SOCIAL DISTANCING:
Only children face Parents are now their child’s playmate and teacher BY KRYSTEN GODFREY MADDOCKS
T
hanks to the social distancing practices brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, siblings are learning to rely on each other for entertainment in the absence of their friends. Sure, they may fight over the video game controller and get on each other’s nerves, but they have each other to play with when mom heads out to work or dad closes the door to his virtual office.
For only children, social distancing can be downright lonely. Not only have their parents become their teachers, but they’ve also become built-in playmates. Some parents worry that their companionship just isn’t enough to bridge the gap. Genevieve Buck, 42, mother to 14-year-old Samantha, lives in Portsmouth with her husband and works two jobs: one as a Disney vacation planner and another as a part-time job office associate for a company that distributes commercial laundry equipment. As an essential worker, Buck still is able to work her second job. Samantha, a Portsmouth High School student, is an only child who now socializes with her fellow teens exclusively through the online video program, Zoom. Recently, she attended a friend’s birthday party “virtually.” She and her friends watched Netflix together at the “party.” Still, the computer is a poor substitute for the daily interaction Samantha, a field hockey player, usually enjoyed before schools moved to remote learning. She misses seeing her friends. “She was very sad, and I said that it is OK to feel sad and miss them; this is no fun for any of us,” Buck said. “Most days she is home alone while my husband and I go to work. I have let go of being as strict with phone time as that is now her only way of communicating with her friends.”
22 www.parentingnh.com | MAY 2020
