Parenting in times of Covid-19

Around the globe COVID-19 has affected the people in many ways. But the hardest hit are the women, be it single, married, working or non-working. Our lives changed drastically, better for some and worse for the others. Many people were optimistic that the imposed lockdown would bring about a lot of gender role biased changes. That we would see the men helping in the household chores, some were lucky to witness this metamorphosis, some not so much.

The women of the house had to go through a separate struggle all together, taking care of the house, children and also asking that the pandemic remains as far from their house as possible, ensuring all this and a lot more.

Being a parent is not easy at the best of times and these are definitely not the best of times. It was a demanding job already taking care of the health, happiness and well-being of the house and kids and got more strenuous once the pandemic hit trying to keep kids safe, happy, healthy, and busy during a summer where they might be stuck at home.

The summer vacation embarked on a different note this year with kids stuck at home, isolated from their friends and grandparents, and missing all the fun activities like summer-camps or family trips, visit to the nearby mall or evening stroll in vicinity.

Working women shouldered the brunt of the pandemic the most, struggling to juggle both work and family, trying to bring an equilibrium between the work and engaging the kids to keep them happy and safe both.

As parents, it is our commitment towards our children to not only take care of their physical but also mental health as this is one factor that is way less acknowledged in our society than needed. It is vital for the growth of any individual be it a parent or a child. We as a family need to communicate with each other on a regular basis talk it out and resolve the stumbling blocks.

It is quite normal for this aspect to get ignored in these tough times as there are several other things that occupy the front seat like the physical well-being of the family, making sure no one falls sick or catches a cold.

We as parents need to work together and discern the hurdles that our kids might be facing due to these tough times, we have to identify each and every sign to guide our kids and family to the right path and provide them peace and assurance that we are in this together.

Eating healthy, having a proper 8 hours sleep, being active, taking up fun activities with the whole family involved, keeping kids engaged in a new skill or hobby, having a movie night at home watching their favorite movie with them are a few steps that we can take up to ensure the physical and mental well-being of our family and keep them happy and safe even during these trying times.