It is week number whatever since COVID-19 began and I am making good progress on my coffee stash. The cutesy Facebook posts highlighting everyone’s Pinterest projects are starting to fade. The smiles are starting to looking more strained as parents are wondering how much longer they will have to be the counselors/craft room directors at “Camp Corona.”
When asked how they are doing, I have heard multiple parents sheepishly reply that they “need a break from their kids.” There is a feeling of always being “on” and no end in sight. Parents are helping their kids navigate emotions, trying to come up with activities, and teaching school. They may have less help and support to care for their children impacted by disability. They are helping their children work through interpersonal conflict with each other and trying to come up with out-of-the-box ways for their children to have social interaction. This is all while trying to figure out the rest of life. You know, the little things like jobs, bills, taxes, food, and toilet paper.
I’m going to make a comparison that you may find to be controversial and may make you uncomfortable, but if we were looking at someone who had these types of stressors at their regular place of employment, we would say that they are at risk of “burn out.”
You may be thinking to yourself, “but parents aren’t allowed to burn out.”
