Being a young mother to two children has its challenges. We’ve struggled to balance school, work, and household chores, but I’ll forever be grateful for my children. We take one day at a time and most days we believe everything will work out. I adore and love both my children unconditionally and equally.
When my partner and I found jobs this summer, we had great support to help care for our children and we are thankful for those who are helping us. However, some days, with our new lifestyle, I felt disconnected from my family and started to pull our lives together so that we can reconnect. We have had family movie nights in the living room after supper, with ice cream: my kids loved that. We’ve taken time away from our devices, and used it for reading books or colouring, visits to parks, going for walks, and cookouts in my partner’s home community. Doing these things as a family has helped me feel better, even though our life is busy.
We have also started one-on-one time with each of my children. This has made me feel whole again: they’re my little people who need me as much as I need them, and, by doing this, they each know they’re loved by mom and dad.
Shania Desjarlais
