This is a shout-out to all the children in the world who have embraced the new normal. Many children, including my son have been forced to study from home. If he had it his way, I’m sure, like most children, he would have chosen to go to school and meet his teachers and friends in person.
We cherish our school days for the memories, and those memories are mostly made up of the special moments we have spent with our friends and teachers. Our children can very easily mock this online learning and choose to enjoy their time at home. But just like how the grown ups have shown by example that they need to seriously work from home, our children are seriously trying their best to learn from home.
Grown ups have mastered the art of multi-tasking now. Parents are doing above and beyond their roles! And so are our children!
The sentence my son hears the most now is “you’re on mute!”. In this scenario, we as parents need to show them there are still good things in this world. Try our best to make this both a learning and fun experience for them. My heart breaks to see my son wearing a mask and going for a walk. But he is doing it because he sees people around him doing it and understands it’s for his own safety. It is absolutely human to retaliate or counter attack when something’s forced on us. Especially on some feisty ones like me! But just like us, our children are also trying their best.
The sense of smell and touch are very important aspects of learning. It’s easier for us because we have already learned that. But for them, that aspect is completely taken away. They are forced to stare at a screen all day and call their classmates “friends”! We tell them that whatever they see on screen is learning.
You must remember how you were told as a kid that we learn by doing. Now the “doing” is missing! They learn science by reading and watching videos of somebody else doing it. What a sorry state of affairs the world has come to.
It is now, more than ever that they need to hear that they are doing their best between all this “mute” and “unmute” !
Our present situation reminds me of this poem by Robert Frost- “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the road less taken.”
We are all on a new road but just as us, our children must know too that the world will get better and our lives will change but, for the best.
It’s with this positive thought I want to leave you today.
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.”- Robert Frost
Tonight hold your children tight and let them know that they can virtually do anything! Get it? “Virtually” Ah! I’ll just leave..