Today I had a many conversations with some incredible mams whose parenting journeys don’t sit in what people might think of as a conventional one.

Some of them have children with long respite breaks or live in residential settings. I think we need to pause for a moment and talk about how incredibly difficult that must be because behind every decision like that is a story that most people will never fully see.

It’s the years of constant advocating. The exhaustion. The fights for support. The fight for the RIGHT support. The sleepless nights. The appointments. The crises.

No parent imagines a future where their child isn’t living at home with them. Those decisions are not made lightly and they’re often made after families have given every ounce of themselves trying to make things work.

Choosing residential care or long respite doesn’t mean a parent has given up. It often means they have fought harder than anyone realises.

It means recognising that sometimes we need to look at the safest, most supportive environment for our families that means carrying a kind of heartbreak and strength at the same time that the majority can’t begin to imagine.

To the Mams walking that path. You are navigating something unimaginably complex with love and resilience, I think you are amazing. The fiercest Mamas I know.

Nobody knows what their journey ahead holds. Me included.