School staffers juggle life at home

The life of a parent who works at school is always an adventure, but area teachers and staff members are embarking on an all-new journey since the COVID-19 outbreak.

While working at home can be rough for everyone, it can especially wear on those with children. Add the responsibilies of keeping up with a school's plan, and it can turn into quite the handful.

Kim Anderson, a high school math teacher at Mt. Pleasant, has three children at home, all girls, aged nine, six and three. Her husband is a teacher as well.

'The first week of school closure was a week of coming to terms with not being at school, and getting caught up on some much needed rest,” Anderson says. 'By the end of the week, though, our girls were starting to get a little squirrely and needed some structure. Sticking to a schedule that included some schoolwork, as well as some activities that involved writing to family and friends, has been our best strategy for keeping some sanity in our house.”

Anderson says most of her work has to be done after dark, when the kids are down for the day.

'Our youngest will nap occasionally, but typically my girls don't take naps anymore,” she says. 'If I want to be productive with my own schoolwork, I wait until all three are asleep for the night.”

Jessica Garchik, the librarian at Fairfield High School, has a four-year old son, and has had family in town this spring, including a two-year old boy who is potty training. Her husband is also a school librarian, so much like the Andersons, the Garchiks have to work hard to find a consistent schedule for everyone.

'It is extremely difficult to focus on important tasks for work when someone is climbing on me and demanding goldfish all the time,” says Garchik. 'If you ask them to play independently, this means they will take out all their toys and your house will be destroyed for the rest of the day. Your poor feet won't recover from stepping on all the Legos.”

Garchik says she often has her son tag along for the online meetings, and credits the Fairfield Community School District for being understanding.

'FCSD is really understanding when kiddos attend Zoom sessions, and I think my colleagues even enjoy seeing my son smiling and waving at the camera,” she says. 'I am lucky that this district is loving, caring and family oriented. When I want to get work done, it is basically during my son's naps and it is extremely difficult as I am usually exhausted by 1:30 p.m. It's also hard to cram everything in to two-to-three hours.”

Both Anderson and Garchik agree that 'tag-team parenting” is essential during the extended time at home, and sometimes have to take turns getting work done.

'My husband and I tag team our supervision duties, particularly when we have staff meetings over Zoom and need to keep the girls occupied,” Anderson says. 'Most of our meetings have not overlapped, so it has been manageable.”

Along with meetings and planning, teachers are also expected to keep in contact with students who need help on assignments, especially since they aren't working face-to-face every day. Anderson says it can be hard to find the time to sit down and answer questions.

'My girls seem to sense the instant that I sit down with my laptop in order to respond to an email or think about anything related to my classes, because that is the instant they are suddenly thirsty, hungry, need help or want their hair done,” Anderson says. 'They also see my distraction with schoolwork as the perfect opportunity to start pushing each other's buttons or get into some sort of trouble.”

With the extra struggle, though, comes extra bonding time. During normal school time, teachers and staff, like every Monday-through-Friday worker, have limited time with the kids at home, but the last month-and-a-half have been a good opportunity to take advantage of extra time at home.

'Although I am sorry for the reason, I am extremely grateful to have this extra time with my husband and son,” Garchik says. 'I am really enjoying all the little things like snuggling my son during naptime or taking walks together. When he was born, I was also caring for my father who had cancer and lived with us. This is the first time I have had so much one on one time with my son and I am so extremely grateful.”

Anderson echoes that sentiment, saying while she misses the kids at school, she's enjoyed the extra time with her three girls.

'To be honest, I love the time at home with my family, but I also really miss my students,” Anderon says. 'I love the chance to work more intentionally with my own girls on their schoolwork, as well as trying out new crafts and activities that we usually feel too busy to dig into. We have made lots of bracelets, played with Kinetic Sand, made Slime, and done some puzzles. As for my students, we are doing our best to stay connected virtually but I definitely miss seeing them face-to-face and engaging in the spontaneous conversations that come up in class or even during a lesson.”

Garchik says her advice to others in the same boat, is just to take the challenge day-by-day.

'Parents who juggle work and children have a huge challenge,” Garchik says. 'We shouldn't focus on the images on Facebook or Instagram of other parents doing cool projects or activities and use that to feel as if we aren't doing enough. Sometimes just making it through the day is a victory and that is OK too. There are days I struggle to keep pants on mine. But it's the time we spend together that matters. It's the love that matters and that is more than enough.”