How To Prepare
According to the Red Cross, you want to have the following in your household for two-weeks:
Have a supply of food staples and household supplies like laundry detergent and bathroom items, and diapers if you have small children.
Dry goods like rice, pasta, beans, and oats should be the foundation of your stockpile, Alyssa Pike, a registered dietitian and manager of nutrition communications at the International Food Information Council, recently told Business Insider.
You should also stock up on canned foods that contain liquid, such as tomatoes, beans, and tuna, according to Pike. The excess liquid can be used to cook dried food like rice and pasta. (Make sure you have a can opener.)
And don't neglect comforting food items like chocolate and coffee, even if they're not strictly essential. As Business Insider recently reported, such items can make a big difference in your mental health and morale during a home quarantine.
As most of us know, toilet paper is hard to come by these days. Who would have thought?
So look for other items that are toilet safe and tush safe, for instance, wet wipes from Kleenex brand or Cottonelle brand, and look for ultra-soft tissue.
Check to make sure you have at least a 30-day supply of your prescription medications and have other health supplies on hand
Including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes and vitamins.
Think Pedialyte or Gatorade, Tylenol, cough syrup containing Dextromethorphan, thermometer(s), throat lozenges
Women don’t forget the products that you will need for that special time of the month.
Emergen-C or Vitamin C, and Vitamin D (Since most of haven’t spent time in the sun since October.)
These vitamins help support your immune system.
Know how your local public health agency will share information in your community and stay informed. Find more information here.
Learn how your children’s school or daycare, and your workplace will handle a possible outbreak.
Create a plan in the event of any closings, event cancellations or postponements. For more ideas on how to keep your kids busy at home click here.
Help family members and neighbors get prepared and share the safety messaging with those who may not have access to it.
For more information on COVID-19 visit the Red Cross, CDC, or the World Health Organization.
How To Stay Busy
Here is a list of 10 different things you and your family can do to stay busy at home :
1. Complete a puzzle: The more pieces the better! Feeling extra saucy? Take on a Rubik's Cube. More of a word person? Crossword puzzle!
2. If it won't bother your neighbors: Dust off that old instrument and practice.
3. Watch all the really long movies you’ve avoided until now.
4. Download Duolingo, or a similar app, and teach yourself a foreign language.
5. It is Spring… get to Spring cleaning. Everyone’s home, take advantage of those extra bodies and get Martha Stewart organized.
6. Play games! Candy Land, Life, Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity, Go Fish - if everyone is 21 and older you can turn these games into drinking games giving old classics a fresh spin.
7. Coloring, have you tried this recently? Adult coloring has shown it can lead to reducing stress and helps improve brain flow, give it a try with your kids or without. No judgment here.
8. YouTube - Learn how to braid, or change a tire. Take this time to finally teach yourself something you’ve always wanted to learn.
9. Workout, do yoga in your backyard, run in a place, use YouTube for free workout classes. Just because we have to stay at home doesn’t mean we can’t get fit. Try Pop Sugar or Yoga with Adrienne.
10. Work on your finances. This isn’t that fun but it’s necessary. We don’t know what to expect these next few months, so make sure you’re wallet has a plan.
