Kia ora "Hello"

Hi, let me introduce myself, my name is Pare, I reside in Auckland, New Zealand, married for 23 years & we have four unique, amazing, crazy kids. Two adult children & two under 14.

At the age of 52 in 2021, I found myself without employment for the second time in three years. The first time was due to redundancy in the IT industry, and the second was due to mandates in the health sector. As someone in their 50s, finding a job while trying to navigate mandates was challenging and a disheartening experience. But instead of chucking the towel in I took matters into my own hands with the help and support my children. We started a small family business that specializes in natural (rongoa maori) products, which my daughter now manages. Additionally, during this time, my son struggled with anxiety, so we made the decision to homeschool him. Amidst my frustration with the job industry, I also took on full-time studies. It may seem crazy, but I remain determined to keep pushing forward and learning new things.

I can't complain.. when it gets tough we managed to push our way through, lots of sacrifice, no eating out, no treats and definitely no holidays. My kids had their budget locked and loaded, still able to have a Friday treat e.g frozen coke or a sundae was a common treat. Having a very supportive husband during this time helped immensely, because there were plenty of come to me Jesus moments given the pressure. Keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table and the essentials sorted was short of a miracle with a load of very challenging situations. As a mum you just do what you need to do to create income for your household. From making brittle, to candles, creating different oil blends, making and selling cards online, lots of surveys, VA work and freelance digital documents, journals etc.... you just learn to be resourceful and resilient.

Fast forward to 2023 we agreed that focusing my time on a few areas incoming producing activities, homeschooling our two youngest, our new adventure of looking after my step dad and getting some sort of health awareness back into my life was a winning strategy. mIP