4 Ways Quarantine Changed My Life

When my children and I started our ten days of quarantine on March 17, 2021, I quickly saw how bad things had gotten because of my work outside of the home. The first thing you need to know is that as a single mother and sole provider I tend to work a lot and usually am too tired to do anything when I get home. So the housework and laundry piled up, the kids' homeschooling work was behind schedule as were the reports, and the kids and I had grown so far apart that all we ever seem to do is fight. The biggest thing that I realized, I was burned out and unhappy. That's when I realized things had to change and change fast.

I will admit it's not easy being quarantined with two children who are so different. My daughter is more of an introvert who prefers to be by herself and listen to music whereas my son is an extrovert who prefers to be playing outside and being active. The first few days were rough for all of us being cooped up and out of our routine. There were a lot of fights and meltdowns. By day five we were all going stir crazy and tired of fighting all of the time. We really needed to find a way to make quarantine work for us so that it would be easier for everyone.

Since we were going to be together for the next ten days with no breaks, we started trying to work on catching up on the homeschooling schoolwork. My daughter had no problem working on this goal as she listens to music as she does her work. On the other hand, has trouble sitting still to do traditional schooling through books and has to have his classes online. By customizing the way I home school them based on this new knowledge has helped us get closer to catching up. I also incorporated using chores in their life skills and gym classes, thus proverbially killing two birds with one stone. By assigning clean-up as races the children get their gym classes in and chores like dishes, trash, meal planning, and preparation, sweeping, and mopping fall life skills. My daughter and I spent some time making necklaces, painting nails, and listening to music together. My daughter and I realized that we share some of the same taste in music which is nice. I spent time with my son working on his online classes together, watching YouTube videos, and playing his games. We quickly realized that not everything has to turn into an argument. The three of us watched movies, Netflix and even started a family blog and making videos and blog posts together. Spending time together doing activities they enjoy allowed us to get closer as a family and has cut down on some of the arguments.

As for being burned out and unhappy with my home health aide job, I realized that between my dream of being a writer and the family blog, I could start my own freelance writing business. I have always enjoyed writing short stories and poems. I have been writing stories and poems since I was about eight or nine years old. I started researching freelance writing, copy-writing, and ghostwriting options and decided to try my hand at it all. Most of my expertise is in parenting special needs children, child development, mental health awareness and support, home health, and natural health and wellness. I have 13 years of experience in parenting special needs, 4 years experience in natural health and wellness, and 8 years of mental health awareness and support, and 8 years of in-home health care.