Meredith Masony Pens Book On Surviving Parenthood During The Pandemic: 'I Don't Like My Kids All The Time, They Don't Like Me All The Time'
(CBS Local)-- COVID-19 has changed a lot in our world and one of the biggest groups of people impacted by the global pandemic have been parents. Mothers and fathers all over the country are juggling between parenting, working and even teaching their kids with remote learning this fall. Former public school teacher and author Meredith Masony falls in the category of a parent who is trying to figure out the new normal.
Masony has a new Simon & Schuster book available called "Ask Me What's For Dinner One More Time" about several different topics such as motherhood, aging, anxiety, friendship and sex and already feels like she needs to write another book just about parenting during the pandemic.
"I just don't think anybody, whether you're genetically related or not, should spend this amount of time together," said Masony in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "I will always love my children and I've said this time and again, but I don't like them all the time and they don't like me all the time. This is a lot of quality time for families to go through, especially when it's a forced situation and then you're trying to do online learning and still trying to work and survive and live with no end in sight. I can only say a little bit longer a few more times until it's like a Lord of the Flies situation and my kids take over and dig a hole for me somewhere."
The author, her husband and kids have adjusted to their new lives and are trying to find little things to focus on during these tough times. Masony's one son still has the ability to play tennis because it can be a socially-distanced sport, but her other son had his entire youth soccer season cancelled. Masony has been a leading voice in the online parenting community since 2014 when she launched her blog That's Inappropriate, that provided a place for parents to engage about everything going on in there lives.
"I go live at 1pm every day to talk and lay it out there," said Masony. "Everybody is welcome to come in and have a conversation because this pandemic has been hard for all parents. We talked about that there are no right choices and no good choices when it comes to school right now. A parent who has to work, who is an essential employee, they're not getting a choice. They're forced to place their child in a place they may or may not want them in because they have to go back to work. That's what life is right now. That's why people are so stressed out, have the pandemic fatigue and are over this. It doesn't change the fact that coronavirus hasn't gone away. You can't let your guard down and as my husband says, everything is a roll of the dice."
Masony's books is available now wherever books are sold and she hopes parents can have an open dialogue with each other and their kids during these unprecedented circumstances.
"Right now we are hunkered down and sharing this journey," said Masony. "We're giving everyone a front row seat to the things we've experienced and got through. We moved in the middle of this and then I had to enroll my kids in school. We want everyone to know that yes this is hard and parenting is hard. Parenting through a pandemic is unprecedented. Nobody has done this before."