'In the HOOD' with FDD... Juggling Work, Home + School Aged Kids with Kirsty from THC

Well HEYYYY FDD Tribe!

I am so excited to introduce our first guest in our series 'In the HOOD with FDD.' 

If you're new here... WELCOME! So nice to have you here! Make sure you check out our first blog to see how this all came about! We are a bunch of gal pals that happen to live in the same neighbourhood all celebrating and gleaning from one another during this unprecented time. 

But today... We are going to hear from our dear friend Kirsty.

Kirsty is the founder of The Home Chronicles - an online community on family, food and faith. She's got an incredible outlook on life and if I do say so myself, her intentionality to create a healthy family dynamic really is inspiring. 

So I've (Bek) asked her to share how she's graciously navigating this season of isolation whilst working from home full time and how she's still finding time to keep the family happy + healthy.

 Over to Kirsty..... 

5 Top Tips to Juggling Working From Home with School Aged Kids.

The ‘Rona has put the working parent into new territory. Working. From. Home. With. Kids. [Insert Captain Underpants ‘Duhn duhn duuuhn’ dramatic tone here]. For those of you who have a loved one working from home too, you’ve perhaps also learnt some new things to *love* about them. Turns out, my husband is the ‘Just to Clarify’ guy at the end of a Zoom Meeting. 14 years together. Who knew?

The first thing you need to know is, you can do this mamma. And papa.

With a little bit of planning, a whole lot of grace and a willingness to embrace the chaos for all it is – you can not only ‘get through’ this season, but possibly love it in more ways than you could have ever imagined.

1. Daily Walks
With no commute currently on the cards, we’ve taken to long walks as a family. We wake up, grab a coffee and apple for the road, and off we go on our family stroll. We love the bonding time as a family, the fresh air and exercise; and we find our boys are more settled for the rest of the day. Where it is not possible for our morning walk, we go for a late afternoon walk. A great way to unwind and decompress from the day.

2. Packed Lunches
If your children are old enough, get them to pack their own lunches at the beginning of the day. Our boys are 7 and 9 years old. They love choosing their own food, take great pride in showing off their healthy choices [and squealing with glee at their sweet treats] and it gives them a sense of independence. It also gives them one of their first activities for the day. Winning.

3. Room for Boredom
Turn off the TV and let your children get bored! Since our boys were toddlers, we’ve had a recycling box for them under the kitchen sink. Free access to create whatever they like, whenever they like. To this day, some of their finest creations and longest hours of play have come from empty cereal boxes, milk cartons and a roll of masking tape. In our boys’ ‘boredom time’ or ‘free play’ as we like to call it, they’ve come up with Treasure Hunts, Cubby Houses and imaginary games. It’s good for them! If you’re looking for other creative activities, here are one’s we have personally tried and tested:

30 Day Lego Challenge
‘How to Draw a Face’ Tutorial with Ben Quilty
PE with Joe for Kids
Just Dance for Kids

4. Driveway Dinners
Every other day, we drag a blanket out onto our driveway. Sometimes our neighbours join us. It’s so refreshing to be in the presence of others, even at a distance. Last week, our kids figured out they could do running races with the kids on the other side of the road – by racing on the parallel pathways. Limitation breeds creativity, and kids are the best at it!

5. Something that Brings You Together
We recently spent 14 months housesitting. In that time we lived in 17 different houses. Yes. You read that right. Family of four moves 17 times in 14 months. Crazy right? It wasn’t. It was actually one of the best life adventures. To create consistency in a season of insane change, we did one thing every night to bring us together: a board game. Whether it was a 15 minute card game or 1 hour of Pictionary – every night we came together around the board game. And another 2 years later, we still come together around a nightly board game.

Finally – embrace the mess. It’s okay for life to look imperfect right now. Weigh up what matters to you most. For us its cuddles, being present, being absent (you need a break too parents) and definitely being kind to one another.

Well WOW! How great was that?! If you'd like to see more of Kirsty's GOLD... more 'stories of the home that foster great family moments' make sure you head over to The Home Chronicles on instagram and give her a follow. Not only does Kirsty exude a wealth of wisdom on creating health family dynamics but she has a killer instagram aesthetic too... and quite honestly I could hang out there and get lost in its wonder any time of the day! 

If you'd like to follow Kirsty... you can find her here:

www.instagram.com/thehomechronicles

Thanks so much for dropping in here! We'd love to hear from you about the tips you're taking on and perhaps some tips of your own! Come and let us know in the comments section...

We've still got so much goodness to share with you, so make sure you check in with us again next week as we hear from another Girl Next Door and share another chapter of 'In the Hood with FDD',

Enjoy your Easter weekend! 

Bek x