Almost overnight, many parents have begun working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Juggling the challenges of keeping our families’ homeschool education on track while maintaining our work schedule from home is not an easy task. 

The Mommy Poppins team are seasoned WFH pros. With a handy set of noise-canceling headphones, we can work in almost any situation. When the sign on the door that states “Working:Do Not Enter” stops ...well... working, this list of independent play activities should keep everyone engaged and entertained. Some of these activities require a little bit of set-up depending on your child’s age. Take one tip from this pro: save screen time for the end of the day. It’s the perfect activity to wrap up your workday or respond to a few last emails. 

We were about half a day into the great pandemic-induced homeschool experiment of 2020 when I lost my cool for the first time. With a full-time work schedule for my husband and myself, plus three kids to teach, how exactly were we going to manage?

I worried about workspace, bandwidth (both our Wi-Fi connection and my own), and common core math problems. And then, I decided to sort of... give up. Sure, we'll do our best to keep up with the schoolwork of three kids in two schools in three vastly different stages of their educational journeys, but we'll also focus on some good, old-fashioned life skills.

Day 1 found me schooling my son on how to make his teen-diet staple, ramen noodles, and a home ec class full of chocolate chip cookies for my younger daughters. I mostly stayed back, and let my girls do the measuring and mixing that I typically like to micromanage. On Day 2 we sewed up the holes in some favorite stuffed animals. By Day 3, my youngest was eagerly awaiting the day's lesson, and that inspired me to reach out to colleagues and friends to put together this list of life skills. Of course, most of these essential skills are worth teaching kids at any time but it feels apt during this forced slowdown. Without further ado, 65 real-life lessons to teach your kids.

If you're looking for more at-home and indoor Boredom Busters, we have plenty to recommend, including science experiments and crafts.

To say the coronavirus pandemic has upended life as we know it would be an understatement. Out are playgrounds and playdates; in are days split between homeschooling and trying to maintain some semblance of a home office. But, in a time of crisis, it's been uplifting to see all the FREE resources for NYC families, proving that though we can't get any closer to one another than a social distancing appropriate six feet, we're still all in this together.

Read on for help with everything from your homeschool set up to your next hot meal or much-needed mental health break. We've got more than 15 FREE resources for NYC families trying to weather the COVID-19 crisis.

For parents with children coming home during these coronavirus school closings, there is little time to prep mentally or physically for homeschooling. So let's have a real discussion about how you can make this work at your home where you might also be trying to complete work for your usual job, manage younger kids (and pets), and run a home and all that entails.

I've been homeschooling my boys for six years, and I'm happy to share my homeschooling tips. Please also know that ​no one is expecting you to replace your student's teacher, nor to be homeschooling for a full school day. Let's figure out some realistic goals and tactics.

Every time we run out of milk unexpectedly, I find myself wishing for a good old-fashioned milkman who would simply deliver while I slept. Oh, sure, there are all sorts of ways to order groceries online, or subscribe to dinners online, but that's not quite the same thing as just knowing, like our moms did, that when they got up in the morning they could just reach out to the milkbox and find what they needed. Well, guess what? There actually are milkmen in LA!

Milk and other dairy (or non-dairy alternative) delivery is available from a few SoCal companies. Best of all, home delivered milk is fresher than what you find at the grocery store. Typically, it has been out of the cow for no more than 48 hours—often less. It's the freshest you can get without touching an udder.

We've rounded up our favorite TV shows and movies to stream right now, as  many parents are finding we need to rely more on screens these days! We tried to make these picks our favorites, meaning ones that we don't feel too bad about letting them gorge on or even watching with them (our laptops balanced in laps, of course).

Read on for more than two dozen of our parent-tested-kid-approved shows (and a few movies) that are streaming on Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Prime.

School is closed (along with everything else!), but this sure doesn't feel like spring break. Last night the governor, the mayor, and a series of LA County officials all issued statements in rapid succession saying to stay home. Any dream we may have had of escaping this COVID-19 madness ended abruptly.

But what exactly does a Stay-at-Home order mean?

Here's what it doesn't mean: It's not an order to stare at screens blaring scary news stories until you feel drained of all hope. It also doesn't mean your kids can't go outside! Sunshine and fresh air are healthy for body and mind—especially young ones—and there are several approved ways to enjoy that during this crisis. In fact, Mayor Garcetti's order specifically makes exceptions to the Stay-at-Home order for "walking, hiking, running, cycling, using scooters, roller skates, skateboards, or travel in a vehicle with household members to go to a place to walk, hike, run, or ride a bike."

We heard the man. Our kids need to run! So we've got a list for you of places you can stretch your limbs and feel normal for a spell—all while keeping six feet away from other folks.