WFH and homeschooling

[Thesagacontinues]

Round 2 here.

It seems worse this time and I really wanted to quit my job this morning.

How is everyone else doing? Have you managed to get into any good routines? Any tips to help me through it?

I’m a primary teacher alternating wfh and being in school. My DC are in school when I am, and at home when I am. I’m definitely finding it challenging especially as my school is increasing the number of live sessions from next week. I’ve said all along that parents need flexibility. I’d much rather help DC in the mornings and leave them in front of the TV in the afternoon / evenings while I do my work, or pre-record stuff on the weekends when DH is around, but now I need to do a live session every morning and each one fills me with terror that the DC will start fighting or something in the background. I also find I spend the whole day feeling guilty for not being with DC 100% of the time and feeling equally guilty for not being in work mode 100% of the time. This is really, really tough. Do tell your teachers if you’re struggling. With any luck you’ll get someone like me who is very sympathetic!

Totally exhausting and awful here. I feel like we are all falling apart- kids are losing so much education, I feel on the verge of a breakdown. Both DH & I working full time from home, 3 primary aged children, one with severe SEN

@Thesagacontinues hope it goes well for you.

I have DD in Y3 and DS in Reception. DH is working full time and trying to sort out care for DMiL who is ill. So he is incredibly stressed and busy already and doesn’t often have any time left to help me.

We manage to battle through most of the school work moderately well but it’s the everything else that’s killing me. DS is desperately clingy and follows me around when I’m equally desperate for space. The CONSTANT Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, etc, drives me round the bend. Attempting to explain that I would like a little bit of time all by myself gets me a “that’s not very kind, Mummy” or similar which breaks my heart. DD and DS are fed up with each other and generally need a break from being each other’s only playmate, which I can’t provide.

At the end of the day I get to try and squeeze my own work in. I’m on a temporary contract for a job I want to apply for permanently. I would love to have more time to devote to this.

I’m constantly braced for the next “Mummmeeeeee.” Sometimes all this feels like literal torture and I can’t believe we’re still right at the start of it.

How is everyone today?

I know @InsufferableLKIA not being able to move without someone following you is so hard. Then trying to stay happy and positive towards them all the time and not knowing how long this will go on for.

A year 4 who mostly gets on with what is set for him by himself (but requiring lots of uploading and checking in). A year R with three hours of “supervised” work a day. A toddler we’re keeping off nursery as her bubble has burst twice already. Two adults working eight hours ish a day. One twenty minute zoom session a week for the older one and that’s it.

It’s not working, we don’t do anywhere near what is set for the four year old, if he learns a few letters and counting to ten then everything else is just about him not being bored to tears and us trying to keep our jobs.

Really struggling.

On calls 10/11 hrs a day, both KW in high pressure jobs, but WFH.

No live lessons, just straggles of worksheets and random unfocused tasks appearing unannounced in different bits of school website at inconsistent times of the day. So no chance of planning or setting DC up before starting work.

DC in tears today because links didn’t work and DH and I were on calls we couldn’t interrupt.

It is utterly shit and I am torn between feeling like a mug for not pushing harder for school place and reminding myself we made choice not to because keeping DC at home felt like the responsible thing to do.

Sympathies to everyone as in the same situation. Already physically and mentally drained from it. If I thought my efforts were paying off in terms of doing my job well and educating DC adequately I wouldn’t feel so bad. Sadly it’s a lot of stress to do multiple things badly.

Sadly it’s a lot of stress to do multiple things badly.

This sums it up perfectly for me.

My work is definitely suffering this week. I needed a junior college to help me solve something today when the answer was right in front of me but I couldnt figure it out . It was like my brain stopped working. And another team made a major mistake so once 1yo is in bed i'll be back to work for the evening.

I have a sore throat and feel myself getting run down already.

Ds was happy with his extra one to one with his school support today. They did an english task together that took 15 mins. Similar tasks took him an hour on tuesday and an hour on wednesday with my poor direction.

DD 9 is needing over 2 hours for us to teach her maths tasks. She was below in her reports. I can see how she'll just get left behind if we don't maintain.

DS(6) does no work unless I sit beside him repeatedly refocusing his attention onto the task, and nudging him forward. He also struggles to understand the work set, so it takes a long, long time.

