Parenting in a Time of COVID

Guest post by Carrie Wolinetz, Ph.D., NIH Associate Director for Science Policy, originally released on the Under the Poliscope blog Carrie Wolinetz, Ph.D.,Associate Director for Science Policy, NIH Next week marks the one-year anniversary of NIH shifting to maximum telework in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like employers and employees across the country, overnight we needed to adapt our entire enterprise and reinvent our jobs in the virtual workplace. Coincidentally, next week is also when with a deep breath and a big hug, I send my six year old back to school in person, masked up and excited to meet his 1st grade teacher in person for the first time. So it seems like a good time to reflect on what the past year has been like, juggling the demands of serving in the leadership of a government agency square in the middle of COVID response with the needs of two young children during this nationwide experiment in virtual schooling. Over the past year, I have gotten expert at the hand-over-the-mouth side conversations with my kids while muted on videoconference. There are good days and there are bad days. Like when my already prone-to-anxiety fifth grader gets hysterical because there are technology glitches and is panicked he’s missed something. Or when my first grader breaks down into tears because he’s had to sit in front of a computer for hours and is confused by something being asked of him. Inevitably, these moments occur when I’m in the middle of a critical m...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike COVID COVID-19 Source Type: funding