It’s not over yet – parenting through Covid

I just want to ask……… who else is feeling utterly exhausted?!!!

I am not sure whether it is from school at home, working extra hard to catch up for missed time at work, or just being emotionally drained from this whole thing (or ‘all this shit’ as I have seen it referred to)?!! And, if we adults feel like this, surely the kids do too.

Returning to school has been stressful for some. There have been all sorts of little issues crop up from: ill fitting uniforms, to worries about whether they have kept up with work, to kids growing significantly and …….. changing (voices deepening and such like).

Then, there is the added fact that school looks a bit different. There are still activities they can not do and equipment they can not use. In some schools, cleaners dressed in suits are hovering. For the little kids all this must be very confronting and scary.

It is difficult to support them, we never went through anything quite like this as a child. I keep harping on about what a great job Mark McGowan is doing to keep us safe in Western Australia, because I think feeling safe is important.

Slowly but surely things are picking up but it is clear to me, some things will never be the same again. Mostly these changes will be for the better. People will hopefully maintain higher hygiene standards, perhaps cut a few things out of their life and slow down, negotiate more working from home, keep a watch out for those around them more often.

The kids might even be lucky enough to see calmer and less distracted parents. I had already begun clearing things out of my life before Covid came along, but I have a long way to go with improving my distraction levels. This pandemic has served as a timely reminder; rushing around isn’t a way to live life but merely a way to exist. Taking time to notice the details is much more fulfilling and rewarding.

This reminds me of a blog I wrote almost two years ago in New York. It was about watching some birds bath in a puddle on a hot day in Central Park. A place so full of details and life. It so sad to hear of how this amazing city has been so ravished by coronavirus.

It is time to appreciate the details and be grateful for what we have and where we live.

MB