Have you been feeling lately like your kids need you more than ever?

Are they asking when you and they will get vaccinated?

Do they question when they’ll go to school all the time and not take quarantines at home anymore?

Are they frustrated with online learning?

Do they miss their friends – Dungeons and Dragons – Visiting other kids in the cul-de-sac – Dinner at the neighbors – Grandma and Grandpa?

With COVID restrictions stretching on and on without an expectation of stopping even after vaccinations when masks are still to be worn, parenting has taken on a new dimension.

Kids in some ways, home so much, are becoming quite resourceful.

Ten-year-olds learn to bake and cook dinner.

Thirteen-year-olds going to school online share an office with their fathers and/or mothers working at home and increase their ability to concentrate for hours.

But these thirteen-year-olds also brood. Hormones are changing and they need to get out more. They socialize online – wear masks staying at a distance and talk to other kids outside. But it’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Parents know it. And kids know it.

What are the New Parenting Issues?

1. Discussing with kids feelings of isolation.
2. Budding anxiety about leaving home that was never there before.
   

   New Anxieties Surface

    

3. Listening to fears of death and dying.
4. Confusion about how and if to limit screen time when now it’s the only social time.
5. Helping all family members share their living space for many more hours than before.
6. Siblings arguments that have shifted from ‘regular’ stuff about chores and sharing to rough housing getting more out of hand because frustrations rise more easily just because of being together too much.
   

   Sibling loves and quarrels are shifting

    

7. A new wave of temper tantrums and cursing by previously well-mannered teens who are sick of feeling over-controlled by parents because everyone’s confused about house and apartment rules now that everyone is home so much, especially in this cold, snowy winter.

And Even More Parenting Issues!

1. Parents worry about their kids (and themselves) gaining weight due to less exercise and more snacking, so decisions are tossed around about food choices and even some gym equipment there isn’t room for or money for.
2. Sleeping routines that were well-established get lost and found again.
3. Money worries have escalated, and the kids know it, feel it, and worry about their parents constantly talking about it.

4. Kids are watching or at least hearing the news too often just because they’re home more and their parents are over attached to their remotes to get the latest about vaccines and shifting politics (even though now many new directions are positive and even though now we have an empathic President modeling for parents how to set new rules and accept new emotions).

5. Learning to listen attentively has taken on a new dimension for parents because of all these new issues sprouting up regularly.