Making play-doh Iso- style: Disco-Doh with the Disco Kids

One of the things I remember the paediatric doctor (Dr Chad Andersen - actual hero and lifesaver) saying to us when we had very premature twins 5 years ago was, “be gentle with yourselves, and each other”

It was a scary time (a blog for another time) but the advice is relevant today as my little family are in week 3 of isolation. It hasn’t been easy, we were sick, had a family member fall ill, had testing with people in hazmat suits (more heroes), waited for results, and could only say goodbyes via facetime as our loved one was looked after by more hero health care workers. And that’s not even the whole of it. What does this have to do with play-doh? Good question!

I’m a teacher and a freelance creative. We’ve lost work, we’re going going into scary situations, and being isolated at a time when it’s had some big impact on our hearts. I have people and friends in my feeds asking for educating advice and others asking for advice on video and streaming content, which is work we do/did before all of this. This stuff is important, it moulds minds, educates, amuses and entertains, and pays bills, but at the end of the day, it’s not what is most important.

I don’t say that lightly because I know whats its like to deal with living hand to mouth and feeling so overwhelmed by the unknown that it’s hard to get out of bed.

The gift of this isolation for us, has been a reminder to be gentle with ourselves and each other. That the work, the clean kitchen, the “things” aren’t what matter when you strip everything away. What we remember long after the time has passed is the time we spent together, whether we laughed, whether we had fun and whether we connected and loved each other. Perfection, how we are seen, all those things become less important.

So while this video was an attempt at a very practical play-doh recipe you can use. At home from isolation from ingredients in your cupboard or whatever you can find (and if you can’t find them - experiment, go wild, don’t let the fear of mistakes or mess hold you back), what I hope you get from us is a laugh. A little reminder that imperfection is bliss. So even if its just me, my family who looks back on this video, this little moment in time with my monkeys, my circus, who are the most important things in life to me, the joy was the part we remember not the play-doh.

Be gentle with yourselves.