As we start to think about what it will look like to re-open society, now that corona-virus pandemic has already overturned work, travel and home life, the rules are shifting for what people can and can’t do in their daily lives. Like I always say in this journey of motherhood there’s never a Right or Wrong, and I firmly believe one day each one of us will be scribbling their own unique quarantine diaries and reminisce about the special bond we shared with our loved ones even though we we felt abandoned and isolated by the world for over 100 days. (The Summers of 2020….)
There has been times where the best ways to express your heart’s elation was only by connecting to friends and family over video calls – (as we could not meet them) or simply just lament about your failures in quietness, times you experienced sudden bouts of frustrations and shared jokes about silly daily chores that frustrated you to an extent you started enjoying them, times when you wanted to relive the days where everything was picture perfect, times that didn’t make people paranoid, and scared children many of whom have been stuck inside their homes after schools have been shut down waiting for their lives to take a quick U- TURN restoring back to the Normal days.
As Single unit Families are jostling to balance work and child care for over 90 Days now, wherein working moms like me who on one side are so grateful that we have the types of jobs where we can work remotely however face some of these added stressors: being a round- the-clock Mom, A full time teacher, A quarantine Chef, A House cleaner, Washer man and the list is endless but not to forget all this getting achieved alongside a full time job. Somewhere back of my mind a nerve is ticking towards the “the Invisible Work” like planning, coordinating and anticipating daily needs and ordering relentlessly almost everything online. Not taking away credit from the Dads who are not only feeling squeezed are participating earnestly in division of labor yet the women with their intrinsic traits takes the major toll of household management.
I — like many of you — have anxiety pangs thinking as more and more businesses are reopening, which means many more of us will be required sooner or later to come back to work. Not everyone feels safe doing this, about how to best protect themselves and their loved ones in these situations but this is the “New Normal”. I’m freaking out a little on the inside (and sometimes the outside), but I’m also cognizant of the fact that I have to stay sane for my coworkers and teammates at work, and — most importantly — for my family at home, including my daughter.
While we are trying to keep our jobs as uninterrupted as possible, we are also expected to put on our home-school teacher hats and keep ,young learner busy with enriching activities — overseeing schoolwork or setting them up on apps or websites to work through various parts of their curriculum, pick up some of the most interesting and educative workshops that are targeting at different dimensions of the child’s personality which are essential for their overall development. Like many of you, I was a little lost too in making a choice from the mishmash.
Honestly, this is the first time in last 8 years that I had an opportunity of sharing these summer vacations with my little growing tween like a stay at home mum and I made the most of it. We have spent time doing various activities together from playing snake and ladders to dancing, painting and even coming up with a DIY corner at home, learning through some interactive workshops on Astronomy to some coding on code.org, not leaving behind Yoga and upholding our faith in god by offering daily prayers together. In our endeavor to instill everlasting values we sneaked into some serious conversations as well where we had chats learning differences between right and wrong, safe and unsafe since this sudden shift to Online Learning was an easy gateway to the realms of unknown.As parents we can help our kids navigate through this unpredictable time by being a positive force in their news medium of education, helping them by structuring their routine to manage their screen time and mix it up with regular school learning medium as well.
While this is a stressful time, it’s important to Plan and Not Panic.
Make the most of the time we are getting with our loved ones, dedicated few hours to uninterrupted family time.
Just Do what you can!
We all need to learn to accept our days will be interrupted, truncated, unscheduled, they may not be perfect but yes there will be end to these murky times.
And Yes. This is reality!
I’d love to hear of interesting routes and the some absolutely amazing Quarantine Diaries as you traverse through these pandemic times.
# list of some Interesting workshops selected focusing at overall learning, child’s engagement and their development.
- Mandala Art Workshop #mandala-art
- Doodle Art Workshop #doodle-fun
- Coffee Painting Workshop #bestfromwaste
- Astronomy Workshop #educative-learning
- Coding Workshop #educative-learning
- Public Speaking #personality development
Journey through a Mom’s Heart 
Leave a comment