Quarentine and Me

 

(@DrKowert) "How come this week has five Mondays? How many days is too many days to wear the same pyjamas? How long can I hide until my kids find me? (spoiler alert: 7 minutes) #QuarentineLife" Twitter, 8:52AM, April 16, 2020.

During this pandemic, many parents are staying at home with their children because childcare is considered a nonessential business. For some families, this is a wonderful opportunity to bond with children. For other families, it is a never-ending adventure that can sometimes be overwhelming. For parents, they are transitioning from full-time jobs to being home with their kids 24/7. During this pandemic, a lot of parents are doing emotional labor in order to put their children at ease.

With every parent, there is a certain level of emotional labor because parents feel the need to protect their children from the outside world. Mothers, fathers and other caretakers mask their emotions, lighten situations, better listen, understand their children and help reduce reactive moments. However, it can take a toll on parents “always being on.” It can cause burnout and can harm mental health as seen with women in the workplace who constantly feel the need to “wear a mask.” Ultimately there is a happy medium for parents to practice emotional labor with their children, but it can hard to attain sometimes.

With children staying home, parents not only have to possibly work from home but also care for their children and entertain them with the lack of schedules, new schooling methods or opportunities outside the home. Parents are tasked to perform (emotional labor) to make sure kids feel supported and safe while still balancing life during a pandemic that has uprooted everyone’s way of life. Not to mention essential workers who have to live apart from their families and children. Along with the new transition, there are constant worries about the pandemic, shortages of food, and possibly financial worries. This can negatively affect a family, especially one form a lower socioeconomic status. Children are being forced to grow up a little faster and parents are trying their bests to make the realities don’t bleed too much into our now regular lives. Essential workers are on the front lines, but parents are the behind the scene workers trying their best and practicing a generous amount of emotional labor to preserve out future generations.

Course Concept Citation: Durr, Marlese, and Adia M. Harvey Wingfield. 2011. "Keep your 'N' in Check." Critical Sociology 37: 557-571.