Childhood, Interrupted

Raising Kids During a Pandemic

By: Sanjay Gupta MD

Narrated by: Dr. Sanjay Gupta

In this evocative, personal piece, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reflects on his life as a parent during this unprecedented time. He shares his fears and questions about raising his three young daughters amid our current public health crisis - and gives listeners a candid glimpse into how he’s navigating the pandemic at home. The neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent helps parents think about this time from the perspective he knows best: the workings of the brain. Equal parts essay, advice, and reassurance, Gupta reminds us that despite the relentless challenges of growing up during a pandemic, the kids will be all right.

©2020 Sanjay Gupta, MD (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC

More empathy than answers

Although Dr. Gupta does have some advice here, he offers very few actual answers. Ever the scientist, his answer to our most common questions is 'we don't know.'

What he does provide is commiseration, compassion, and hope. The pandemic is obviously not a good thing, but we can find good in it. Stress, isolation, and uncertainty is higher (for kids and for ourselves) but we also have the opportunity to spend far more time with those closest to us. Until things return to normal, whatever that might come to mean, we have an unprecedented amount of time with family.

Who knows... maybe we'll grow up to be the first generation of old people ever to not say: I wish I'd spent less time at work and more time with my kids.

Recommend

Relevant, quick, and easy read about Dr. Gupta's perspectives on how to best guide our children's lives during the pandemic.

Good reminders

Good reminders of hope, of thinking outside of ourselves and the glum moment in the present.

Nice little information

It does give some insight and advice on raising a child in a pandemic. He does a good job narrating it.

Thank you, Doctor.

I needed to know I was doing something right for my children mentally. I can relate to this and the content.

Some good thoughts about kids and the pandemic

This will not give earth shattering insights, but Dr Gupta does a good job of describing the confusion most parents feel in trying to help our kids. He offers some good insights about structure, how kids “mirror” us (a valuable concept), about human touch and so on. Common sense advice and easy to listen to.

The narrative does not address kids in crisis—those whose parents are unemployed or fearing eviction, etc. It’s got an upper middle-class feel to it, but the underlying ideas are of value.

very informative

listening to this was not only informational but it gave me personally a little bit of hope challenged my thinking and offered strategies and tools on the whole mask wearing, non verbal cues, as well as a new routine/structure so at least there is some kind of consistency and family time

Mind opening!

This was a very good book to listen to. It was very neat to hear a neurosurgeon’s explanation of what our children are going through now and what they may experience later on in life.

So needed during this time...

The approach and way of thinking that this short but impactful story delivers showed up exactly when it needed to.

Overall, thought provoking.

I thought this was a good book for parents with neurotypical children and how they may create resilience through the pandemic. I have two kids with Autism and a Type 1 diabetic and they process information differently.