
The other day a friend of mine posted something about the extended Victorian Lockdown.
‘Not back at school until the end of October!’ she wrote, with a little emoji displaying her shock. There were a few comments of support and some more emojis displaying frustration and tears.
And then: ‘Treat it as a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your children. They will grow up fast! Just enjoy it!’
Um. With all due respect, f*ck off.
Watch: Be a good mum. Post continues below.
Because here’s the thing - I love spending time with our kids. We’ve watched our twins in prep learning to read and write. We’ve watched our Grade 2 child develop the independence to keep track of all his live lessons. We’ve seen our Grade 4 child write poetry and walk the dog by himself.
It has been a wonderful opportunity and one that has sent us to bed in wide-eyed wonder and appreciation for everything we have.
But there have also been moments where all four kids needed printing at the same time. Urgently. And there’s a paper jam. And times where all four needed help understanding something and to locate a missing sheet and to bake a cake and to do a science experiment using ingredients and objects we didn’t actually have. And all these times coincided with trying to get work finished by a deadline and a pandemic puppy who had just peed on the floor.
There have been moments where we said ‘just a minute’ to our kids so many times that they stopped asking for help and the guilt was impossible to bear.
And snacks. All of the snacks. All of the time.
There have been WiFi crashes and frustrated tears from both children and parents (and no doubt teachers on the other end).
There have been moments that the business implications of lockdown have left us unable to sleep for fear of what the future will hold.