Is lockdown worse for an only child?

Hi, I hope you are doing okay in this scary pandemic times which has shaken the world already. We all want our freedom back, I wish this ends soon. It is definitely going to give chills to all if the situation stays like this for a longer period. Few of us enjoyed the comfort of working from home and spend time with family whereas for a few it was a challenge juggling work and childcare.

I was not disappointed with the lockdown thinking it will be a break from our daily hustles in life. But due to its prolonged period, it is now proving to be tougher and tougher day by day. It seems as if it’s been ages that I am confined with my hubby and my little one in a madhouse. 🎪🎪

Some of the big challenges during a pandemic is not letting kids play with other kids, homeschooling, worrying about our friends and family, isolating, less physical activities for kids and adults both.

As they say “every action has its equal and opposite reaction”, we were expecting complaints on our way about running and thumping noise, we had a few of them just when the lockdown started. But I guess my neighbours are also trying to survive this and I believe they are in my shoe and have got the same state of mind. Now I can say they actually understand how difficult it is to raise a child, especially in the lockdown.

My little one is 2 and a half year old and she used to love going to the children centre, make and meet friends and do a lot of fun activities. I no longer go to any children centres as they are closed due to a corona virus outbreak.

These days I am busy ordering stuff online and returning them most of the time as I can’t get my head around the variations of sizes in clothes, or it could be because of the number of cheese pizzas and brownies we had since the onset of lockdown.

Gone are the days for friends meetups, eating outs, short trips, travel. A little bit of online shopping, baking, having comfort foods, and writing blogs these days is a little bit of relief for me. It is equally important to not lose the mental balance when you have got restrictions and also have a fear of being vulnerable to corona virus.

On a serious note I was thinking what about the learning and development of kids who are locked inside most of the times?

What about social skills? Socializing is a crucial part of growing up. Isn’t it? We learn a lot from our peers. Together they learn to play, share, coordinate, trust etc. Is this period of crisis changing the behaviour of my little one?

With no other kids around, the experience of being inside the home most of the times is actually boring and lonely. My toddler keeps requesting me that she wants to go out and play with her friends, it has become difficult to refuse her requests every now and then. She is becoming crankier day by day. Can this period of crisis affect or change the behaviour of my little one?

I guess it is much easier to cope with the lockdown for kids who have siblings as they can learn and play together at home. For only children to play most of the times on their own can make them feel that they are alone and lacking social and physical contact with their friends.

Going forward I think I need to create more social interactions for my daughter over the phone or via video calls with her friends so that she doesn’t feel uncomfortable or strange when the situation gets normal and she is with her friends and peers.

This lockdown is in many ways hampering the opportunities for social, cognitive and emotional development of the kids. And this phase according to me is a lot harder for only children who are cut off from the outer world and only rely on parents for company.

I know she has no one else than me to give her company so I need to give more of my time to her. Often I feel tempted to arrange a playdate at home with her only friend who lives next door but I know very well that it is not at all a safe option these days. Then the guilt kicks in at times that she is the only child.

But what I have realized is, the kids need parents the most than anyone else to keep them safe, calm and anxiety-free. Often I fail to keep her entertained throughout and she has accepted the fact that when mum is busy or tired and can’t give her company, she can be herself and play on her own.

We all know that this is a phase and sooner or later it will be over. I feel lucky to an extent that I don’t have to juggle my office work with my toddler. This period may be tough on our mental health and relationships, but at the same time, it is an opportunity to bond with our little ones, learn new things and grow with them every day.

How I am trying to keep her entertained in lockdown?

The things my toddler likes doing these days in pandemic lockdown are:

• I am showing interest in baking all of a sudden and the little one pretends to bake all by herself. 🍪🍩🎂🍮🍰
• Watching Peppa Pig together and playing with clay dough and jumping on the sofa and not in muddy puddle…. 🐖🐖 Its more of screen time though but I guess its ok looking at the situation we are in.
• A lot of hide and seek in the lowdown and would whack me up with her toy if I turn on my laptop and sit for a while
• More time in the bathtub, playing in the water, scratching the soap, smelling different body wash to choose the best one she wants on her palm.
• Playing tea party.☕☕
• Wrapping blanket, towel and admiring herself in front of the mirror and expects appreciations like wow you look wonderful….
• The walls of our house were white but not there are all possible colours and drawings on them.
• Throwing her toys all around the house and making us do the clean-up.

I will have to survive this rough phase of life by keeping my family safe, following social distancing rules, staying positive, and connected too.

Originally published at https://www.themumandmunchkin.com/