Many of you know must know Sandhya Menon as the woman who came forward as the #MeToo crusader and shared women’s stories as the movement unfolded in the country. While Menon was hailed for her contribution to the movement and catalysing it, the past few months have not been really great for her on the personal front.
Menon, who is a single mother of two, shared recently on a blog how she was going through a financial crunch and that her children might have to discontinue their school owing to the same. However, despite all the criticism and the flak that it receives, the internet sometimes can be a good place and Menon recently got a taste of that as a crowdfunding initiative ended up raising funds for her which eventually helped her children to continue their school.
In a recent interaction that she had with The Indian Express, Menon talked about the struggles of being a single parent, the crowdfunding campaign, approaching delicate topics like finances while talking to her children, and also came up with a piece of advice for all the single moms.
Here are the excerpts:
On being a single parent
“There are some days when I feel the lack of a co-parent. That’s on days like when I have to step out of the house for some work, considering I work from home. Other times, I feel it’s hard being a single parent in terms of monetary needs. I am the only one who earns for a family-of-three. Another way I find it hard is while taking certain decisions, from simple to life-changing ones like change of schools or moving cities, for instance. I think it was harder when they were younger because I had to be around them constantly. Now, they can do a lot of things on their own and I get some time off.”
“As a single mother, I have to do everything. Essentially, sometimes I am doing two people’s work. So, on a daily basis, that’s fairly challenging sometimes. I get really tired. I cut down on a lot of other activities; I can’t meet friends or go out in the evening. So, my social circle has reduced drastically because of this situation. But those are not really challenges.”
On her support system
“My parents moved back to Bengaluru a year-and-a-half ago. Since then, life has been a lot simpler. My parents love my kids and vice versa. My kids like to spend as much time with my parents as possible. For the past year, my kids have been spending a lot of their time at my parents’ house. During emergencies, I either have my mother come over or I send my kids off to their house. Before my parents shifted here, I have turned to all kinds of things for support-my ex-husband, domestic help and my friends. My friends are quite supportive.”
On approaching delicate issues like finances while talking to children
“I don’t have a set rule to talk about financial issues with my kids. When I have no money, I tell them that I can’t afford stuff. My son and daughter, for example, have been asking to join a gymnastics class for a long time but that was expensive. So, I had to tell them that I am the only one who earns and it is not really easy for me. Those are the conversations when they need something or they waste stuff. I tell them they need to be aware of wastage and take care of the things they own. I don’t tell them numbers or how much money I have. But I have come to realise that children need to know how much something costs and how I get that money.”
On the crowdfunding initiative that helped her out of the hardest phase of her life
“The crowdfunding was not my idea at all. I have turned it (offers of money) down every single time without even thinking twice about it. But then it got to a point when I had nowhere to turn to. And since June onwards, I have not had a steady job. I have been living on my savings, which were exhausted by December, after which I had to borrow money from a close friend, through the next few months. It was at this point when the school said that they won’t be taking the kids anymore. I couldn’t really take it anymore.”
“That’s when friends reached out and I couldn’t find it in myself to fight it. It was my pride that was making me say no, but that would have been at the cost of my kids not going to school. To be completely honest, for the past few days after this happened, I haven’t been emotionally stable. I have actually been crying since the time this happened. I am so grateful my kids have gone back to school. I will never forget the kindness of so many people, the solidarity, and for telling me I am not alone.”
On her advice to single moms
“When you get help, take it. Don’t worry about your pride. Yes, some people might offer help out of a sense of obligation but that need not be the reason for you to reject it. The other thing is to have a backup plan for finances. Even if you have to borrow to set up some sort of savings, do it and pay it back at a time when you can. Also, just involve the kids with as much honesty in your life as possible. Shielding them from pain, feeling there is something lacking in their lives, is not a good idea because children respond to honesty in a way that we never, ever imagine. So, first rehearse a conversation in your head and then explain it to kids.”
H/T: The Indian Express