We’ve all heard how theme parks are encouraging visitors to keep screaming inside their hearts and how this is exactly how people are feeling about the year 2020.
BUT
I’m done screaming inside my heart. I am just over it. Done. I refuse.
From now on I will be screaming as loud as I possibly can until someone flipping listens to me!
Today I talked to two working professional mothers who may have to quit their jobs because they are unable to both: work AND do virtual schooling.
Now, this is not a commentary on virtual schooling – this is a commentary on women, working, motherhood, and support.
FIRST – it is VERY clear that the MOMS in our society are being forced to figure this entire pandemic out. That’s right, from the moment the slightest idea that virtual schooling was going to take place in the fall moms rallied and began forming pods, learning groups, anything, and everything to help their children learn.
SECOND – Working moms are the ones who have to choose whether they work or have a family. That’s right. I do not see ANY men scrambling to create pods or learning groups. I do not see any men worried about whether they will need to quit their jobs in order to make sure their children succeed during virtual schooling. No, it is all working mothers.
THIRD – There is no support. Why isn’t there any support? We as mothers will do all that we can to protect our children, but when the powers that be have no systems in place or offerings to make this all happen what are we to do?
We are forced to continue screaming inside our hearts. We are forced to figure it out. We are forced to make all of the awful decisions that will not only impact our lives for the next few months but possibly the next 5-10 years.
And I’m not exaggerating.
If my very good friends who are working professionals give up their jobs someone else will get hired. So, in all likelihood, they will be unable to get back to that point for quite some time. Which is insanely infuriating! Cue the screaming inside my heart – except outside my heart!
“It’s not just an economic argument, it’s a math problem. There is one hour and your job is to work, parent, and educate all at the same time. There is NO world in which that can occur simultaneously. The ask is just too great and something must give. The lucky ones have family or financial resources to outsource the schooling and parenting part.” – Dr. Megan Phillips
And the unlucky ones? Well, they’re just out of luck. Making the difference between lucky and unlucky even bigger.
So I will not continue to scream inside my heart because my heart has exploded. We are in a pandemic and the repercussions of this go far beyond just a virus – especially for mothers.
