When the pandemic first started, I had four kids under six at home with me. I had decided to pull them out of daycare temporarily, thinking that I could save money for a few months, especially since I was worried about a possible furlough. A few months of having them home turned into eight months, and during that time we all tried to figure out a new normal.
Many people would ask me how I was managing to work alongside all these little kids. Most parents know that little kids require A LOT of attention. I potty-trained my two year old… Sorry to those that saw naked training going on behind me during meetings! I was still breastfeeding my youngest at the time, so about every six hours he was physically attached to me and also on display during my video calls from time to time).
I managed to find pockets of time in the morning to answer a few emails, but most of my work happened during nap time / quiet time, or after everyone went to bed at night.
There were definitely hard moments. I wore many hats and figured out how to make it work between the potty-training, breastfeeding, refereeing, cooking, cleaning, and providing tech support for virtual school. I honestly don’t know how expect that I had to mute myself and scream at my kids to be quiet often. And sometimes reschedule an entire meeting to another time in the middle of it because I had to deal with the latest kid “crisis.” Like that time one of my kids bought me a lighter and mentioned the red couch was fine and not to worry… Wait… I’m sorry what?!?! I’m going to have to call you back.
Despite all of these things, I’m grateful. I’m thankful to have had little kids during this crazy time. As they say, “Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems.” Yes, my little kids had needs… LOTS. OF. NEEDS. But they were happy. They were especially happy to be home with me getting my attention like never before. It’s a time I look back on and cherish.
I think about the things I didn’t have to deal with during those eight months. The CDC released a report in June 2021 that showed that teen suicide was up 50% in the early months of the pandemic compared to 2019. With how crazy the world continues to be, I can’t imagine that this statistic has changed a whole lot given the uncertainty of school, on and off quarantine, and lack of socialization opportunities.
Every parent worries about their child’s physical and mental health. While I was worrying about how I can sneak some vegetables into my kid’s diet, other parents were worried about whether or not their kid might be having suicidal thoughts because they haven’t been able to see their friends like they used to. My heart breaks for these teens and parents. Having someone close to me attempt suicide in the past, I couldn’t imagine losing a child like this. I pray that they were able to get the help they need in time.
My friends with little kids checked on me often during quarantine, knowing that it was a lot of pressure to manage four little kids and work full-time. I hope that parents with teenagers also checked on one another during this time. Those parents had a different experience than me. The parents of teenagers didn’t have their kids climbing into their laps or yelling in the background during their meetings. Their kids were in their rooms and out of sight, hopefully attending their own class online. It would have been easy to forget to check on parents who’s kids were not physically present during their work time.
I know that my time is coming and I too will get to the teenage years in a flash. When I get there, I know that I’ll have big kids with bigger problems than eating some vegetables or making sure they make it to the toilet in time. I hope that when I get there, my friends and I will still check on each other, and that maybe we won’t still have a pandemic to contend with too.