"My 9-year-old daughter came home to mine after a week away (I have shared custody with her dad). She immediately demanded her iPad. I said, ‘Lily, you’ve been away for a week and I haven’t yet had a hug or a kiss.’ She replied sassily, ‘Hmm, that sounds like a you problem, not a me problem!’” Ariane told us about the most hilarious pandemic moment she had with her daughter
Ariane told us that parenting has been more of a challenge recently because she’s had to homeschool her daughter who didn’t enjoy it much.
“She’s really hated homeschooling because she’s so bright and likes to be sat at the front of the class with her hand up, impressing the teacher! Not being able to do that has really demotivated and demoralized her, and it’s been sad to see. She can’t wait to go back to school in September.”
Parenting under regular circumstances can be tough but having to take care of a child who’s scared of the coronavirus is an added struggle. So Ariane told us what she with her daughter to help calm her down. “My daughter already had anxiety and Covid-19 really didn’t help. She was especially worried about my health when she found out overweight people were more at risk,” Ariane said.
“I managed to calm her down by finding stats to prove that mixed-race people are less at risk from Covid than even white people (both she and I are mixed race). I appreciate that this won’t help most people, but go with the science: explain to them that young people, and most people who are young enough to be parents, generally won’t be severely affected by coronavirus—so hopefully, that fact will quell children’s anxiety somewhat.”
But what about parents who feel completely overwhelmed, stressed-out, and knackered? What are they to do with their super-energetic munchkins who are wreaking havoc at home?
“I would ensure they keep active, both physically and mentally. Take them out to run around and burn off excess energy. I also have a board game, dice game, and card game cupboard, so we play UNO and Perudo and loads of other games my little one loves, and that keeps her occupied and content and staves off boredom.”
In an earlier interview, Bored Panda spoke about pandemic parenting with mom-of-two Samantha Taylor, who has her very own blog, Walking Outside in Slippers. She told us that the pandemic had completely changed things for her family because of the lockdown and having to spend more time at home with the kids.
“We've gained weight. My husband is exhausted, but there's never much downtime for us and certainly no alone time. We feel too guilty to even make a just-because Target run, so there are fewer outlets for our stress,” she said.
“Our kids seem to scream even louder and want a snack even more desperately when we jump on work calls. On the bright side, I feel like this situation has pushed us closer together as a family,” Samantha explained that it’s not all doom and gloom.
The best advice that the mom-of-two could give us was that parents should let go of too many expectations during the pandemic. “Prioritize what's most important: sleep, healthy food mixed in with the junk, kids using their brains in some way each day.”
She continued: “Let go of becoming the ‘perfect’ Pinterest parent during this time. If anyone claims to be perfect right now, they're not giving you the whole story. We're all struggling to some degree. I also love the idea of doing kind acts for others and involving our kids in those actions. It's harder to feel sorry for ourselves when we're focusing on making someone else's day a little brighter.” Now those are tips that should make at least some parenting struggles less painful and more fun.
