This is what it?s like to parent when you’re struggling to make ends meet
Larissa Beckett* couldn?t stop the torrent of negative thoughts as she waited in line at the food bank with her infant son and six-year-old daughter. Where did I go wrong in life to be here" How come I have no support system" I must be a bad parent.
She felt ashamed. Then she felt like it could be worse. Finally, she felt numb.
Her son, Jonah*, was content in his stroller, and her daughter, Celeste*, was focused on her favourite colouring book. When Celeste got bored of colouring, she looked at the people in and around the line?families, seniors, sex trade workers and individuals who wore the signs of drug use on their faces.
?Why are their faces bleeding"? Celeste asked her mom. ?We should give them some Band-Aids.? ?They?re very sick,? Beckett said. ?We don?t know their story. But we can hope they get the help and the love they need one day.?
It was not a conversation Beckett wanted to be having with her daughter, but she has no choice but to take her kids to the food bank. In fact, she has to take them to several food banks each week just to get enough food and other essentials to sustain her family. ?I am always in survivor mode and trying to hustle,? she says. ?I?m very tense, and I startle easily. My co-worker said, ?That?s stress. That?s your anxiety building up, and you?re always on the defence.??
In Canada, 20 percent of children?more than 1.4 million?live in poverty, according to Campaign 2000, a network of organizations working to end family pov...
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