Category: The Macaroni Mama Blog

We have a May birthday at our house and I want to make it special for her since we don’t know if we are still under a stay at home order.

We usually celebrate lavishly at our house and this year will be no different. I have been seeing creative and out of the box ideas on social media, so I thought I’d compile a list of some of my favorites:

• Cards-Put out the word on social media and ask friends and family to send birthday cards to your child. I know my kids love getting mail.

• Birthday videos-Have friends, family send birthday videos of love, or have them sing happy birthday to your child.

• Virtual Party-Arrange a Zoom or Google Hang Out birthday party. Arrange a time for your child’s friends can get together virtually and celebrate! You could even make some cupcakes and deliver them curbside to their friends so you can all sing to the birthday child. Plus their friends get a sweet treat as well.

• 

• Baking Fun-Make the birthday cake together, get your child in on the decorating. Kids love using icing and sprinkles.

• Birthday parade-ask friends and family to drive by with signs, balloons, and honks of birthday love.

• Crown the birthday child-Make a special crown for the birthday girl or boy and have them wear it all-day. The birthday child gets to pick which game to play, what’s for dinner, the movie pick, etc. The birthday king or queen is the decision-maker for the day. (Within reason of course-think cruise director type decisions.)

• 

• Decorate-Make the house look like it’s a party zone, balloons, streamers, party hats, the works.

• Gifts-Order birthday gifts online, better yet, try to support a small business that offers curbside pick up or delivery.

• Wakeup call-Gather the rest of the family and surprise your child with an early morning rendition of Happy Birthday.

• Now Showing-Print faux tickets to a movie, make popcorn, and have a viewing of your child’s favorite movie.

• 

Being a stay at home for over 12 years, I’m no stranger to being at home with my children.

It took a while to get into a routine, with my firstborn, I was in sort of a whirlwind for a long time.

One golden piece of advice from a seasoned mom was to take time for me and that meant showering, doing your hair, and getting dressed.

Trust me, you will feel so much better, it’s like the making your bed theory. You remember hearing that if you want to change the world, start by making your bed, right?!?

So even though you are staying home, not going anywhere at the moment, shower, do your hair, make that bed, I promise it will make you feel better and more productive.

I have a 12-year-old, an eight-year-old and a five-year-old. If you are like me you are trying to navigate through this pandemic and how to talk to your kids about it.

My older children sort of get it, they know about the virus, why we are staying home and the purpose of washing our hands frequently.

That doesn’t mean they are not struggling with staying home, missing their friends, not going back to school for the rest of the school year.

They are mourning and it’s alright, we are trying to encourage them to discuss their feelings and take some alone time if they need it.

We are telling them it’s OK to be sad, it’s OK to feel confused. We as parents are feeling all that as well.

Our preschool has sent out some great resources for my five year old and how to discuss all this with him.

I wanted to share a storybook that I’ve read to him and I think it has been helpful.

Another great resource is a Coronavirus time capsule that your child can fill out. It was sent to me by our preschool and I think it’s a great chance to discuss this time with your child. And a great item for their memory boxes. I’m so grateful that our preschool provided these tools for us.

I pray that these resources help you and your children! Please share in the comments how you are talking to your children and ideas that have helped you.

March 2020 will certainly go down in the history books. It seemed like so much changed so fast. At the beginning of the month, things were changing daily then as times went on, it was changing hourly.

Like many travelers, my husband and I were planning a trip for Spring Break and family was going to watch our kids. We’d been planning this vacation for over a year and BAM, things came to a halt.

As a travel advisor, the travel business has been and will be deeply affected by all this for some time. I know that we will travel the world again and I can’t wait to start planning client trips instead of sitting on the phone for hours on end canceling and rescheduling.

I truly believe that travel advisors will be more popular than ever, don’t you want an advocate for you if something unexpected comes up? This past month has definitely shown us unforeseen events can pop up anytime. Who do you call, where do you start, a travel advisor is there for just that and at no extra cost to you.

