Unexpected free time due to holiday extension causing headaches at home

Li Xin, a mother of two daughters, felt anxiety while thinking of the problem ahead of her.

Her children need care at home due to the delay of the upcoming spring semester-a result of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus-but she and her husband are ready to return to work, and the family's babysitter is unavailable.

In the past, the babysitter would come back from her hometown in Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang province, to help Li, an employee of a Beijing internet technology enterprise, take care of the children after the Spring Festival holiday. But this year, she has not returned since she left the capital on Jan 22.

Li, 42, neither expected the epidemic to be so serious that the schools would not open on time, nor did she think that the babysitter would have trouble buying a return train ticket amid the country's countermeasures to prevent the disease spread by controlling passenger flow.

With the confirmed cases of the virus growing rapidly every day, Li told China Daily her concern is also increasing.

"I need to look after the two girls-one in middle school and the other in kindergarten-during the period without the babysitter, and I also need to think of a way to organize their extra time at home," she said.

On Friday, enterprises in the capital besides those in essential industries, including medicine and productive supply, were advised by the municipal government to allow staff members to work from home via phone, internet or other facilities to avoid group work situations before Feb 10. Earlier, the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday had already been extended to Feb 3 from Jan 30 by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

But the extension has not alleviated Li's anxiety. "No matter how many days are extended, the time of returning to work for me and my husband will be earlier than the school's reopening time, and our children are the top priority," she said.

Li said she could turn to her mother, also in Beijing, "but she is too old to handle two children and housework alone if my husband and I go back to work."

On Saturday, the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission jointly issued a notice stipulating that a spouse of every dual-career couple household will be permitted to stay at home to look after their children under the age of 18 and should be paid during this period.

The notice gave Li some relief at first, but another thorny problem arose: The babysitter planned to return around Feb 10 by train.

"On the one hand, I want her to return as it will ease my mom's burden in taking care of the children," Li said. "On the other hand, I hope she will not return, because she must be quarantined for at least two weeks.

"Where the babysitter will live or how to quarantine her in my home will be a new problem for me to solve. To tell you the truth, I don't know what to do," she added.

The anxiety due to the epidemic is also hanging over Zhang Yusi, a high school student busy with gaokao, the national college entrance examination, in the city's Haidian district.

The 18-year-old admitted that she was secretly happy at first when she was told she did not need to return to school on time because of the disease spread, "but after a few seconds, I calmed down and began to worry," she said.

"Having a better review environment is very important for gaokao participants, especially for students like me who have no strong self-control when it comes to studying," she said. "After all, gaokao time in June has not been changed."

In addition, both her parents work for State-owned enterprises in the airline and steel production industries and have already returned to work, so she must remind herself to take time to study and keep up with new school assignments at home.

Zhang's school has opened online classes and uploaded various course videos for students preparing for gaokao, "and our teachers have provided extra homework for us every day to help us review at home," she said, adding she also hopes the teachers can answer questions via class's WeChat group.

Liu Sheng, 49, who works for a Western restaurant in Beijing, is also racking his brain to make study plans for his 12-year-old daughter during her extended winter vacation. "Compared with older children, it is more difficult for younger students to learn on their own," Liu said.

"Making such plans during the child's winter or summer holiday is normally my wife's job, but this year, since the epidemic swept across the country, she, a police officer, has been on duty for a long time."

Liu has registered his daughter for English and mathematics classes online, and he is also requiring her to watch TV shows on Chinese poems and practice calligraphy every day.

He compared his recent days of dealing with her at home to advancing in a game, saying "the biggest difficulty is that I don't know what the next mission is and when it is coming".

"It's like a battle with uncertainties," he added. "I wish the epidemic would be alleviated quickly, and I wish to get our lives back on track as soon as possible."