A little family Wellman Update dump.
Morning! I’ve struggled coming back in to write lately. I abandoned my last post in tears over the current state of The Studio. My camera bag was stolen about a year ago. Everything I’ve photographed in 2024 has been on rented equipment. Being abandoned with the children with zero time or financial support has put me in a tight spot in terms of childcare for taking shoots. My reliable option being his parents who only have availability on Sundays…and my kids hate going to church so the amount of tension it causes in my home to bribe them enough to go with their grandparent’s on Sundays so I can work is so much emotional prep work.
I’ve tried multiple nannies and babysitters. I’ve had too many no-shows or “call-in-sick” experiences with them to ever rely on them enough to use them for work childcare. This has been especially hard for me to grasp as someone who has called in sick maybe one time my entire adult life. I’m not bragging or saying my way is better. It very well may not be. It’s an internal cultural difference. When $6,000+ wedding contracts to document $60,000+ weddings are on the line, I can’t have someone bailing over a head cold or a stomach bug. I feel my childcare has to be bullet proof to take on projects like this.
I never imagined this scenario coming for me. Though, I have since read enough articles to see the behavior was entirely predictable. One family lawyer stating, “A tell of domestic mistreatment is when a once involved father completely pulls out of being a parent once he no longer has unlimited access to their mother.” That hit me like a brick. Currently, a boy is riding the “homeless” card in a Tesla model S, Gucci boots, a full time job, and Theory textiles while a local church helped us buy groceries this month. Help I didn’t ask for, but they saw me slaying single motherhood and exhausted.
I love my local community more than I ever imagined. The amount of emotional support I’ve received from complete strangers and fun events has wowed me to tears many times. Holidays I dreaded providing alone, met by endless invitations to street fairs, cookie decorating, and free kid art project days.
We are struggling for time, sleep, and energy. I know my circumstances are my own and I have the power to change them. I already have. The perfect reliable nanny or childcare program will enter our family. I’ll start going back to school and the VA will step in. The perfect job opportunity will present itself. Some miracle will come through. More comfort finds me daily. The right people will be held accountable. The inspired action will push me just right. Worst case, we just love on these kids until they’re 14/15 and can handle the home while I’m working.
We got this, fam.
Wellman Update
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