The Upside of Lockdown

Quarantines from the Covid pandemic have changed our lifestyles, but is it all bad? Times certainly feel tough and quarantine lockdowns don’t feel like they’re going away any time soon. This might be our new normal and this new normal might yield benefits, such as our children witnessing how hard we work at our jobs; how we, parents, aren’t just disappearing during the day, but handling jobs and taking care of home duties.

Today, on Live.Work.Thrive, Micaela Birmingham, our moderator, mediates a panel discussion about finding the best of this lockdown. Our guests include, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, Clinical Psychologist and New York Times Best Selling Author, Dr. Argie Allen-Wilson, Relationship Expert and Author. Dr. Anne Fishel, Family Therapist, Clinical Psychologist and Associate Clinical Professor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School, Director and Co-founder, The Family Dinner Project and Ashley Murphy and Marissa Hagmeyer, Co-Founders of @NEATMethod.

“Lockdown” has transitioned to “Lifestyle” for many as we settle in for the colder months. And this might be the first time moms are really recognized for all that we do. There’s no hiding all the Zoom meetings and dish washing and spontaneous tutoring sessions moms have to conduct when remote schooling isn’t quite cutting it.

Remote learning can feel overwhelming for everyone, but it has clued us parents into what our children are like as students, what kind of work they have to do on a daily basis and where our kids struggle and thrive.

I’m going to say it and I know you’re not going to like it – but we get more quality time together. We’re eating at home together. Sure, we’re tired of cooking so much (Three meals a day?? Who started that??), all those meals are great opportunities to sit down and actually talk to our kids. That rush from the office and from school is not always an ideal time to force a meal at the table and meaningful talk about our days’ activities.

The lockdown is hard, no doubt about that, but there are some gems in there. When it feels overwhelming, find those moments and remember that this is not all bad, mostly bad, but not all bad!