Many people have asked me, “How are you doing it — Staying sane in quarantine with triplets?” The reality is, I’m not doing anything special. I’m still going to work, no different than before. My husband is still the primary caregiver of our kids, as he has been from the moment of their birth. The madness of three kids did not abate with them going to school; it just changed. Now that they are home, the madness has once again leveled up. If you really want recommendations on how to stay sane through this mess, this is basically what we are doing:
- Breathe: Just breathe. You can’t sit and worry about everything, you’ll drive yourself crazy. Don’t obsess about the kids’ schooling, everything will fall into place. Teachers are probably planning for an extended review period in first quarter next school year. Don’t obsess about the kids’ screen time, now is not the time to burnish any parenting awards. Don’t obsess about work, it will still be there tomorrow. Turn off the news, limit your social media intake, and chill. This too shall pass (it may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass).
- Routine: Kids generate a lot of dirty dishes and dirty laundry, even without a quarantine. A simple daily routine has kept us moving forward. Get up and dressed, get kids dressed, do a load of laundry every day, and do a load of dishes every day. Are the sink and hamper going to be emptied daily? Probably not, but the tide will stay stemmed. Do you have clean cereal bowls and clean undies? If yes, then count that as a win. Just keep it simple.
- Organization: I’m not talking Konmari-ing the entire house. I’m talking about being prepared for the day’s (or week’s) schedule. The kids have two Zoom meetings per day, and then assignments due on Sunday. My husband has a weekly deadline day for his writing. As long as we are prepared for those events, we’re in business. Therefore, we need two more things: charged electronics and meals planned. We set up a charging station in the living room for all of the tablets, and a weekly meal plan is posted on the refrigerator. Nothing fancy, just keeping the household functional. That and keeping the tablets charged at all times.
- Exercise: I’ll admit, I’m bad about this. I sit at a desk most of my day, and it shows (but more about that in another post). For those of you at home, get up and get moving at least once a day. There are tons of workouts on YouTube if you need inspiration. Even just fifteen minutes of blood pumping makes a huge difference. My husband and kids jump in the pool almost every day. He gets a workout and they get worn out.
