WORKING FROM HOME, WITH CHILDREN, IS NO PICNIC
I’m pretty sure my kids didn’t learn a single valuable thing in mommy’s class Monday
Working from home became the new reality for millions of Quebec parents on Monday, myself included, with schools and daycare centres closed for at least the next two weeks, maybe longer.
Following the call of Premier François Legault for as many people as possible to telecommute in order to promote social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 and facing the necessity of having to take care of our children, parents across the province have found themselves setting up shop at the dining-room table or settling in to home offices.
But, let’s get something straight: Even if we’re hunkered down in our sweatpants sipping coffee and got to skip the usual Monday morning whirlwind of rousing grumpy kids, packing lunches and hustling everyone out the door, wfh (as it’s now called in social-media shorthand) is no cushy gig. In fact, the coming weeks promise to be quite stressful — no matter how understanding your employer.
This is no snow day, a temporary closure often greeted with silent fist pumps. This isn’t a long weekend or a holiday, where it doesn’t matter if the kids sit around in their pyjamas all day, binge-watch movies and fry their brains playing video games while indulging in some brief downtime. This is going to be a prolonged shutdown.
Overnight, millions of parents have become home-schoolers, responsible for the continuation of our kids’ studies — but without the help of libraries, museums, recreational facilities, play dates or extracurricular activities. Overnight, we’ve become early childhood educators, single-handedly in charge of the social, emotional, psychological and physical development of temperamental toddlers and precocious preschoolers who learn through play. And we have to figure this out on the fly, on top of doing whatever it is we do to earn a living. Add to this the fact our children are alternately restless, bored and anxious in these unprecedented times of social isolation, and it’s a lot to handle.
I’m not complaining as there are, of course, families facing far more dire circumstances than trying to get some work done while not completely neglecting the kids.
There are parents who may be going without a paycheque right now because of the extraordinary measures that have walloped restaurants, tourism and countless other industries.
Not all parents are privileged enough to be able to wfh.
Doctors, nurses and public-health workers — whom Legault has rightly referred to as “guardian angels” — still have to show up, as do police officers, firefighters, transit workers and lab workers. Fortunately, the Quebec government has organized emergency daycare for the children of these front-line workers.
But pharmacy staff, grocery-store cashiers, truck drivers and employees of the Société des alcools du Québec — who keep the supply of hand sanitizer streaming, the supermarket shelves stocked and the lunacy-inhibiting libations flowing — can’t do their incredibly important jobs by remote either.
Still, all parents, whether we can wfh or not, are now saddled with huge responsibilities that go well beyond the usual difficult-to-achieve work-life balance.
Many Quebec parents spent the weekend combing the internet for resources to keep their kids stimulated, stocking up on craft supplies, setting up virtual playdates through Google Hangouts, Facetime, Skype and other apps. In some cases, families have drawn up detailed daily schedules with time slots for reading, math, crafts, physical activity, snacks, screen time and chores. Kids thrive on routine, the logic goes, but keeping children on such a rigorous itinerary is a full-time job itself.
Parents can and should be heavily involved in their kids’ education. But we’re not used to going it alone without a safety net.
I have never had so much respect for the work of teachers and early childcare educators as after Day 1 of implementing the new, scavenged, educational regime I slapped together. The expertise, knowledge, patience, experience and creativity of these professionals rarely gets the credit it deserves.
And hats off to home-schoolers who do this every day. I’m pretty sure my kids didn’t learn a single valuable thing in mommy’s class on Monday.
Meanwhile, there is added pressure to embrace this forced family time and make the most of this precious togetherness — so add a dose of parental guilt to the equation.
As we hold down our jobs, try to keep our kids’ brains from turning to mush and hibernate to avoid contracting COVID-19, I speak for many parents wfh when I say I am as worried for my sanity in the coming weeks as I am for my family’s health.