STRENGTH IN NUMBERS***
By Author- Alisha Prien
This week has brought a lot of pressures…
So far, I've made it to the hospital twice and it would appear my health is slowly declining. I am doing my best not to worry the kids and keep them from stressing. The middle child has no idea, but unfortunately the eldest witnessed the Ambulance trip, which meant a lot of reassurance for him. I think one of the toughest things as a parent, is trying to keep your s*** together around your kids.
The other two already have enough with Spencer in and out of the hospital, they don't need another one in the family too. I'm constantly concerned about the impact stressful things may have on the older two children. My goal is to keep the family as sane as possible through all of this... Honestly, I feel like the mother is often the glue of the family. A mother’s energy is what impacts the family the most, and so I'm constantly trying to remain as calm, happy and positive as possible for everyone in the house. This mentality doesn't come without its challenges. On the inside, I won't lie. I'm freaking out myself, I'm pretty sure I've had a couple of panic attacks this week about a few upcoming personal things. Funny how much goes on in a mother's brain, it’s like a constant juggling act.
More than anything I'm constantly worried about the kids and making sure their needs are being met as well as my partners. Wow... now that I think about it, we really do put everyone first, my mum was right...
Mothers are awesome it's like we were built to cope with a whole lot of shit and still function at a somewhat normal level... crazy! And somewhat cool. I think the only thing that’s helped me stay somewhat sane through all of this is all the love and support from my family and friends. Honestly, I am so grateful, I don’t think I would have come this far in my life and been able to achieve this much without these special people around (you know who you are!).
I think if you are ever going through something that feels like the end of the world or like you can’t cope, it’s important to surround yourself with those you love most. If there is anything I’ve learnt from the past few years (juggling everything with my son, to being a single mum at one point, to now health issues) it’s that reaching out and asking for help is not weak. Admitting at times you are struggling and can’t do certain things is not weak, in fact its strong. The strongest thing I ever did was ask for help when I became a single mum. The strongest thing I ever did was rely on others (carers) to help me with my son, so that I could work and be there for my other children. The strongest thing I ever did was let my partner see me at my most vulnerable and rely on him for help. Sometimes you aren’t 50/50 in a relationship. Sometimes one might be at only 30 percent, and so the other may have to be the 70 percent in the relationship and that’s okay too. In fact, it’s rarely ever 50/50.
Having a support network is so important during rough times… and there will be many rough times throughout our lives, times where we will endure pain, heartache, and suffering. As long as we know this, its important to reach out to those we love, to accept the help and admit we need it to keep moving forward and remaining strong through the suffering. To gain strength, we first must admit defeat…