Kanban for Chindsgi children

Voice from the community:

After five weeks in self-quarantine (luckily everyone here is still healthy), I have to say that my nerves can't take another µ of movement.
How I long for my life five weeks ago, when working from home was still working from home and consisted of «creating in peace», pyjamas and espresso. Now, in addition to working from home (Mum 90 per cent, Daddy 80 per cent), we spend the day as gardeners, cleaners, researchers, animal watchers and karate trainers, which pushes the workload to unimaginable heights. And ambitious as you are, you don't want to let your offspring down just before they start school.
But how do you manage it all? Well, Kanban has already helped Toyota to win the efficiency race against the gigantic American automotive industry of the 1940s. Then this should probably also help our offspring and our home office existence to increase efficiency.

We planned everything meticulously: 7 columns, one for each day of the week in the right colour, just like in kindergarten. The kindergarten teacher's bracket with the child's icon shows the day of the week. The 7 columns each have a row for every hour (in our case from 8-19) including lunch and afternoon snack. Each day of the week consists of 3 routines.

Too stressful: son wants his own rhythm

The board has not only given Jack an everyday structure, but also us: shared meals (much more often than ever before) and clearly defined breaks. However, I asked myself more and more: do we need to introduce a project management tool as a family in order to cope with everyday life? Are we nerds? Well, it worked great for the first few weeks. But then we realised that the pace of our home schedule was faster than any Chindsgi programme. In short: our son wanted more time out.

«I have the feeling that my son enjoys the intensive time with us and the 24-hour care.»

Now we no longer plan every hour, but Jack decides which programme item he wants to take a longer break from or what he wants to do for longer than an hour. In the morning, he starts with the Chindsgi learning programme at his own request. Afterwards, he wants some peace and quiet. We then read a book or he colours. In any case, our son wants to know exactly when it's daddy time and when it's mummy time. Because: Daddy is better at playing Lego and Playmobil while mummy is super good at reading aloud, running around, colouring and playing storytelling cubes.

A dream team despite corona stress

Speaking of mummy and daddy time: we are still a real dream team. Nevertheless, it's hard to find a place to retreat to. My husband and I are both very creative and need our space. You have to realise that we moved from a five-bedroom flat to a three-bedroom flat shortly before the lockdown. We wanted to do our bit to provide affordable living space for a larger family.

So we had to find alternatives. Spending more time together also means having to talk and negotiate more. Drawing more boundaries where you didn't even realise you needed a boundary before. Because what is usually easy (we both manage the household 50/50) is now becoming a challenge: when should we clean, disinfect, order food, do the washing, tidy up and, and, and? But we pull together and support each other wherever we can. And otherwise a simple announcement is enough: «I need two hours to myself now». That works really well.

Kindergarten! Risky? Or not?

Schools and kindergartens will now reopen on 11 May. But should I really send my child to kindergarten? My personal strength says: «Absolutely!» Because even as a superwoman, I can no longer afford these 60-hour weeks. But our research says: No - too risky for my partner as part of the risk group. So what should we do?
We thought back and forth, weighed things up and decided to send Jack to nursery on 11 May. But we're not entirely comfortable with that. In any case, we will continue to monitor the situation until then and in the Chindsgi.
In any case, it's no problem for my son to spend so much time with mum and dad. I'm surprised at how easily he copes with self-quarantine. Jack seems totally content, even though we didn't go out at all for the first three weeks. It wasn't until the fifth week that he said that this stupid virus should disappear so that he could finally see his friends again. I was very touched when my son recently told us that he thinks being at home with us, even when we have to work, is much better than going on holiday to Portugal. I have the feeling that he enjoys the intensive time with us and the 24-hour care. That makes me wonder. Because I ask myself: did he miss something during our normal working day that he is now getting «thanks to corona»?

About the author:

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