2023 Author: Jessica James | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 03:31
Maria Tymoshenko is a girl whom we follow with interest and white envy. Even before the start of the quarantine, the mother of two daughters of five and three years old came up with a club for girls "For buiki". A kind of Tinder for finding new friends and a platform for self-development, support, interesting motivating conversations. The guys held offline meetings, and now they have completely gone online and supplemented the schedule with children's activities. In addition, she used to do beauty master classes and even founded her choir in Moscow - as if playfully combining all this with motherhood.
The quarantine did not seem to affect Masha's mental balance at all. Therefore, BeautyHack hastened to ask how she organizes everyday life in her family in isolation, and asked for advice on entertainment for children - judging by the stories, she has no equal in this.
About isolation
April 18th was the month in which we are in isolation. During this time, we went to the dacha twice - I never left the house again. My husband throws out the trash, and we order food online.
We are saved by a clear schedule - without it, there would be complete chaos. My husband and I divided the day into two parts: on weekdays, I spend the first half of the day from 9:00 to 16:00 with the children, and the second - he. We change over the weekend. I try to include chores and some personal activities in the “children's” shift: do the cleaning, cook food, go to the shower, listen to a podcast, call my mother. And after 16:00 I just work and make calls.
The daughters also have their own schedule with "beacons" that streamline the day: breakfast, classes at 12:00 on weekdays, lunch, dinner, reading before bedtime. And in between, they can do something together with adults or play themselves: we clean up, transplant flowers, without fear of dirt (it can always be removed), swim (let them do it at least twice a day, if we want!).
I really believe that right now the only important goal for everyone is to survive and not go insane in isolation. Therefore, you need to do what you like and make your life as easy as possible. No desire to create masterpieces in the kitchen? Shop for convenience foods, frozen pizza, dumplings if you like! Make simple meals and cook something that does not take time and effort (both moral and physical): pasta, mashed potatoes, even with sausages.
Do you like to draw? Do this with your children. Need to get out? Babies can be attracted too. They quickly find their bearings and easily find something to do when they see that their parents are busy.
There is no need to be afraid of the regime. There will be no feeling of chaos with him. You clearly understand what you are doing, it helps to get rid of anxiety and organize the day so that everyone is comfortable.
I know that mothers of schoolchildren are especially suffering now. But here you also need to understand that this is a new situation even for schools. Therefore, while the education system adjusts to current realities, there is no need to rush into the heat and do everything that is asked at school. The child will not miss anything in any case.
About gadgets for kids and cartoons
A year ago, we gave up TV and cartoons. It happened spontaneously and easily enough. Around the same time, we flew to Barcelona for a month. There was no time for cartoons on the plane, then they told the children that the Internet did not work here. They took it calmly. All month we walked, played, went to the beach - the girls had no time for gadgets. After returning, we decided to continue, asked the guys who then rented our apartment to remove the TV to the balcony.
So, for a year now we have been living coolly without cartoons, gadgets and applications. What changed? Children have become calmer, there are no tantrums when you turn off something or pick up the phone. But the biggest plus: they learned to occupy themselves. Out of boredom, they do not ask to play a cartoon, they lie around, play, look at books.
We sometimes give the phone if the girls want to take pictures, make videos, call grandmothers, chat with girlfriends. They also like to choose products online, put them in the shopping cart.
About activities with children
When the epidemic began and many had already isolated themselves, we were in Tenerife. They began to invent entertainment for children. I found simple funny pictures on Pinterest that the kids supposedly might like, and the three of us sat down and drew. The daughters liked it very much, and we continued the tradition in Moscow - we paint in our free time. This story also works great: I just give them paints, brushes, paper, scissors, glue, and parts for needlework. In children, a fantasy is played out, adults definitely do not need to stand above their souls. Girls draw mom, dad, animals, characters from a book they read recently, whatever!
I save a lot of ideas on the Pinterest board: what to draw, glue, come up with. And I look at what children's projects are now working remotely.
The Children's Center of the Museum of Moscow has moved all its activities online, and I highly recommend the Khudkruzhok there.
We also keep an eye on what's coming up at the Happy Little Artist kids' art school - they run online Zoom classes. All this is done for donation. The Reggiostudio children's project also arranges a lot of things online. School of Free Creativity Re. Create. School conducts cool live broadcasts for children.
About the project "For buiki"
Za Buiki is a girls' club. We invite young, cheerful, inspiring lecturers who are strong in their topics and have something interesting to tell the participants. Then we form the schedule and mini-clubs according to interests: discussion, book, film club, language club, draftsmen's club, etc. Within each we conduct our own activities, and also arrange tastings, cook, do yoga. In a discussion club, we choose a topic, study sources of information and discuss. So we, for example, talked about the evolution of the concepts of gender and orientation in society (how everyone relates to this, when it comes to us, etc.). That is, Za Buiki is still an adult club.
Children's activities are not our main direction. But there was an epidemic, everyone was isolated at home with children and work, and I wanted to support the members of our club: if I do something with my children, then why not do it all together! I created a separate children's chat room and suggested taking turns one lesson for the children a week. It turns out that our participants became teachers. We glue, draw, make crafts, sculpt. All of this is free, but to get into classes, you need to join the club. The site has all the conditions for participation and an application form.
