The 5 Phrases I Use Every Day to Survive COVID-19

Two months being at home with both my kids, I will admit, has been a challenge. I’m a SAHM and I should be used to the daily grind of keeping up with two little ones. But our new normal of staying home and not going out has been a challenge, to say the least. I find myself repeating a few key phrases EVERY DAY. I probably sound like a broken record repeating these phrases every day, but it keeps this mama sane through this crazy time in our lives. Here are my top phrases I use throughout the day.

“It’s spicy”

I use this when I don’t want to share my snacks. Yes, I know this is selfish of me, but I literally share EVERYTHING with my kids. The bathroom, my lunch I reheated when they said they didn’t want it. Mama’s gotta eat so…everything mama eats is spicy.

“It’s broken”

I will admit I am not a master fixer like my husband. I can’t reassemble LEGO masterpieces. So it’s broken, or if I can’t find that one toy my son wants and he looks for it, I just say it’s broken and mommy’s fixing it later. In reality, I can’t find it so…it’s broken.

“The dog chewed on it”

I’m constantly telling my kids to pick up their toys every night or else the dogs will chew them. In reality, I just want them to clean up every night so I don’t have to do as much. If my kids don’t do a good job of cleaning, in the morning some toys may be missing and I say the dogs chewed them and they need to remember to clean up every night or else the dogs will chew their toys at night.

“It’s closed today”

Before quarantine, my go-to excuse for not going somewhere was: Sorry, it’s closed today. A friend suggested this one to me as a quick way to get out of whining about going somewhere. Sorry, we can’t go to the park when it’s 100 degrees outside because it’s closed today.

“Go ask Daddy”

This one is my number-one used phrase if my husband is home. It’s my go to when I need some peace from hearing “Mommy, Mommy!” There are some variations to this: “Go ask Daddy; he’s better at it than Mommy,” “Daddy’s more fun than Mommy,” and my favorite: “Go ask Daddy, he’s home!”

This time with my kids has shown me that my words really do have an effect on them. Sometimes I overhear my four year old repeat these phrases to his brother and it makes me laugh inside. What are some of your favorite phrases to use with your kids?

Ashley Chan
Ashley was born and raised in North Texas and settled down in Frisco. She met her husband while playing intramural basketball at UNT. Ashley taught pre-k and then was a trainer for a technology company until having her two sweet boys. She loves cooking, going for walks with the whole family, and exploring new restaurants all over DFW. She's a hardcore Disney lover and loves to explore and travel with her family.