• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy + Terms
  • Affiliates

The Chaos and the Clutter

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google Plus
  • RSS
  • Email
  • School at Home
  • Sensory
    • Sensory Processing Disorder
    • Awesome Sensory Play Activities
      • Sensory Bins
      • Sensory Bottles
      • Sensory Bags
  • Family Games
    • Minute to Win It Games
  • Special Needs Parenting
    • Childhood Anxiety
    • Reactive Attachment Disorder
    • Sensory Processing Disorder
  • Store
  • Course Login

Happy at Home Challenge

By Sharla Kostelyk

(This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure policy.)

  • Total2
  • Facebook0
  • Twitter0
  • Pinterest2
  • Mix
  • Yummly0

There’s nothing quite like being stuck at home to test certain aspects of your character. Whether we’re at home due to a pandemic, an illness, a new baby, or choosing to be there, feeling cooped up can test our patience, resilience, and positivity. That’s where this Happy at Home Challenge comes in.woman's socked feet are visible as her hands hold a teal mug. Text reads "Happy at Home Challenge"Even under difficult circumstances, we can determine our own happiness. Happiness is an attitude, a choice.

It’s obviously easy to choose when life is roses! But when life is more challenging, that’s when it’s even more important to take responsibility for our own happiness and do what we can to improve it. 

The research is clear. There are things that we can do that increase our happiness.

So will you join me in this Happy at Home Challenge? Try it for just two weeks and see if it makes a difference for you. 

Gratitude.

Gratitude is consistently shown to correlate to higher levels of happiness. Simply writing out 3 things each day you’re thankful for will dramatically increase your satisfaction with your life. 

For many years, I had my kids write out 5 things they were thankful for to start out their homeschool day. And when the pandemic lockdown hit last March, it’s a practise we started again right away. It was so good for all of us.

The challenge? Jot down 3 things you’re thankful for each day. Write each one on a Post-it note and stick those around the house in places you’ll see them to get even more reminders of your blessings. 

Kindness.

Serving others provides us with connection to community and triggers feelings of pleasure in our brains. In other words, helping others also helps us. It feels good.

I also find for myself personally that helping others gives me better perspective on my own circumstances as it brings a greater awareness of the needs and pain of others which leads to me realizing that I have much to be thankful for.

array of scattered papers and pencilsThis Family Kindness Calendar is full of lovely ideas for ways to help others. The kindness suggestions included can be done by school-age children or younger children with the help of an adult. They’re great for getting the whole family working on a common project.

The challenge? Do one small thing for someone else each day. It can be a kind word, an act of service, or even writing a little note on a Post-it and sticking it on their door. If you’re having a hard time thinking of ideas that are safe given the pandemic restrictions, we have a list of ways you can spread kindness without spreading the virus.

Get outside.

Yes, we’re talking about when you’re stuck at home, but the research is clear. Going on a nature walk, spending time in a forest, or even just getting fresh air improve mood and decrease cortisol, the stress hormone. So even if you’re not able to go far, get outside.

The challenge? Get some fresh air every day. If possible, add some movement like going for a walk to get those endorphins going. 

Move more.

Speaking of endorphins…

Endorphins are one of the brain chemicals which are known as neurotransmitters and endorphins trigger positive feelings in your body. They are the “feel-good” chemical and you can release them naturally through exercise.

The challenge? Move more every day. Choose whatever you want and are capable of. Run up and down the stairs, do a YouTube workout, do an exercise video, yoga, or have a dance party with your kids in the kitchen.

Write down your feelings.

Writing out your feelings helps clarify your thoughts, relieve stress, help you identify specific emotions and get at their root causes, and more efficiently solve problems. 

Of course, as adults, most of us can identify our feelings, but kids may not be able to easily identify their emotions or the emotions of others. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to give your kids an emotional vocabulary. 

The Teaching Emotions Toolkit helps parents or teachers provide kids with a rich emotional vocabulary and better understanding of their feelings.

The challenge? Start a journal to track your emotions.

These things can all contribute towards you feeling more happy at home.

  • Total2
  • Facebook0
  • Twitter0
  • Pinterest2
  • Mix
  • Yummly0

Filed Under: Parenting in the Chaos Tagged With: parenting through pandemic

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rose says

    December 9, 2020 at 11:03 am

    Spending time with my girls at home and just taking a minute to breathe and remind myself how lucky we are and that this is just a season of our lives, not our forever normal…

  2. Yvonne says

    December 9, 2020 at 11:25 am

    Keeping a gratitude journal is a great idea!

  3. Jen says

    December 9, 2020 at 11:56 am

    What a great idea to write thankfulness things on Post-its. A counselor suggested this to us a couple months ago and I totally forgot about it!

  4. Shiloh Olson says

    December 9, 2020 at 1:00 pm

    I find hope in my faith and my faith community and family, as well as gratitude and counting blessings.

  5. Rosanne Robinson says

    December 9, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    Focusing on gratitude for our blessings is important and keeping a journal is a terrific idea. Spending time with my grandson makes me very happy, he’s a bright light in my life.

  6. Pam Donica says

    December 10, 2020 at 4:47 am

    God first, family second, and everything else falls into place.

  7. Brandy Cardenas says

    December 10, 2020 at 3:25 pm

    My family contributes to my happiness! And keeping a healthy and active lifestyle

  8. Stephanie says

    December 11, 2020 at 4:15 am

    My family and my classroom community.
    The beach is my “happy place”.

  9. Heather says

    December 11, 2020 at 10:12 am

    Spending time with my family – playing games, watching movies, listening to music, doing experiments – makes me happy

  10. Amanda D. says

    December 11, 2020 at 11:15 am

    Helping others truly makes me happy. I love teaching someone a new skill or trick.

  11. JS says

    December 11, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    Oooh, love the idea of a gratitude journal!

  12. Cassandra D says

    December 12, 2020 at 7:43 am

    Balanced life between family and work.

  13. Renee Coggins says

    December 12, 2020 at 9:43 am

    Prayer, worship, & helping others!

  14. Amy says

    December 12, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    Watching my preschool students use strategies and words I’ve taught them as they interact together. My dog usually makes me laugh, too, when he’s not stealing clothes.

Primary Sidebar

Categories

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2022 • The Chaos and the Clutter • Site Design by Jeni @ The Blog Maven

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2022 · Chaos and the Clutter 2.0 on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in