
Remember that show – SpeedDating where folks try to make a good impression on a potential partner in just a few mins? Well thatās what zoom parent teacher conference SORTA feels like .
Except you ,as the parents arenāt there for your own benefits.. well not technically.
Youāre 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 š)
I must say, the whole thing is one messy confusing production! Donāt 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 covidš.
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 childās little desk and had an in person conversation about your childās 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 studentā¦sigh sounds so lovelyš„°
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 wasnāt doing the moving around BUT I was starting to feel dizzy , trying to keep track of which teacherās class we just landed inš„ŗ
Honestly I still donāt 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?ā¦.. Perhaps š¤
p/s: thank Goodness our 5th grader was on a separate day phew)
Anywaysā¦.
Did we only have 5 mins to hear both the teachers AND our kidās personal narrative aka PowerPoint presentation on the highlights of their experience in those classes.. Sure we did!š¤
Were we at times arriving too early to sit in some teacherās 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 ālong windedā teacher, since we didnāt 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 nuffš¤Ŗ
At one point , I logged in only to be waved goodbye by the teacher nicely because ā our time was upā 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 š¤Ŗ
Oh and if you delayed pressing the ā leave meeting ā button , then you may find yourself in the waiting room with another stranger aka parent⦠Awkward šµš¬
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 didnāt have to explain why the teacher was , all of a sudden hearing Vietnamese being spoken loudly around me. Honestly, I donāt think my new nail tech appreciated all the fuss around me, and I wasnāt really feeling his lack of relaxation vibe at all as he yanked my hands to reposition them for his purposes š . I even debated whether to tip him or not afterwards..donāt 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 āthe nice to meet you but you gots to leave the meeting nowā was all wayy too much for me . I donāt think my cortisol ( stress) hormones appreciated all that FUSS at all š.
Unfortunately, I didnāt 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 ā spaā experience with a stressful zoom parent teacher conference again for this momma!
Of course if you canāt relate since you only have your one kid that you get to devote all your attention to , without guilt, then more power to you šš½
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 āfollowā so you can get notifications on future blog postsš
*DH ( darling husband)
Women and multitasking are like “bread and butter” or 5 & 6…lolz. Una weldone š.
It’s always difficult to multitask especially if they are more than one. Interesting and real life experience, and funny toošš. As usual, nice write up big sis
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āBread and butter āšš
Beht we should try and cool it down with some mmiri oyi shaa š¤Ŗ
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Multi tasking is a reality in todayās world. Glad the teachers conference took place years ago in my family. So much easier
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Lucky blessed OG you!š„°š for doing it back in the day. Iām sure yāall have a different version of challenges that you got through though.
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Finding out time to put the experience in print is part of the multi-tasking. Sometimes we unwittingly mult-task so much so that any day we are not stressed out, our bodies may be feeling as if something has gone wrong.
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Lol as in somehow missing the stress huh?š
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Thank you for reading!
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Hope I can relate pretty soon.
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Amen o šš¾
Yes even if the struggle is real at times, it is still so worth itš„°
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Being a wife,mother, chef, professional, home doctor and everything in between is alot to handle to also add zoom parent- teacher to it. I guess every parent decided to do face to face this year. Tiring relying on technology and then be cut off mid sentence š.
I’m a super mum, I know that but there are times that multitasking is simply not me.
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You ARE a Super mum my dear friend! And I agree we need to keep our limits too š¤Ŗ
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Interesting
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Glad you found it interesting, thank you for reading!
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I never tried the nail āspaā and zoom but I have tried attending sports and zoom and let me say that task was horrible. Having to juggle multiple kids and striving to be that great Mother, Wife and Businesswoman is a hard job itself. Hats off to you for attempting to do pleasure with workš¬. Iāve even tried to complete three kids conferences mixed with zoom and in person and I was beyond stress afterwards. Thanks for the readā¤ļø
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So youāre a momma after my own heart, who understands the struggle IS real! I know you multitask with a lot of grace!
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Youāre a phenomenal mama! I enjoyed reading your blog, as usual! Thanks for the laughs, as itās great medicine!! I look forward to purchasing your books because you are definitely āauthor material!ā
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Awww thank you Pamš
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So relatable.. thank you for sharing I feel like I am relieving my kids parent teacher conferences through your eyes
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Hahaha I can imagine with your similar aged lovely little onesāŗļø
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“I see you here, I see you dia, are you TWICE?” My sister we are not TWICE so we should stop acting like we r and ‘Calm down’. Surrendering -feeling like u can’t accomplish that task in ur mind- is had for some of us, but learning that it’s not Surrendering but Empowering oneself with the ability to take it slow and CHOSE NOT to accomplish it, is pretty powerful. We should recognize/show-love to the Empowerment.
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Gbamcity!!!! Thank you for your insightful comments š„°
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I have seen cultures, such as Japanese, where the video must be on throughout on Zoom. And closer to me, where others attend a 2 hour meeting on Zoom with their cameras off – yet actually out there in the mall shopping… All in all, thanks for sharing this… with us.
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