Machibet777 Cricket When Mamma becomes Miss and monitor

“Hello everyone, how are you today? Hello everyone, hip, hip, hurray.”Every morning at 11am the chirpy voice of Amita Miss singing this ‘welcome song’ booms from a laptop placed on a study table at a flat in Mira Road. But the red-and-blue chair facing the table stays empty most of the time. This is because Myra, the three-and-a-half-year-old owner of said chair, is either lounging in bed, waltzing around the house wearing her mom’s heels or searching the refrigerator for snacks. Her mom, Michelle Noronha, sits nearby, holding her head in her hands and calling out to her to get back to the ‘class’.Roughly 25 km away, at the Mehrotra residence in Juhu, mommy Gunjan is seen frantically moving between rooms during the virtual lessons. While her eight-year-old daughter Shagun can’t find her science notebook, her son Shubh (2.5) needs help in pushing pulses down a straw and picking chickpeas with tweezers for a fine motor skills activity in his nursery session. “By the time school is over, I have no energy left to do my own work,” says the architect.Similar scenes have been playing out at homes across the country as children zoom into class every morning. Though some states have decided to reopen primary schools, the bulk of learning is still happening online, forcing parents to turn into proxy teachers. From promptly unmuting the four-year-old when he is asked a question to helping the eight-year-old upload assignments and ensuring the 11-year-old is not making TikTok videos under the desk, parents have their hands full. medium85978662Besides, online teaching has limitations. In a classroom, the teacher could see all 40-plus pupils before her eyes and spot the ones who seemed lost or confused. But this is not possible online. Moreover, schools are often rushing from one chapter to the next in a bid to cover the syllabus. “If the teacher has moved from multiplication to division but my daughter Rabhya is still struggling with the former, I have no choice but to sit and teach her myself,” says Siya Sharan, adding that she has to revise the formulas herself before tutoring her fourth grader. “This is very challenging. I am a mother, not a math professor.”While the evenings go in teaching, moms and dads say they have no choice but to play class monitor or prefect during school hours. “If I am attending a work call, Rabhya promptly minimises Zoom and starts doodling on MS Paint. So I have to be on high alert and hover around,” says Sharan, who is a lawyer.For moms with younger kids, the biggest battle is simply getting their toddlers to sit in the virtual classroom. “I bolt the room door and keep all toys out of sight but even then Advait keeps bouncing off the chair and I have to drag him back,” says Bandra-based Ruchita Sharma whose three-year-old son started nursery this April. “If he is gone too long, the teacher puts us in the waiting room as punishment.”Gunjan often sits for online lessons with Shubh on her lap to ensure he stays put. “I have to wait till the break to use the washroom like all students,” she complains. “It is like being back in school. So annoying.”It is not only parents who are feeling overwhelmed by their new duties, children are affected by the change, too. Thanks to the e-classes, parents hear, if not see, all that takes place there. While earlier kids used to rush home to find their moms waiting with hot lunch and hugs, today they are met with raised eyebrows and accusatory questions — “Why didn’t you answer when the teacher asked you how many planets are there?” or “How come that boy Shaurya was selected to recite the Hindi poem and not you?” This is leading to rebellion, arguments and straining the relationship between parents and children.Simran Tandon realised she had to salvage the situation when her eight-year-old confronted her last month. “He very calmly said, ‘You don’t love me anymore. You only talk to me about classes or scream at me for homework’,” recalls the graphic designer, adding that his words brought tears to her eyes.The 38-year-old now spends the evening playing with her son and lets him submit whatever homework work he does, even if it is half-complete. “Schools are simply sending assignments and announcing deadlines. We parents have become the enforcers. But if I am always schooling, when should I be the mother to my child,” she asks.Noronha, too, has decided to lower her expectations. “One day I lost my cool and shouted at Myra for not sitting in class. I regretted it later. Now as long as she is somewhere in the room and listening to the teacher, it is fine,” she says.Myra’s grandmom, however, is still “super-stressed” by her non-attendance. “Mom starts every day with a prayer that Myra should stay in class.”