It was a very polite but most unusual apology that some people might be a bit late for the training: “the air raid sirens were on”. Yet, most were there (“we are used to it, can’t stop”) and the rest came rather promptly. The topic was supporting parents, and it was impossible to escape the thought that almost all professionals were mothers exposed to war themselves for over two years.
Nevertheless, they were resolved in helping other parents and children. When we discussed creating emotional space for children (for example, emotional meaning behind behavioural tasks), it obviously came up that most mothers in the country have to compensate for fathers being absent by joining the military, thus carry all resulting anxieties and uncertainty about the future. On top of those, teachers and our psychologists, among others, have to carry another heavy emotional layer of absorbing other parents’ burden.
All this, just one week after Women’s Day and a few days from (in some countries) Mother’s Day… #
panosvostanis 