Feature

These mums show us the reality of working from home while live on TV

As most working mothers would know our ability to multi-task is a bit of a hidden superpower. Though in the case of these women, not so hidden.

Clare Wenham BBC News

Clare Wenham and daughter on BBC News Source: BBC

As any working mother knows, trying to work while having kids at home is not an easy task. If you're not being asked to referee sibling spats you are being asked for snacks - or biscuits as was the case for Sky News foreign affairs editor Deborah Haynes, whose son made an impromptu appearance while she was live on air.
The look on Deborah's face when her son walked in was one every mother knows very well - it's the 'I'm in public right now but wait till we get home' look.

Coincidentally, over at BBC News, Assistant Professor in Global Health Policy Clare Wenham was giving a live interview when her daughter walked in to the room, deeply perturbed about the placement of her unicorn picture on a shelf.
As someone who has kids who also like unicorns I understand how vital the placement of such objects can sometimes be.

Overall the sight of these women bravely soldiering on with their jobs despite the interrupting children was one many parents could relate to.
As most working mothers would know, our ability to multi-task is a bit of a hidden superpower. Though in the case of these women, not so hidden. 

It was a reminder that we are all trying to work in unusual circumstances, and that yes we are living in a pandemic and such things happen. For me it also captured the unique position many working parents find themselves in, where we are trying to work with one hand while dishing out snacks and interior decorating advice with the other.

And as for the child asking for the biscuits, he saw his moment and he seized it. As a result he was rewarded with two chocolate digestives. Not quite the Oreo cookies he may have been looking for but still, it was a minor victory.
While our unicorn fanatic over at the BBC is possibly in line for her own interior decorating TV show.
Seeing these women coping with parenting pressures live on air was a relief in many ways, that it's not just you, it's so many of us doing our best while living through an unusual time.

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Published 2 July 2020 10:04am
Updated 2 July 2020 1:33pm
By Saman Shad


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