Impact Of Pandemic On Relationships

Classes and webinars were my lifeline. I am a so-called SAHM - stay at home mom!

But I love to teach during the summer vacation! I had spoken to 10 different locations for my fun maths summer camp, seats were all booked...
When schools started closing down in March, I went on to create online demos so that students and parents dont have to take risks to travel anywhere...

Lockdowns happened after that! So the first 3-4 months were intensely busy. When it was time for Indian schools to begin, I had students from US and Australia and Dubai and UK and Singapore!

By July all the students were used to the status quo and they got busy with their own schools online... so no more time for "frivolous" fun/speed maths classes!

And I found many elderly teachers (30+ years of teaching experience but not tech savvy) who suddenly found themselves out of job - So I taught them how to teach on Google Meet, how to create an ad for themselves, how to put it up as whatsapp status and create groups etc! So much so, they started having kitty parties on zoom and Google Meet!!!! Hahahaha

Oooohhh free time now - in between my career counselling sessions !

A teacher till then, I suddenly turned a learner now !!
1000s of interesting classes and webinars are available on different MOOC platforms - I learnt so many things - IOT connected vehicles, Careers in Design, Study abroad, Indian psychology, Nanotechnology, AI/ML, Photography, Risk Management Certification, Process Auditing, Digital Marketing, Education Technology !!!

So many gyanis to interact with, so many knowledgeable people around ... We just have to tap into the internet!

Social life happens automatically online!!
These classes have forums, whatsapp groups & telegram groups for learning and explaining and practising...

Currently am busy creating structured 10-20 hour courses for kids next year - one on Magic Squares and Lilavati (1000 year old maths textbook) and also planning one for Spoken Sanskrit.

In between all this, when my parents celebrated their milestone anniversary, I called all the relatives, got them to send me videos, found parents old pics and created a musical program with my siblings, siblings in-law and nieces and nephews contributing to the music - vocal and instrumental ! This took almost 20 days .... almost dussera till diwali - I was calling relatives for the video/audio/photos and telling them not to reveal the surprise and creating and editing the video and laughing at myself and my crazy ideas!!

But the effect was that whole of December, relatives called to congratulate me about the video - everyone spoke about how the video felt as if we had a huge party and get-together for the event !!

And then, at the end of December I did a nation-wide webinar on how students can plan, study and score well, do proper time management in exams for the 10th and 12th board exams! That was a grand experience!
So many 100s of students with questions and doubts and confusion due to the changed syllabus and question paper pattern and also the uncertainty of exam dates!!

OK !! All this was only work.... what about ghar ka kaam and cooking and no bai !! Everyone wants specials only when we cannot order from outside - so think pizza, pasta, pesarettu, cornflakes mixture, til laddoo, cutlets and subs and footlongs and samosa and mirchi bajji and cake and icecream - everything homemade from scratch !!

Of course, I have to keep track of my son's studies, exams, homeworks - physical school started in between and then the stock market started rising.... Oooh so much research and calls and decision making went into that too....

There was only 2 families we met physically - family friends - so Diwali and one Bhajan-bhojan party we met and celebrated together! Otherwise a few visits to their house or them coming to our house to spend an afternoon!

Yeah - life goes on even during a pandemic... no time to feel lonely!

I feel we say "lonely" in a wrong way - I call it Solitude!

I sing during my solitude. I walk in the terrace!
I make notes, learn a language (I tried Kannada and German), check some new recipes, I look at trends in education and work (parents and students come to me for advice reg careers and education) !

I feel that for interaction to be constant and engaging, only emotional closeness alone will not work completely. There has to be some common interests, some intellectual stimulation, some common goals, some action, some projects, some support, some give and take!

Whatsapp groups or facebook groups work only to a certain extent. It can bring people near us. We need to make that effort. Even with siblings or husband or our closest people - if we have some common goals - we talk, discuss back and forth, do things together, that's when the connection deepens, the sharing happens!

Just sitting and talking and cracking jokes is great for a vacation or a relaxed afternoon - but doesn't work on a long term basis!

This covid has given us a lot of time for inward thinking - hahaha - in the "Indian Psychology" class - one of the participants - an American spoke in his comment - in very very accented hindi - "Yeh aapke khoon me hai" - try it @SKoundinya - this looking inwards is in our blood! And It will take up all the time you can ever have! And you will never feel lonely!

Keep Smiling
HR

 

^^^ This @hrastro drinks a different water than the rest of us.

 

You

You still had lonely time/solitude after doing all these activities. Salute, I'm impressed at what you have acheived at pandemic time.

 

double post

 

Answering to the title...
Mine is little different to OP original post. We were a three member family till the beginning of Pandemic. My mil who was staying in his and hometown was advised to pack and move permanently with us. Idea implemented successfully by husband. His sibling and relatives for the reason she is old single and cannot handle uncertain situation alone. Now we are a four member family. Hope many can guess how my relation with husband would have after mils permanent entry. I am not enjoying the impact of relationship due to Pandemic. I am also exploring ideas to keep away from mom and son duo at home.