Motherhood a balancing act for Teisha Williams

In addition to being the full-time mother of an energetic two-year-old son, Teisha Williams has three other jobs that she must attend to. When asked how she does it all, she admitted that it is a balancing act, but she is motivated by the main reason for it all: her son Liam Josiah.

"My main job is laboratory [owner and] manager of Josiah Diagnostic Lab. My role there is to oversee the entire operation. My second job is as an HIV case manager and phlebotomist working with HIV-positive inmates as well as the general population in prison. My other job is a poultry farmer. Priority goes to Liam. You just have to know how to balance [everything].

"It's challenging, but it's just for you to realise 'I need to spend time with my child. I need to watch my child grow. I need to be there to shape him into the adult that I want him to be, and at the same time, I need to be able to provide a little bit more than the basic necessities, which involves me working'. [I decided] I had to have more than one job. At the end of the day, 'why am I doing this?' I have a son, Josiah. That's the name of the business. Whenever I come here in the mornings or whenever I put on my shirt with the logo, I realise that I am not doing this for me. I'm doing this for him. I'm trying to create a pathway for him," Williams said.

spending time together

Williams says although ideally, at this stage, she would have liked to be home with her son, she could not do so and continues to provide for his needs. As a result, she sends her son to school while she works. She says where they do not get the quantity time that she would want, she instead focuses on spending quality time together thus involving him in everything she does. Williams says he helps with the chores, and although sometimes makes more of a mess, once time is spent together, it does not matter.

"Our alone time is normally in the mornings before he gets ready for school and in the evenings when he gets home. At this stage, they grow up so fast and you tend to miss out on stuff, so I try to ensure that we have our little time together. He is involved in everything I do," she told Family & Religion.

Although she is a single mother, Williams does not consider herself as raising her child completely on her own as she has a strong support system in the form of family and friends.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I have been fortunate enough to have the support of members of the community and family members as well."

This assistance has proven helpful, especially when it comes to her job as an HIV case manager and phlebotomist as this job is out of parish.

"[When working out of parish] it means me getting up from about 3 in the morning. I have to leave the house by 5:00 a.m. I drop him off by my mom so they can take him to school. I normally get home between 7:30 and 8:30 [in the evenings]. On days like those, whoever is taking care of him would have fed him so he goes straight to bed.

"Being a single mom [with] hectic days, you at times need help. Without that help, you're going to become frustrated," she said.

religionandfamily@gleanerjm.com