Parenting During a Pandemic
Since my family of four has been spending A LOT of time together, I noticed my son craving some one-on-one special time with me. This is snapshot from our mommy-son afternoon together last week.
How are all of you hanging in there? I know this pandemic is challenging for people from all walks of life. As a mom of young children, I’ll admit I’m struggling. Massively.
I started off optimistically during week one of the “shelter in place” mandate. I resolved to make this time a wonderful memory that my family could look back on with fondness years from now. We would take our time in the morning and not rush out the door like we normally do, eat meals slowly over thoughtful conversations, bake muffins with my son as the baby watches on, and I might even get into better shape as my family would spend a lot more time outdoors going on many walks and scavenger hunts. I was going to Life is Beautiful my way through this and create a magical world for my children—all against the menacing backdrop of a global pandemic.
Fast forward almost four weeks of social isolation later and I’ve reached several breaking points. It is hurting me, my husband, and my children, to live without our support system, our village, which has been stripped from us: my son’s preschool, our grandparents, local museums and libraries, playdates, playgrounds, so on and so forth.
What have helped me push through my low points have been conversations with two of my colleagues who are also juggling motherhood and our professional careers without our support systems.
We produced two podcast episodes about parenting during a pandemic. The first episode, which is provided below, focuses on caring for ourselves as parents. The second episode focuses on our children’s wellbeing as we discuss routines, covenant relationships, and talking to our kids about this disease, why the playgrounds are closed and the worst, why they can’t play with their friends right now.
These conversations have helped me immensely in providing comfort, reassurance that I’m not alone, and inspiration. We are all in this, struggling and trying to figure out the best way to live each day, together. I hope these conversations will give you that comfort, reassurance, and inspiration as well.