Turns out that we can do more online that we thought.
School? Check.
Swimming dryland training? Check.
Soccer drills? Check
Gymnastic routines? Check.
Piano lessons? Check.
Group word games? Check.
Uno with real cards? Check.
Terren and Koda, in one month, went from some of the most screen-time restricted kids to being on screens for hours a day. We thought the transition might be harsh, but were pleasantly surprised when they both took to it pretty quickly. Perhaps there was novelty to the tech-components. Perhaps there was pride and mastery of a new challenge. Whatever it was, they impressed us with their adaptability.
It forced us to learn, as well. Turns out that it is a lot of work to printout 15 pages of weekly school handouts, only to need to scan them back into a PDF for submission online a few days later. So we figured out how to teach the girls to complete PDFs digitally and how to scan documents with an iPad if needed. That helped our workload considerably. But as many working parents know, even if you are lucky enough to have a kid that is engaged in the online offerings, it doesn’t mean you can go about your work-from-home day efficiently. Every 5-10 minutes there is an interruption: what is the Zoom password? How to I upload this? I can’t login! My sister is being too loud! Can I eat this at my desk? What’s for dinner?
What we lost in parental work productiveness was offset by what we gained by not driving cars around the surface of the earth all day after school. We regained literally hours a day that would have been tied up with each parent driving one of the girls to separate sports practices, and weekends filled with meets, tournaments, and games. That extra time meant family dinners together became the rule, broken only when Dad had a shift at the hospital.
I'd like to say we used all the new time to our advantage and personal growth, but that’d be revisionist history. Let’s just say we made do in the new bizarre world, and made the best of it we could. We have our jobs, our home, our supportive schools and sports teams, our family, and our health, and we are very grateful.
