OTHERWISE DISTRACTED

‘…does not distract others with his actions, but regularly avoids tasks by doing other things on his computer (typing in numbers, creating graphs, researching Teslas.)’

 A smile crossed my face and I burst into laughter. There was nobody around to hear me but if there was, I would not have cared. Seeing how this week is my week without the children, this was a welcomed distraction to the quiet since they left for school on Friday.

 The class where my son is otherwise distracted with his research of Teslas is English Language Arts, or ELA. On one hand, I do understand the importance of focusing on the subject being taught. I often stress the importance of reading and writing to all of my children but somehow they prefer YouTube and TikTok in their free time, as well as Roblox and Minecraft. On the other hand, I realise our minds tend to wander when we don’t find the subject interesting. I’m sure we’ll all been guilty of that in both youth and adult life.

 The rigid structure of school is not to everyone’s liking just as the controlled environment of the corporate world is better suited for some people than others. Having worked from home since March until the middle of last month, I’ve come to realise that it will be very difficult to return to an office. Ever since I found out that our team was being laid off and our contracts would not be extended, I’ve been looking for remote work. I love not having to drive to work or speed eat my breakfast or to don confining clothes. As a result, I have more time and am home when the kids return from school.

 The Coronavirus pandemic has certainly shifted the way we work and learn. For a while my children were doing virtual school whilst I was working. Though I was working from home, I still had to adhere to a strict time and clock in and out for breaks. At times this was a challenge as I would listen to all three children’s Zoom meetings. It was great in that I got to know how the teachers taught. It’s definitely not easy for them having to teach both in-person and virtual students but somehow they make it work just like we made our arrangement work.

 The ability to research is a great skill to have, especially if one wishes to start their own business as my son has mentioned he’d like to do one day. It is also useful for writing a book, a set of instructions, or to find one’s way around in a new city.

 Being able to find and analyse information, to compile it into a graph, or otherwise use it for forecasting is a useful skill. But so is the ability to focus and it is something I will continue to work on with my children. Though my son can talk about Teslas all day and all night, I know that he will have to shift that focus during school to learning the other important life skills of reading, writing, and comprehension. It’s a matter of balance. We can do both but need to remember not to be otherwise distracted during the times we should be learning.