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Parenting during the pandemic has admittedly been “exhausting” for Kate Middleton . The Duchess of Cambridge candidly opened up about the challenges of lockdown during a video call with fellow parents and Melissa Loosemore, the headteacher of Roe Green Junior School. Melissa asked the royal mom of three and the other parents to write down one word that describes parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic. On her paper, the Duchess wrote “exhausting.”
“As parents you’ve got those sort of the day-to-day elements of being a parent, but I suppose during lockdown we’ve had to take on additional roles that perhaps others around us in our communities, or in our lives would have perhaps supported us and helped us with,” Kate explained.
Aside from having to take on the role of teacher, homeschooling her kids, Prince George , Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis ’ mom has also been cutting hair at home. Kate shared, “I’ve become a hairdresser this lockdown, much to my children’s horror, seeing mum cutting hair.” She added, “We’ve had to become a teacher, you know and I think, I personally feel pulled in so many different directions.”
During the video call, the Duchess revealed that her husband Prince William has been the greatest support for her amid the pandemic. “We don’t want it to be Bridgerton or something like that, do we?” Melissa said, prompting Kate to laugh.
The Duchess reminded the other parents to look after themselves. “Make sure everyone looks after themselves. It’s very important,” she said. “Now more than ever.” The candid conversation built on some of the key issues, such as parental wellbeing and loneliness, that were raised in Kate’s landmark survey on the Early Years. The research, which was released last November, revealed that parents struggle to prioritize their own wellbeing, despite the fact that 90 percent see parental mental health and wellbeing as being critical to a child’s development.