Bored Panda reached out to Jane Parker, a professional Relationship Coach with strategic intervention training and years of experience in life coaching. Jane told us that the lockdown has undoubtedly had a significant impact on relationships.
“But for various couples, the impact has been different; some witnessed positives coming out of it, others saw their loved ones and themselves growing apart. It is interesting because a lot of couples have actually become closer during lockdown. For those couples who hadn't been getting enough time together, and whose relationships were struggling because of that, they have been able to reconnect and fill in what has been missing.”
Jane heard many stories of families becoming much closer as they are spending much more time together. Having said that, the relationship coach added that “for many others, unfortunately, it has worked quite differently; issues that have been bubbling under the surface have been exposed, and couples have been forced to face up to them.” And it can be overwhelming.
But the professional coach believes that it doesn't necessarily have to be a negative thing for everyone. “It can also be an opportunity to address issues and put them right. So it can be a blessing in disguise for couples who are willing to act upon them, especially if they are willing to get professional help.”
When adding all of this to the pressure of homeschooling and the changes that we have needed to adapt to, no wonder many of us find ourselves dealing with tremendous stress. “We are under much more pressure and stress to achieve even less than we are used to in terms of our own work and productivity,” Jane explained.
Previously, Bored Panda also talked to writer and comedian Samantha Scroggin, who runs the 'Walking Outside in Slippers' parenting blog about the joys and challenges of raising kids in times of worldwide pandemic.
Surprisingly (or not), after some time, the pandemic life became a normality and many people found their new comfort inside the lockdown. "As we close in on a year since the pandemic got underway worldwide, I feel like the distance learning, working from home, and limited social interaction have begun to feel more like 'regular' life.”
Samantha said that her kids have grown used to the new routine of turning on their school tablets at their desks at home, rather than jumping in the car to go to in-person school. But the reminders of pre-pandemic life are still strong and although you can almost forget it all existed, little things come to remind us of it.
Like, when “we step into a restaurant to pick up some food or pass by fair grounds where we've attended festivals in the past. When we get those reminders, they're like cold water in the face."
Yet, many parents are still struggling to juggle with multitasking just as much as when the pandemic started. In many households, the burnout crisis has reached a tipping point. “I don’t know anyone that is not struggling,” Susannah Lago, a mom, business owner, and founder of the group Working Moms of Milwaukee, told Vox.
The ever-changing demands of parenting in the pandemic are becoming the main sources of stress, anxiety, and depression. And this is besides the economic challenges, as many parents were forced to leave their jobs as a result of the crisis, or simply because they had no one to leave their little ones to.
