Family Life after a Pandemic: 5 Tips for Dealing with the New Normal

COVID-19 has changed everything, including parenting and running a household. Amid the pandemic, parents get to spend more time with their children, teach them myriad things, and take on tasks they would never have imagined doing. Despite communities gearing up for lifting or easing restrictions on lockdown, things may never be the same again.

Dealing with the changes brought by the pandemic is a new challenge for you and your family. You got this as you and the family have survived weeks of staying at home. By way of reminder, here are ways to help you and other parents out there cope with the new reality in the coming months.

Practice Good Hygiene at Home and in Public Spaces

You have instilled good hygiene habits in your kids to help them prevent getting or spreading diseases. Nowadays, hand washing is a matter of personal health and public safety. Remind the children to keep their hands clean anytime, anywhere with these essential tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and experts.

• Wash hands after touching objects or surfaces in public places, like shopping carts, door handles, and 50 other things.
• Scrub hands for 20 seconds to the tune of “Happy Birthday” or one’s favourite song at washyourlyrics.com.
• Keep a hand sanitiser, which is alcohol-based, or has at least 60 percent alcohol concentration, on standby.
• Try not to touch one’s face, particularly the eyes, nose, and mouth. This study shows that respondents in a simulated train ride touch their faces 17.8 times per hour.

Wear a Face Mask, and Maybe Learn to Make One

Wearing a protective face mask when going out is here to stay. Over time, it has become clear that face masks are better than nothing in protecting (1) others when you cough or sneeze or (2) yourself when someone sneezes at you. This experiment, for example, demonstrates that a speaker who has a damp washcloth over their mouth produced fewer droplets, the mode of transmission.

Because health-care workers need medical-grade masks more than ever, you can make cloth masks for the family. Teach the kids the proper way to remove them, that is, by not touching the front part. The CDC, however, warns against placing cloth face coverings on children under two years of age.

Keep Your (Physical) Distance 

Hand washing, wearing protective masks, and physical distancing are the staples of the new-normal world. When you attend public events, be sure to keep a safe distance (a meter or more) away from others. Don’t be surprised if you see plastic dividers in restaurants.

Are children less susceptible to COVID-19: this study cites their having fewer outdoor activities and less international travel as possible reasons. It still helps to remind the kids to maintain social distancing when in school come reopening or saying hi to friends in the neighbourhood.

Change Your Mind-Set about Money 

You are fortunate if you have a job nowadays, with the economic impact of COVID-19 felt throughout the world. A crisis like this makes you look at things in a different light, especially concerning money. You may have to put in more effort to save and reduce spending in the household. If you plan to make big-ticket purchases in the coming months, these will have to be within the budget and well worth the money.

Even in a double-income family, you can save more when your income is high enough. Think of exploring other avenues to boost earnings.

• Sign up for freelance work; there are dedicated websites for this. Also, ask your friends around for reliable clients.
• Sell things online because it is one of the fastest ways to earn extra money. You can focus on products that are always in demand, such as toilet paper, diapers, and sanitisers. There’s also a market for children’s clothes, with tots growing up so fast, and you can sell these used clothes in your shop.

Decide When to Go Out or Not

Going out now is a conscious decision. Unless there is a proven cure or vaccine for the virus, it’s better to err on the side of caution.

There’s no easy answer for sure, and you have to think harder about your choices at this point.

• Grocery: food, medicine, and other essentials will require you to go outside. Still, you can limit trips to the grocery by scheduling them once a week or every other week. To further limit exposure, designate one person (you or someone healthy) in your family to do the shopping.
• Work: ask your boss about permanently transferring you to home-based operations. You may have proven that you can work with kids around and can continue doing so. Or you can try to win one or two more days you can work at home.

Got more ideas to share? Let us know below.

This is a collaborative post.