On the back of yesterday's post I wanted to take a look at the themes - sacrifice and judgement What does that mean to you? Today was Annabelle's harvest festival at her school and unfortunately I couldn't make it as it coincided with a treatment. So I chose my work over my child... I think that's the general perception most people would take. However, if we dig a little deeper and look more closely and the predicament I found myself in you'd understand the complexity of the sacrifice I made. As a new business owner I am accountable for everything. Literally! Nobody will carry the weight and responsibility of what I have created so I have a duty to make this thing work. I also have a duty to my daughter. How many times have you heard friends and family members say 'I just feel like the worst parent in the world?' Sacrifice often encompasses compromise and so I managed to arrange for Annabelle's Aunties to attend the harvest festival in my absence. I consider myself so fortunate that I was able to put that compromise in place as so many parents out there do not, and receive such a lot of judgement as a result. Back when I was teaching, Annabelle would be in nursery from 7.30am until 5.30pm Monday - Friday. People used to constantly bombard me with "oh I just couldn't do it" It used to make me feel terrible. But at that time I was a single mum just treading water - I felt I had no other choice. I eventually left teaching. I compromised, I took a job in an office and retrained in massage so that I could be around more. I made sacrifices. I try to be totally open with Annabelle, expressing my occasional vulnerability so that she understands that it IS ok to need help. Don't get me wrong I do my best to instil resilience and empowerment in her as much as I can but you know what, I'm a real person and sadly it's ot always possible to be Superwoman!
The bottom line is that parents have some difficult decisions they are going to have to make from time to time, which more often than not leads to us beating ourselves up for being bad parents as a consequence.
We aren't! We are doing our best. Sometimes we just need reminding that it's ok to compromise. It's ok to sacrifice. Sometimes we can't avoid it.
Be there for your fellow parent friends, ask them if you can help them in any way, offer your suppor - believe me it goes SUCH a long way.
Let's all share our love and make the world a better place <3