Sanity During Quarantine

Omega Family is a wonderful community full of supportive, loving, and compassionate people who strive to make the family creation journey a beautiful one. A very important part of our family belongs to our surrogates, for whom we do everything possible to keep safe, happy, and calm.

So now, in times of the coronavirus, this is what we do to keep our community safe:

1. Breathe

We are not facing this challenge alone. Everyone in the world is facing this pandemic, so that means every family that has been touched by surrogacy is dealing with this situation. Let’s breathe in, breath out, and look around. If your house is a mess, be thankful you have a roof over your head. If dinner is not made yet, bless the fridge and your imagination. It’s all going to be O.K.

2. Establish a Routine

There are things you know that must get done. Kids need to finish schoolwork; they need to exercise, and to get the emotional support they require. You have regular work duties, want to exercise, and to make sure that housework gets done. Housework is a team effort, and now that everyone is home, everyone can pitch in. Remember, even a toddler can put toys into a box.

Write out a daily schedule. If it’s not followed to the “T” its O.K. It is meant to be a guideline that can help you feel the passage of time. Quarantine has a way of making the days of the week disappear. This schedule is meant to change, and as time passes it will adapt to what you and your family need to get done.

3. Exercise

Especially with children, it is important to have exercise time. There are a variety of indoor exercise videos and activities on the internet for both adults and children. Check out the “Go Noodle” channel on YouTube Kids. Omega Family has yoga on Mondays that you can join with or without children. These classes aim to help create calm and physical activity in times of quarantine and beyond. Choose what works best for you and your family and add it to your schedule.

For those who are pregnant, yoga is extremely helpful. It can reduce anxiety, especially with everything that is going on, but it also can prepare your body for birth. In that light, our Omega surrogate Cat Dewolf is providing birthing classes once a month.

4. Hobbies

Now that indoor time is mandated, hobbies are there to save the day. These activities are meant to bring joy, awaken interest, and ignite creativity while spending time outside is temporarily on hold. There are some surrogates who rock paint, others like to draw, while others like to bake. Also, as we abide by social distancing norms, we can always do things together online. Check out our events on our Omega Family Surrogates Facebook page.

5. Hobbies with Omega Family

Surrogates from our community have gotten together and coordinated activities that we can do together. This month join us (through Zoom) for cupcake decorating with a twist… the decoration must be surrogacy related. Bake your cupcakes beforehand and join us for the decorating part. We will take pictures ad post them online.

6. Activities for young children

Friends who have young children say that their kids have enjoyed author/illustrator Mo Willems’ “Lunch Doodles” series.
They also recommend The Wild Center and Static Apple.
For creative kids, there’s an app, IMotion, with which they can make stop-motion videos, with stuffed animals or Legos, and Note Flight, that helps them compose their own music.
Those who enjoy math would like prodigy math. And, oh yes, there’s a Lego Gadget book.