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![Being part of the generation who started school literally months before the first l0ckdown commenced, our boy is pretty au fait with the concept of home-schooling, but today's homeschooling felt different. This time round we're home in response to a different kind of evil; our own government.
Being a public sector worker myself, with a mum who was a nurse for over 20 years and with friends who are teachers and paramedics, I am all too familiar with the effects of austerity. Therefore today, we gladly stayed home in support of teachers, as well as other Public Sector workers who have had no choice but to strike.
Of course it was inconvenient, but that's the point. It's meant to cause disruption. If you're at all annoyed or frustrated with the strikes then direct that energy towards your MP - not those who are under so much pressure, with such little funding to do their job, that they've had to sacrifice their pay further to take industrial action. You might also want to remind yourself that we're being given a day off in the middle of the school term for a poxy coronation, but the government seems happy to disrupt education for that though, don't they? Funny that. 🤡
Over the past few months we've had several conversations with the boy about the importance of unions and what striking means, and why workers do it, and I hope that he never forgets. I hope that he understands that public sector workers are lifelines to so many; not the bankers or business folk, and without them we would not function, and without Trade Unions we wouldn't have the benefits we have today. No paid maternity leave, no two-day weekends, no workplace pensions, no minimum wage, no equality laws. Just to name a few things that have been fought for.
To all our teachers, our nurses and paramedics, our railway workers, our posties, and our firefighters, whether you're striking today or not, thank you.
[Image description: Two photos of T sat at our dining room table doing his homework.]
#SolidarityWithTeachers #SupportOurUnions #SolidarityWithUnionWorkers #StrikeDay #NationalStrikes #NationalStrikeDay #StrikeAction](https://lesbemums.com/wp-content/uploads/sb-instagram-feed-images/328129566_554928153040099_7627052177684656809_n.webpfull.jpg)
![New Year, Same Me. ✌️
The New Year always has strong connotations with change or creating something new. "New Me..." and "New You..." are popular buzzwords the moment the clocks strike twelve, or you're encouraged to "better" yourself or change something. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of development and growth, and change when it's truly needed, but most of the time society's definition of this is not the change, development or growth anyone truly wants or needs.
Society is not fit for purpose, and it's certainly not built for marginalised communities. Capitalism and society dictate that as a mother, I'm not encouraged to focus on my career, my own pleasure or my mental health. As a Queer person I'm (still!) often not welcome in mainstream spaces unless I look or act a certain way. And as someone who is currently exploring their own neurodiversity I near to always get the sensation that I'm "too much" or not doing "enough".
But, towards the tail end of last year, and just like a lot of people, I was exhausted. So exhausted that I just stopped. Stopped trying to "fit" and blend in, or try to be something I'm really not, and it felt good. I realised that, actually, I get to enjoy life a bit more if I stopped paying attention to bogus expectations and started saying "no" a lot more. That if I just focused on what *I* want to do without the worry of what people thought, that a huge stress is lifted. Last year, I was so occupied with looking forward and doing all the things, just like society expects of us, that I forgot to look back and see how far I'd come already.
When was the last time you did that?
I mean, I still have A LOT of work to do (that imposter syndrome is strong!) but it's like a huge weight has been lifted recently and I just want to get it out there. Almost like a promise (or a receipt!) to myself.
[Image description in comments]](https://lesbemums.com/wp-content/uploads/sb-instagram-feed-images/324408386_916066826216016_838449435095872580_n.webpfull.jpg)
