My car hasn’t left its parking bay since Friday (13 March). I miss picking up the kids from school and popping into the local Pick n Pay for yogurt or buying a pizza from Checkers. I miss standing in front of a shop shelf with rows and rows of chips (crisps) to choose from.

Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.

Pablo Picasso

I think of my clients that have client or customer facing businesses and I wish I could reassure them. I worry about the small businesses that cannot survive a month (or more) of not being able to go to markets. I worry about the economy.

I don’t want to go out. I don’t want to accept deliveries. I don’t want to order takeaways or sit down for a meal. I don’t want to go to the spa or have a haircut. I don’t want people to be near or around me. I simply just don’t want to risk catching the coronavirus.

If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Unwilling participant in home-schooling experiment…

Day 1 I was optimistic and ready to home-school the kids – we painted, played with clay and had story time. Day 2 I only read them stories. Day 3 we had story time and played with balls. Day 4 we had a picnic and got exercise.

Alternative activities to school lessons:

Yes, my kids both have Barbie sunglasses and balls… and , and, and… Barbie is our favourite colour.
  • If you have an old digital camera or old phone with a nice-ish camera go on a walk and let your kid/s take photos. Teach them about focus, looking at different angles and light settings.
  • At-home workouts to keep the whole family fit – Your Family
  • Do yoga, stretch exercises, standing on tippy toes and one leg…
  • Go for a walk with a picnic at the end. They’ll love carrying the baskets and look forward to whatever treats you may have for them.
  • Pick flowers together, flat dry them in books and whip them out for a craft activity. Keep one flower out to show how it dries without being between pages of a book.
  • Do a craft a day with your kids. Pinterest is obviously the best resource on the planet, but you can also check out www.yourfamily.co.za/crafttypes/kids-craft.
  • Create a safari experience at home. Use all their animal soft toys and plastic toys and line them up. For an extra element, put boxes down to use as cars. You can even draw on headlights, doors and more…
  • Bake together!
  • Pitch a tent in the Livingroom and pretend you are on a camping trip.
  • Lots and lots of story time. Your read and they make up stories to tell you about what’s happening in the pictures.
  • Whip out a map and teach them about other countries, travel and maybe throw in a dish that goes with a country you are discussing.

Ok, that is it for day 4. I am off to bed soon and will start my day again at 10pm tonight. These Lockdown articles won’t be daily as I’ll bore you to tears.

The best thinking has been done in solitude.

Thomas A. Edison
Author

Susann is a travel, parenting, beauty and lifestyle blogger in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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