Some of our viewers have sent in somerequests to try to stay sane.
How to handle quarantine kids stuck at home? This request came in during the Covid-19pandemic where everybody was quarantined at home together.
But I think there'ssome application to other times when you're home with the kids for a shorttime or maybe for an extended period of time.
Kids are people too and theyoperate according to basic principles that are not too hard to figure out.
So, Ithink the first thing that I would suggest is that you have some kind of aschedule or plan.
Most people will do better when they expect what's coming.
When they know how do I anticipate what's next.
So, have a little bit of aschedule.
Especially if you want to do some educational experiences orhomeschooling.
Have some kind of visual representation of it.
One of the moms Iwas working with in one of our parent coaching groups had this brilliant ideato color coordinate and code basically a schedule that she she posted up on herwall.
And it had a green chunk for example where we were going to do alearning experience without technology.
Awesome.
And it was blocked out on theday so the kids knew when it was going to start when it was going to end.
Andincidentally, psychologically having a start and an end really helps you towrap your head around whatever you're doing because it gives you an exitstrategy.
If you just say, “Hey, we're going to do home school at 9 o'clock.
” That'sa little harder to accept for a child's mind than to say, “Hey, we're going to doour non technology educational experience from 9:00 to 10:15.
” Start time, end time and whatever it is you're doing in between.
If you colorcode those for the and you can show them a visualrepresentation of what's going on, that's even better.
Great idea.
We all get a little stir-crazy when we're inside for toolong.
So, get outside.
Go outside, walk around get a little bit of air.
This isgood for the kids.
It's good for mom and dad.
You know there's a lot ofpsychological benefits for being outside.
So, get outside and walk around.
Any timewe're working with kids or other people for that matter, they want to feel thatthey have some level of control or input about what's going to happen give them achance to have their input.
Get the feedback from the kids about what it isthat they want to do.
What they'd like to see happen.
What's exciting for them andincorporate that into the schedule or the plan that you've made up.
Anotherreally great reason to engage the kids in the plan is that it teaches them alife skill.
You're going to have times for example when the kids say, “I'm bored.
“You ever get that one? Probably not you.
But when kids say that, I want them tohave the resources, the personal resources to handle that and to come upwith something that they can do.
So, instead of deferring to the parent allthe time or the grown-ups in their life, they can go to their own personalpsychological resources and figure out what to do.
Come up with some good ideasfor that.
Engage the kids in the plan.
Now remember, at the time of this filming, there were a lot of restrictions going on in our world about social contact.
They call it social distancing.
And it's a strategy that is used to combat acontagious pathogen.
In this case it was Covid-19, the corona virus.
There might beother restrictions to different things that you can do.
But what I want to do iscreate a little bit of a culture here where we start asking the question “Howcan I?” instead of just saying, “Well, I can't do this or that.
“Connecting with other people for example.
In fact, I really don't like the termsocial distancing.
I prefer physical distancing because we are socialcreatures.
We can connect with other people.
I'm connecting with you right now, here, today.
And we're not in the same room, are we? No.
I'm on your device andthat's fine.
It's one way that we can connect.
You can do this live too.
I've gotgrandkids and I love to connect with them through FaceTime or social media.
And we can do this live.
This is especially important to me and Vickibecause our grandkids don't even live in the same part of the country.
They're ina completely different state.
We'd have to get on an airplane to go see themphysically.
And there are times when that's not a possibility.
Whether it'sfrom a pandemic or just simply the cost or time that is required to make thathappen.
We can pull up our device and have contact with them immediately.
Andthat is so fun because when we see our kids, they immediately recognize this.
Wealready have a relationship with them it's just a really great way to stayconnected.
Do this with your kids.
If you're looking for something to fill thetime, connect.
Connect through technology to some loved ones.
What do all of thesethings have in common? Really what we're doing is creating aculture together with our kids and our family about what we can do instead offocusing on what we can't do.
A few years ago when I was having an interview withmy friend Chad Hymas, Chad is one of the most popular professional speakers onthe planet.
And part of his story involves an accident in which he had3 of the vertebrae in his neck were fractured crushed when a bale of hay, aone-ton bale they fell on his head.
And he was in thehospital experiencing some predictable emotional responses to this kind of anaccident feeling sorry for himself really in a lot of ways.
And Chad sharedwith me that that depression was becoming overwhelming until he made theshift.
See, he was focusing on what he couldn't do.
And whether it's from anaccident or a pandemic or whatever, when we focus on what we can't do, it'sdepressing.
The shift came for him when Chad decided, “I've got to think aboutwhat I can do.
” What I'm able to do still? How I can adapt? What I can dodifferently? It's not that I can't do things.
It's that I need to do thosethings differently.
And that's the culture.
That's the mentality that willhelp us when we're together in a place where we can't do what we're normallyused to doing.
Well what can we do? See, how much more useful that is? Therereally are a lot of things we can do.
And if you're looking for resources, youmight not have known that we have an entire collection of resources availablefor you at DrPaulJenkins.
com head over there right now and get engaged inour positive community.
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