The real truth about pandemic parenting

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/08/2020 (1017 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It seems like over the past several months that a lot of the parenting and ‘how-to’ articles have focused on coping — even thriving — during the current global pandemic.

Many of these writers seem to have all the answers for how to work effectively and efficiently from home, the “right way” to home school your children (as if there actually was a “right way”, which I highly doubt), and lots of suggestions for how to stay safe, sane and happy while being stuck within the confines of your home.

But not to worry. This isn’t one of those annoying how-to articles. It’s also not one of those “I-must-be-a-failure-as-a-parent-because-I-let-my-kids-eat-cookies-for-breakfast-one-morning-instead-of-homemade-yogurt-with-organic-berries-and-freshly-squeezed-orange-juice” stories. And it is most definitely not a “Top five strategies for effective home schooling” pieces which makes you wonder just exactly who these folks are that have all the time and energy to make a diorama of an endangered species habitat out of nothing but recycled pieces of plastic and cardboard.

Nope. I wish, just for once, someone would tell it like it really is — that we are not complete failures as human beings because we haven’t learned a new language or taken up a musical instrument while locked down in quarantine. That it is OK if you’ve let your housekeeping skills get a bit rusty or you just can’t bring yourself to finish off a home improvement project you ambitiously started in April. That so-called “staycations” aren’t nearly as much fun when you are forced to have one, instead of doing it by choice. And that it is more important for your child to remain healthy and happy — both physically and emotionally — than forcing them to memorize the multiplication tables. And that if your kids occasionally have cookies for breakfast it doesn’t mean you’re a failure as a parent.

After all, my mom never gave me homemade yogurt for breakfast, and I turned out just fine.

Heather Innis is a community correspondent for Windsor Park. You can contact her at htiede@gmail.com

Heather Innis
Windsor Park community correspondent

Heather Innis is a community correspondent for Windsor Park.

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