Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, began a heartfelt video chat with other parents about the challenges of raising and raising three children at home during confinement. Catherine revealed that being a father during COVID-19 The pandemic left her “exhausted” and joked about her children retreating from “terror” when she started combing her hair.
The mother of three took part in a discussion with three parents whose children study at Roe Green Junior School in Kingsbury, northwest London, alongside teacher Melissa Loosemore. In a “show and tell” exercise during the chat, which was shared on Instagram and the Royal Family YouTube channel, Loosemore instructed everyone to answer questions by writing them on a piece of paper. The first request was to write “a word that describes fatherhood during this pandemic.”
The Duchess raised the word “exhaustive”, while the other parents agreed with similar feelings, including “defiant”, “agitated” and “patience”.
Catherine explained her feelings, saying, “I became a hairdresser on this block, much to the horror of my children, seeing Mom cut her hair. We had to become a teacher – and I think, personally, I feel pulled in so many different directions and you try your best at everything, but at the end of the day I feel exhausted. “
She added: “I think that as parents you have the elements of everyday parenting, but I suppose that during the blockade we had to take on additional roles that perhaps others in our communities, or in our lives, would have perhaps supported us with. and helped. “
During another exercise, the director asked parents to write down who was the most support they gave during the pandemic. The duchess wrote “William”, her husband.
The last exercise encouraged parents to assess their math skills after months of teaching their children at home. While the others gave themselves an “eight”, the duchess classified herself as “minus five”. She laughed as she admitted to being “right at the end of the class”.
The Duchess added, “Being able to share your own experience with others who are going through the same thing makes it look less scary and makes you feel less isolated.”
The group also discussed parents’ loneliness during this unprecedented period. As parents find themselves isolated from friends and family, Kate’s early years – a national survey of child care and development in Britain – found that loneliness increased from 38% to 63% during the pandemic.
In an effort to address the problem, The Royal Foundation in association with the Anna Freud National Center for Children and Families, Place2Be and Young Minds, launched The Mentally Healthy Schools initiative, a free website that provides reliable and practical resources for improve awareness, knowledge and confidence in promoting and supporting students’ mental health.