Parenting During the Pandemic: Finding the Authenticity, Humor and Irony

Parenting during the pandemic is more challenging than it ever was.

Even before the pandemic struck, there are a lot of challenges that parents need to overcome. However, because of the coronavirus pandemic, parenting had to move up to another level of difficulty.

Not only did the pandemic do this to families, but also all the other events that took place in the previous year brought a lot of difficulties to families.

The Psychological Lockdown

According to a therapist and educator, Nancy J. Kislin, LCSW, MFT, parents are not just in a quarantine lockdown. They are also in a state of emotional and psychological lockdown. 

Because of everything that has been happening, parents are suddenly afraid of moving too fast or too dramatic. Kislin says that parents have become more cautious and are afraid to take even the simplest emotional risks. That is because they are worried that whatever risk they take, it might do them more harm instead of good.

Being stuck at home affects not only the kids, who miss being at school but also the parents. 

Kislin shared in an article in Psychology Today that as she talked to parents and children, she realized something. That is, "The world has always been a strange, dangerous and anxiety-inducing place. Yet, for the most part, people have always found ways to cope, if not thrive."

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Finding the other side of being a mom or dad

However, because of these challenges, parenting during the pandemic opened the opportunity for many parents to discover a new approach in doing their jobs as parents. 

Kislin says that the trauma, anxiety, and fear led to parents realizing how to be themselves and not just mom or dad.

Parenting during the pandemic became a way for parents to find their authenticity, humor, irony, vulnerability, and strength. It also gave way to parents passing wisdom to their children, which seemed to be taken for granted in the past.

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The Breakthrough approach

According to Kislin, parenting during the pandemic led to developing the breakthrough approach. 

This approach is done by learning how to accept and overcome the past.

The approach is teaching parents how to understand the true meaning of resiliency. Kislin says that through this, they are also able to teach resiliency to their kids.

The Breakthrough approach is also about teaching kids things through action and demonstration and not through words or merely explanations.

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In using the breakthrough approach

By imploring the breakthrough approach, parents can move forward without forcing any radical change. The approach allows parents to move from fear to courage, confusion to clarity, or anger to open acceptance.

The best thing about this approach is that parents are able to spend more interaction time with their kids.

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