So, we are almost at the end of week two of our schoolwork done at home. The pattern so far seems similar to when William normally goes to school; Monday to Wednesday, or should I say ‘Hump Day’, he is keen and pretty compliant, Thursday and Friday feel a bit like when you come off a motorway on to an unfamiliar ‘b’ road, bumpy, unpredictable and requiring a lot more skill, patience and careful navigating. Still, three out of five is a decent score with possibilty for progress and surely we should be aiming to find room for improvement! It’s just turned 2.15pm on Thursday so as you see we didn’t quite get to school chucking out time. What I have noticed is that we are finding our ‘rhythm’, what works for us, which is so important. Every family situation is unique, and it is time to stop comparing and start mindfully doing your own thing.
The great thing is our children have been taken away from that great source of comparison, the classroom. They can get used to working without that added pressure. I have actually come to the conclusion that this is probably harder for the parents to come to terms with. Where has the benchmark gone? What if we are the only ones that are not coping? Many have resorted to sending 1000’s of what’s app messages to the class group looking for some back up, understandably, saying things like, “Did she really mean to send 120 comprehension questions in one go with no time scale?” Making statements such as “I’d like to see how the teachers would get them to do this in half an hour!” “Ladies and Gents step away from the group.” You are just another family trying to love and take care of each other during a really difficult time. The luxury is we can now do exactly that, and anything not done has a superb excuse. Enjoy your own groove.
For me though the ‘blues’ creep in when my patience has withered or my facial expression during a lesson has given far too much away, a little like Matt Hancock before he answers a question, although his clue is more of a sigh. I guess I could always wear a mask now! I have a legitimate reason and I could say all sorts of silent words to ease my pain as I remind William that he has not read the question properly again. Bless him…..Whilst I am doing well not to compare him I am not loving endless guilt ridden judgements. Luckily my Mindfulness practice see’s them come and go pretty quickly.
So, we go forth into Friday, perhaps not with the same ‘Friday Feeling’ as we did a couple of months ago, but a new ‘Friday Feeling’ that is definitely different from anything felt Monday through Thursday. The question is am I doing an ok job of this? My jury is out at the moment and the judge is telling me to be patient, listen well, smile lots and in the words of Fat Boy Slim, “Praise him like I should”…, which will only be remembered by those of us who loved house music in the 90”S!
And on that note I’m going to tell you that you are all amazing, adaptable, accepting people and your children love you to the moon and back…
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