Whether you’re a stay-at-home-mom who is used to having littles with you all day long or a working mama who now has to juggle work and kids within the walls of your home – being quarantined can feel is overwhelming. Outside of what you’re going to do with the kiddos, how do you deal – for you? Here are some items to have in your arsenal to survive while, well, just trying to survive.
- Super Coffee: Let’s be honest; coffee is already super. However, there is really a thing called Super Coffee that comes premade with the goodness of Columbian coffee, protein, no sugar, and flavors like vanilla, hazelnut, mocha, white chocolate peppermint, or just the tried and true original blend to match your mood and taste buds. Best part? It’s available on Amazon, so it comes straight to your door. Oh, also: Super Espresso when the coffee just isn’t cutting it.
- Sanity Sauce: There is no one recipe for sanity sauce: it’s whatever your favorite drink of choice is, preferably with alcohol for me, when I’m not 374 weeks pregnant. In desperate times, we’re not talking about crazy concoctions and definitely no garnishes. But, here are some two-ingredient drinks that might at least make you feel a little fancier than whatever beer or wine is tucked in the back of your fridge or bar.
- Mimosa: OJ & Champaign
- Irish Coffee: Coffee & Irish cream liqueur
- Screwdriver: OJ & Vodka
- Vodka Collins: Vodka & Lemonade
- Gimlet: Gin & Lime Juice
- Margarita: Tequila & Lime Juice
- Martini: Gin or Vodka & Vermouth
- Vodka-Cranberry: Vodka & (you guessed it) Cranberry juice
- Whiskey Coke: Your favorite Whisky with your favorite Coke of choice
- Hand Cream/Lotion: I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but washing your hands is a really good idea during an outbreak (as well as in life, in general, just on a Monday, when the sun is shining, and people aren’t losing their minds – still a good idea). The downside to all that hand washing? Super dry hands. If you have a favorite brand, type, or scent – do you, boo! I’ve always loved Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy lotions (which you can get on Amazon as well) and creams for keeping my digits moisturized as well as injecting a little spa vibe to my day. My mom recently introduced me to Hempz lotion that has a few different scents and styles. I tried their sweet pineapple & honey melon lotion, and it was pretty delicious to my skin senses.
- Bingeworthy Entertainment: I feel like most people have a few series’ they want to dig into and just don’t have the time. Well, this might be the time. What book sagas have you meant to page through? What tv series have you wanted to binge? What about listening to a podcast while acting super engaged and impressed with the art that your child is creating? Check out our list of shows to stream. If you have any suggestions for books, shows, movies, podcasts, music and more to binge, add them in the comments below!
- Technology: Social distancing doesn’t have to mean cutting out all social aspects of your life. This is a great time to pick up the phone, jump on FaceTime or Skype, email, heck – skip the tech and handwrite a note! While social media has offered us the opportunity to be connected at all times and locations, it is also an endless hole of misinformation and negativity. If you find yourself stressed after checking in on your favorite social platform, perhaps give it a break and put that time and energy into conversations with friends and family through a different medium.
If none of these suggestions work for you – find something that does and go with that. Ask yourself about the things you have on life’s back burner that you might be able to find time for now. Perhaps it’s a house project, a home spa night, starting up a body-weight exercise program, or tackling “the drawer” in your kitchen/bathroom/playroom. However you choose to spend your quarantined time, try not to wish it away. Because life will resume and pick back up and be madness in a totally different way.
Happy hand washing (definitely if you’ve run out of toilet paper and have to get creative)!
