As we near the end of the school year, I feel partially relieved to be getting a break from balancing home school needs with a full time career. I also feel anxiety that I still don’t have a clear plan for child care for my two elementary aged children. The summer camps we typically utilize have either shut down or are offering limited options in order to continue social distancing due to COVID-19. Some of those options include camps that used to be all day and now are only two hours a day. I don’t know about you but for my husband and I who work full time, a two hour camp is simply not going to cut it.
I usually have summer planned out by the beginning of March so this unknown on top of all the other unknowns is, on some days, just too much.
Some of my friends and co-workers are having to take leave of absences due to child care needs. Many day cares have actually stayed open during this pandemic but even that then becomes a decision based on the level of comfort a parent has with doing so. For those of us with elementary aged kids, the options seem to be extremely limited. They are too old for daycare but too young to be left one their own. We have had to endure these past couple of months with them home because they have to be doing school work. Now, as we look into the summer months, there is no school work but most of us still have jobs to be done.
Working from home with children in the house is miserable for both the parent and for the kids. Parents need to stay focused and engaged with work but we feel incredibly guilty ignoring our kids who are either bored or needing school support. The balance is more challenging than any of us could have imagined.
Many, including myself, are needing to be on-site some days mixed with telecommuting. My kids are not old enough to be home alone leading to my increased anxiety over what to do with them for the summer. Remote learning has at least given my kids a small amount of structure and something to do. As I look into summer, my heart breaks for how incredibly bored and sick of each other my kids will increasingly become. Even if I didn’t work, there is still the question of how to keep the kids entertained.
Planning for this summer is by far the most challenging of all summers in my parenting years so far. Summer plans will vary for each family dependent on things like kids ages, whether mom and dad work full time and what types of care is offered in your area.
When I think back less than three months ago, I would never have guessed it would be this hard or last this long. Unfortunately I don’t think we are close to anything being back to our old normal. As we look into the fall, I will be surprised if school is back in session full time on-site. But for now, that is too far for me to look ahead. Take it small bits at a time. Even if that means we don’t know what summer yet looks like. Even if that means taking it a week, a day or an hour at a time. Moms, we will get through this.
Read more of Stephanie’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
