Hey parental units. Consider this a loving PSA.

I see your gears turning, trying to make it all work together in your head. Your work-from-home needs (or maybe you are an essential worker headed out of the house each day), combined with your kids’ new educational schedule. You’re stressing because you feel like you have to keep it all-the-way together on that front, keep food in bellies (Another snack? Seriously buddy?!) and the pantry stocked, contain the cabin fever, and keep your home from looking like an episode of Hoarders.

Honey, stop it. Just stop.

This is me giving you permission to lower your standards. In this case, we’re lowering our standards to lower our stress. This ain’t the time to be everything and do everything, we just don’t have the capacity in this crisis. On a “normal day”, the mental load we carry is already heavy enough. Right now, that load might feel like it can’t even be lifted by heavy machinery.

So guess what?! I’m not carrying it – and neither should you.

How can you do that?

  • Realize that you are not your kids’ new homeschool teacher. Shoot, even traditional homeschooling parents are making adjustments to their curriculum. Remember the reason you send your kids out of the home for their education? Yeah, we as parents, aren’t prepared for this level of instruction – that’s why our kids have classroom teachers. And that’s okay. Let that go, leave it to the professionals, and embrace this fact…
  • Teachable moments are everywhere, and learning happens all the time. Life itself is a great teacher. Science is in a walk outside or a kitchen recipe, math is in a deck of cards, critical thinking happens in playing board games, imagination and creativity are housed in play. Quality time with your kids – doing whatever is fun for y’all gives them security and reduces the stress on everyone.
  • A little (or a lot of) free time isn’t going to hurt them. You HAVE to get your work done. Kids don’t HAVE to be “in school” for 6+ hours everyday – not in this crisis-schooling household. If you’re searching frantically trying to put together daily school packets that you then have to sit with your child to help them with – when will you be getting your work done? It is okay if they watch their favorite movie or show (or make that plural and add an ‘s’) or play on the Switch. The kids will be alright.

So give yourself some grace, release that pressure you’re placing on yourself – and your family. When this is over, you can go back to your regularly scheduled programming, until then – just put that cruise control on and coast.