EISEMROTH, Germany (AP) – One year after the coronavirus pandemic, Katja Heimann, an 11-year-old mother, is still trying to keep her spirits up – despite several blockages and months of home schooling, seven of her children. The secret of her success, she says: structured daily routines, patience and love.
Heimann, who lives with her husband Andre and their children in the small village of Eisemroth in central Germany, has a strict daily schedule to do everything you need to do when you have 11 children. This includes a lot of self-discipline: getting up at dawn, cleaning the house, washing clothes, cooking and, in addition – because schools have been closed for most students in Germany since the end of last year – helping her children distance learning.
Despite his perseverance, the situation “has become very exhausting lately,” the 41-year-old told The Associated Press on Thursday.
“The biggest challenge is to keep going,” she added.
Like millions of families in Germany and around the world, the Heimanni are struggling with the ongoing daily tasks of the pandemic. But where most families, at least in Germany, have to take care of one, two, three or rarely four children, the Heimannis have a whole football team at home.
The oldest, 22-year-old Milena, has already moved, but lives nearby and comes to visit several times a week. In addition to the seven school-age children, the Heimannes also have three little ones – the youngest just 18 months old – who are still in kindergarten, which has also been closed from time to time due to the virus.
“It’s very noisy and crowded here,” Katja Heimann said with a sigh, but also with a smile. When the four high school students participate in video conferences with their teachers, she helps the three high school students solve their exercises on the long wooden kitchen table.
“At the beginning of home school we had only one laptop for our whole family – which didn’t work at all,” she said. Friends and neighbors helped quickly by lending the family backup devices.
Husband Andre, 52, a locksmith, says he is terrified of how his wife manages to keep her family together during the pandemic.
“She takes care of the household, the homework, the cooking, the cleaning, the paperwork, everything,” he says. “It’s amazing.”
Of course, the Heimanni have good and bad days.
Sometimes children quarrel with each other, get bored and no longer want to learn at a distance, but want to be with their friends again – which is not allowed due to distance regulations.
“Of course, we have stress and we argue,” says Andre. “But in general, the situation has brought us closer.”
Across the country, families are suffering the brunt of the pandemic, and parents, as well as children, are exhausted from ongoing school closures. While in some German states, some schools have reopened carefully and only for half participation, other states still keep many children only in distance learning mode.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Germany seemed to have the virus relatively well under control, but things got worse last fall, when the onset of the second wave quickly filled hospitals and brought the death toll. Since November, 83 million people in the country have been living under various blockade measures. Restaurants, bars and many leisure facilities remain closed.
However, despite the restrictions, the number of infections in Germany has risen again in recent weeks as the more contagious virus variant first detected in the UK has become dominant in the country.
Germany has seen more than 75,000 deaths since the pandemic broke out a year ago. On Thursday, the country’s disease control center reported 22,657 new confirmed daily cases, up from 17,504 a week ago.
The infection is a constant fear for Heimann, because their 3-year-old son, Oskar, suffers from a rare genetic disease, has an intellectual disability and is therefore particularly vulnerable.
“We have two at-risk patients in our family – Oskar with his genetic defect and my husband,” says Katja Heimann. “So we live in constant fear that someone will bring the infection home.”
Despite their concerns, some of the children have recently returned to part-time school and are hoping for full-time classes again soon.
“The best thing will be when we can all go back to school every day and meet and play in groups again,” says 10-year-old Martha.
“And he’s playing football again, which is now canceled – which is really stupid,” added 12-year-old Willi.
The rest of the Heimann family can’t wait for the pandemic to end.
“The most important thing will be when the children can finally be children again and enjoy their hobbies,” says father Andre. “That they don’t get bored anymore and can go wherever they want and can do what they like again.”
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Grieshaber reported from Berlin.