It’s a weird time right now. Everywhere.
We live in Copenhagen, Denmark and we’ve been working from home with our kids since the Danish government advised all business to let their employees work from home and closed all schools and public institutions such as sports clubs. No childcare, no libraries, no movie theatres, no shopping malls, no cafes and no restaurants, no hairdressers, chiropractors, beauty clinics etc. We are not allowed to be in groups of more than 10 people.
Denmark hasn’t been hit as hard as other countries, so we’re doing alright in comparision to others, but it is for sure a whole new world to get used to. And the situation is still very serious here.
Thankfully we aren’t on a forced lockdown, so we can leave our houses if we have to. But. The Queen herself has instructed residents of Denmark to stay at home, and that is what everyone is doing. Its the socially responsible thing to do and when the Queen speaks, the people listen.
For those that aren't yet under lockdown/shutdown, whatever we're calling it, and are yet to experience working from home with children, this is what you need to know:
It's unlike any remote working agreement you have entered into before
It is not just tele-working. It is tele-living.
The boundaries between work and private life are impossible to divide.
You'll end up spending half your day on teleconference calls with your colleagues, some of which will clash with your significant others. Note to employers - do NOT book your staff on day-long conference calls and preferably keep them to one-hour maximum. We’re juggling our lives in a confined area.
You're about to literally see inside the homes of all your colleagues as you start meeting with them daily on video conferencing calls. Occasionally you’ll also catches glimpses of the other people in their lives, their non-work family. It can get awkward.
You'll begin ordering home office furniture in a flurry when you realise working at your kitchen table 8 hours a day sucks. IKEA home deliveries are currently flat out (pun intended) delivering home office furniture throughout Denmark, and likely all of Europe.
You’re about to get to know your kids and significant others on a whole new level. You will begin wrestling for desk space.
A normal working routine is impossible to achieve. You do what you can when you can and will need to learn to stop beating yourself up about the lack of routine, progress, and productivity as you knew it before. Your old routine is gone. Grieve and move on.
and lastly, if you have kids you’ll learn how to make playdough really quick
To those of you who are not yet in shutdown, that is what you have to look forward to. Get ready. We're all going to grow and learn new tricks in ways we've not done before and I hope your HR departments are up to it. Truly I do. If you work in HR or have an HR department, tell them to get on top of it now.
And for those who are currently in home working lockdown situations with kids, then this is what you need to know about making playdough (or ‘modellervox’ as it is called in Denmark).
How to make playdough
Step One - the ingredients
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon of oil
2 teaspoons of ideally Cream of Tartar……. although this isn’t easily available in some countries (i.e Denmark) in which case you can buy the special Baking Powder shown in the picture (Vinsten’s Bage Pulver) from Matas online shop, or Helsam in Denmark. Or you can just use good old Baking Soda (that’s Natron in Danish).
and lastly, food colouring of choice. Unsurprinsgly, we went with pink.
Step Two - mix it all together in a pot, and cook over a medium heat until the dough forms into a ball (it wont take too long to do this, so DO NOT go away and make yourself a coffee)
Step Three - let it cool and then get rolling and cutting and creating. Store in a container with a lid (I used an old yoghurt bucket).
I truly hope that gives you a good hour of fun and activity with your kids during lockdown.
How’s it going in your home offices/schools? Show me your playdough pics and let me know if your HR department is ready.
And come follow us on Instagram to find out what else we’re doing to survive working from home with kids @bilingualbackpackbaby