Parenting in the year 2020 seems like a year of playing, ‘never have I ever’. It’s the year for both, the first time and going back to our roots. There has been a list of things for most of us that we probably did for the first time.
The biggest challenge of it all was to keep our kids engaged, and entertained, and home-school them all by ourselves. I have said this before and I like repeating it like a little mantra that parenting is both, rewarding and challenging.
However, to sum up, parenting in the year 2020, overwhelming and confusing are two words that best describe it.
Perils of Parenting in The Year 2020
Despite all the odds, I would never trade being a parent for anything else. It is my biggest high amidst all the chaos and it is definitely what soothes my soul on days when I want to give up everything and retreat into a shell.
As parents, we often want to be the best at everything. Right from how we raise them to what we feed them, every once in a while, we seek expert advice for everything.
We never refrain from browsing through parenting platforms and garner opinions on social media about how to handle tantrums and mood swings. Saying no to our kids and receiving a no for an answer is something that we are yet to accept fully.
I call the year 2020 as the magical year of parenting because this year helped me discover a multitude of strengths about myself. I was amazed to discover the many traits I supposedly possessed. I even came to understand and appreciate the many qualities that my little one owns.
Eventually, parenting in the year 2020 seemed like a rollercoaster ride that I may want to hop onto again. Yet, there is one thing that I often seek answers for! I wonder why amidst situations, events, changes, and the world literally coming to standstill, we as parents, expect our kids to behave in a certain manner.
Why do we want them to be occupied every hour doing something or the other? Why do we compare the number of activities our kids participate in? Why are we in a race to imitate and model the behaviour of other parents and use that as an example to judge our own parenting skills? Honestly, my vision for parenting in the year 2020 is far from the literal 20/20 vision we so desire for our kids. Did we ever think that if this vision is compromised, a lot of parenting problems would really be solved?
My 4 cents for Parenting in the year 2020
First of all, let’s keep aside all the parenting philosophies we have dutifully followed for so long. Honestly, did any of them stop us from being catapulted into a new space? No right! We are still keeping our fingers crossed for the year to end peacefully and for the onset of 2021 to bring about something reformational.
While we keep up our fight against the Pandemic, a few things that we must focus on while we continue our parenting journey in 2020:
Be honest – We’ve all seen enough and experienced enough to make stories about how we are feeling or what we are doing. Ever since I started working from home this year, I have been honest about my work, emotions and deadlines with my child. This simply teaches them to be honest and accept the challenges they face and encourages them to work around them.
Let the gadgets be – Well, even as I roll my eyes while typing this, we literally have to do away with our gadgets for a while. Netflixing and popcorn do sound like a perfect family plan, but conversations, fun and silly games still will top the chart with kids.
Get Creative – We’ve unleashed different channels of finishing our chores this Pandemic and I must say, we all have a creative DIVA hidden inside all of us. Hence, as we take on the mundane chores day on day, let’s get a little creative with the food we cook, how we communicate with our kids, how we express our feelings and so on. We usually maintain an emotional board and leave notes for each other.
Listen and pay attention – Yes, the year has been tough and so it has been for our kids. They have been resilient and patient beyond a level we could comprehend, so little undivided attention will really help us go a long way! Being a keen observer and attention, could help you even act on situations even before they require your attention.
Parenting in the Year 2020 has been all about teaching our kids about emotions and risk management. It’s the year of acceptance and respect. You’ve missed fancy playdates and exquisite dinners and your family still made it till the end of the year.
We’ve been dressed in our pyjamas almost all through the day and yet managed to crack a few deals with clients. Parenting is never really about being perfect parents or having perfect kids, it’s all about the journey and the experiences you build while you are at it!
Sabiha Gulrays is a blogger by passion and a content writer by profession. As a writer, she uses content as a medium to decode simple everyday experiences and turns them into valuable lessons. Over the years she has worked with multiple brands, been a guest contributor for various websites, participated in content writing competitions, and written for magazines as well. She thoroughly believes in the power of optimism and endeavours to use it to bring a difference to people’s lives.
