Could Being a Tweenager be
Any More Difficult?


by Jennifer Gelman

I think we can all agree, parenting during the pandemic has brought on new challenges we never thought we would face when we decided to become parents. Not once, when my husband and I decided to start a family did I think about being stuck at home for 10+ months with a 12 and 10 year old while trying to manage virtual learning and working from home full-time.  

While this past year has been a challenge with all of us in the house together – all the time, it has given us time to grow together as a family. Most nights we have dinner together, something that was a rarity prior to the pandemic with my husband working in DC and the kids in multiple afterschool activities. The first couple of months it was novel – now it has become routine and something I will miss when the world returns to “normal” again. 

“There are negatives like missing out on school events and since I am in 6th grade and starting at a new school it could be harder for me to adjust from doing my first year online.”
– Abby, 12

I’m lucky, my kids have thrived during virtual learning. I was worried about this as we started the new school year.

My daughter, Abby, 12, started middle school in the fall. I was concerned how she would handle moving to this new environment in person, and then even more so with it being virtual. As a self-proclaimed introvert, she welcomed the opportunity to do class from her bedroom. She is excelling in all her classes and is participating in several extracurricular activities including the book and STEM clubs, however, as a mom, I’m worried about her lack of socialization with classmates.

She hasn’t the normal middle school opportunities to make new friends. There is no lunch period or study hall. No before school time to hang with friends. While she has been able to participate with her skating team (Abby is a member of a competitive synchronized skating team), most of those practices have been virtual as well. I’m looking forward to the day when vaccinations are available and we can start to return to “normal.”

Abby Gelman outside her house

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