I confess, I haven't been handling the pandemic the best. I don't think anyone has it “all together”, but as someone who IS working through this unprecedented time, I feel I could be doing better.
— I am not SUPER mom—
I CONFESS!! I am not the super-mom I always thought I was. As a parent, you get used to the repetition of the school days, extra-curricular, social events, mom taxi and keeping your child healthy (and entertained). On top of that, you are maintaining a household, working, trying to be social yourself and maintain your own relationships.
You would think, with the quarantine, it would cause my relationship with my daughter to become simpler and stronger than ever. I find the opposite is true. Although we spend more time together, we have plum run out of things to talk about. We aren't doing enough separately to share at the end of our days. This means, when we do have heart to hearts, the questions and topics are becoming increasingly deep (which is normally fine…but with everything happening it can be added stress to explain the “meaning of life” or concept of “love” in a healthy, constructive way).
My daughter is 13, so her time is limited to, sleeping, school-work, talking to her friends, tik-tocking, youtube videos, art-work, reading, and being annoyed by me.
Don't get me wrong, we have had game nights, craft days, movie/TV time together and outside fun…BUT I feel I should be doing more and am constantly fighting her to PUT THE DEVICE DOWN.
Her schoolwork is like Latin to me, so I try to help but it turns out…I am not smarter than a 5th grader (or in this case…7th grader)
Through all this though, we are maintaining as much normalcy as we can.
I am hoping as the quarantine continues, I can eventually add: academic teacher, social director, psychologist, doctor, principal, counselor, teenage companion, athlete, art instructor, phy ed teacher and tik tok influencer to my resume. Basically, fill every role my child needs right now.
Parents are hard on each other…but deep down, I think we are the hardest on ourselves. I am trying to picture how my own parents would have handled a quarantine when I was a child, and I am pretty sure they wouldn't have felt the pressure I do. 2020 parents judge each other and our own parenting styles the most.
I have watched on social media, the anger people are feeling at this time. I think we are all a little angry, frustrated, confused and scared. It's okay to feel all these things, but maintaining a positive attitude and understanding we ALL are feeling the pressure, is much more constructive than just “going off” on each other.
With that being said, I know there are many families right now going through serious struggles. I am counting my blessings for the things I do have and trying to support the community as best I can (from a social distance).
All we can do, as parents, is continue to push forward, give ourselves a little bit of a break, support and love (and maybe a glass of wine, once in a while!)
Do NOT be afraid to ask for help. Help from your community, friends, family, heck..strangers! Financial or emotional…if you are able to give back, do it! We are all in this together.
Keep going moms and dads…we got this!