At this point, I am just posting virtual vacations on my Facebook business page and dreaming of the sun, sand, and sounds of the ocean. You can follow me here.

Our family has been home for almost a month now, I went out one time to help my parents grocery shop. I couldn’t help feeling anxious as I ventured out into the real world. As I approached the first stoplight, I couldn’t help but think “Am I too close to this car, do I need to be 6 feet apart from the car in front of me”. Do we need to practice social distancing while driving?

We have enjoyed our Spring Break together, cleaning, organizing, playing games, having tea parties, enjoying Disney Plus, eating ALL meals together and then distance learning started.

This has been the last three weeks of our lives. What have I learned? My husband and I are still compatible, my kids each need extra hugs and a sense of normalcy right now, we are a strong family unit and it’s OK to have good days and bad days.

Mostly I’ve learned that life can slow down, we can be stripped down to the bare essentials and we will be OK as long as we have our faith, our health and each other.

Stay home, stay safe and take it one day at a time!!

Let’s be honest we are all trying to fill the days with activities to keep our kids busy.

My last post contained activities to use with electronics, you can read it here https://paradisetravelbychristine.com/virtual-family-fun/

Today, let’s put those electronics away and have some good old fashion family fun.

After schoolwork, chores and reading are done or if you need to break up your school day there are tons of ways to entertain your kids.

Here is a list of some of the activities we are doing lately:

• Play a board game
• Put a puzzle together
• Take a family walk
• Play in the yard
• Looks through old photos
• Sing some songs
• Chalk artwork outside
• Write a letter to a friend or family member out of state
• Artwork-paint, color, sculpt with clay or playdough
• Build a fort
• Learn a new song to play on an instrument you have at home
• Have an indoor picnic or if the weather is nice an outdoor picnic
• Play hide and seek
• Dress up and have a family tea party-we did this with lemonade
• Play the alphabet game
• Teach your dog a new trick
• Play spa and have manicures/pedicures
• Bake cookies
• Play restaurant, have your kids help prepare dinner, set the table and make a menu. Then they can serve you and play waiter/waitress
• Have a dance party

I also try to have daily quiet time, where the kids are off electronics and in their own rooms playing, reading, whatever. I think they need a break from their siblings and I need some quiet of my own, from them, to get actual work done. I did this a lot when my kids stopped napping, it’s usually after lunch and by that time, mama needs a break!!

These are just a few ideas to entertain your kids without electronics. I like to look on my Facebook feed to get ideas from my friends or browse Pinterest.

You can follow my page here .

Please don’t feel like you need to be the Pinterest perfect mother, this time in our lives and the situation we are all living in, just do your best.

If your kids are loved, well-fed, a roof over their heads then they are good and so are you. Take it one day at a time mamas, you are doing great.

Share some activities you are doing with your kids, I’d love to get some new ideas.

Image if this quarantine had happened when we were kids? What would distance learning look like? Would we have to rely on a telephone chain to communicate?

How lucky are we that this happened in 2020? Social distancing is the buzz word of the moment, but in reality, we are not socially distant are we?

Facebook, Instagram, Google Hangouts, Facetime, Zoom calls, the possibilities for a social connection are everywhere. The possibilities to connect are endless.

Some great ideas to do with your kiddos during their electronic time:

• Have a virtual playdate with a friend
• Have grandparent read a book to your child on Facetime
• Facetime in a family member during a meal
• E -visit museums
• Virtually ride attractions at Disney World
• Fun Tic Toc videos
• Have the kiddos make an I-movie trailer (Thanks Apple Camp!!)
• Virtual Fieldtrips of National Parks
• An online step by step canvas artwork
• Take a fitness class on YouTube

Of course, we are limiting screentime until after all homework, chores, and reading are done but they are allowed more than usual right now.

Next time, I’ll post our non-electronic playtime ideas.

Let me hear what you are doing with your family in the comments below-sharing is caring.