Jewish Moms Give the Real Scoop on Quarantine with Kids by Sara Gallor

Jewish Moms Give the Real Scoop on Quarantine with Kids by Sara Gallor

This week, Sara Gallor of Providence, Rhode Island interviewed some mothers in the Jewish community about how they are coping with the Coronavirus quarantine…

What are some positive things that you’ve noticed?

Mrs. R*: I’m enjoying that there’s a much more relaxed atmosphere in the home in terms of bedtimes, little homework, no tests etc. There’s no morning rush, and we get to all sleep in. No lunch making at night is awesome too!

Mrs. M*: It’s great to have everyone at home! I enjoy it so much. It’s great for family time, the younger kids really getting to know the older ones, whom they hardly know because they’re usually away from home. And this situation is also giving me a chance to get to know my children better, without distractions.

Mrs. W*: Since the kids know that they can’t have playdates, they are playing more with their siblings. The teenagers are so bored that they’re even helping clean the house more!

Mrs. K*: The Back-To-Basics concept is nice – it’s not important to have everything for Pesach. It’s fine to make do with less, nobody is judging anybody. The whole world gets to have the out-of-town mentality.

Mrs. R*: I was thinking about sharing the shemiras halashon video with my children, but I noticed that my kids have no loshon hora to talk about, since they have no friends to get annoyed about right now! In general, I see how kids are happy, resilient and roll with the punches, even now.


What are some challenges and what are some solutions you’ve figured out?

Mrs. L: Before this, my children used to not know what being bored was. They’ve needed to learn that it’s okay to be bored sometimes, we don’t always have to offer our children ideas of things to do. And I see b”H that they’re finally learning how to occupy themselves.

Mrs. W: It’s been challenging getting the children on a normal schedule and not on a “Sunday” schedule. I started putting their clothes out the night before like a school night. The mess can be overwhelming and the kids’ papers are everywhere. I try to make some semblance of order every night so we start each day fresh.

Mrs. K: Making this school thing work requires a lot of patience for everyone. We made a schedule and we try to be organized about it. The first day was a nightmare, but now things are coming together more. We try to be flexible, but there’s really no magic answer. Today I heard from Rabbi Shalom Kaminetzky regarding homeschooling: Don’t aim for perfection, just do your best. Your best is good enough.


Last words of chizuk?

Mrs. R: Get as much sleep as you can, with this relaxed schedule, you need as much patience as possible and that can only come with proper sleep.

Mrs. M: This is temporary and there are actually lots of positive aspects to what is taking place.

Mrs. L: It helps to remain in the moment and remember what my job here is. My job is to be the best mother that I can be in the current situation, and my whole family is depending on me to do so. I try not to focus on what I wish could be or what should be, but what is actually happening right now and how I can best deal with it. I am the mother that these children have and Hashem put me, at this age, into this coronavirus world, so that means He knows I can do this.

Mrs. W: Try to keep in mind that this will pass and we just hope that everyone will stay healthy! Our kids are getting an opportunity to learn how to cope in challenging situations that they will face in their lives, hopefully by seeing how we are coping and managing. IY”H, I actually hope my kids will have sweet memories of these weeks spent under one roof with the entire family. And as surprised as I am to be saying this, I know I certainly will.

6 comments

  1. Sasha Mail

    Thanks Sara, this was great to read and help me to keep things in perspective. Thanks for doing this research for us all. Great to hear from you as well.

  2. Thank you for the chizuk!

  3. Can we hear out mothers’ guilt feelings too during this time? Like more watching happening than we like to happen.

  4. I agree with Leah. I would like to hear about women’s challenges, too, to feel less alone. To hear about their feelings of lack of privacy, the fighting, the noise, the anxiety that’s generated just by being cooped up together. On the one hand, it’s nice to hear this perspective, but on the other hand it makes those of us who don’t have it feel like we’re flawed….

    • I agree. For our family it’s an extremely stressful time. At least for me it is. I don’t work out anymore,I’m eating less healthy and more often, the kids are eating less healthy. there is more criticizing happening. It’s tough.

    • Nobody is flawed, ALL of us feel that way constantly. This article was written to help us with these constant negative feelings by trying to help change our perspective. I wrote this specifically because everyone I know, myself included is having a VERY hard time. I thought this would help people see that we are all in this together and that there are a few positive things to look at.

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