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The challenges of juggling family life with work responsibilities have clearly grown during the Covid-19 pandemic.

And, yes, Against All Odds, families have gotten through the many difficult moments and thrived.

We heard from a number of employees about how they’ve found ways to help their children with schoolwork and with navigating the lockdowns we’ve all endured.

Tasha Adams told us about how she had to relearn a few things to become her stepdaughter’s at-home teacher.

MY STEP DAUGHTER IS DOING 6TH GRADE REMOTE SCHOOL AT HOME WITH ME MOST DAYS AND WHILE SHE IS VERY SELF-SUFFICIENT, I’VE HAD TO EDUCATE MYSELF ON WHAT TO MANY OF US WHAT IS STILL “NEW” MATH TO HELP HER WHICH HAS BEEN A CHORE! IT’S DEFINITELY A BALANCE, BUT I HOPE ONE DAY SHE WILL SEE HOW I HELD HIGH STANDARDS FOR MYSELF IN MY PROFESSIONAL WORK AND ALSO HIGH STANDARDS BEING THERE TO SUPPORT HER DURING A CHALLENGING TIME OF SCHOOL AT HOME AND NOT SEEING FRIENDS.

Todd Bateman said that he and his wife have been balancing their own work with helping Brooke, 9, and Ella, 11, through the inevitable ups and downs of pre-teen life.

“WHY WON’T ZOOM WORK?”, “MY CHROMEBOOK WON’T CONNECT TO THE INTERNET!”, “I WANT TO STAY IN MY PAJAMAS… NO ONE CAN SEE ME ANYWAY!” …  I AM CONTINUALLY AMAZED AT HOW RESILIENT, BRAVE, AND PERSEVERANT MY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS WHOLE CRAZY YEAR.  THEY WAKE UP EVERY DAY PREPARED AND EXCITED FOR THE DAY’S CHALLENGES.   MY 9 YEAR OLD (BROOKE), PARTICIPATED IN HER FIRST VIRTUAL SPELLING BEE AND MY 11 YEAR OLD IS CURRENTLY REHEARSING FOR A SPEAKING ROLE IN HER FIRST VIRTUAL MUSICAL!

We’re thrilled to hear stories about the resilience of the kids in our broader National Life family.

The stories will be preserved in the collection of our Corporate Archives.