The pandemic has brought to light how difficult it is for parents working from home. It is challenging to meet your professional responsibilities while your children are attending school on the sofa or at the dinner table a few short feet away. It can become even more difficult if a parent has limited solutions or ideas of how to get their child to behave. Oftentimes they find it difficult getting their children to express their feelings. Whether they are tired, frustrated, unable to understand their classroom work, or they are just lonely and feeling down.
It is understandable for a parent to become frustrated when they have also been placed in a similar situation and have not yet had the opportunity to practice the skills required to address these issues. These complex parenting situations have arisen because none of us have lived a life in a pandemic where we are now all expected to wear a multitude of hats that are most likely ill-fitting.
The Family Center has parenting classes that teaches parents additional skills specific to these new situations and supports them in their growth. Yesterday, the News ran a story about a young Mom who was made aware that her son was cheating at school, resulting in her using physical punishment to correct the problem. Had she had the opportunity to be involved in a parenting class I feel she would have used a different set of skills to address his cheating problem in class.