While students began to find success in their online endeavors, Mount faculty and staff became accustomed to working from home. For many, every day has become Take Your Child to Work Day.
Orin Strauchler, assistant dean of Student Support Services and director of Counseling at the college, is working from home with his wife, Danielle. The couple has three children, including a new baby. Like many parents in this situation, they sometimes get stretched thin, Strauchler explained.
“Danielle and I are both very driven, conscientious people who want to give our all at our jobs, but we also don’t want to feel as if we aren’t being good parents who just plop their children in front of the television,” he said. “Our work responsibilities don’t always allow for one of us to be working while the other one is handling childcare, so we wind up doing a lot of juggling and rejiggering of schedules.”
For Strauchler, the keys to navigating these new challenges are good communication with his spouse and not placing unrealistic expectations on himself.
“We have had to be more forgiving of ourselves, in terms of not holding ourselves to Pinterest standards of parenting,” he explained. “Everywhere you turn on social media, it seems there is someone who has just baked beautiful sugar cookies with their kids or built them a two-story treehouse. Even before the pandemic, people only tended to show their best selves on social media, so it can really skew your view on things. At this point, we are happy if our daughter is happy and has all of her arms, legs, fingers, and toes in place by the end of the day.”
Tabatha Mays, a marketing assistant with the college’s Office of Marketing and Communications, agrees that the last few months have been a little difficult. But there are definitely positive aspects of the situation too, such as getting to spend more time with her 5-year-old son. 
“Working from home with a child has its challenges, yet it is quite rewarding!” she explained. “This has allowed me more time to reflect on and implement some life goals with my child, such as practicing religion/faith, and life skills, such as learning to wash dishes, cooking, and cleaning.”
Mays makes plenty of time for her son throughout the day – even if it’s in small doses. It’s a bit of a balancing act, but the results have been positive.
“I find that taking 5 to 10 minute breaks just to have a little fun with my child, like participating in a tickling tournament, an arm wrestling match, or even an intense staring standoff, lightens the mood despite the challenge of putting my attention in multiple places at once,” Mays noted.
What her son really wants, says Mays, is to know that she cares about him and that his voice is being heard.
“Acknowledging him, if even for a few minutes, shows him that he is equally important as anything else, and as a result, he is content with doing his own thing,” she explained. “Ultimately, I think the key is children just wanting to feel that they haven’t been forgotten about. Knowing that mom and/or dad cares about what they have to say gives them a sense of confirmation that you love them and you’re genuinely interested in them. Then they are good to go – until the next tantrum, of course.”