Quarantine sure isn't for the faint of heart.
All those claims of "I just want like a month to lay around the house and do nothing!" suddenly seem wildly hubristic as we slowly get used to the new normal, don't they?
But consider for a moment having all that cooped-up energy and anxiety AND having kids to take care of AND "take care of" includes having to be their teacher because the schools are closed.
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Suffice to say, it isn't easy.
And as one Kentucky mom recently found out, the kids are noticing their parents cracking—and her son had some choice words in his journal about his mom's new life as a teacher. Candice Kennedy recently spoke with Buzzfeed News about her experience as a newly minted homeschool teacher since her Kentucky town's schools shut down.
And she's not just teaching one child, but three: 12-year-old Tyler, 10-year-old Emily and eight-year-old Ben. Since Candice's husband Matthew is still working as a plant manager at a factory, she's been going it alone.
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When the schools first shut down, Candice figured it would all be straight-forward enough.
As she told Buzzfeed:
"I was a stay-at-home mom for 11 years, so being around my kids all day and helping them learn was nothing new."
Or so she thought...
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Her kids' teachers had all provided assignments ahead of time, so when she began day one last Monday, Candice was sure it would be a piece of cake.
But what she didn't account for was that Tyler and Emily are both in middle school and have six to seven different teachers each, all of whom gave their own assignments.
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And for Tyler, these assignments included that one subject that has struck fear into the hearts, minds and GPAs of scores of students since time immemorial.
"Tyler is extremely intelligent, but is having a hard time this year with math. He was asking me questions about his geometry homework to which I had no answers for."
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And things kind of quickly began devolving.
As Candice put it:
"They were getting impatient with my inability to answer their questions. I started mimicking a grown-up crying in an attempt to lighten the mood."
But it seems young Ben wasn't fooled by mom's jokey aplomb.
When Candice checked his school journal, she found that she had been flat-out ROASTED by her youngest son.
Quoth Ben:
"It is not going good. My moms [sic] getting stressed out. My mom is realy [sic] getting confused. We took a break so my mom can figure this stuff out. And I'm telling you it is not going good."
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Out of the mouths of babes, as the saying goes.
And as you might guess, Ben's words definitely struck a chord.
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And of course, it particularly resonated with teachers.
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As for Candice, she's feeling grateful for the experience—and has definitely found a new appreciation for those teachers.
As she told Buzzfeed:
"I firmly believe that this new situation will bring families closer together and give us all a newfound appreciation for our education system and all the amazing people who are teachers...aka superheroes!"
Hear hear, Candice.
Hang in there, parents, you got this! Maybe...
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@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky