Parenting through the pandemic

The clock reads 10:58 AM and I frantically rush to gather my phone and computer, along with some semblance of sanity and retreat into the farthest corner of my home for my 11 AM Zoom meeting. With three very enthusiastic and emotional boys, quiet is not a familiar sound in our house. I throw on a work-appropriate shirt to match my leggings and slippers, add some life-giving mascara to my tired eyes, and voila, I’m ready for work. The fact that I am un-showered and carry the smell of sweaty boys and sunscreen will (hopefully) go unnoticed through the blue light of the computer screen. 

I open my computer, take a sip of cold coffee, and a deep breath. As I type, I notice the paint splattered on my fingers and am reminded of the butterfly crafts my boys and I did earlier this morning. And of the writing assignment that left both my six-year-old and me in tears. My thoughts add a thick layer of mom-guilt to top it off. Juggling mom-life and work-life has always been a challenge, but adding teacher, coach, and therapist to the mix? That’s just too many hats.

While we teach addition and subtraction to our kindergarteners, we are also teaching them how to type, click, and drag with their fingers. And while they record themselves responding to online lessons about non-fiction books for the tenth time, we are teaching them to let go of their mistakes. We are bribing and begging for our littles ones to sit still and write their reflections when all they see is a mom who doesn’t seem to understand that Summer break started last month. We are balancing the work of a team on our own, and it’s just too many hats. 

My computer has twelve tabs open right now and I'm pretty sure in my brain there are ninety-seven. There are YouTube screens up with art tutorials and virtual field trips. There is an information overload with websites each containing assigned work for two students, alongside my own work. Thoughts about how to complete that ever-growing to-do list run through my mind. Thoughts about what to add to the Costco Instacart order set to deliver in four days due to high demand; What dinner will be tonight, and how I’m going to manage to cook that dinner in the twenty minutes I have between ending my Zoom day and the hangry witching hour of my children. Worries about how many times I touched my face after I picked up the mail; Anxiety about how long the social distancing will go on for. The feelings of grief I have over canceled summer plans and life as we once knew it. How to raise and educate kind and compassionate kids through a global pandemic. You know, the usual. 

This new normal that we are all finding ourselves in has felt nothing like normal. If you’ve survived the first few months after having a newborn, this feeling of self-isolation should feel quite familiar. There is a general lack of knowledge of dates and times and very little contact with the outside world. The ever-present feeling of anxiety that sits in the backdrop of every day. 

And just like that snapshot of time ends, so too will this period of social distancing. 

So let’s all give ourselves some grace. If we can’t laugh at our misgivings and the chaos of the day, we just might not make it out alive. Try as we may, try as we might, we just can’t do all the things right. Some days will have far more screen time than appropriate, and see heaps of unfinished work. Other days will bring freshly baked banana bread and crafts galore. So let’s roll with these times of parenting, teaching, and zooming through this global pandemic.