To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! When you leave for work early and you kiss your sleeping child’s forehead.
You stare at them and wonder how they seem to have grown a foot taller overnight. You feel sad and scared that they are growing up and you are missing it.
You tell yourself you’re doing it for them, let out a heavy sigh and trudge on to work.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! When you’re at work and you receive messages containing videos and photos of your kid’s milestones.
Their first steps, first words, first day of school.
You feel proud but also can’t help feeling a pang of sadness and a hint of bitterness that you’re not there to witness it in person.
You’re missing out on so many things.
You wonder if it’s worth it.
But you think of your child’s future, plaster a smile on your face, and continue to work.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! When your kid is ill and you have no more leave left.
When you have to leave them under another person’s care so you could go to work.
You are worried sick and wish you could be the one beside them to take care of them. You wish you could check up on them often but cellphones are not allowed in your work area and you try your best to focus at work while wondering how they are doing.
You wish there was another way to earn an income without having to always be away from your babies especially when they are sick.
But for now, this is your reality, your means of living, and your way of providing for their needs.
So, you try to shake it off and get back to work.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! When tears run down your child’s face as he clings to your leg, begging you not to go to work today.
He will not ask for more toys, he promises. He will not drink as much milk or eat as many snacks.
He will even give you his savings from his piggy bank, just please stay at home.
You wish from the bottom of your heart that you could say yes.
You wish you could spend hours and hours cuddling, playing, being with your child. But for now, that’s not possible.
You try your best to explain why mommy and daddy need to work for his future.
You harden your heart as you pry him away from you and leave for work, holding back tears when you hear him crying for you as you walk away.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! When your kid has a school presentation that he has practiced for, over and over again, so mommy and daddy could be proud of him when they see him onstage.
But your vacation leave is limited, and though you wish you could take the day off to see and support your child in all his school events, you need to make a choice about which ones you can see and which ones you will have to miss.
How it pains your heart that you miss so much more than you get to see.
You’re doing this for your child’s future, you keep telling yourself as you try to content yourself watching their videos and looking at their pictures.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! When it’s Christmas and New Year and while everyone else is busy preparing for the festivities with their families, you are putting on your uniform to serve the guests celebrating in the hotel.
How you wish you could leisurely cook Noche Buena with your children> Be there to watch their reactions as they open their presents. And just enjoy each other’s company over a cup of hot cocoa.
But instead, you are wishing strangers “Merry Christmas” and watching with a heavy heart as you see them playing and laughing with their own children.
How you wish you could spend every special occasion with your own children.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! How you sacrifice your own personal happiness to make sure you get to provide the best possible future for your little ones.
How you fight back tears every time you have to leave them for work.
How you feel sad when you realize they are growing faster than you could ever imagine, and you’re missing most of it.
How it pains you to take care of the needs of other people’s children, when someone else is taking care of yours.
How you wish and pray that there will come a day when you can be with them 24/7, and never have to leave them ever again.
To All The Hotelier Moms and Dads: I see you! And I want you to know — you are absolutely amazing!
Your child may not understand it right now, but eventually, he will come to realize what a superhero his mommy and daddy are for working so hard to give him all the things he could ever need or want.
The hospitality industry is one that will truly test your strength, not just physically and mentally, but more so emotionally. And I hope you know that you are someone your children should be very proud of. And that someday, all your sacrifices will be worth it.
Mabuhay, hotelier moms and dads!
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