Where were you in March, 2020?

Make our holiday wish come true and answer a few questions, why don't ya?

Five years ago this March, the world shut down. For many parents, it began with a message from their child’s school - perhaps with a promise to reopen in a few weeks. That, as we all know, didn’t happen. What happened instead was a grotesque experiment into the comprehensiveness of the parenting adage of “the longest shortest time” – a period of lockdown that for many parents lasted over two years, until vaccines were available to all ages in June, 2022.

photo courtesy of Bright Horizons

We want to learn about the lasting impacts of this time on parents via a brief, anonymous survey we’ve put out this week. We already have a number of moving and fascinating responses, and we want more. We’re planning on using this info to inform a series of episodes in the spring, and perhaps some independent reporting.

Would you, dear, listeners, be so kind as to:

• Take our survey of parents (primarily for parents who now have kids 5 and over)

• Share it with your parent communities??? You can use this lingo below if it’s helpful:

“My fave podcast about parenthood is doing an anonymous survey of parents about how their experiences of the covid shutdown still impact them (almost) five years later. It took it and found it super interesting to reflect on. They want to hear from as many parents as they can, so if you have 10ish minutes and are willing, please fill it out! Here's the link.”

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Some more background:

There is some data on specific questions around parenting in the pandemic, such as parents and schools, and a more interesting longitudinal study on the division of labor among parents during the pandemic. Much of the data on parent’s experiences during the pandemic are static (such as this and this), being taken in 2020 or 2021, rather than on the lasting impacts of such an enormous change in family situations.

Everyone shared in the fear, anger, and disconnection that the unprecedented global health emergency of Covid-19 created. But for most parents, the question wasn’t how to handle loneliness and boredom and self-care, but how to care for others. We became teachers, therapists, speech pathologists, basketball coaches, college prep advisors. Some of us gave birth in masks without a friend or family member. Those of us with disabled children suddenly found ourselves attempting to replace whole teams of specialists, not to mention, do our own jobs. Half a decade later, where does all of that live, in our homes and bodies? What do parents and families still carry with them? What hard and maybe beautiful truths have we learned about raising children in a frightening world?

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Also, have you seen our fly Mother of it All totes designed by

Jen Bloomer

? Become a paid subscriber now and get one as a holiday gift from us to you!