RE-IMAGINING WFH WITH YOUNG SCHOOL CHILDREN

It’s been a long, hard road. Back in March, most of us did not imagine that a two-week quarantine would become working and schooling from home throughout 2020 and possibly beyond.

When children started learning from home in the spring, you may have been okay. After all, it was only for a few months. Then summer plans got turned upside down and, despite best efforts to try and have the kids physically back in school, many districts are either back to the virtual classroom or attempting a hybrid model. In either case, this is very challenging for parents.

I thought I would share some of the ideas that have come out of coaching sessions with many of my clients who are facing a situation where they (and often their partner) have full-time work and kids that are learning virtually but need some supervision.

STRATEGIES

There is no ideal solution; I am hoping that these strategies may help to ease the pain and reduce the tension in your home that may arise due to competing priorities (working and parenting). There is no one-size-fits-all answer, so look to the ideas that are most relevant for your situation and are aligned with your personal and community safety guidelines.

1.  Re-imagine 2020. Sometimes we forget that we are living through a once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic. We have grown accustomed to social distancing, fastidious hand-washing, and mask wearing. It is helpful to remember that we are still living through an unusually difficult time in our history. With that in mind, is it worth rethinking your work expectations? Today is not business as usual.

2.  Ask for help. We love our independence and being able to do what needs to get done on our own. High achievers are notoriously bad at asking for help. This is hard. If there are grandparents that may be able to help with supervising young school children, would they be willing to cover a day or two each week? If you are comfortable inviting someone in your house, can you hire an adult to supervise your kids for a few hours each day? What about a college student who is also learning virtually?

3.  Compress work. If you and your partner can work four days instead of five, you will each free up a day to take responsibility for the school supervision. This may or may not be feasible, but it’s worth a try.

4.  Flexible work. In addition to suggestion #3 above, if your work can be done independently of others, might you be able to move some work hours to early morning, evening, or weekends?

5.  Create a pod. Everyone’s risk threshold is different. If you are comfortable with it, perhaps you and another family with similar age kids can share the responsibility of supervising the children. If you do this two days a week, you will free up a day where you can exclusively focus on work. The other day, of course, you will be supervising your kids as well as someone else’s. Or perhaps both families agree to hire a college student or other adult to provide the supervision.

6.  Plan. Schools are providing both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Asynchronous learning may be more challenging for your child and require your involvement. Try to do your deepest work when your child is fully engaged in a synchronous class and less demanding work when they might need to interrupt you for support.

7.  Partner. If there are two parents in the home, designate a ‘parent in charge’ so that the other knows that they can dive into difficult work without interruption. By alternating blocks of time, you will both benefit from more focus time.

KIDS CAN BE PROBLEM-SOLVERS

From an early age, people like autonomy - the ability to decide for oneself. Why not involve your kids in some of the solutions that will help everyone?

Here are some examples:

HIIT Workouts. Kids are often better able to focus after physical activity. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) provides short spurts of cardio that can be done inside or outside in a few minutes. Involving your kids in designing the workouts will increase the likelihood that they will participate willingly. Depending on your location (city or suburb), you may be able to incorporate running around the house or jump-roping as well. HIIT activities can include jumping jacks, wall sits, squats, push-ups, and running in place. Using a Tabata app will guide them through a quick four-minute routine. Dance parties (let your kid choose the music) are also a great way to get your heart rate up.

Lunch and Snacks. Deciding on Sunday what will be available for lunch and snacks each day will be one less source of stress during the week. Can you involve your kids in this decision and perhaps have them help with preparation?

Enrichment. Some communities are offering in-person classes in small pods for school-age children. If this is not an option, perhaps you and your kids can brainstorm ideas for projects to work on after school to keep them engaged (like Lego structures, art projects, or science kits). Be sure the selections are age-appropriate and won’t require supervision unless someone is available.

BOTTOM LINE

These are difficult times; everyone is being challenged to varying degrees.

The start of school is likely to be bumpy until everyone settles into a new routine. Focus on what is within your control and remember that we are living through a pandemic. There is a lot of uncertainty and many more items out of our control than usual.

Consider re-imagining your expectations for 2020 (for you and your kids.)

You got this!

If you have additional suggestions or ideas that would be helpful to others, please comment below.