Multitasking🤪

Remember that show – SpeedDating where folks try to make a good impression on a potential partner in just a few mins? Well that’s what zoom parent teacher conference SORTA feels like .

Except you ,as the parents aren’t there for your own benefits.. well not technically.

You’re there to hear REAL quick whether your kid is a good egg or a bad egg lol (shout out to all my Willy Wonka fans who got the reference 😃)

I must say, the whole thing is one messy confusing production! Don’t get me wrong I love the convenience of my DH *just finishing his run and plopping on the couch to zoom into conference, while I attempt to zoom in from the nail shop.. because you know , why not do THAT multi tasking right?

Now I am not new to this rodeo of zoom parent teacher conference, thanks to covid😏.

Nonetheless, Parent teacher conferences pre Covid used to be so much more deliberate.. you drove to the school, you waited outside the classroom till it was your turn, then you got to sit n YOUR child’s little desk and had an in person conversation about your child’s performance with an undivided attention from their teacher till your time was up. Then you left the classroom only to find carefully laid out pencils and pens outside the door , for you to write a note for your special student…sigh sounds so lovely🥰

The truth is I had infact managed to do a version of a virtual parent teacher conference even pre pandemic when I was traveling in Africa . This meant DH * keeping me on his speaker phone while he moved from class to class meeting with teachers, spending the first few mins explaining why he had his phone on speaker so his wifey who was out of the country could follow along the conference.

I wasn’t doing the moving around BUT I was starting to feel dizzy , trying to keep track of which teacher’s class we just landed in🥺

Honestly I still don’t know how to rate the success or lack thereof, of the zoom parent teacher conference.. I mean, was IT accomplished?.,,heck yea!

Was it too ambitious for us to schedule conference for our 3 middle schoolers all in one evening( the only option available this time by the way), each for 5 mins?….. Perhaps 🤔

p/s: thank Goodness our 5th grader was on a separate day phew)

Anyways….

Did we only have 5 mins to hear both the teachers AND our kid’s personal narrative aka PowerPoint presentation on the highlights of their experience in those classes.. Sure we did!🤗

Were we at times arriving too early to sit in some teacher’s zoom waiting room unsure if we got the time mixed up ?.. heck yah!

All the while with DH texting me to let me know he had to go on to the next while I finished up with whatever “long winded” teacher, since we didn’t want to miss the next conference time slot.

Were there times ,at the beginning of the zoom where I had NO clue which teacher we were meeting and/or which of my kids we were starting to discuss… Sure nuff🤪

At one point , I logged in only to be waved goodbye by the teacher nicely because “ our time was up” and the teacher had to let in another eager perhaps just as confused parent , in from the waiting room.. leaving me going .. Wait what? Huh?.. oh okay then, nice seeing you again 🤪

Oh and if you delayed pressing the “ leave meeting “ button , then you may find yourself in the waiting room with another stranger aka parent… Awkward 🎵😬

I mean, it was probably too zealous and optimistic, to think I could pull off a zoom parent teacher conference while the nail technician was holding my hands hostage, as I tried to mute my phone microphone, in between conversations so I didn’t have to explain why the teacher was , all of a sudden hearing Vietnamese being spoken loudly around me. Honestly, I don’t think my new nail tech appreciated all the fuss around me, and I wasn’t really feeling his lack of relaxation vibe at all as he yanked my hands to reposition them for his purposes 😏 . I even debated whether to tip him or not afterwards..don’t worry I did too him,after all my hectic evening was NOT his fault.

Ultimately, I made the choice to take my daughters to get their nails done AND have zoom parent teacher conference all in the same hour. Both were accomplished fairly well, but I must say it was NOT the most relaxing experience at all.

The content of the conferences were fine and I am very proud of my offsprings . However, the processes around the zooming and “the nice to meet you but you gots to leave the meeting now” was all wayy too much for me . I don’t think my cortisol ( stress) hormones appreciated all that FUSS at all 😏.

Unfortunately, I didn’t immediately recognize and name my emotions of stress and frustration that evening, once I got home and still had to start packing for springbreak trip.

I have mused about the fast pace of life in America and the necessity that we slow down to catch our breaths. This experience was a good reminder for me. I am now able to look back at some of the comedic aspects of that evening, and laugh (yes) AT myself for taking on so much .

I also believe in lessons learned and so I know there are NO more multi tasking nail “ spa” experience with a stressful zoom parent teacher conference again for this momma!

Of course if you can’t relate since you only have your one kid that you get to devote all your attention to , without guilt, then more power to you 🙌🏽

However. I am curious whether you too have had an interesting multi tasking zoom experience in your life and how you handled it?

As always, thank you for reading my blog and of course I welcome your comments and any shared experiences . Please feel free to also “follow” so you can get notifications on future blog posts💕

*DH ( darling husband)