Don’t Let the Coronavirus Crisis Get You Down: A Collection of Ideas

Dear users, dear authors,
This pandemic is terrible.
Do you have any ideas on how to cope with it (better), how to stay positive, how to keep going, and how to get through this?

I’d love to collect ideas on this topic here in this thread. If anything comes to mind, I’d really appreciate it. I hope that all our readers will benefit from the good ideas and the encouraging sense of community here online at Crazypatterns. So it would be great if you could contribute something, if you’re able and willing to do so.

Always stay positive… And look for the beauty in things

Very important: (re)structure your day.

I’m taking care of things I’ve been putting off—like cleaning windows—at my own pace, or catching up on paperwork.
I’m getting out into the fresh air as much as possible; right now, living in the countryside is definitely an advantage.

I think this time gives us the chance to do something that usually gets put on the back burner.

I’m trying out new things right now—for example, I baked an orange cake with fresh orange zest and juice.

Then I wondered if the leftover orange peels were good for anything—they smell sooo great!!
Thanks to the internet age, I actually found an idea and put it into practice: orange cleaner with vinegar.



Now I just need to be patient for about 3 weeks (Yeah… annoying, I know…), then I can test it out.

My husband thinks it’s great, by the way, because he loves cake. And anything that lifts his spirits is especially good for both of us during these work-from-home times.

I think the most important thing right now is to treat ourselves every once in a while, with things we like and enjoy doing. And also just
to try something new—it might turn out to be something wonderful.

We should be worth it to ourselves.

I recently came across some statistics (Worldometer). It says that this year (as of March 27), over 33 million babies have already been born. Today alone (as of 1:30 p.m. German time), over 230,000 have been born.

Best regards
Alexander

I’ve started mass-producing face masks and am sewing them for family and friends.
Aside from being more cautious, not much has changed for me—I’m at home anyway as a retiree, and due to my mobility issues, I’m not as mobile as I was 20 years ago. Otherwise, my husband and I are waiting very impatiently for the next four weeks to pass, because then he’ll finally be retired too. Otherwise, you have to make the best of the situation and not let yourself be driven into a panic—instead, stay calm. I’m in regular phone contact with my daughters and grandchildren because I don’t use all those apps like WhatsApp, Twitter, and the like—I don’t need them.

Hello everyone, 
I just got off the phone with my best friend.  She works for a home care service, and they’re currently facing a major problem with supplies. Now the staff will also be sewing face masks.  But since many of them are already working long and hard, many have families, etc., that probably won’t be enough. 

Now she’s asked me to sew some too, which I’m of course happy to do. 

I know from many of you that you enjoy doing good through crafts. Why not ask around in your area to see if care services or similar organizations need some as well? 

Otherwise, I’d be happy to share the address of the care service where my friend works via private message.  :-)

Best regards 

Sandra

I’m trying to find something positive in every day and to live more mindfully. Especially now that traffic on the street is much quieter, I’ve noticed how beautiful it actually is to hear the birds chirping in the trees in the morning. Since we live on a very busy street, you don’t usually hear them that well.

We go for walks whenever possible—we live in the countryside, after all.

I’m trying my hand at growing plants.
The photo shows my potato plant:


Since I always bring my camera along, here are a few more snapshots from our walk yesterday:

It’s not easy, especially when you have to juggle working from home with homeschooling and keeping kindergarten-age kids entertained at home. And when you add in the—understandable, for most of us—fears about our financial future,
there’s little to no time left even for normal household chores, let alone catching up on things that have fallen by the wayside or trying something new.
I’m just glad if we somehow manage to get through each day here without “bloodshed” between the kids... If my son can somehow handle the massive workload the teachers are piling on us... If I can get my office work done “on the side”....
I try to make the days go by faster for the girls with crafts, reading aloud, and—unfortunately—a fair amount of TV. When the weather’s good enough, we head out to the garden...but even that’s no substitute for their missing daycare friends.
And we’re still doing relatively well, thanks to the garden and siblings. 
Of course, I also try to get the kids involved in housework and gardening.

well...

Better times will come again! And then I’ll catch up on everything that’s piling up right now and try out new things 🥴😉

(Sorry, I went off on a tangent… the point was to share ideas on how to make the time go by faster 🙈—my apologies!)

Nina, you’re right—I’m really short on time right now, too. Schoolwork in the mornings instead of my housework, which I tackle later in the day. Keeping the kids entertained and taking care of everything else, and before you know it, the day is over...

Don’t forget to laugh!

As a part-time employee, I’m still allowed to work. My other colleagues are on short-time work.
My daughter and I try to talk on the phone every day. After all, I want to know what my granddaughters are up to.

Since we have the forest right next to our house, we try to go for a walk in the woods every day.
Apart from that, our cats keep us busy.

I can only say one thing:

stay healthy

Gabi

Are you staying strong and hanging in there?

Josefa-Schatz...what else can we do?!
;)
Yeah, we’ll hang in there 😘

Josefa-Schatz :-)
I like that, Nina-Schatz :-)
I read about your situation in the other thread.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for you.

@Alexander 
So you mean you’re making good use of your time right now to have a few more babies 😂😂 I’ll keep an eye on the birth rate 😜

Through intensive vocabulary practice with my daughter, I’ve been able to refresh and, in some cases, expand my vocabulary in English and French. It does have its advantages. I also got to delve into the French Revolution, and even Google confirmed to my daughter that her mom is right and not as dumb as she thinks 😂 Unbelievable—my kid asks me something, I answer, and then she Googles it to see whether it’s really true....

How are you all handling this right now?