As things gradually getting back to normal we as parents are happier because kids have started going to school. Mine started in November with a months gap due to the third wave. But things bounced back pretty fast after the third wave and it’s happy to see kids boarding that school bus. After the first day they went to school I was like now what? What do I do? I had to actually find things to do in that extra 2 hours I was getting everyday in the morning. Not counting all the extra time I was getting during the day while they were away. After all there was no “mamma read me a book” “mamma cuddle!” “Mamma I’m not able to log in” (obviously all of these were A not P)

But I still hear people asking for online classes for kids! Why? I’m waiting for the day when the kids will start physical extra curricular classes too! Dance, art… these are things which really need your teacher to be physically present. The teaching and learning which can happen with physical contact is so much more than online. I myself am a dancer and I can see my self loosing interest because it’s online. I can’t wait to get back to the studio to learn with the group and dance together with everyone.

Kids need to get out. They need to socialise and meet friends and other people. We should stop putting our convenience over their learning. This pandemic has definitely made us a bit lazy. We want everything from home. Work from home, online classes, order everything online….etc etc. But we also want to party. You know it’s strange, some people want to party and socialise normally but are still not willing to send children to school. The schools have a hybrid option as of now and some are still opting to stay at home.

Some of these are the people who are maybe on a “workation” go away somewhere for a couple of months as you have work from home. Something new which has come up in the pandemic. It was nice when things were more uncertain and the virus was at its peak. But now? Everything is as good as normal and we need to understand that the virus is not going anywhere. It’s going to be here a long time and we have to treat it as another flu. So if schools are on SEND YOUR KIDS TO SCHOOL.

I think it has been said enough that the pandemic has given rise to mental illnesses because of people and kids being holed up inside. Listen to what experts are saying. Grief, social isolation, ADHD, ASD, parental fatigue, increased screen time are only a few things affecting children. They might be at different degrees for different kids but something or the other has affected them. Some have even said that the mental illness following is the next big pandemic.

Eg. A is fearful of even leaving my hand when we go to a store. P is still sceptical about going to a mall. She let us go but she herself doesn’t want to go. They get a bit annoyed now when we call people home. They say, why again someone is coming. Since 2 years we had no visitors at home. We were very cautious because of their grandparents. But now things seem to have normalised and we have started entertaining people at home and also going to other people’s houses. It is so difficult to get them to go! Or meet people when they come home.

Although for me it hasn’t been too bad but there have been others who have been worse affected. Child behaviour has changed for the worse and small kids have become more aggressive and stubborn.

Let’s together make sure that the next generation gets what it deserves. Give them a good life and enough exposure so that that bloom and make the world a better place to live in.