CARE VS CAREER

Hi everyone! Our place has been quite the hospital zone in the last 2 weeks...Jake has had tonsillitis, Beth has been complaining off and on about stomach cramps and now Benny has come down with glandular fever! Ahh good times, good times! We're like the tenpins reeling after a bowling ball has come through and just about wiped everyone out! All families endure seasons of good health AND sickness, during those times when home feels more like a hospital, it's super important for dad's to remember our families are more important than our careers...

I read online a survey conducted by Vicks that 34% of working parents feel guilty about taking time off to care for their sick kids. This obviously doesn't take into account that often dad's head into work each day and mum's are left at home to care for sick kids and organise the house, plus get others into school or daycare or kindy. I suspect that it's the dad's who also feel guilty about heading into work leaving their wives home in the hospital zone! Quite often we hate the thought of leaving her alone, and if you consider that over 80% of Australian parents experiencing a sense of helplessness at being unable to relieve their child’s symptoms and 55% revealing it makes them more stressed in general, leaving mum home to care on her own can contribute to the rising stress levels in the house AND wear her down, making her prone to sickness herself!

There are plenty of reasons why we as blokes can't spend the day at home: rising stress levels (and blood pressure), deadlines, demanding bosses, financial ramifications and paperwork all contribute to that sense of being caught between a 'rock and a hard place'. Even still, I wonder if we need to encourage our dad's to take that day off, or work from home, or even leave for work late or get home early...spend that time relieving mum or just be there to support her. This is a simple way of communicating to her, and your family, that caring for their wellbeing is of more importance than pursuing a career! Another idea is to seek out prayer and support from the family at New Peninsula. If your struggling in a season of sickness right now there may be help available within the New Peninsula community, call the office and talk to someone!

God bless! Dan