New Rituals we have developed with…my son!
We all know, and we all have specific rituals that we follow every day in our lives. It can be a 5 minute gratitude meditation early in the morning to start our day positively, or it can be a quick stop at Starbucks before work to get that so much needed iced-latte with soya milk and vanilla flavour with the smiley faces on the cup next to your name that has been spelled wrong but who cares since the barista is so cute! What was I saying? Oh, yeah! Rituals! Yes, rituals in our life…they are very important!
One of my most precious rituals which I follow, and love, is having that first coffee of the day (after working out in the very early hours, shower, get dressed) in the peace and quiet of my house while reading my book. I always devote at least 20 minutes to myself to enjoy the coffee, learn something new and be motivated. Then I think of my day ahead and that is when I put the news on the telly to find out what is going on around the world!
Staying at home these past few weeks though, due to the COVID-19 outbreak has surprisingly created new rituals not just for me but for my son and myself! Yes, that is correct! Now, you may be wondering ‘how on earth can you develop rituals to follow and stick to with an 8-year-old?’
Well, we did make it happen out of nowhere…it just happened because as you know kids can be very very…and I mean very persistent! So, I am happy to be sharing with you these rituals which I do hope you will find fun or interesting and I would love to hear about your new rituals (either with child/children or not! 😊 )
- The laptop professionals: Working from home I am connected with my managers and colleagues, while my son is connected online with his teachers and his friends. So, besides both typing on our laptops we found it such a good idea to communicate every day with at least one friend to socialize! You know, it keeps everyone sane and happy like ‘How was your day?’ ‘Well, I now know that we have 48 tiles in the kitchen and one of them has actually cracked!’
- Snacking Time: My son’s favourite time, usually in the afternoon pre-COVID-19. Now, it evolved in morning snacking and afternoon snacking! So, I had to find ways to keep the snacking healthy without limiting the fun and yammy taste of the snack. So, we both came up with two ideas which when we tried and became our daily rituals because we loved it. Either morning or afternoon our healthy snacks, which I repeat, we totally are obsessed right now, are blueberries and bananas with yogurt and honey or apples, sliced and topped with peanut butter and the more lavish, a bowl of strawberries with granola at the bottom with a little bit of Nutella on the top!
- Bicycle rides and Just Dance: Well, every afternoon we used to go to the park near our house to play basketball or football but with the new COVID-19 restrictions, the park became a ‘do not come near’ territory. So, our bicycles came out of the storage room and every day around five in the afternoon we ride them and cycle towards the dead-end road behind our house which gives to us a 500 metres radius to cycle. Needless to say, that we have so much fun – and exercise as well! My son loves to race, balance on his bike petals and starts conversations with subjects that need explanation and have a big number of ‘whys’ in them. The other big thing for us right now is the fact that we subscribed for a year (yes I know but it was just 27 euro something) to the Just Dance. This thing is marvelous! Not only we dance together and we compete with other people from other countries, it is such a good exercise! I mean it really builds stamina with a lot of sweating and laughter. Plus, it gets my son to move and do more exercise which is one thing I am kind of worried these days with him not being able to do all his sports activities and outdoor play-dates with his friends.
- Movie Nights: Well, it started off the first Friday that schools were officially suspended, and we could not go to the movies anymore, so we said we would bring the movies to our home. Popcorn, cosy blankets, juice and lights out! Cinema in the house! Since then we have been doing movie nights almost every night and to be honest, I prefer this to my son being attached and glued on his phone or iPad watching some silly videos of people without any meaning at all. It cools us all down and indeed watching ‘Mowgli’ or ‘The Emoji Movie’ can be so much fun! Who knew? It is also a nice trick to get the kids to bed early. We usually start the movie around 7.30p.m. so my son is in his bed by 9p.m. That is so useful as the rest of the night belongs to us, the adults, to catch up and re-connect after a busy day working from home!
- Bedtime Story: Another old ritual that due to the new situation we are living nowadays, came back! We both loved this ritual. Curling in bed and reading, making the voices of the characters and discussing the ending of the story with the always cute (I am melting as I write it now) ‘Goodnight kiss mommy!’ But then he said he got older and he did not need bedtime stories as ‘those are for babies.’ But then COVID-19 came along and something changed. So, we are back with our bedtime stories book, reading one, almost night after night and getting to give those sweet goodnight mommy kisses again!
I don’t know about you, but I just love rituals and especially now that I have some to be sharing with my son! Life is beautiful around our beloved persons and especially children!
By the way, a friend sent this link to me about this book which explains COVID-19 in simple words to children. You can press the link and download the pdf file for FREE. I sure know for when and where I am keeping this story for. I just hope I will be able to give answers to all those ‘whys.’
https://nosycrowcoronavirus.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Coronavirus-ABookForChildren.pdf
Looking forward to receiving your comments about your new rituals!
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