We are parenting. We are working. We are surviving. As we’ve evolved through the stages of quarantine from #schooliscanceled to #shelterinplace to #wearmasks, we’ve been learning and adapting each step along the journey. We are wearing wrinkled clothes from the laundry basket. We are crying in the shower and throwing tantrums on the floor. We are eating frozen foods and running the dishwasher nonstop. We are watching too much TV and playing too many video games. We are staring at our screens and ingesting too much news. We are drinking too much coffee and pouring ourselves one more nightcap. We are staying up too late, and then starting the cycle again in the morning. We are laughing as a family and enjoying each other’s company. We are baking bread and cooking soups to gain an ounce of comfort. We are puddle jumping in rain boots and looking for rainbows in the backyard. We are pulling out the unfinished art kits and digging out forgotten toys. We are connecting virtually through classes, happy hours, family dinners, drive-by birthday parties, and game nights with friends. We are supporting each other through group text messages filled with homeschooling advice, funny memes, recipes, and pictures of our kids. We are cuddling on the couch and living a slower-paced life. We are surviving with our own coping methods, though we may not have found a perfect balance between the positive and negative ones. Some days we play and then work, and some we work, then play. We have school sprinkled in there somewhere too. We are fighting and making up. We are screaming in the background of Zoom calls or breaking up a wrestling match on the couch. We are working in short bursts with the kids crying or playing nearby, or we are shutting ourselves into makeshift home offices bracing for the inevitable interruption. We keep going, unsure of what’s to come, but life continues. We are feeling guilty for not being enough of a parent or employee or husband or wife. We are trying to parent, work, and maintain our sanity all at the same time. We strive to do it all, when we could barely do it before. We are staying busy without accomplishing our to-do lists. We have all the time in the world, yet somehow there is not enough time. It’s the neverending staycation of our lives. We hope it will get better, but know the worst is yet to come. Inhale. Exhale. Try to embrace the challenges, at least for the moment. Maybe it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyways. I realize that we are in a place of privilege to be safe at home. We are able to work from home, and our kids can attend school from home. We can go on walks around our neighborhood and can have most necessities delivered to us. We are ever grateful for all of those essential workers putting themselves at risk outside their homes to help others. We are insulated from the harsh conditions of the people fighting on the frontlines, being treated in a hospital, suffering in their homes, or living quarantined from their families. We don’t take that lightly. Today we are watching with a mixture of fear, hope, and trepidation as cities attempt to reopen, and we wonder if it’s really safe to go back into the world or if people are being too hasty. Even though staying home is a struggle, it’s a struggle that feels worth it for the safety of our families and communities. Thoughts are from me, Social Media Manager at Carefully App. I’m the mom to the three girls pictured in the article. Just trying to figure out this parenting thing each day. The stories I share are loosely based on my life, sometimes no filter needed, sometimes edited and adapted to protect us all…

Welcome to Carefully A new community with the mission to help busy parents achieve personal balance by sharing childcare, community resources, and a safe space to connect with other parents. Originally posted April 2020 When I launched Carefully three years ago, I created an app to encourage parents to share care and host playdates. In these unprecedented times, I’ve realized that Carefully’s core mission extends well beyond playdate scheduling. Finding balance and connecting with other parents in meaningful ways is what we all need now, more than ever. As a single mom in NYC, I’m all too familiar with the pressure to try and have it all — work, family, friends, exercise, chores, homework, the list goes on. As parents, we’re all working so hard to make everything fit that, when things don’t, we often sacrifice ourselves and our time first, not realizing how much that impacts everyone else and, ultimately, our kids. Now, more than ever, we’re starting to understand just how much is asked of parents — and especially mothers, on whom the burden of care still falls the most. As the latest research shows that mothers face significantly more pressure than fathers to be the involved parent, even when both parents are working in 70% of homes, it’s no surprise that women are still having a harder time balancing the demands of job and family. That’s why I’m building this new community, to move from understanding to action. It will be a place to share the things that make us smile, the things that make us go huh?, and the things that make us feel recharged. It will also be a place to share resources, from classes to services, that our children love, and a positive space to connect with other parents and hear their stories. I hope you’ll enjoy these musings and thoughts, and that you’ll join the conversation, too! If you have a story to share, please reach out to me at leslie@carefullyapp.com. Only together, can we support and celebrate new ways of living carefree and Carefully. — Leslie

