Advice From Moms To Their Kids Living Away From Home

AUSTIN, Texas — The Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has brought on a lot of questions as to how quickly we respond to this pandemic.

Across the world, students have been amongst those largely affected by this pandemic due to schools and universities shutting down their buildings to prevent further outbreaks. Most schools have decided to finish out the spring semester using virtual classes and curriculum sites such as Blackboard, Canvas or Google Classroom.

Companies have also decided to move their office virtual, encouraging their employees to work from home until further notice. Which means, we’re free to work from the comfort of our beds, couches, balconies and porches! Going virtual is a guaranteed-win for Mexican moms who have children living outside their hometown. There’s nothing families want more than their child being available to come home, even if it’s for a short period of time.

Here’s a list of advice our moms and mother figures gave us to prepare for self-isolation away from home:

Gif by GIPHY1.“You know you can’t use all the milk for your cereal now that milk is hard to find,” my mom said after I bulk-bought three boxes of cereal.

Gif by GIPHY2. “During this lockdown, pace yourself with the food. Don’t be finishing all the food in one sitting!”my mom during our daily phone calls when she heard me making myself some Pop-Tarts.

Gif by GIPHY“Ya vente! Yo quiero tenerte aqui porque aqui se que estas segura.” Como la gallina con sus pollos, mi mamá se preocupaba más sobre tener a sus hijos cercanos y ver que están contentos y nutridos. Para nuestros papás, lo más importante es estar juntos en tiempos de adversidad.

“Come already! I want to have you here because you are safer here.” Like a mother hen with her chicks, my mom was more worried about having her children closer and see that they are happy and well-fed. For our parents, the most important thing in times of adversity is to have the family together.

Gif by GIPHY4. “Drink a lot of warm water with citrus. I would say take your temperature too but there aren’t any thermometers out there,” momma Churkian said in a list of texts.

Gif by GIPHY5. “Order takeout while you still can. Support the small businesses,” momma Churkian said.

Gif by GIPHY6. “Just don’t be a hoarder. You don’t need 10 packs of toilet paper, I promise,” momma Churkian said.

Gif by GIPHY7. “No tenemos que comer tanto. Solo lo que es ya que luego se nos acaba lo que compramos,” dijo mi mama despues de hacerme dos quesadillas.“We don’t have to eat much. Only what it is, if not we will finish what we have bought” my mom said after making me two quesadillas.

Although some of us are away from home and our moms, we appreciate the advice they give us, no matter how silly it may be. Remember, if you are away from your immediate family, put your mental health first and set up daily video calls with those closest to you. During times of uncertainty, it’s comforting to know someone is watching out for you.

Meet the Latinitas Program Team: Vanessa Batz, Kirsty Brewster, Chloe, Churkian, Elisa Garcia, Jasmine Juarez, Andrea Morales and Rita Olivares.

Translations provided by Rita Olivares

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