The outbreak of COVID-19 has changed a lot in our lives. We’ve had to rework almost every aspect of our daily normal from work schedules to routines to socializing. As we juggle these changes, being a parent right now can feel especially confusing.
The questions are endless – How do you teach your kids the way they learn in school? How do you keep working while also looking after your child through the day? How do you look after your child’s and your social needs? Are you paying enough attention to your kid? Is your home clean and safe enough?
If you are a mom trying to do your best by your kids and family right now, here are a few things to remind yourself:
This is challenging but you are strong.
Remember that time when your kid was sick and refused to eat anything at all? Or when they wouldn’t stop screaming through the night, every night, for weeks on end? How about that phase when they would disobey everything you told them and lie about it?
Parenting has never been a walk in the park but you’re built for tough times. You have navigated so many and this is just another one of them. Trust that you have the knowledge, skills, and sharp thinking it takes to keep your kids safe. There’s hardly anyone better equipped than a parent to show up for others, maintain harmony at home, and keep soldiering on amidst chaos!
You are doing your best.
It’s easy to look at other moms in your circle and wonder if you are doing enough. Some may be able to turn into a diligent nanny or teacher overnight, while making the most gorgeous lunches, working from home, and still having downtime to unwind. It could feel overwhelming, as though you are missing something that some parents have.
But remember that everyone has their own challenges, ones you may not be privy to see. Be gentle with yourself. This is not a reality that you were prepared for. You’ve been thrown into a whole new set of dos and don’ts. All you can do here is make use of the resources that you have. What matters is that you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got.
It’s okay to not perfectly re-create school.
If you have school-going children who are now at home with you, remember that your kids aren’t being homeschooled – they are learning from home for a short while during a global pandemic.
It isn’t realistic to expect yourself to turn your home into a proper school and yourself into a full-time teacher overnight. Your kids don’t have to have the same number of classes with strict schedules and breaks right now. They don’t need to learn the same amount and in the same ways that they used to.
Outside of important schoolwork that needs to get done, you could use this time to teach your kid other life skills. A lesson in household chores or cooking a simple meal can be just as valuable! Maybe some extra screentime right now can calm them down too. Remember that what your child needs most is a safe, stable and healthy environment, not the perfect lesson.
You don’t have to have all the answers.
There's a lot going on right now. You are trying to get just the right amount of information, enough to stay safe but not so much that you'll panic. You have kids and grandparents in the same home and are a caretaker to both. You are dealing with the uncertainty of your employment while trying to be a present parent. You are battling your own anxieties while also tending to that of your child’s. How do you do all of this and do it right?
You don’t have to. None of us is expected to have all the right answers at this point. There are moms like you all around the world adorning their superhero capes and working through this trusting their own discretion. During times of such uncertainty, the only answers that matter are the ones you decide on.
As always, you will wing this too!
Ever since your child was born, you’ve seen that each day comes with its unexpected share of problems and pleasant surprises. There’s so much that isn’t in our control but you’ve learned to roll with the punches and take each day as it comes. You will get through this too.
Take a moment to think of all the changes you have had to think through and implement in the short span of a few weeks. Be kind to yourself and give yourself credit for all you have done and are doing for your family. Keep calm and parent on!
How are you taking care of yourself in these tough times! Please leave a comment: we'd really like to know.