Introduction
When my family heard that the school is sending our kids home due to the pandemic for a Hybrid – Remote Learning program, we immediately went into survival mode. Here are a few things that my wife and I are going to do to stay sane while we balance work and family life responsibilities during COVID-19.
1) Asking for help: My wife and I are fortunate to have family members within 60 to 120 miles, who are in our “quarantine circle” and willing to take the kids for a few days or hours if needed. We feel bad asking them, but we do it to make it through this challenging time. If there is conflict, the struggle is to get everything we need to be done, and asking for help takes a huge weight off life’s responsibilities.
2) Plan, Plan, and Plan again: My wife and I sit down on Sunday night and coordinate calendars the best we can. We take turns making meals and scheduling family time. No one can do this on their own and it’s important to recognize when you need help (whether physical or virtual) to get you through the day.
3) Managing Parenting guilt: When we ask for help, we feel bad when we hand off the kids to family or friends. We all know that when they are in school, the kids are used to having a full day’s worth of activities. When my wife and I are not at home I must admit there are times when the chore and school lists are complete, often our #1 babysitter is the television or iPad.
4) The Babysitter: we learned during the first hybrid/remote learning period last spring that if you need to let the kids sit with iPads for three hours straight so you can get a project completed, so be it. Even though this is not the best solution; it is a solution. We prefer not to use this solution often, but we do occasionally.
5) Blocking out time for yourself: This is hard to do because it combines responsibility, workload, and self-preservation. We attempt to make the time for ourselves a priority with activities such as walking the dog at 6:05 a.m. or watching a 60’s favorite TV show at 11:00 p.m. You need to take at least 15 minutes a day for yourself. Whatever it looks like for you – make sure you do it.
In conclusion – You do what is right for you and your family to address life’s challenges. Ask for help, manage responsibilities/guilt, be okay with kids and screen time, and don’t forget about taking care of yourself. We need to acknowledge and accept the challenges and know that we cannot always do it alone. During the challenges of COVID 19, we need to be flexible.
