The 10-week summer break has been a lesson in survival skills for pandemic parents and a much-needed vacation for exhausted and underpaid teachers. Many parents are ready and willing to hand the reins back over to teachers on Monday, with the exception of a few nutty moms who have secretly been enjoying the extra time with the kids.
“The good news is that we are returning to some sense of normalcy by opening schools again,” said Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) Superintendent Dr. LaTanya D. McDade. “The bad news is that we all have a little more gray hair and a lot more wrinkles. But hey, at least the kids are still cute and innocent.”
Summer break has been a wild ride for parents, trying to juggle work and childcare with little support. Most families have had to rely on their own resources, or the kindness of neighbors and friends, to watch the kids during the day.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the majority of two-parent households today are also dual-income households, in which both parents work full-time. And for single parents, the struggle is even more real.
On the flip side, K-12 teachers have had a chance to recharge and regroup before diving back into the high-stress, low-reward profession that they love.
“We have seen the toll that teaching can take on educators, especially those working in challenging environments,” said Megan McCormick, clinical psychologist and the director of programs and innovation for the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Center for Wellbeing in School Environments.
McCormick is launching a new pilot program with PWCS to support both parents and teachers who are struggling with depression and anxiety as a result of the pandemic and the constantly changing landscape of education.
PWCS Therapy Dayz start Thursday, September 8, and include free Starbucks coffee and yoga to help everyone unwind and de-stress. Parents and teachers can come together to commiserate about the joys and struggles of raising and educating children, and to find some much-needed time to complain (lovingly, of course) about the adorable, manipulative mini-sociopaths you people call your children.
