No one could predict in January what our world, country, city and families would go through starting in March of 2020. Family happiness during a pandemic takes some patience and creativity.

All of us were living life as normal, going out to eat, planning vacations, going to church, starting Spring sports, parenting as usual when the news of a global pandemic became real.

For some, the isolation and FORCED SLOW DOWN, was a life saver, literally. And, for many, the forced changes created an environment where some of our bad habits grew into bigger bad habits. Staying positive takes more effort this year than any year I can remember.

In a world of a pandemic, online schooling and being home for long periods of time, what does it take to create and maintain a happy family? There are areas of family life that have started screaming at us, including the BAND WIDTH OF WIFI SIGNAL, the joy of home cooking, multiples of more laundry, boredom, missing our fellow humans and much more.

Since we don’t have a finish line in site, here are some tips to keeping your sanity and maintain happiness in your family.

DISCLAIMER:  These are my opinions and should not be used as replacement for professional advice.

Find Some Alone Time

Respect each other’s boundaries and need for alone time and quiet time. We are all so close together without much of the normal alone time, so this is very important right now.

Maybe there is less space to get away for alone time as we had pre-pandemic, but you can make the most of separate rooms, curtains or closed doors.

Go sit outside to get some me-time, or even sit in the car if you need to. Have a nice cup of tea either alone, or invite a pandemic co-isolator and choose to sit in silence, eating crumpets. ?

On the flip side, honor your house-mates’ need for their alone time and quiet time. Leave them alone, or ask for permission to approach. Invite them to do things with you without feeling upset if their answer is “no”.

Here are 19 self-care ideas to help your find some alone time and help release stress from your body.

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Create a Pandemic Family Health Station

There are new health items that we need and use during this virus-conscious time. So, create a health-station with all the things your family needs so you don’t need to hunt for them:

Pandemic Family Health Station At Home:

• Fresh face masks (disposable)
• Clean face masks (cloth)
• Plastic Gloves
• Hand sanitizer
• Thermometer
• Hand lotion or salve
• Extra hand soap
• Alcohol wipes
• Directions to wash hands, use the thermometer, etc
• Immune Boosting Items: vitamins, teas, air cleaning sprays

The first action required to use the pandemic health station would be to wash their hands.

Get Your Family Outside In The Sunlight

Our bodies need sunlight and fresh air. It’s easy to stay inside for days at a time, forgetting to move around, stretch, or to get outside at all. I have gone days without seeing outside, and I know many of you are the same.

It can seem like staying inside and working can GET MORE DONE, but we all know that this is a myth!! Going outside is one of the best ways to STOP ANY GLOOM, or to recharge from a long class or work session. You are much more productive when you take breaks, go outside, stretch and give your brain and body a break.

Psychology Today: How Do Work Breaks Help Your Brain? 5 Surprising Answers

Inc.com: For The Most Productive Workday, Science Says Make Sure To Do This

Activities Outside During The Pandemic To Encourage Family Happiness:

• Take a long walk
• Even better, go into the mountains, near a beach, or whatever outdoor adventure you have close by. (This is the Jemez for us)
• Do a Photo shoot
• Go on a long hike
• Take a picnic with you and make a family day of the outing
• Stretch in a park
• Play catch (by far my favorite game)
• Sit outside in the sunlight
• Tend a garden

You could sit outside to read, or consider doing your social media scrolling while sitting outside in a ray of light. It sure would be better without the phone and social media angle, maybe, you think?

Related Article:  What Is Your Definition Of A Happy Family?

More Snuggles & Contact During The Pandemic

Remember to hug each other and snuggle more during this time inside. Snuggle when you watch a movie or read together. When we are in close contact, I think it’s easier to take touch for granted and forget to hug our kids or parents because we see them so often.

Make time to snuggle and acknowledge each other with kind touch. Consider touching your partner’s shoulder kindly, or rubbing your sibling’s back.

If your pandemic partners suffer from any anxiety, touch is a wonderful way to ease their angst! You can also try these self care ideas to help let go of emotional pain.

