Influencing Your Kids in Quarantine with Alaha Karimi
In honor of Mother’s Day 2020, we are highlighting 25 extraordinary Momma’s who inspire our Chasing Blueberries Community!
Meet our mom, Alaha!
Alaha Karimi, NY
Professional Makeup Artist, Educator, and Beauty Influencer
CB: Who are you in quarantine with?
AK: My 4 year old daughter Sofia, and my husband
when he comes home from work. (He is an essential worker - NYPD Detective)
CB: What is your quarantine story? AK: Our sleep schedule is completely messed up, and now with it being Ramadan, I don’t go to sleep until 6-7am lol.
One night, Sofia (my 4 year old daughter) decided to stay up with us, I let her do it (call me a bad mom or whatever, but guess what-WE HAVE NO SCHEDULE OR ANYWHERE TO BE! LOL), we took her to bed around 5:30am and at that point the birds were chirping and the sky was a very dark blue… she read her bedtime story and I turned off the lights, she looks at me and says “wait a minute!!! Is that daytime I see outside??” I said “no, the sky is just lighter right now so go to sleep.” I knew that if I told her yes, she would hit me with a million and one excuses as to why she shouldn’t go to bed since its “day time.” She looks at me puzzled and goes “mommy, IT IS daytime outside! Why would the birds chirp if its night time? Its time to wake up! Not go to bed, mommy!” I said sternly, “No Sofia, its time for bed, we let you stay up way too long and now the sun is slowly coming up which means you better be sleeping before the sun is completely up!” She starts smiling, stands up in her bed and says “but the sky is awake, so I am awake!”
The line seemed familiar… it was from Disney’s Frozen lol my daughter has been so lonely this quarantine that she walks around all day in the different princess costumes and this week she is Ana from Frozen and in this very moment, she had the perfect opportunity to say a line and have it make sense. Im done being self-quarantined, and I think she is too. :)
My husband is an NYPD detective and he still has to work. Normally he is in an office in the city, but because of the police shortage (due to so many being sick with COVID and staying home) they called on the detectives in the intelligence bureau to go back out on patrol. My husband who was working from around 3pm-1am was now working 12am-9am and getting home in the morning. He comes home and sleeps until around 3pm, and leaves the house in the evening to go back to the work. Our schedules are opposite for the last couple of weeks, and so my daughter tries very hard to entertain him with stories of what we have done throughout the day when she sees him for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
I am a full time makeup artist and beauty influencer, since I haven’t been taking any clients, I have been focusing on creating even more content for social media since the self-quarantine rules were put in place. I still get tons of packages every day which include a lot of skincare and makeup PR. Yesterday, Sofia ran up to her father and said “OMG Daddy! I have something amazing to tell you!” He asked her what it was and she was jumping for joy and shrieking with excitement and saying “ohhhhh you’re going to be so happy!!!” He said “wow! Tell me!” She says “That awesome man bought mommy more skincare!!” My husband said laughing “what awesome man?” Sofia says “the man that comes here when you’re not home!” Im listening thinking “Oh Lord, this girl and her crazy stories…what is she up to now?”
One thing about my daughter-she never lies. She exaggerates stories but she will not lie, she actually starts to cry if she is lying about something and then just spills the beans and tells the truth lol. So I'm thinking to myself "What is this girl talking about? I know she doesn't lie, but what the heck is she saying? What man??” Her dad says “a man that comes over?” And he starts laughing. She says “yes!!! That awesome man brings mommy skincare and makeup and pretty things every day!” UMMMM OKAY… NOW IM PANICKING… first thought is “What if she’s seen some kind of creep outside of the house?” Second thought, “She is going to make my husband think that I am doing something I shouldn’t be doing!” He is still laughing and wondering what man this girl is talking about so he says “okay Sofia, tell me about this man, who is he, what does he look like?” She says “daddy!!! Its that awesome mail man!!! He’s so nice and he brings mommy presents every day!!” It was in that moment that I was thankful that my husband isn’t an insecure psychopath lol.
I realized that this quarantine has been so stressful for this little girl that the only human beings that she sees on our property (mailmen and couriers) are “awesome men that bring mommy presents.”
CB: What are 3 tips you would give to other Moms to help them during this time?
AK: 1. There are so many cheap/affordable activities to do with kids on several websites (google is a gem for this)
2. Going out for a “rock hunt” isn’t violating the terms of the self-quarantine and isn’t going to pose a danger to you or the kiddos, go out, hunt a rock, bring it home and wash it properly (there’s a lesson in properly washing the rock), then paint the rock for a little Arts & Crafts fun! I love doing this with my daughter and so far we painted rocks as “post pandemic gifts” for several family members!
3. Let the children exercise with you! Even if you are doing some jumping jacks or body-weight squats in the living room, let them join in! Not only is it a good way for the kids to be active, but you’ll have a little workout partner to keep you going!