Bad Mom Turned Tiger Mom

Social distancing has led to my 11 year old having more time to game and stream YouTube videos than I would care to admit! Curious about what had her so entranced on YouTube, I decided to join her for one of her binge watching moments. Let me just start by saying, I recognize kids have different interests, and I am a pretty open-minded person, but I panicked a little when I realized she was spending so much time watching three guys travel around the world and do things like eat $70,000 pizzas (WTF!), drink $1,000 milkshakes (double WTF!) and make repeated trips thru a fast-food drive-thru(I am still trying to figure this one out). For those of you that are out there judging me, I get it, but you might want to see what your little ones are doing with their free time. After all, these guys are YouTube sensations with like 1million followers. I am guessing that some of your kids would account for the 1million strong. IJS…

Panic made me morph into a “tiger” mom and start creating a curriculum and schedule for Gabby’s every waking hour. After about 15 minutes, I decided to pump my brakes, breathe, and come back to reality. Trying to control her every waking hour with things I considered to be productive would only make this period of social distancing HELL for both of us. So, instead, I carved out a plan that requires her to give me 1 1/2 hours of her precious time every day so that we can learn and explore together. In order to keep her engaged, I have to figure out how to mix it up and make it fun (or at least as fun as possible when you are competing with $70,000 pizza eaters).

Here are a few things that I found:

The Metropolitan Opera is doing free student streams that allow young folks to experience the world of opera. Not only do they stream a free opera weekly, but they also offer students an opportunity to interact with performers through specially scheduled zoom conferences. If I can watch people drink $1,000 milkshakes, Gabby can attend the opera with me! If you are interested in joining us just click on the pic below…

I am also planning a virtual trip to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. If it is anything like our actual trips to the museum, after about 45 minutes(okay, well actually 30 minutes), Gabby is going to be over it. But the beautiful thing is…she always walks away with a new piece of information which for me means MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Any of you interested in doing a virtual trip to the Van Gogh Museum with your little one? No worries, just click on the picture below…

Since Gabby loves YouTube, we are going to check out Cosmic Kids Yoga! I suspect I am going to get some serious eye rolls on this one because it seems geared to younger children, but it looks like such a fun activity for us to do together! You want to give yoga a try with your little one, here you go…

Delish.com is offering free online cooking classes every day at 1pm on Instagram. Oh, joy! If you know me, you know I am being facetious. Despite the lack of joy I feel about cooking, the thought of having an opportunity to spend some quality time with Gabby makes me excited so I am getting ready to create my shopping list, find my apron, and channel my inner Ina Garten. Do you want to give the cooking class a try? Download Instagram, follow Delish, and click on the pic below for more information…

Now that I have shared some of my finds, tell me, what have you all been doing with your beautiful little cherubs during this period of social distancing? Pleasssseeeeeee send me some ideas! 🙂

Much love,

Tonza