A Reflection on Things that Helped a Parent During Lockdown

Well, hasn’t this been a strange time to be alive?!

Here we are in the third week at Level 2 on the Covid-19 alert system. We’re all doing things a little bit differently now while trying to get back a sense of normality and I thought I’d take the time to share some things that helped this parent through the lockdown. At first this was a list, but then I decided to refine it, and mention some of the library’s resources and these are still available now.

I also decided to put them in a particular order, because we like order, and we’ve so missed putting things in order!

Alrighty, on with my reflective list of things that helped a parent through life during lockdown:

1. Picture books and Look and Find books that I had around the house
A lot of these have been read over and over and over again, and that is completely OK. Of course, depending on your children’s age, having a book thrust into your lap with an accompanying moody grunt from your offspring can be annoying, however there are many (many) worse things to have put on you. Spending 5, 10, 20 or 40 minutes sitting down with a book and your child in your lap has been, is, and always will be a joy. I have been enjoying a number of look-and-find and maze books including these ones, Alice in Wonderland: a Puzzle Adventure from Big Picture Press and Follow Finn: a search-and-find maze book by Peter Goes, both large hardback books with beautiful illustrations.

2. Creative play

Small Fry Play Catalogue link

There is huge value in play, particularly creative play. I have seen my four-year-old son do some interesting things with ropes in the past 8 weeks. While concentrating on making loops and tying knots he said, “I’m making a trap for the baddies”. He also took to making sure his favourite soft toys have capes also, like him, naturally.

Lego: Awesome Ideas Catalogue link

My seven year old took to the trampoline a lot, and enacted classes for her younger sister and brother.
And the Lego play and creations, between them all, they carried on for days! Go sustained individual play! Actually I’d just like to give a big shout out to the value of play in general.

3. Teachers
I have to acknowledge that all school staff efforts have been amazing all throughout this crazy time. All the teachers in Aotearoa have been outstanding. In what has seemed the strangest time to live through, it has been revelatory to see who is actually essential and who isn’t. Teachers have definitely come out on top as vital, I believe.

4. Story Box Library
A good-looking, well-presented and curated collection of stories that are read by some well-known Australians and New Zealanders. Presented as a video with a storyteller holding the picture book, it is interspersed with two-page spreads and added subtle sound effects to accompany appropriate moments in the story. This is a resource that Hastings District Libraries has a subscription to, and is well worth a gander. I particularly liked I am Jellyfish, written and illustrated by Ruth Paul and read by Akina Edmonds. Story Box Library is an Australian outfit and they have a large range of books, authors and presenters including a focus on indigenous stories. Though the intro ditty at the start of every video would suggest Story Box is for a young audience, there are also stories aimed at the upper primary age group so you’ll find something in there for everyone.

And last but not least on my list of things that helped a parent through life in lockdown:

5. Home Learning TV / Papa Kāinga
The return of Suzy Cato!! Oh how I missed her voice and that giggle! And the whole cast of presenters, teachers and content is top-notch. The introduction of this TV channel in such a short amount of time from it being announced as happening, and going live was amazing to watch. Papa Kainga TV is actually still going too, it wasn’t just an alert level 3 and 4 offering. So if you have to keep your child or children at home and away from school for any reason, consider checking out some of the videos on there and participating in the activities at home.

Thank you for reading!

Posted by Hana

Educated by Tara Westover

"As a child, I'd been aware that although my family attended the same church as everyone in our town, our religion was not the same. They believed in modesty: we practiced it. They believed in God's power to heal; we left our injuries in God's hands. They believed in preparing for the Second Coming; we were actually prepared." Tara Westfield.

To be truthful I nearly stopped reading Educated part-way through.
Tara's life with her End of Days fundamentalist Mormon family was so bizarre, there seemed little hope for her. Except the clue is in the title: Educated is a testament to the power of learning and self-determination in difficult circumstances.

Tara Westover's birth was never registered; she did not have formal schooling until she was 17, never went to a doctor or hospital and, as far as officialdom knew, she did not exist. Her mother was a midwife and herbalist without formal training; her father ran a junkyard (mostly staffed by his children and with conditions that would give a Health and Safety Officer conniptions). In later life Tara came to understand that her increasingly paranoid father was bipolar. Her older brother Shawn also became aggressive, manipulative and threatening toward her.

Tara's loyalty to her family and home in rural Idaho remained, even in the toughest of times. Ultimately her self-education then formal education took her away from her family as she rose above her difficult circumstances, yet they are unable to overcome their radical beliefs.

Such was Tara’s ignorance of worldly matters that she inadvertently isolated herself from staff and students at her first college by asking what the Holocaust was; an honest question from someone who just did not know (she also had no knowledge of World War 2, the Women’s Rights movement, or slavery). Incredibly, and with lots of support and hard work, Tara eventually gained qualifications from Harvard College and Cambridge University.

A well-written memoir from a remarkable woman who is probably lucky to be alive, let alone educated.

Reviewed by Katrina 

Catalogue link: Educated