I even as I write this article I think I have a cold. And I’m not in very good shape. And I’m thinking I’m going to sneeze at the store and they’ll kick me out. I’m wearing a mask, it’s not about that. And my snot’s dripping into it. I don’t know if you wanted to know that.
Vlad went to Florin, so I’ll be alone with Ari, my dog, for a while. I like having Vlad with me and taking care of him. Plus he’s big and we can talk about all sorts of things now. It’s going to be hard without him.
How do you feel? Are you afraid you won’t be able to make ends meet? Do you have other thoughts nagging at you? The ones about your health, maybe? Are you tired of sitting at home with your kids who want something from you all the time and if you don’t play with them they sit on the tablet and you feel guilty, yell at them and then feel worse?
Otilia Mantelers wrote a really cool article that helped me a bit to understand what is going on with my reactions to my relationship with Vlad, Why not idealize this time at home.
Cristina Oțel is also resourceful and brings useful information in the Well Break about how she and her children and husband are going through this restrictive period and other topics. It seems liberating all the time to hear that other people feel as we do and that it’s not all happy meals, playtime with the kids and fulfilling relationships with partners.
I took the home state as a challenge. I quickly made a schedule so that I had a daily routine, which helps me when I work from home. I get up at seven and do 30 minutes of yoga, then I make breakfast and eat with Vlad. After that I work until 12:00 when Ari and I go out for an hour and then we eat until 2. And so on.
Professionally I started budgeting for the short and medium term with three scenarios, worst case (I have no income), medium, I have some income and good, with income to cover my expenses. I’ve kept expenses to a minimum, renegotiated rent for three months. I’ve made a plan of where I’m likely to get income from in the short term and I’ve set to work, putting it into practice to make sure I’ve done everything I can to get it. That helps me with my confidence in my own strengths.
The first challenge that I successfully met was coordinating online learning at the kindergarten I work with. The second was to reduce costs on the one hand and on the other to bring value through what we offer online so that parents continue to pay their contribution to get us through this period. We had two weeks. It looks like we have succeeded. And apart from the fact that it was very satisfying, it also brought me income, I moved from the worst case scenario to the middle one.
I ask again, how are you? You can write and talk to me or call me if you need to. And I want to remind you that however you’re feeling is fine. It’s okay to feel like doing things sometimes and sometimes not. It’s okay to be annoyed with your kids once in a while. It’s okay to want to take time for yourself. Or to want to get out of the house. It’s okay to be afraid of getting sick. No one has a recipe for how to be during this time.
PS. From tomorrow I start telling 9-12 year olds at 10am online about how to be more confident in my own strengths. What does self-confidence mean at this time? How can I help? Is there anything I can do to help? We make collages, test our senses, write gratitude notes. Click on the link to sign up, we have five places available.