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Parenting and the Pandemic

Shhh.... If youre really quiet and close your eyes, youll be able to hear my wife laughing from wherever you are in the world. Why is she laughing so loudly and uncontrollably? Because I was asked to write a book on parenting. Thats right folks, no matter how hard I try or how many letters I put at the end of my name, my wife knows the truth: I am no parenting expert. Interestingly, I think that is exactly why Ive been asked to write this book. In March 2020, our lives (just like the lives of many other parents, married, single, adoptive, foster, or otherwise) entered some new, often scary territory. The shockwaves of the global pandemic for all of us are still being felt. The last thing any of us in the trenches needs right now is some expert telling us what were doing wrong and pretending to understand our individual circumstances. The fact is we are in uncharted territory and if anyone (myself included) starts professing to know what to do and how to do it, theres a good chance theyre full of it. (The only B.S. in this book are my initials, nothing elseI promise!)

So, lets be clear right from the outset: This is not a book about parenting. This is a field guide for parents filled with tips and pointers from a school psychologist who also happens to be a parent. All these tips and pointers have been targeted to help families affected by the increased amount of stress and anxiety from the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. From where I stand as a mental health practitioner (and as a parent), there has been a dramatic, almost tectonic-like shift across most every family unit in the United States. This shift has undoubtedly been triggered by the stress and anxiety caused by the global pandemic. Families who were coping with life are suddenly not coping. Families who were already struggling began falling into serious disarray. Families steeped in chaos before have now been pushed to the literal brink.

Parenting is hard on a normal day, let alone on a day when any one of us might be losing our jobs, quarantining from loved ones, and attempting to manage online or distance learning for our kids. Most of us parents feel alone and helplessnow more than ever!

While I plan on sharing tips and pointers with you all, I also plan on sharing where these tips and pointers came from. Most of their origins have come from my personal and professional life, but some of them come directly from scholars and their research. Regardless of their origins, all of the content in this book will be organized in the same way I have structured my GPS: Good Parenting Strategies trainings over the years. My GPS trainings are a play on Global Positioning System, aka navigation guide. So, think of this as a guide booka guide to help navigate parenting. While no guide book for parents could ever be comprehensive enough for every situation and circumstance, this guide book will cover some of the most common parenting dilemmas (particularly as they relate to our current global pandemic) and beyond. Simply flip to any of the following sections to get some guidance on tips, tools, and strategies!