Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, family life has gone through extensive changes in structure, routines, social settings, and emotions. Families are tirelessly working to figure out how they can adjust to this new way of life. New strategies are incorporated daily to ensure a cohesive and strong family structure as best they can. Physical and emotional exhaustion is experienced by the parents and the children as well.
During the pandemic adults having to shelter in place as they worked from home while also homeschooling one or more children during school closing and beyond. After months of juggling these situations, adults have been experiencing a range of symptoms creating burnout, lack of motivation, irritability, short-tempered, lack of concentration, and a host of other behaviors. In some instances, the effects have caused trouble within the relationship of couples struggling to keep it together.
This has not been an easy situation for children and teens either. Overtime being home schooled has created a longing for the prior social existence they had in school amongst their close friends and peers. Being confined at home has been shown to cause them to become increasingly moody, irritable, depressed, and unable to sleep. In some cases, their school performance and grades have dropped substantially. Outbreaks of crying without cause and oversleeping and sleeping during zoom sessions have also been some common behaviors.
As this pandemic is not over yet, families need to develop strategies to cope so that they can make it together to the end of it. Families will need to incorporate new routines to help their households to run smoothly. Through gaining an understanding of what is occurring within the family during this pandemic, is what will help them to gradually create a strategy to overcome it. Following are a few websites that may be helpful.
Resources for Helping Kids and Parents Amidst Covid-19 https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Resource_Libraries/covid-19/resources_helping_kids_parents_cope.aspx
Covid 19: Resources for Parents and Teens https://www.adolescenthealth.org/COVID-19/COVID-19-Resources-for-Parents-and-Teens.aspx