{"id":9406,"date":"2020-04-29T09:17:43","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T14:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=9406"},"modified":"2020-04-29T17:43:09","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T22:43:09","slug":"parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Parenting during a pandemic \u2013 give yourself a break"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Stress getting the best of you?<\/p>\n

Get online support<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Parenting in these times during the novel coronavirus<\/a> (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not just a parent, but you\u2019re a teacher, chef, housekeeper, entertainer, referee \u2026 And for some, you\u2019re juggling all those roles in addition to working from home while trying to meet the expectations of your employer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s challenging, to say the least,\u201d said Luke Raymond, LCPC, manager of OSF Behavioral Health<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge because there\u2019s no separation between work and life, which makes it hard to focus fully on either parenting or work when both are happening at the same time in the same place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Class is in session<\/h2>\n

One of the biggest stresses<\/a> for parents is taking on the role of teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we may be trained professionals in what we do, we\u2019re likely not educated as teachers \u2013 unless you\u2019re a teacher,\u201d Luke said. \u201cThis can be especially challenging with older kids who might have more complicated, complex work that may be difficult for us, as parents, to help them with.<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger children may have higher time demands and need more support, such as assisting them with their Zoom sessions,\u201d he said. \u201cOlder kids may feel more frustrated that they can\u2019t hang out with friends and that they\u2019re missing out on extra-curricular activities that they find meaningful and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you do?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe first thing we can do, is change our expectations<\/a> a bit \u2013 for ourselves and our kids,\u201d Luke said. \u201cThe idea that we\u2019re going to be able to be as productive as usual in this situation \u2013 for adults as an employee and for kids as a student \u2013 is probably not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FatherLuke recommends setting achievable goals. At home, school doesn\u2019t need to be in session for seven straight hours a day. It\u2019s OK to let your kids concentrate on schoolwork for just a couple hours a day or long enough to complete the assignments their teacher has provided.<\/p>\n

Also, if it\u2019s a two-parent household with both parents working at home, take shifts in helping the kids with schoolwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for screen time; don\u2019t stress over limiting your child\u2019s screen time,\u201d Luke said. \u201cSometimes their screen time is the only time the parent has to get their own work done.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember this whole thing is unprecedented.\u00a0Give yourself a break if it\u2019s not all going perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new normal<\/h2>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges for everyone is the ambiguity of the situation,\u201d Luke said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how long it will last, how bad it will get, if it\u2019ll affect anyone close to us. The uncertainty makes it a lot harder because we don\u2019t have an understanding of how to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for some, like high school seniors, they\u2019re experiencing a real grief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t get to have senior night or that last season or properly celebrate the end of their high school experience. It very much is a loss,\u201d he said. \u201cIt kind of breaks my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seek support<\/h2>\n

OSF SilverCloud<\/a>, an online tool designed to provide cognitive behavioral therapy, has introduced \u201cChallenging Times.\u201d The new module supports an individual’s mental health during this pandemic. It helps normalize worries and difficult emotions, such as fear and anxiety, and provides emotional coping strategies like relaxation, grounding and worry time.<\/p>\n

The module gives practical solutions for\u00a0maintaining well-being in a time of crisis, including self-care, social support, prioritization and routine building.\u00a0It also suggests strategies for how to\u00a0stay hopeful\u00a0during these difficult times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don’t be tough on yourself if things aren’t perfect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":9410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[734],"tags":[829,816,831],"coauthors":[688],"class_list":["post-9406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health","tag-anxiety","tag-silvercloud","tag-stress"],"yoast_head":"\nParenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself if things aren't perfect.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-29T14:17:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-29T22:43:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Coon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Coon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/\",\"name\":\"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break | OSF HealthCare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-29T14:17:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-29T22:43:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d\"},\"description\":\"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself if things aren't perfect.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Stressed mother helping daughter with homework.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Parenting during a pandemic \u2013 give yourself a break\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"OSF HealthCare Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d\",\"name\":\"Lisa Coon\",\"description\":\"Lisa Coon is a Writing Coordinator for OSF HealthCare, where she has worked since August 2016.\u00a0\u00a0A Peoria native, she is a graduate of Bradley University with a degree in journalism. Previously, she worked as a reporter and editor at several newspapers in Iowa and Illinois. She lives in Groveland with her husband and son. In her free time she likes to cook, bake and read. She freely admits that reality TV is a weakness, and she lives by the quote, \u201cThe beach is good for the soul.\u201d\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lcoon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break | OSF HealthCare","description":"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself if things aren't perfect.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break","og_description":"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself.","og_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/","og_site_name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare","article_published_time":"2020-04-29T14:17:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-29T22:43:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lisa Coon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break","twitter_description":"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg","twitter_creator":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_site":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Coon","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/","name":"Parenting during a pandemic -- give yourself a break | OSF HealthCare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-29T14:17:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-29T22:43:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d"},"description":"Parenting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be stressful. Don't be tough on yourself if things aren't perfect.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Stressed mother helping daughter with homework."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/parenting-during-a-pandemic-give-yourself-a-break\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Parenting during a pandemic \u2013 give yourself a break"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/","name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d","name":"Lisa Coon","description":"Lisa Coon is a Writing Coordinator for OSF HealthCare, where she has worked since August 2016.\u00a0\u00a0A Peoria native, she is a graduate of Bradley University with a degree in journalism. Previously, she worked as a reporter and editor at several newspapers in Iowa and Illinois. She lives in Groveland with her husband and son. In her free time she likes to cook, bake and read. She freely admits that reality TV is a weakness, and she lives by the quote, \u201cThe beach is good for the soul.\u201d","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org"],"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lcoon\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Katie Whitt","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/covid-parents-ft1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9406"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9429,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions\/9429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9406"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}