COVID REWARDS KIDS AND MOMS

            I have no idea if Covid was a "plandemic" or a magician's diversion to keep rotten governments in power and in fact gain power, or if it was a genuine mutation surprise, but it created several wonderful disruptions.  Perhaps the most important one is the work-at-home revolution.

             I remember 20 years ago reading futurists predicting that the work commute would be gone in 5-10 years.  Interior designers and decorators predicted the "home office" would be the hottest domestic living trend.  They dreamed up layouts, furniture and all sorts of infrastructure to tap into this development.

             Why didn't it occur like all futurists expected?  Stodgy bureaucratic business bosses.  "We've always done it this way" is still the number one killer of innovation.  Only a handful of people can ever see what is not yet visible, which is why Steve Jobs and Elon Musk have mythical, nearly god-like mystiques. 

             With more studies confirming how important the first three years of life are, caring mothers have advocated for a work-at-home option for years.  But office managers and business protocols didn't buy in.

             Covid forced their hand.  Finally, after all these years, working-at-home has freed many moms from the shackles of the infant shuffle.  Gone is the assumption that clocking in at a certain time is the only way to confirm a work day.  Gone is the assumption that an urban office cubicle is more productive than a home desk set-up.

             Rush hour congestion, the need for more roads, more gas, more automobiles, the depreciation of all that infrastructure--it's all less, and that's a good thing.  But more important, many, many moms and infants can enjoy a nurturing early childhood development that no day care can give.  Further, children are not thrust into pathogenic environments as quickly, allowing their immune systems to develop at a historically normal pace.

             I'm sure I'll be accused of being sexist in this post since I'm concentrating on moms and infants; can dads do this?  Not as well as moms.  "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" isn't far off the mark.  While I'm thrilled that many dads are able to work at home, I'm more thrilled that many moms and infants can now bond and develop in a more normal way.  Child psychologists point out that nearly all character traits are in place by the end of a child's third year.  If you miss that, you miss it for life.  If you get that, you get it for life.

             My heart soars for all the children who will get mom more hours a day.  Who will enjoy the one-on-one care and love that a feminine touch offers.  I for one am grateful every day that my toddler-hood was filled with nursery rhymes and one-on-one attention from an at-home mom.  Anybody who loves family, who loves functional adults, who wants our civilization to survive should revel in this development and breathe a prayer of gratitude.

             In a day when frustration and negativity dominate our  news feed, let's pause to be thankful for unforeseen consequences that bless us.

             Do you know a mom and infant who has benefitted from the work-at-home revolution?