Schools Will Be the Last Thing to Return to "Normal"

in COVID-194 years ago

Here, my friends, is a picture of my desk from this week, which I think explains rather well why I now plan on leaving the house 2 times a week. I began such a ritual this week and am now firmly convinced that, if I do not continue it, I'll never get anything done. Never!

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My childless friends in China have all told me at one point or another these past few weeks, “Well, it seems like everything is back to normal. We are pretty much over this coronavirus thing except for the travel restrictions.”

To which I respond, “Yeah sure, maybe for you everything is back to normal. But for my wife and I, the lockdown is pretty much still in effect. We have a 3-year-old at home whose kindergarten is still closed indefinitely.”

So I’m gifted with these companions during the day. Sometimes castles are built for me even!

It’s wonderful and all, but how anyone expects parents to be that productive out of a home office right now when their kids are right there beside them all day is beyond me.

Y’all, I thought the expression, “My kids were climbing up the walls” was hyperbole. Well, I’m here to tell you that it is most decidedly not. If you don’t take the kid out to burn off energy for an hour or two (preferably longer) everyday, that’s what you get:

Spider-Kid.

So please, as we start to peel back the layers of quarantine, please remember us struggling parents. We still are sheltering-in-place our little bundles of joy and deserve some compassion & understanding!

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I hear you and sympathise as I know you've been under lockdown much longer.
I have an almost 3 year old AND 5 month old twins at home.
Fortunately my almost 3 year old went back to her small family day care almost 2 weeks ago. They allowed 3 kids with one carer and as there were normally 6 with 2 carers at the place they were able to split upstairs and downstairs.

I wasn't able to get anything done for 6 weeks.
Since she went back I've got a lot done.
I don't know how you do it.

Today she got to my printer/photocopier and printed 30 copies of what was on the platen before we caught her.

Today, literally mine was climbing the walls, piling up couch cushions along it so as to get to the stuff on the built-in bookshelves. Naked.

I was like, "That's it! You're putting on clothes and we're going outside now!"

You get to go outside! LOL. Lucky. I don't mind them naked so much, it keeps down the laundry which saves money on soap, water and energy (I wish I was joking).

Sorry to hear. I am in shelter in place with a 13, 7 and 5 year old and 9 months pregnant.

Good thing I am not actually trying to "work" I do some freelancing, and I have been writing e-books, but in the past couple of weeks (especially when my husband came to visit for two weeks which made it harder to work, not easier), I just kind of put work to the side and decided to maintain working on my sanity instead.

For your three year old, I would suggest workout videos, having her in the kitchen every time you are there, extra chores (seriously - I know she is three), old magazines and safety scissors along with a bunch of glue, lots of singing and dancing, and letting her sleep for the 14 hours that 3 year old kids need anyway.

It is tough, but it is also lucky, when else will we get to enjoy our kids so much?