The World of Working from Home & Caring for Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

 

This blog post is offered by Amber Terry, Regent Law 3L and current Family Law student who completed her final semester of law school from Texas:

During the beginning stages of the coronavirus pandemic, it was almost impossible to imagine a world in which most people would be working from home rather than taking the usual drive into the office.  A world where schools, movie theaters, and parks would be closed indefinitely. 
Then, the unthinkable happened in our own backyard. The coronavirus hit the United States, sending thousands of Americans to work from home.

Prior to the pandemic, only about 3% of people worked from home. This is vastly different from the 58% that began working from home in March 2020. Naturally, plenty of these Americans who are working from home are parents. Parents who typically work outside the home, however, are likely not prepared for the emotional and physical task of having to juggle the newfound simultaneous tasks of being a parent, an employee, and now a teacher. The exhausting reality for parents is that schools are being closed until the fall, and no one was truly prepared to let students go home months before the summer break. Of course, there is no recipe for family harmony in times like these, but it is important parents remember that being perfect is not what this time is about. While it is daunting and downright exhausting to play three roles all at once - parent, employee and teacher - it is a time for families to realize that we have been given the gift of time: precious time to spend with one another. This may just be family restoration.

It is easy to allow quarantine to make parents feel upset and anxious. But it is important to remember that children are also feeling confused. The best thing a parent can do is try to calm that uncertainty in the minds of their children. Sometimes this means that parents needs to take time for themselves, to be refreshed and refilled. As the saying goes: you cannot fill another's cup if yours is empty. 

To all parents out there: have hope and just breathe.  And you might see a whole new type of family restoration happen in your very own home.