Navigating Our New Lives From Three Young Human’s POVS

To say the last few weeks have been unnerving is an understatement. We are living day by day not knowing what tomorrow holds let alone the future. We wake up wondering if we live in a state that will adopt a #ShelterAtHome mandate, if there will be groceries available as well as many other things. 

We are working from home and our kids are going to school from home. Our routines have been disrupted and we are all at home together. And let’s be honest, having everyone home for an extended period of time can cause all of us to be a bit batshit crazy even during the best of times. Add in anxiety, stress and fear and whoa…no need to same more. 

So now is a great time to shift our focus from us and what we need and focus for a moment on the young people in our lives. Whether you have children of your own or you’re an aunt/uncle, grandparent, foster family, etc, the young people in our lives need us to help them navigate their own concerns, feelings and desires. They need us to be even more patient and supportive during these next few weeks.

As an HR executive, I have seen 100’s of articles helping leaders, employees and HR professionals learn how to navigate the #NowofWork but only a handful focused on our kids. And even those were written from an “adults” POV. So I decided to flip this on its head. I asked my three daughters to be contributing authors to this blog and to provide a list of recommendations for us adults.

Here’s what they had to say:

• Parents need to get involved and stay involved in what they (the kids) are doing.
• Provide us with the freedom and space to be able to continue the things we would normally do while we are away at school.
• Give us time to relax and do what we want today without being interrupted.
• Let kids have more screen time so they can talk to their friends since we can’t see them at school or other activities.
• Family meals are a MUST. Time together with no distractions especially over homemade meals.
• QUALITY TIME – put aside time to actually hang out. Play cards, board games, etc.
• Do crafts and DIY projects for kids. Give them something to do.
• Make yourself get up and do stuff with your kids. Find something in common and do it together (Baking, drawing, etc.)
• Do your best to not push your fear, anxiety or stress onto your kids.

There you have it. Straight from the horse’s mouth as my dad used to say. These are some the asks of my younger humans and I am sure there are many similarities with yours.

Lastly, and my kids called it out, if ever there has been a time when we need to demonstrate poise, patience and compassion, it’s now. They are watching our behavior and taking their cues from us. They are listening intently and many will mimic our behavior. This is our chance to show them just how, when faced with uncertainty and fear, we can be a source of calmness for them. Someday we will look back on this and be thankful we kept your shit together. Or at least tried to. I will admit, I have had a melt down or two but I reset and start over. That’s one of the beauties of life. We get lots of chance to get it right.

The moral of this blog is while we think we know more than our kids, going to where the action is, in this case, our kids directly, and asking what they need is the easiest way to know for sure. So for those of you navigating this situation in your workplace, don’t assume you know what your people want and need. Take some time and go ask them. You may be surprised at what you learn.

As always, drop me a note, share your thoughts and comments and invite others to be a part of #Mamallamasworld.

Until next time. Stay safe, healthy and please do your part to #flattenthecurve.

Cheers!

MamaLlama a.k.a. Lisa