Hilary heeft een blog op de website van haar bedrijf Happy Little Camper. Hier is de eerste blog van eind vorige maand waarin ze praat over haar kinderen en covid-19.

Is your little one leaving a monstrous wake throughout your house with every step they take too??? Are they Peter the Repeater with games or antics that are funny the first 10 times, but once you hit 62 you’ve lost your voice and checked out (I mean how many times do you want me to rip the blanket off of your head and scream Boo at you girl!!!)

These days have been longer than ever! Trying to entertain kids, keeping them clean, keeping them fed, sticking to a bedtime, keeping up with your house, cooking, squeezing in some sort of physical exercise for yourself, all while trying to keep your own mental state stable. Throw in a chatty husband and she’s spent sis (just kidding I love you to death Bubba!) Oh and did I mention make everyone happy and make good memories too! I hope you’ve found ways to cope with the madness of kids, with less helping hands in this covid nightmare. Insert all tips below!

I will say, having an eight year old has been really helpful! He’s adapted to this situation pretty easily and I can’t imagine doing this without him to help alleviate some of the pressure off of me because he will actually play with his little sister, who is six and a half years younger than him! Also he’s just a joy of a human being and our weekly Friday sleepovers where Matt gets booted to the guest room, I hope those never end! Bring it mommy shamers!

While we all love our kids endlessly, every combination of ages comes with its own set of challenges. Right now (hello my opening line), Banks can’t play with something for more than 3-4 minutes at a time and wants a body sitting with her for every minute of the day. And while very adorable and cute, it’s a huge struggle. She’s smack in the middle of her separation anxiety phase. One way that has helped me deal with this has been to get down to her eye level and explain my every move to her; when I have to hop on a call, when I have to pee, when I have to do something for her brother, when I have to cook something, when I have to tend to the dogs, and now chickens…oh what was I thinking! A lot of the time I’ll ask her if she wants to come along to help, and give her the choice, and if not, you guessed it, Trolls…once again! Again, my son, patience of a saint! Hairrrrrr upppppp!!!

We’ve gotten in the habit of popping the TV on first thing in the morning (shout-out Cocomelon!), so by the end of the day we’ve racked up a few hours of tv (how much is too much? are there even rules right now?!) and the guilt starts to ride me hard. My wonderful husband has been taking most morning shifts so I can get some sleep, or get some work done. Because once they see me, I’m all they want for the rest of the day. Mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom. Did I mention I wouldn’t trade this for all of the money in the world?! When I do take the morning shifts I’ve been making a LARGE mug of coffee, bundling up with Bair (Banks), and sitting in the backyard for a foggy morning chat. This gossip sesh has been giving me all the tea and I highly recommend you doing it with your kids. Even though it’s a whole bunch of hjklmuprtocvrwvboptfsdluytvbm! It’s great instagram content (aren’t we all searching for content!), but it’s an even better way to start conversations with your kids! Make sure to leave a pause so they have time to respond! I like to ask questions like…she said what?! Who all was there?! Did you buy it?! How long’s it gonna take?! Basically whatever I’d say to a girlfriend (within reason)! This has provided lots of laughs and has helped me gain perspective that having kids is a long play. These times are absolutely precious and fulfilling, though messy, draggy and hard. Chatting with Banks gives me a glimpse into the future of my girlfriend for life and all the tea we have yet to share!

Squeeze your babies tight because they’re growing in the blink of an eye and we are better because of them. Head up (hair up), we’ll get through this! Hope you’ve enjoyed my brain dump! See you here next week (actually no promises 😉).

xx
Hilary Duff

Chief Brand Officer
Happy Little Camper