Caring for your kid’s needs during the pandemic has been difficult for sure, and I don’t want to downplay that in any way. You suddenly have these little ones that are normally at school and get some personal space and now you don’t. You are more aware of what is happening in their lives and have to worry about their well-being more.

Despite all this, I don’t understand and am appalled to see all these memes and jokes about parents who hate their kids. The biggest influence on a child’s life is their parents. And it is never too late to start being a more positive role model for them. If you don’t like an aspect of the child first self analyze and decide if this is a trait that you model. If it is, start acting better. If it is not, discuss it with them . (Note discussion is two sided, if it is one sided it’s called lecture which gets ignored)

Now that I have that off my chest updates about our children. We have 3 kids: ages 2, 10 & 12. They don’t always get along. We try to let them have alone time if needed, even if it means taking turns in seclusion. (We are in a 2 bedroom apartment). The rest of us have to take care of the toddler.

I have become a lot more aware of how media presents women lately because I am always telling my daughter that she can be anything she wants. It’s amazing how your opinion of certain movies changes when you view it as “how will my girl see it”

Examples. We watched a few older movies over the last few months. We watched the Jurassic park-world series. What do you see right from the first movie? A lady doctor who examines dino poop. A war photographer that hunts for the perfect shot of a Dino. A mother willing to fight dinosaurs to find her kid, women who work hard and are smart.

My wife and I also chose “the mask”. I remember loving this movie when I was younger. But the ladies are all represented at eye candy for the men. Every single one of them. Except the landlady. I was ashamed of this. My daughter still laughed at the antics, but the whole movie left me with a sour taste.

I am trying to find better movies to watch with my family, but it isn’t always easy. And it’s not just the movies.

Over the course of my daughter’s education she has had a ton of local teachers that have been trying to push the idea that women are not equal to men and this has led to a few discussions.

Boys in my daughter’s class will do Soccer or track and field in Gym class. Girls can go watch or gossip.

A few years ago my friend had an English Soccer club run through the school. The school wouldn’t let girls join so my friend just let them play along for free. 2 years ago the club got cancelled because not enough paying members. He always had enough players, but they weren’t allowed to pay and so didn’t count. My daughter took his club with her brother.

I have been busy working and homeschooling my daughter. My son has been taking digital classes without problems. My daughter’s class chose to do class on an app that requires a Chinese name and Citizenship Number. So I have been helping her with everything.

Now school is returning on June 8 (for 1month) I informed her class that she will not be returning until September. She has missed every class for months so it makes no sense to send her in.

My son will be studying at home as well. The city may be opening up again, but I am not ready to risk my kids yet. I have to return, which means a lot of work for me to prepare lessons for the kids as I will not be home to explain things.

My family is the single most important thing to me. I wish I could do more for them. Keep safe everyone, and try to be the best version of yourself for your kid’s sake. They need you a lot more now.