willingly, will sit and do her schoolwork thoroughly and without complains and Aylah enthusiastically sits on mommy’s lap as we go through her Pre-K lessons as well. However, on bad days, Amelia will not focus on her schoolwork and her reply to everything is “I don’t know”. Then Aylah will be screaming at the top of her lungs because she much rather watch Paw Patrol than sit at the computer. There are weeks where I feel we are beginning to establish a schedule and/or routine and once I find myself getting comfortable, bomb! there comes a harder day.

To maintain my sanity, rules of screen time, routines and bedtimes are currently out the window. I allow my children to get away with more than I usually would because these are definitely hard times for all of us, including little ones. I don’t want to give my children anxiety with the constant retrains and rules since we are stuck in the house as it is. I was sure to find indoor activities the girls and I can do together which has definitely helped in entertaining them. We have had fashion shows, indoor picnics, scavenger hunts, and for Easter, we had an egg hunt.

I have put aside my goals, dreams and vision for 2020 and started to shift my focus on survival. I have been focused on getting through these days of being indoors with lesser time than I had prior to being quarantined.

A few things I have made sure to find time for is, self-care and some quality time with my husband. My favorite thing to do with Ariel is to watch movies so often times, we will get the popcorn going and cuddle on the couch. As far as my self-care, I have been taking such good care of my skin lately and have been giving myself daily facials. I have also continued to journal and listen to self help podcasts or Ted Talk videos on Youtube. I have also made an effort to read some books. There are so many books I have been dying to read and now that I have slow down on blogging a bit, I have begun to pick up my book.

During this pandemic, no two days are alike. My hopes with this post was to give you all a glimpse at how we have been handling this entire thing and to let you know that if you find yourself struggling to stay motivated, or positive or just struggling overall, you are not alone. I hope you share you experience with me in the comments below.

Thank you so much for reading.