I am With Sophie Grégoire Trudeau

As a woman who is taking care of a one-year-old daughter while her husband is away for a month at sea, scrolling through social media and news feeds are not a high priority.  In fact I am rarely scrolling these days, but it has been hard to miss the highly critical headliners on Sophie Grégoire Trudeaus latest public comment.  

"I have three children at home and a husband who is prime minister.  I need help.  I need a team to help me serve people."

I consider myself to be highly productive with my time. I am a dedicated lover to my husband, quirky creative mama to my daughter, honest-seeker writer in my projects, entrepeneur in my Creative Mentoring buisness, along with the founder of a group called The Creatives that meets seasonally with events during the year.  And I struggle.  I struggle to identify the help I truly need.

Many people who love and care about me and my family are quick to offer help in ways that make the most sense to them.  It is a blessing to know we are cared for, yet very often, the specific help that is being offered is not what is truly needed for me or my family.  I struggle with the words to explain the true help I need because for some reason, if women are not gracious enough, thankful enough and pleasant enough, we will get slammed. 

Here is what the media and politics do with women.

We.

Tear. 

Them.

Down.

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau openly and honestly expresses her overwhelm with her situation and we tear her to shreds.  "How dare she demand help from the taxpayers when others are suffering.  How dare she express being overwhelmed when she is so privledged?"

I say, 

How.

Dare.

We?

I am blowing the whistle on this kind of shaming, backstabbing and idocricy towards women.  Let's not forget that women still do not get paid the same amount as men.  When we criticize a woman who gives us her open and honest answer for her situation, we are teaching our daughters that if you ask for help in a way that you believe you need, you will be slammed for it.  

I am raising a daughter in Canada, and my deepest desire for her is to know that she can be as honest and as open as she needs to be.  To shame a woman for openly expressing her overwhelm is to say that unless we as women, are quietly smiling in the background, playing nice, a fashionable shade of lipstick upon our lips, and folded hands at our sides, that we don't matter.  

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau matters.

Her needs and desires for her life and her family matter.  Her request for more support, in the way that she believes will help her and her family matters.  

So if you are looking for me, I am with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.