Patricia prepares for five weeks of homeschooling: ‘I take this way too seriously’

The starting shot was actually already given last Monday. The whistle that entered the turret was the sign that a new game was about to start.

Parents, get ready. Do you have a vital profession? Then you can send your child to daycare. ‘Isn’t parenting a vital profession in itself‘I joked to my husband. In other words: shouldn’t we all deliver our child for a few hours a day, so that we can recharge our parent battery?

Lockdown

I hear small grumbling around me, but there is often understanding. The class app is being cranked up again, in which especially the legendary words ‘here we go again’, often pass by. Which I find quite interesting sociologically, since a pandemic is a relatively new phenomenon for all of us.

And now it is Wednesday morning. Our first real quarantine / school day at home.

Daughter 1: “Mom, my GoogleClassRoom isn’t working.”

‘I’m coming.’

Daughter 2 (tearful eyes and it’s not even 9:45): “Mom, my favorite pencil tip has broken off.”

‘I’m coming.’

Daughter 1: “Mom, is it break yet?”

‘I’m coming.’

Daughter 2: “Mom, the puppy just threw up on the rug.”

‘I’m coming.’

Daughter 1: “Ma-am, the break is almost over now!”

‘I’m coming.’

Daughter 2: “Mom, the puppy got a new shoe from you.”

‘I’m coming.’

Man: Honey, I have to go to an important meeting now, can you please make sure I don’t get interrupted?

Daughter 1 & 2: ‘Mom !!!?’

‘I’m coming.’

‘I’m coming.’

‘I’M COMING!!!’

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A long break

Only 5 weeks to go. What are 5 weeks now? We just walk a lot. I have to laugh out loud at my own thoughts because ask any child to go for a walk and you get a face like sending them to bed without food.

We are healthy. That’s where I end it now. And to win a competition you need not only physical health, but also mental health. I barely managed to save my new Ted Baker pump from the bloodthirsty mouth of my Labrador. And as I clean up on my knees, I realize that I’m making the same mistake again. But that is in my character. I started this game way too seriously again. And I call out to my daughters, ‘It’s intermission! And we’ll take a really long one. Maybe as long as 5 weeks. ‘

Patricia van Liemt is a radio host, writer and mother of 2 lab babies Maria (10) and Phaedra (7). She worked at Qmusic and 100% NL, among others. Her successful podcast series Let’s Talk About Sex (e) can now be heard on GoodLIFE Radio. Her husband lives in Switzerland during the week, when she tries to combine kids, work and girls nights as best as possible. In her debut novel ‘De Lab Baby’ she talks about her personal experiences with IVF.

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