The Juggling Act

There is one demographic who has been hit hardest by the global pandemic shutdown, and that’s women. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, more than 235,000 women became unemployed in April, which equates to 55 percent of jobs lost. Nearly a million Australians have now been impacted. It feels almost daily that I hear of another friend or colleague who has been made redundant, and as a working parent, the stakes are even higher when you’ve got little mouths to feed. But if you have been affected, there are some things you can do to prepare yourself for a return to a new normal. I reached out to Katrine Tully from Career Transform to get some valuable tips.  

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We all know how truly horrific this global pandemic has been. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have died, millions of people have lost their jobs and our children are only just returning to school – into an environment that will be significantly different from when they left. I get countless emails from groups and experts concerned about the impact this situation is going to have on our children, but there is one silver lining. Mental health experts believe that our kids could actually learn some really powerful life skills from this situation that will help them deal with the tough stuff later in life. There are four major life skills kids can take away from this, and some simple ways that we as parents can help them get there.  

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Kids in NSW and QLD have gone back to school today, while most kids in Victoria head back June 9. As majority of parents let out a massive sigh of relief (and pour an equally massive glass of wine), for some, it’s tinged with concern that it’s the right place for their children to be. I’ve seen lots of social media posts from parents asking whether they’re allowed to keep their kids at home because they’re worried that it’s safe for them to be there. So I reached out to Dr Asha Bowen - a Paediatrician and infectious diseases expert from the Australian Academy of Science – who says that fewer children are getting the disease and when they do, the reaction is much milder than adults. And for those who are feeling sick about sending their kids back, she has some very reassuring words and advice on what we can do as parents to help keep them safe.  

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After nearly eight weeks of quarantine life, we now seem to be coming out the other side – for now – with restrictions slowly lifting and kids heading back to school. But things are not going to return to ‘normal’, and as parents, we’ll need to help our children adjust to the ‘new normal’, however that’s going to look. They’ve been through a lot, we’ve all been through a lot, uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and now the poor little things are finally heading back to school but with strict social distancing restrictions. I wanted to find out what we can do to help them cope in this weird world we find ourselves in, so I reached out to the founder of Resilience in Kids, Susie Mogg, for some advice.  

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Parents are preparing to send their kids back at various times around the country, and with this comes a mix of emotions. Relief for a lot of people, sure, but also anxiety and concern for some parents – and kids – with the return date earlier than expected. Parents have been told that “Rolls will be marked as per normal and unexplained absences will be followed up.” That’s unless there are genuine health concerns. So I reached out to some parents and kids, to see how they’re feeling about returning to school…  

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I never thought I’d say this, but I feel like I’ve almost finished Netflix. And Stan. And Disney. And Foxtel Now…. I’m kinda bored with the TV binges. So I’ve actually been turning back to books. I absolutely loved reading as a child, I was the child that my mum would find curled up in the sun somewhere like a cat, reading for hours. But when I had kids I was just too damn tired! I’d start reading a page then fall asleep. Four years later, I feel like I’m getting back to the stage where I’ll stay up a bit later tearing through a good book, or staying in bed a bit longer on the weekend because I can’t put it down.  So I put in a call to the brilliant Cassie Hamer – former co-host of this podcast and author of the fantastic new book The End of Cuthbert Close, to give me her tips for must-read books, now that we’ve all got a bit more time on our hands…  

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We all know how much pressure lockdown has put on our relationships at home. A lot of us are suddenly working in the same room or right next to each other (who knew he was a ‘circle back’ kinda guy?!), and that can be challenging to say the least! I wanted to get some tips to make sure your marriages survive this pandemic – clearly, I’m not the best person for that job – so I put in a call to one of our fave guests on the Juggling Act, delightful dad of three, and star and creator of the fabulous Show on Network TEN, How to Stay Married, Pete Helliar.  

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I’ve noticed that my four-year-old has been much cheekier these past couple of weeks, and that seems to be a common observation from a few parents I’ve spoken to about their children too. Kids who are normally pretty chill have been losing it at random things or acting up at school and daycare. As my kids say ‘my brain stopped working’.  It’s not surprising given the extreme circumstances we’re living under, it’s such a huge thing for them to fully grasp.  On top of that, we’re tired, stressed and anxious, which makes it much harder to handle those tantrums when they happen. So I reached out to Dr Elise Bialylew, psychiatrist and author of the bestselling book The Happiness Plan, for some practical tips on how to handle them without losing our own minds.  

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Like a lot of people, I have been saving money since we went into quarantine. No daycare and before or after school care fees, no sporting fees, travel costs are gone and we’re obviously not going out. BUT there’s the underlying anxiety over job security – a familiar story all over Australia and the rest of the world. That’s if you haven’t already been stood down or had your income significantly reduced. So it can be hard to really enjoy those Netflix binges when you’re worried about how you’re going to pay the bills. Research shows that 1 in 3 Australian Households can’t find $500 in an emergency, so there are a lot of people feeling financially overwhelmed and anxious right now.  I reached out to the money coaches at Ladies Finance Club to find out their money-saving moves to try and help us stay afloat.  

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I don’t know about you, but iso skin is totally a thing for me. My hands are getting so dry and itchy courtesy of OCD hand washing. The skin on my whole body feels so dry, yet on my face, I’m breaking out again like a teenager – even though I’ve stopped wearing makeup. Surely my skin should look like an SKII ad?! It seems I’m not the only one experiencing more breakouts than usual while self-isolating amid the outbreak (the corona outbreak, not the one on my face). So what exactly is causing everyone's skin to play up? I checked in with some experts to find out why we’re all experiencing #isoface and what we can do about it.  

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