{"id":15506,"date":"2020-09-15T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=15506"},"modified":"2020-09-14T18:29:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T22:29:38","slug":"pandemic-parenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/pandemic-parenting\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the \u2018new normal\u2019 as a parent in a pandemic while maintaining your mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: As experts learn more about the novel coronavirus, news and information changes. For the latest on the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the<\/span><\/i> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged in early 2020, most of us assumed that it would all be over\u2014or at least better under control\u2014by fall. But here we are, in September, with no end in sight…and more decisions to make than ever about how to<\/span> keep our families safe<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many parents, this means reluctantly signing up for a continuation of last spring: working from home, managing distance learning or homeschooling with our kids, <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>keeping up with all our regular parenting duties, like cooking, cleaning, setting screen time limits, and breaking up sibling fights while managing our own mental health. They\u2019re doing all that while managing the stress and fear of returning to in-person work and\/or school. Fun times, right?! Yeah, not so much.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the \u2018new normal\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n

It was two weeks into the March lockdown before I ended up sobbing into a towel in the bathroom so my kids couldn\u2019t hear me break down. My husband and I were both working from home, constantly in each other\u2019s way. Our three boys were with us 24\/7, practically climbing the walls with cabin fever. We were terrified about the looming threat of COVID-19 but trying to hide those fears from our kids, exhausted by the effort of putting on brave, confident faces at the dinner table night after night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, we were already homeschooling pre-lockdown\u2014or else I probably would have cracked under the pressure much sooner.<\/span><\/p>\n

All across the United States, other<\/span> families were doing the same exact thing<\/span><\/a>. This was the \u201cnew normal\u201d: spending every waking minute cooped up at home with your kids, trying to work from home (which you maybe never did before) and help them complete their virtual education (which you <\/span>definitely <\/span><\/i>never did before) at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, months later, the pandemic is still sticking around…and the \u201cnew normal\u201d has now become the regular ol\u2019 normal.<\/span><\/p>\n

How parenting during a pandemic can affect your health<\/span><\/h2>\n

Spoiler alert: Pandemic life is much harder, more isolating, and more exhausting than anything you\u2019ve likely ever done before as a parent. You probably don\u2019t even realize what all the stress is doing to you, and you may not be taking good enough care of yourself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The result? You could be heading for some major burnout.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBurnout happens when someone gets so exhausted they no longer have the strength and ability to function at the same high level,\u201d says<\/span> Catherine Pearlman, Ph.D.<\/span><\/a>, family coach and the author of <\/span>Ignore It!<\/span><\/i> \u201cWhen this happens to parents, they start to care less about issues that are typically important; they can become depressed, overwhelmed easily, and most importantly, unable to meet the needs of their children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And those are just the mental health effects! There are physical health effects of running on empty, too, including:<\/span><\/p>\n