How can I beat the burnout of pandemic parenting stress?

I’m not sure if lifting masking bans reduces or increases our stress levels as parents. It does add one more level of risk evaluation stress to our plates. In Texas, our masking requirements go away March 10. Will our schools continue requiring masks? Probably. Should you keep masking yourself and your children in public?

Additional pandemic parenting stress factors include:

1. How has social isolation impacted my child’s emotional and social development?
2. What kind of fears about getting ill may my child be left with after all this?
3. What has been the quality of my child’s education, will they be behind?
4. I love my kids but I’ve been stuck at home with them for so long, they are getting on my nerves!
5. My offspring, and maybe myself, have been online and playing video games more than I would like, how will this effect us? Have we encouraged an addiction?
6. Financial stresses due to job loss or reduction in income.
7. Loss or illness of a loved one.
8. Difficulty working and monitoring children in virtual school who have trouble paying attention or resisting the urge to start watching fun Youtube videos or playing video games.
9. Loss of special education supports and services due to virtual or covid restrictions.

Feeling nervous, having the blues, if my cup seems empty, how do I fill it back up? I’d like to feel better, so I can be better, but seem to lack the time and energy to take care of myself?

Here is a checklist for you to evaluate how pandemic parenting stress and burnout may be impacting you.

While some children and college students have struggled with social isolation and staying engaged with virtual school formats, many have done just fine, and some of them enjoy having more time to themselves and escaping busy social environments which can be stressful for them.

How to help kids and young adults stay motivated and focused under Covid restrictions and virtual schooling.

Do you think our kids are more likely to follow our advice and lectures, or to do as we do? Considering yourself as a model, how would you demonstrate valuing yourself enough to take out time for your own repair and maintenance?

If you had a very long trip to make in a car, and you needed your car to last for more trips, would you ignore oil changes because you were stressed about how much time that would take away from driving? How does that work out in the long run?

This is how we get burned out. This pandemic has been a long and difficult trip. If you took better care of yourself, what would be your first step? Would you exercise more often, socialize, share worries with an understanding adult, start a new hobby, take a day off?

I count myself lucky. I’ve gotten to spend more time with my kids. They have taught me how to play chess better and disc golf. They seem to have adapted and are flourishing. I hope you can find some silver linings and turn lemons into lemonade as well.

I sincerely hope you do take care!

Brad

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Parenting-in-a-Pandemic.aspx

https://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/my-health-story/the-mental-health-toll-of-parenting-during-a-pandemic/