Raising a child does not come without its challenges.
Particularly as a mother, during the pregnancy stages you are constantly trying to get past each milestone whether it be week 12 or week 36.
You are never fully prepared for the levels of exhaustion that having a baby brings, but you are somewhat secure in the knowledge that as the years go by the load will lighten somewhat.
So, what do you do when you are faced with the prospect of being a carer and a mother for the foreseeable future? Who can prepare a young mother just starting out in life for that?
What happens when you aren’t part of a strong support network and your child’s father spends most of his time being absent?
Speaking as a mother, I know how hard it is with a child that doesn’t have any additional needs. I have felt exhausted, cried from fatigue, had the feelings of self-doubt and all with having an amazing village to support me.
Back in 2018 i had a discussion with alyx simpson about the challenges she has faced being a mother and carer to her son who has additional needs.
Listening and understanding Alyx’s story has me in wonderment as to how she has made it this far.
The majority of us are hardwired to innately protect our offspring at all costs. Mankind and the animal kingdom could not survive if it was not for Mother Nature supplying us with that extra something to keep us going in those moments that we felt at our weakest.
The saying that ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ should be one that we all should take more seriously.
A generation or two ago, it was more than likely that your family would live in the same compound, on the same land or at least only a few roads away. Child rearing was a shared task amongst everyone and whilst Im sure there were a mass of pressures back then , going it alone was more than likely a rarity (depending where you came from).
In this podcast we have focused on Alyx’s present position of being a mother, however there is more to her story which makes her survival even more profound.
Amongst her many talents and businesses, Alyx has documented her feelings via poetry. I am hoping you can draw more of a better understanding from her words and feelings.
I don’t wanna be a mum
I don’t wanna clean your room
I don’t wanna live by your terms
I don’t want to be kept inside
I don’t want to be stopped from dreaming
I wanna live
I want my freedom
The freedom I never had
But I’ll stay here
I clean your room
I’ll live to make you happy
Even at my own misery
I’ll stay inside
I’ll put my dream to the side
I’ll die a little
I’ll relinquish my right to freedom
I’ll live by my choices
I’ll handle my responsibilities
I’ll even enjoy it sometimes
Because a mum loves her creation more than herself
Mum’s come last…….
~ Alyx Simpson
you can purchase her poetry book titled
'naked' via amazon and is also available for free on kindle.
From the outside looking in you can never fully understand what load someone has to deal with mentally. You will never know how much effort it may have taken to answer your call and give you reciprocated energy.
Listen to Alyx’s story of having her son at 26 weeks who now has autism as well as a growth hormone deficiency with little to no support and how she has managed this far.
You can now listen on Spotify and Apple Music on your mobile devices.
If you would like more information on anything covered in today’s podcast, please visit our resources page.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the episode.
Take care of yourselves.
Dionne