The Duchess of Cambridge became a part-time nanny by cutting her children’s hair during the blockade and echoed the feelings of thousands of parents across the country when describing home schooling as “exhausting”
Kate Middleton spoke with her parents, whose children attend Roe Green Junior School in Brent, about their experiences of home education and parenting during the pandemic.
The group spoke about the challenges that many families continue to face during the third blockade in the UK.
In a video call exercise, the director asked Kate and her parents to hold a piece of paper with “a word that describes child rearing during this pandemic”.
The future queen raised the word “exhaustive”, while others wrote “agitated”, “patience”, “defiant”.
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After being asked to explain her decision, Kate said, “I think that as parents you have the elements of day-to-day parenting, but I suppose that during the block we had to take on additional roles that I suppose others in our communities or in our lives would have perhaps supported us with.
“I became a hairdresser in this block, to the horror of my children, sitting down cutting my hair.
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“We had to become teachers – and I personally feel pulled in many different directions and you try your best at everything, but at the end of the day I feel exhausted.”
Kate also told parents to prioritize self-care, which is “definitely needed now more than ever” to make them and their families overcome the challenges of isolation.
The Mirror revealed earlier this week how Kate secretly plans to launch the next phase of her work in the Early Years, based on works raised in her landmark research last year, such as her parents’ well-being and loneliness.
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The survey, released last November, revealed that parents struggle to prioritize their own well-being, although 90% see parents’ mental health and well-being as fundamental to their child’s development.
Mothers talked about the importance of exercise for mental well-being and the value of having extra support for each other to combat loneliness during this difficult period.
Roe Green Junior School, where The Duchess launched its Mentally Healthy Schools program in 2018, is currently open to children of critical workers and vulnerable children, and is offering distance learning to all of its students at home.