The Struggle Of Parenting Gen Alpha

The Struggle Of Parenting

As homeschooling parents, we have purposed to do things different from social norm. We want to impart good values to our kid (though we are not perfect). This is the reason for homeschooling in the first place.

For J, it is sometimes, a struggle to break away from his circle of homeschooling friends. Yes, we need to keep finding the right community. Most of his male friends, despite homeschooling, are stuck with both handheld (including mobile) games and console games.

We have been intentional in avoiding/delaying J from those stuff. Yet when he's with his group of friends at homeschooling lessons/activities, he couldn't help but feel lonely, because he couldn't play them, and thus, could not connect on those topics. There were many times when he felt left out as he shared with us.

Once someone takes out the mobile device, the whole social communication/interaction vanishes. The rest of the boys will all focus on the mobile games.

Welcome to Gen Z and Gen Alpha where social media & games (for boys) are everything. The set of struggles for girls will be different from boys.

We cannot blame the homeschool parents, for the role of homeschooling mums are most tiring as compared to SAH mums and working mums. I say this in general.

SAH mums whose kids go to schools have the best privilege of daily "me" time and self-cares. Again, I say this in general.

Working mums have the privilege of taking a break from their kids.

Homeschooling mums are constantly revolving around the kids. There is no daily "me" time or regular breaks from the kids. The engagement is almost 24/7. By the time when the kid goes to bed, the mum is already exhausted.

This is the reason why we cannot fault homeschooling mums for allowing their kids to play mobile/console games. Because when the kids' attention is drawn away from the mum, the mum is able to take a breather and rest.

It will be so easy for us to simply let J play mobile/handheld games. It makes our lives way easier. It removes the struggle of him trying to fit in with his circle of friends.

But we need to be firm and unwavering. We need to remind ourselves the purpose of homeschooling. The pressure and social conformity might be strong in this nation, but how we navigate this as parents, and how we build tenacity and values in our child is true empowerment.

We are empowering him for the future. We are empowering him to say "No" to what is not beneficial. We are empowering him to resist temptations. We are empowering not to be conformed, but to reform. We are empowering him to be a leader, not a follower. We are empowering him to be different from the majority so that he can go after God and the narrow path, even if it is difficult.

The struggle is real at times, but we must look beyond the present into the future. We cannot mould him into what we want him to be. But we can provide the platform for him to step into who he could be. By His grace.