I count myself blessed that I have had such a supportive, understanding and caring supervisor. I have never had a supervisor who went out of their way to see if there was anything that I needed to help me along in my new position. She consistently checks in to see if I am overwhelmed, am I adjusting to the tasks that I have to perform and what could she do to help me adjust. She always praises her team when she sees that we are doing better, trying to do better and when we go out of our way to do something for someone else. I can honestly say that my supervisor is a wonderful person with a deep sense of love for her team. She always says that we make her job easy as well as so hard at times!
My team at work has also been very supportive of me in my new role as parent educator. They are constantly telling me not to be hard on myself, it is a lot to take on all at once and don't beat yourself up so bad, you'll get the hang of it. It feels great to have people who know what your struggling with and are able to offer support and advice on how to get through it.
Another support in my life is my cousin who takes care of my son before and after school. She is the reason I started going back to school. Without her I would not have trusted anyone to take care of my child for such extended hours and make sure he gets what he needs. I worried that I would be missing out on what he needed from me when his father and I separated, but she told me whatever I needed her to do that I had her support and not to worry about my child. That was a great relief for me and made it possible for me to feel good about going back to school.
These are three major supports that allow me to continue my education and give me peace of mine while I am working. They allow me the luxury of learning from my mistakes and the security of knowing that my child is well taken care of. Without these supports, I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today. I would be extremely overwhelmed and not as focused as I feel that I could be. I might not have even taken the new position if I did not have such wonderful support for my son. The hours require me to facilitate parenting classes almost three nights a week. Two of those nights I don't get to to pick my child up until 8:30 or 9 pm!
If these supports were no longer a part of my life, I would be extremely lost. I am surrounded by great friends, but they have their own responsibilities and their own lives to lead. It would be very hard for them to provide anything other than emotional support which is very important to me also.
A challenge I thought of was if I did not have a job. With this economy, it is on my mind often and I try to prepare myself as much as possible. I honestly do not know how I would cope if I did not have a job right now. I would not be able to pay for my apartment, food, entertainment or even to put gas in my car. I am very independent and proud to be able to support myself and my son. Although I know that there would be people who would try their best to help me out, I have to feel productive for myself, mental health and support of my child. I would want to have a way to provide for my child. That is always my greatest concern and even just the thought of not being able to provide for him makes me feel overwhelmed. My friends are always encouraging and saying how proud they are that I set a goal for myself and went after something more. They make me feel as though I can do anything and I am blessed to have such people in my life. I know that without these supports and this particular challenge in my life I would become depressed and feel as though I let myself down. Most importantly I would feel as though I let my child down and that is absolutely not an option!
