Worried about kids' adjustment back to normal times
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Anonymous
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My kids are 6 and 2 and truly think they are living their best lives right now. They are total homebodies and more than happy to never leave the house, although I do think my older one misses her friends. The biggest change is that DH and I usually both work full time out of the house and we work pretty long hours, but now we're always around. We have an amazing nanny but have not had her come for the past 3 weeks so they have been with us all day every day. DH typically travels for at least one week per month but obviously is not right now.
I am extremely grateful for this time with them even though the days are long and hard, but am a little worried about how they will adjust back to normal life when DH and I are not around all the time anymore. I think my younger one is going to have a really hard time going back to our nanny in particular. Anyone else worried about this? |
Anonymous
| Apart from some plusses to self-isolation, my kids aren't living their best lives. But adjustment back to normal life is going to be a big transition. Am I worried about it? No. But will it be rough? Yes. |
Anonymous
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No. I worry about how this is affecting my 3 year old right now, and the accumulated trauma if it goes on for months. Yesterday he had a meltdown because he wants to go to the park, go ice skating, go to gymnastics, go to school, go ANYWHERE. He's become more prone to outbursts, hitting, and defiance. At the same time, he's clingy in was he wasn't before.
None of us are living our best lives right now. Maybe the transition back to normal will be rough for a week or two, but normal is better than this. This is HARD. This is miserable. |
Anonymous
| I’m worried about all of our adjustment. As a society, we’ve suffered a major event and states are all over the place in their responses. I see a lot of us vs them talk. |
Anonymous
Your 3 year old will be fine. He is 3, they get defiant even without a pandemic. |
Anonymous
Same situation here with 4yo DD. Even getting her outside in our yard as much as possible doesn't help. She doesn't understand why she can't see her friends, go to her "school" (daycare), go to the playground or the pool, or, saddest of all...she's torn up over missing her grandparents. She's gone from seeing them weekly to not seeing them at all in over a month. FaceTime doesn't help...it just makes her sad and upset. On top of all of that, DH and I are both full -time WFH. I hate it, because I can't devote the time to her that she needs right now...because I'm expected to put in a full day of work. DH is essentially unavailable, because he goes from one conference call to another all day long. He may as well not even be here. We are getting the same behavior issues here. My usually sweet, outgoing little extrovert is sullen, throwing horrible tantrums, back to sucking her thumb, etc. I'm at my wit's end. |
Anonymous
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Yep, my 4th grader is loving this. He can chat with his friends online. He is getting tons of parent time- even if he is just sitting under my desk while I work, he is loving it.
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Anonymous
| No. And I’d be worried about my 6 year old if they felt that way TBH. People are social. They get cabin fever. This isn’t little house on the prairie times. When this is over, get her in some more structured social activities |
Anonymous
I disagree with this. It is not a problem that OPs 6 year old is fine right now!! Different people make the world go around, not everyone is an extrovert. I will say that op seems to be borrowing trouble by worrying about a situation that hasn’t happened yet. Op—kids are resilient. If you actively worry about something, you’re sending your kid the message that there is something to worry about. Enjoy the together time! |
Anonymous
| OP with 4yo here. I'd love to enjoy the together time, but I am now both full time employee and SAHM. Ill admit I feel lots of guilt here over the fact that I can't make this into some enriching togetherness time like it seems others are managing to do. |
Anonymous
Sorry...PP, not OP. |
Anonymous
| I think it will be difficult for my youngest. He’s a homebody + very close to me + starting middle school next year. It would have been fine before but I think very difficult now. He often says that he could go on like this. |
Anonymous
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If they give us some type of notice, I think we will be fine.
We will do like w do at the end of summer vacation or an extended break. A few days before school restarts, we have a more strict bedtime and will start getting up earlier. |
Anonymous
| Yes. I worry about the isolation and anxiety for my 5 year old. He's not normally prone to anxiety but this situation is understandably causing some. And I was supposed to send my baby to day care for the first time in mid-March - it's been a gift to have this extra time for him but I'm not sure if I'll have to send him back before I'm truly comfortable with the risks. |
Anonymous
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My 6 year old is living his best life. Tons of parent time, sleeping in, outside in the sunshine for hours, Minecraft when we both have to be on a call.
I’m not worried about the transition back though. It will be like the end of every summer. A week to ramp back up, and away we’ll go. |