When your kids are in on-line school, you could rub their back for a few seconds, as encouragement but also to decrease stress. This can also encourage better posture while on their computer.

Touch is powerfully healing if it’s used with loving intension.

NeuroScienceNews.com: Simple Touching Fosters Wellness And Relieves Stress For Couples

Cook Meals Together During The Pandemic

Learning to cook better is a great thing to do, pandemic or no pandemic. And, cooking together with your spouse or kids will foster family wellness and happy tummies.

Our family started doing Facebook live videos of our cooking, haha! It was fun and a nice challenge to try new and old recipes. My son is learning how to cook meat in different ways and my daughter loves to bake and make healthier meals.

There are many easy recipes on blogs, YouTube videos, Instagram posts and many other social media options to support home cooked meals!

Instead of diving down rabbit hole after internet rabbit hole of possibilities, make a list of 3 recipes you’d like to try. One of our favorite 3 meals from one grocery store visit includes buying a baked chicken, then having chicken burritos with avocado, chicken stuffed pasta shells, then cook what chicken is remaining to make chicken tortilla soup! You could start with those 3!

We love cooking together as a family, and love trying new recipes. But, if you are new to cooking, or you just don’t feel like you are good at it (like me), START SIMPLE!

Read Out Loud To Each Other

Reading out loud to each other is great for parents to little babies and kids, but it’s also a wonderful family activity with older kids. This is my favorite way to focus on our family happiness during a pandemic.

The voice is calming, and you can enjoy a story together with your imagination instead of on a screen.

It creates a quiet environment where we need to stay quiet and listen to the reader, which perks up our listening ears. This also creates confidence for the reader, to find a reading rhythm, tone, volume and maybe even some different voices.

I used reading to me as a punishment for my son earlier this year, right after he turned 15. It was one of the best parenting bribes I ever used, haha. But, honestly, it was calming, relaxing, brought us closer. After dreading the first few reading sessions, they became enjoyable and we both looked forward to that time together.

Do Non-Tech Activities To Maintain Family Happiness!

During the 4th month of the pandemic, we went through a terabyte of data in 30 days at our house!! WHAT?? That is A LOT of screen time!

I’m sure many households had this same experience compared with their pre-pandemic data use being less than half.

What are some non-tech activities we can do to maintain family happiness during a pandemic? There are so many options! Let’s keep it small, only involving our pandemic housemates, with no electronic involvement.

We’ve already mentioned a few:
-Read out loud together
-Cook some meals together
-Get outside in the sunshine

More Non-Tech Activities to Try During The Pandemic:

• Play some board games (Candyland, Sorry & Othello are our favs)
• Stretch & exercise
• Make some handmade cards
• Build an indoor fort
• Keep a list of what you are thankful for as a family
• Give a massage
• Brush each other’s hair
• Spa days
• Make a card castle
• Set up Dominos to fall
• Build a puzzle

Conclusion: Tips for Maintaining Family Happiness During A Pandemic

Trying to keep your sanity and good health at the same time can be tricky. Since no one has experience in this pandemic thing, be creative to maintain your family happiness!

First, find time to be alone, and honor the people around you so they can find alone time as well.

Create a station center to keep all of the extra health care items now required in our lives. Keep everything together in one place, easy to find and understand. 

Get outside for fresh air, sunshine and a break from electronics. Also, staying outside for a longer time can also help clear your head and clear the space you’ve been in for so long.

Touch and snuggle more during the pandemic, especially people you may not touch very often, like your older parents. A kind touch on the back, shoulder, or rubbing someone’s back can really help both parties calm down and stay connected. Human touch is very important.

Cook home made meals together as a family to maintain closeness and happiness. You can also learn some fun new recipes, and save lots of money from not eating out.

Read out loud to one another for a nice way to connect, relax and enjoy a fun story together. This activity is one of the best during the pandemic because it doesn’t involve electronics, is free and creates bonding that really matters.

The more non-tech activities you can put together for your family, the better. Our posture alone could really benefit from less phone and computer time, plus distraction from online school or zoom work meetings is relaxing and stress relieving.