My wfh is suffering, and I am also getting very irritable with DS, which is not fair. I have decided to limp through until Easter, and if schools aren't reopening then I will have to be quit my job. Every day I am less sure I can actually last until Easter like this.

I've just had to massively lower expectations.
No live lessons here, which is good and bad.
I'm having to let side subjects go and get dd to do the core subjects. I have to sit with her, stop and pause the video to explain things, use a white board etc.
There is no way she can absorb and learn what is being set.
She's been behind at school so it does make me wonder how much she misses in class.
So from a tailor made bespoke education sense and helping her absorb things, this is wonderful.. From my pov, a working and having no breaks because I'm working with dd it's a night mare.

She's on screens in between times and relaxing and being happy! Hopefully!
It will all be off set by lashings of screen free outdoor time once the weather shifts.
We are in such a dangerous situation I'm just concerned about keeping her ticking over..

Just waving at everyone sympathetically. We got to Friday (I fully expect the hours 8-midnight to be the most productive of the week. Still, 40 hour working week, 4 hour working week, not much difference....)

DD9 had mild tics but over last two weeks they have gotten really bad. Constant and varied. Really worried. Not sure if it is the stress of being home with 2 WFH parents and no one else, over use of devices etc.

I have a weekend of trying to fit almost a full week’s worth of work into two days to look forward to!! 😩😩😩

@BringBackDoves

It’s awful, utterly and completely awful for everyone. I hate it. I have a Y1 and a Y4 child, the Y4 is undergoing assessment for ADHD and just cannot concentrate or work independently. The Y1 is too little and needs constant supervision.

I agree it feels much worse this time. I’m running on empty already, sick of us all being stuck in the house the whole time with no end in sight. I am really concerned now about the cumulative effect on their education and the attainment gap. Plus I seem to have the shortest fuse ever (we all do). Not harmonious at all and I am quite tempted at times to just tell school we can’t do it. My work and the kids’ mental health comes first. I’ve worked throughout this pandemic and never been busier.

We’re trying to do the work, succeeding occasionally, failing frequently. I feel I’m doing a substandard job at everything.

I feel exactly the same. Two DDs aged 4(reception) and 7 (y2). My husband and I both work full time. We've tried to do 8:30am-11am focused on school, each of us 1-to-1 with a child, then focus on work with them watching a film till 1pm, then lunch and along walk. My work is complex and it's really suffering. I feel the moment I get into it, it's my turn to look after them or their storming into my work space.

This is horrendous. Between their well-being, my relationship with my DP, their education, our careers -- I just feel I can't win. My days vacillate between relief (were healthy and employed and they're good kids), and unfocused rage.

We were told yesterday that from tomorrow our tasks are going to be monitored. If we take longer than an average time they have calculated for a task, then we need to justify why. This might be the final nail in the coffin.

I have had wifi issues since Tuesday so keep getting disconnected from the network which is already stressing me out.

18 month old has started throwing tantrums to try and get his own way.

7yo is tear-y.

I dont know if I can make it through another day without cracking up.

That's horrendous @Thesagacontinues - what kind of company do you work for?

@goldpendant its a finance multi-national. But all our clients have their own complexities so it doesnt make sense to say x task should take 30 minutes, when in reality it could take 30 mins for one client and 2 hours for another, on a good day without the distractions from the kids .

Im contemplating speaking to my gp about some time off, I had postnatal depression not so long ago and was doing well in recovery but this momth has hit me hard.

I hope everyone else is doing ok

I'm constantly amazed by these large companies being completely inflexible about the pressures of home schooling.

Is parental leave an option? Some time out via GP followed by parental leave?

Following with interest. We are limping on. I have spoken to HR and I know that furlough could be an option if it gets too much which is something. Or I could get myself signed off by the doctor for stress. What’s helping me like others have said is lowering my standards for myself and everything else. It’s hard as I’m not wired that way and for me something like having a clean and tidy house helps my mental health. I wish i knew the answer and now the news that the schools ‘might’ not go back until Easter or beyond Easter just makes me feel slightly deranged and discouraged as I don’t know how much longer we can do this.