Sometimes we all need a little help – don’t be ashamed to ask for it

Emma Grech - 5 Jul 17

As a mum, a single mum, it’s natural to worry about your children. Especially as they start to make their way in the world without you.

When my lovely son Theo was starting reception class he was still wetting himself regularly. The look of pity in other people’s eyes when it happened was awful. He was an outgoing little boy but I noticed he struggled to socialise – I worried he wasn’t very confident and would be bullied by the other children.

The thought of your child being unhappy, having low self-esteem or being bullied are your worst nightmares. Having been bullied myself, I know it’s something that affects you throughout your life, even if you don’t want it to. It only lasted a couple of years but really affected my teenage years.

Small comments my bullies made had a really big impact on me and in today’s world children are online younger and younger. Nasty words without a face hurt even more. It’s really only in the last couple of years that I’ve made peace and moved on with my life.

That’s why I reached out for help.

I found the Little Learners group, run by Spurgeons Children’s Charity, and it made a massive difference. There, Theo and I interacted and played with other children and mums, and I could also speak with support workers who were on hand with help and ideas, and visited us at home. My support worker and I worked on some techniques for managing Theo’s behavior and she helped me get a referral to see if he might have ADHD.

She really helped put my mind at ease and gave me more confidence in my parenting. This gave me the strength to be firm with Theo and there’s been a huge improvement in his behaviour – I’m really impressed at how quickly we’ve sorted some of the issues.

I know it can sometimes feel like there’s nowhere to turn – in fact, a new report by Spurgeons found that almost half of parents think there is little to no support available for family challenges (42%) and only one in 10 (10%) would turn to a children’s charity for support. I had to look for help for a long time before I got it, about three years in total. But when I eventually discovered Spurgeons and my local Children’s Centre, it made such a difference to mine and Theo’s lives.

Help is out there. Speak to your family, your GP, your children’s school, go to local groups.

Sometimes we all need a little help – don’t be ashamed to reach out and ask for it.

Read Spurgeons’ Parent Report at www.spurgeons.org.

Emma Grech

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