Parents feeling effects of COVID-19
March 27, 2020, 4:20 am
Rob Paul
With school and daycare closures all across Canada due to COVID-19, it has put families in tough situations.
Many of them are dealing with constant unknowns surrounding the pandemic.
Not only are they worried about their health and their children’s, but where their children will go when they’re at work if all licensed daycares are ordered to close.
Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili has called upon Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to close all childcare facilities.
COVID-19 has taken education and athletics from children and if it continues at this rapid rate it could begin taking jobs away from parents.
“It’s pretty scary not knowing what’s going to happen,” said Micha Flynn of Moosomin, a mother of two.
“With school being out it makes you think about your kids’ education a lot more.”
“They’re missing out on three months of schooling and to think about what they learn in a day is incredible and the teachers that put up with them all day,” said Flynn.
“Having them be out of school and if the daycares close, what are we going to do? Not everybody can stay at home with their kids,” said Flynn. “It’s very rocky.”
“It’s hard to explain to the kids too, one week your going to school and the next week you’re done. I don’t think it’s really sunk in for them yet.”
The unknown surrounding the daycare situation in Saskatchewan puts extra stress on parents who don’t have the ability to stay home.
“We don’t know what’s happening with the daycares right now, I think once that hits that will be the serious reality,” said Flynn.
“These are essential services that people use on a daily basis that we don’t have anymore.”
“If daycares closed we would have to find different means of childcare. We don’t all have the opportunity to stay home with our kids financially,” said Flynn. “We’ll just have to make it work.”
“We need to figure out alternate routes of making our lives work and still have the financial capabilities that we have now,” said Flynn.
“Hopefully we can figure out what we need to do to get by,” said Flynn.
“Everything is so negative right now, it’s affecting everybody.”
Young children don’t always grasp what’s going on and trying to inform them how important being hygienic is in this time isn’t easy says Flynn.
“It’s hard to explain to them how serious it is, like it’s not just a cold,” said Flynn. “It’s hard because you want them to realize the severity of it, but you don’t want to scare them at the same time.”
Social distancing is an important and effective way to flatten the curve of COVID-19 and parents are doing their best to implement it.
“We have a daughter who is health compromised, she has a heart condition,” said Nicole MacPherson of Wapella, a mother of two. “So we’re practicing social distancing.”
“We live on a farm so it’s a bit easier for us to stay home and the kids still have things to do, so we’re lucky that way,” said MacPherson.
Parents have to worry about their children’s health along with their own and MacPherson says the best way to handle the stress is not to get overwhelmed by it all and to stay informed.
“As a parent who’s seen her child go through it, I’ve had that anxiety about her health,” said MacPherson.
“I’ve learned different ways of coping with it by taking it one day at a time.”
“Just follow what the government is telling us to do at this point, that’s all you can really do.”
Looking for the positives in an uncertain time can go a long way says MacPherson.
“They’re going from me not being home because of work to me being home all the time, so for them it’s a positive thing for us being able to spend quality time as a family together,” said MacPherson.
“That’s what we’re focussing on, just to slow down and spend time as a family.”
“When our daughter was younger, she was in and out of the hospital all of the time and we almost watched her pass away in front of us, so we’ve kind of had this health scare before and we’ve had the worry,” said MacPherson.
“So we’re just trying to focus on the positive things and at this point that’s all you can really do.”
“If you focus on what’s negative you’re going to drive yourself crazy,” said MacPherson.
The school closures have been a major change for parents, but they understand why it needed to happen and the severity of COVID-19.
“It’s definitely taking a toll,” said Kim Setrum of Moosomin, a mother of two.
“With the schools it’s a good call on their part not having the kids going.”
“As a parent I don’t want them to risk getting sick or if they were sick I wouldn’t want them to spread it,” said Setrum.
During this time with her children Setrum is focused on keeping them upbeat.
“I’m not making it a stressful situation for them because you don’t want to make them more stressed than they already are,” said Setrum.
“It’s definitely hard to keep them occupied in this day and age. We’re just trying to keep it as fun as possible.”
“After something like this you definitely appreciate the teachers, you never know what they go through,” said Setrum.
“On St. Patrick’s Day we really embraced it. I printed off all St. Patrick’s Day activities for them to do and all day they were calling me Mrs. Setrum.”
Setrum thinks it’s important to keep her children educated on the situation, but also find the positives in a negative time.
“My older one is more aware of it and we try to keep him informed while my younger one thinks it’s just people getting sick,” said Setrum. “You’ve got to have a happy medium with it all.”
“I look at it as, if I were stressed, it’s not going to help the situation,” said Setrum.
“You kind of just have to grin and bear it and know that we’re going to come out stronger in the end.”
For Setrum, positivity, education on COVID-19, and listening to all instructions on how to fight it are the keys to making the best of it.
“If everybody does their part, stays inside like we’re directed to, takes the necessary precautions that they tell us, like washing our hands, then we can get ahead of this and hopefully get back to normal in no time,” said Setrum.
“If everybody is negative and mopey then it’s a lot harder to get through a crisis like this.”
It’s all about finding the balance, says Setrum and trying to make memories for her kids.
“With little kids you don’t want to look negative and upset because then that’s how they’re going to remember this,” said Setrum.
“I want them to look back and think my mom made the best of it.”
“I don’t want to teach them just things they’d learn in school, like we’re baking everyday,” said Setrum.
“You’ve got to make the best of it because it’s not fun for anybody.”