Kate Middleton Has Some Relatable Thoughts On Pandemic Parenting

During the pandemic, the Duchess of Cambridge has taken on a few more roles than she's used to, like so many other working moms right now. For instance, she's not just a duchess and a future queen, she's also an aspiring hairdresser for her kids and homeschool teacher. How does she feel about it all? Well, in a recent Zoom chat with fellow parents about how they're coping during the pandemic, Kate Middleton described parenting her royal kids right now with one perfect word.

"Exhausting," Middleton wrote on a board when asked to describe parenting during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic during a recent Zoom chat in support of mental health and the Mind Charity initiative. Between homeschooling, royal duties, and everything else that comes up on any given day with three little ones, of course Middleton is exhausted.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been staying at their country home of Anmer Hall in Norfolk County during the latest lockdown in the United Kingdom to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Their two oldest children, 7-year-old Prince George and 5-year-old Princess Charlotte, would normally have returned to in-class study after the Christmas break at St. Thomas's Battersea in London, but Middleton is back to homeschooling again, as she did last spring.

"I know how challenging it is juggling work, home life, school, and everything else," Middleton said during the same Zoom chat, adding that self care is vital right now. "It's important for our children that we look after ourselves too."

It probably doesn't help the mom of three, including 2-year-old son Prince Louis, that she rates her math skills out of 10 at a "negative 5," as she told the other parents. "I'm obviously right at the bottom, she joked.

As for picking up other skills during the lockdown, Middleton admitted that she's become a bit of a hairdresser. "Much to my children's horror," the duchess said with a laugh. A palace source revealed she has been cutting her children's hair since last May. "Kate would certainly trim George and Charlotte's hair as she is very competent and they are used to home haircuts," the source told The Sun. "George’s is easy. Charlotte likes her hair off her face and so it's long enough for a mini pony tail. They both have easy hair to cut." By this point, she should be a dab hand at the process.

While Middleton might find the particular juggling act of parenting during a pandemic "exhausting," she's not in it alone. When asked where she found her biggest support, Middleton answered, "William," her husband. And that says it all, doesn't it?