This morning I went with a bunch of other parents to volunteer to help clean at Zaden’s preschool. {Some babbling back story: When we went to enroll Zaden, we were told that we had to give a sixty dollar registration fee. On top of that we had to give two separate cheques, one was for one-hundred dollars; and the second one was for three-hundred dollars. The teachers told us that in order to get the hundred-dollar cheque back, we would have to volunteer to clean the preschool once. Also if we wanted our three-hundred dollar cheque returned, we would have to volunteer for a Casino night. My mom and I agreed, I would do the preschool clean-up and she would go do the Casino night next week.}
I got to the preschool armed with a bucket and rag, same as every other parent. We were told to put a cap full of some bleach in our bucket and some hot water. The teacher explained they wanted us to wash, and dry all the toy including the toy bins. Extra if we wanted to we could wash the chairs, and under the tables. Once all the parents had their buckets ready, we each picked a different area of the preschool to clean. As most situations go, we started to talk to each-other. We started off by going around the room, and everyone said their name. Then the annoying and frustrating part… we started saying who everyone’s child(ren) were. Once it got to be my turn almost half the parents said “So you, who’s nanny are you?” EXCUSE ME?! There’s nothing wrong with being a nanny, but why do people assume because I’m not in my late 30-40s that I couldn’t possibly be someone’s mom. I’m not a unicorn, there are other young parents out there!! I explained that Zaden was my child, and after everyone got over the shock; that yes I do in fact have three children at only 25. They then began asking me a question I dread even more…”What does your husband do?”. Here’s the thing long story short, I don’t have a husband; and no I’ve never been married. I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m not married, I just don’t understand why people believe you have to be married to be a parent. I’ve made choices in my life, and this is where I’m at. Not trying to sound cliché but I wouldn’t trade my life or my children for anything, I am who I am supposed to be at this point in my life. God has big plans for me, and I’m only getting better as I age. 🙂
What question do you dread the most when it comes to people asking about your child(ren)?