Can We Please Cut the Kids (and the Moms) Some Slack?
Before you comment on my kids’ bad behavior, please remember…
One day in March, I picked my kids up from school, and they never went back.
Their lives were turned upside down.
They didn’t get to say goodbye to friends and teachers.
And now…
They haven’t played with other children in weeks.
They miss their friends.
They haven’t left the house (or yard) for days.
They’ve never met their teachers in person.
They spend entirely too long starting at a Chromebook screen each day.
They’ve been playing together every single day for 8 months. They get tired of each other. They fight. A lot.
They don’t know when they’ll get to go back to school.
They miss ballet, gymnastics, Lego club, piano lessons, and soccer.
They have fears and worries. Fears and worries they don’t know how to express.
They live with a mom who’s severely depressed and anxious.
They have a mom who was never trained to be a virtual school teacher.
They have a mom who is drowning in housework, cooking meals, laundry, and virtual school, day after day after day after day of the same thing. Over and over. Deafening monotony. No break.
They have a mom who loses her temper too much.
They have a mom who yells.
They have a mom who prays each day that trying her best will be enough.
Look at everything my children are going through. Can we please cut them some slack?
Yes, my kids yell when they’re upset. Yes, they talk back when they’re angry. Yes, they throw a lot of tantrums. SO DOES THEIR MOM.
Why should they be punished for doing the same things?
Instead, please empathize with them. Talk to them. Address the emotions. Help them work through their big feelings. They need guidance and compassion, not punishment and judgement.
Hopefully soon they’ll get a break from each other.
Hopefully soon, they’ll go back to school.
Hopefully soon, they’ll get to play with their friends again.
Hopefully soon they’ll be able to do ballet and gymnastics and Lego club and piano and soccer.
Hopefully soon they won’t spend all day every day inside the house.
Hopefully soon, their mom won’t be drowning.
Hopefully soon, the pandemic will all be just a memory.
And when those days come, I know it’ll be better. They’ll be better.
Just please cut them some slack for now.
😢🙏🏻