Gratitude for 2022: I spent the last couple of months sick along with so many others, and while I tried my best to keep going for a while, I soon realized that the only option was to let my body take the time it needed to rest and recover. As the fog is finally starting to clear in my brain, I’m grateful that I have my energy back to start the new year and for all that we were able to achieve this year. 2022 Highlights We got rewarded in 2022 - We were invited to join Inaugural cohort of the City Fellowship & were one of 50 Recipients in the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund Carefully en español - We rolled out multi-language support on our platform to allow translations to any language. Carefully is now available in English, Spanish, and Ukrainian. We showed Android some love - We kept plugging away at features on our Android app to make it fully featured for all our Android users. Everyone can access all the great features like city hubs, group care, playdates, enhanced profiles, social network profiles, and partner channels will be available soon! We made sharing care even easier - iOS app has evolved based on feedback and usage to better support our community - Community Finder, Group Care Requests, Request from Profile, multi-language support, Partner Promos, and SMS & Email Notifications were just released to ensure you never miss an important message or request. We expanded our offering from Individuals to Institutions & Employers. With the Carefully Enterprise Access, organizations now have an affordable, inclusive option to support parents in their community. Unlike other childcare benefits, Carefully supports community-based care that is inclusive of all types of organizations and employees/members, from salaried employees to hourly workers, essential workers, and even freelancers. We launched with our first partner, Families First Cabarrus County and look forward to many more in 2023. Cheers to Resilience in 2023 We are excited to start the new year with our trusted partner and literacy expert, Talia Kovacs, bringing her newest offering to support parents in creating calm, connected households through her thoughtful and insightful workshop - Raising Resilient Kids Workshop: Helping kids embrace their mistakes When: Jan 10, 2023 - Sign up for the event on Carefully today! What: How to equip your child with the tools to get comfortable making mistakes and develop self-reliance (and feel like a great parent in the process!). More and more, children are anxious, afraid to make mistakes, and deeply shame-filled when they do. Our kids are refusing to try, and shutting down when things feel hard. What's a parent to do? In this workshop, we rethink the term "resilience" and understand the research behind developing a child's inner resilience. We will learn and apply the Resilience-Building Framework: Starting with Us Creating the Conditions for Resilience Developing the Habits of Mind for Resilience Using the Resilience-Building Framework, parents will assess their child's current needs and come up with a concrete plan to develop more opportunities for resilience at home. Join together to collaborate with other parents and see how resilience-building can positively impact the entire family structure. Web Sign Up Link

**Based on True Events, as told by Leslie Borrell, Carefully Founder After almost 2 years into the pandemic, both fully vaccinated and at least one of us boosted, Covid hit our household last month. While, I knew it was a more matter of time as it spread through the city, I didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that we would now have to deal with the reality of this virus. As soon as my son started to sniffle, I was sure that he had Covid. It took us 3 rapid tests and a PCR to confirm my suspicions, and so we were now in the quarantine phase of Covid and I figured it was only a matter of time before I got struck too. While I tried to keep my distance for the first few days, this didn't go over too well with a sick 9 year old, and at the end of the day, I escaped without infection. Here's how we survived the quarantine (since the infection was pretty light, mostly thanks to our vaccines along with a little bit of luck). Day 1: We got this…make sure to have some daily goals planned. I had to work while A was at home, so we tried to set things up for him to be a little independent. He had 3 things to do every day - 30 min of reading, 30 min of writing and 15 min of math. Days 2-4: Too much screen time makes a cranky kid, so we put a few more rules in place to reduce the melt downs. 1 hour of screen time, then 30 minutes of break. After negotiations, we agreed to 2 hours of screen time with a 30 minute break. Days 5-6: Started some masked morning walks to get our days started on the right foot. Day 7: The goals started slipping and the cabin fever was kicking in, so we had to have a screen free day to reset. We made homemade squishies and play-dough. The balance was restored. Day 8: After our negative covid test, we went on a walk outside and got some fresh air! Day 9: We might actually survive :) Day 10: Screen time all the time, I’m done Day 11: Playdates! - Mama gets a break and kids NEED to play Good luck to all the other people out there who are still dealing with quarantine, sickness, and much more serious effects of Covid. I know we were lucky that the hardest part of Covid was surviving 10 days of quarantine. Be well and take care of each other <3