Working Mom Who Refuses to Participate in Son's "Virtual Classroom" Is Our Hero

As it turns out, it’s physically impossible to do three jobs at once. But that’s what we’re asking of working moms right now, many of whom are performing the role of employee, mother and teacher—at the same time.

Something’s gotta give. For professor and archeologist Sarah Parcak, it was her son’s "virtual classroom" lessons, and we couldn’t agree more with her reasoning.

The mom took to Twitter to explain why her son was done with 1st grade for the year.

“We just wrote a hard email,” she said. “I told our son’s (lovely, kind, caring) teacher that, no, we will not be participating in her 'virtual classroom,' and that he was done with the 1st grade. We cannot cope with this insanity. Survival and protecting his wellbeing come first.”

We weren’t familiar with Sarah until her tweet caught our attention, but it turns out she’s kind of a big deal. In addition to working as an archaeologist, she’s a professor, author, Egyptologist and remote sensing expert, who has used satellite imaging to identify potential archaeological sites in Egypt, Rome, and elsewhere in the former Roman Empire. Understandably, she and her husband are, you know, a tad bit busy.

“We both work full time, I also help run my nonprofit AND manage a complex project in Egypt AND am running a Covid-19 tracking platform,” she said in the spot-on Twitter thread, which quickly racked up thousands of likes and retweets. “I also cook, manage cleaning, have a garden, etc. (husband does 50% of housework BTW, we are a team). The thought of homeschooling makes me want to barf.”

Her priority right now is her son’s happiness, which “trumps crappy math worksheet management.” She explained that her son reads, plays outside, watches a fun movie every night and builds Playmobil sets with his dad.

Tons of parents (and teachers!) applauded Sarah’s decision:

Some chimed in to say they’ve also stopped completing assignments, including this mom. (Her kindergartner’s school-suggested schedule included journal writing, subtraction and identifying two-dimensional shapes. Really.)

Sarah’s final thoughts on the topic of homeschooling are so on target we hope it gives more working parents the courage to prioritize staying sane during a difficult time—which is all that matters, really.

“You do what’s right for your family and mental health," she said. "Obviously kids 10+ can cope better with independent work (sometimes). The littles cannot. I give you permission to Let It All Go. It doesn’t fucking matter. School doesn’t fucking matter right now. All your kids will remember is how they were loved. Promise.”