Once upon a time, there was a period of working before the Corona era and what changed after that became what we now call "the new normal". Although we have been going back to more and more over the past year, for the past few weeks it has unfortunately been back to working from home and adhering to the Corona measures. My colleagues have already mentioned how working at home is with very small children. That is working while teaching and vice versa. From little toddler hands on your laptop when you're not looking for a moment and so lose your work, to having to take it with you when you go to put up a to-sell sign because there's no other place to go and so on. "Fortunately", primary and secondary school pupils will soon be allowed to go back to school!

And so I have adolescents and they too have been home a lot these past few months. Sigh... My kids are aged between 16 and 21 and even with this age group, working at home is not always easy. Where you constantly have to keep an eye on small children, keep them busy and entertained, do schoolwork with them and also have to take care of them regarding their snacks and drinks, at home things are totally different. I really don't have to keep an eye on them or look after them...or so I thought.

Looking for a place to work

It all started with the search for workplaces for online learning and working at the beginning of the Corona era. Because "suddenly" everyone was at home. At first, all at the kitchen table! Since they all have those earphones (the ones you can put in your ears and shut off from the rest of the world) and therefore cannot hear the other residents at all, they shout all kinds of things at the same time and loudly! Active participation in the lesson they call it then.

I don't have my ears in and so I heard everything and that in 3fold. In addition, I noticed that they secretly, and especially my two girls, occasionally switched from the school screen to TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat "Maham...this lesson is really so boring and I am really mega ahead of the rest here"! Sure... Just switch back to your school screen. Recognisable?

Around noon I usually take a break and if I even get up to walk to the kitchen counter, the rest wants "something" too. Preferably also something "baked"... sigh... And I'm not going to start with that. Do it yourself!

And then there is also something like normal bread in the house I call out, but apparently that product has disappeared from their memory. Well, not entirely, of course, because they know it as a toasted sandwich or a base for a fried egg or a hamburger... Those of you with adolescents at home will recognise this and if you still have smaller children, then this will definitely come in the near future.

Also recognizable is probably: the dishes not IN the dishwasher, but ON the dishwasher. I explained the difference between these two prepositions by means of a small demonstration, but unfortunately it doesn't stick, because teenagers have a very short term memory. The same principle applies to IN the laundry basket, NEXT to the laundry basket and things lying on the stairs to be brought up, just walk past and leave them there. Under the pretext of: "why should I take that?".

And so at the time, after one day of working from home, I very quickly set up my workplace in the attic. We were given the opportunity by vb&t to buy a good office chair and desk, as well as a good monitor, keyboard/mouse and laptop. There was another screen in the attic and my son connected it to my laptop so that I now have two large screens to work with.

There is now something everywhere.

Working in the attic is wonderfully quiet, until I walk downstairs for coffee or something. By now, there is something everywhere. The earpieces of the online lessons are scattered around the room, there are empty cups and plates everywhere (not even in the dishwasher...), I find an empty pack of milk in the fridge (how come?), chips crumbs on the couch and so on. So when I work at home, I'm busier organising and keeping an eye on things than when I'm at the office. It's as if they have agreed on a secret code together; when mum works at home, we suddenly can't do anything anymore.

And so, just like with small children at home, you're constantly watching and directing. Maybe even more than with small children. The little ones sometimes sleep and otherwise you always have the square sitter. Yes, that's a bad example from a pedagogical point of view, I know...But again, I think it's quite recognisable.

On the other hand, if I ask the kids, they'll go and get the groceries and take care of dinner. Only when I ask them to, they answer "yaaaaa"!

Working at home has its advantages, but I also love going to the office. It's nice and quiet there...sometimes surrounded by colleagues who have also "fled" the house with children.

And when I'm working at the office, all I have to do is nag those kids when I get home and explain the difference between "in" and "out". But will they ever understand that principle?

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