06-11-2021, 09:30 AM
Two completely different situations.
1: Caregiver decides murder-suicide is the only option left. This happens way more often than it should and points to a failure in our systems to support those families. That she didn't follow through on the suicide is a detail. As a wealthier country we should be able to provide more support.
2: A South African friend had an interesting perspective. As a wealthy professional couple, they would have had a nanny, a housekeeper, and other full-time staff in the family home. All of these things will have supported the wife and left her with limited experience of actually parenting. Fast forward to landing in NZ, 2 weeks alone in MIQ and suddenly in Timaru with 3 kids, no friends, no support. We can't imagine how that must have felt and harming the kids would never be ok, but it wouldn't have taken much to snap.
1: Caregiver decides murder-suicide is the only option left. This happens way more often than it should and points to a failure in our systems to support those families. That she didn't follow through on the suicide is a detail. As a wealthier country we should be able to provide more support.
2: A South African friend had an interesting perspective. As a wealthy professional couple, they would have had a nanny, a housekeeper, and other full-time staff in the family home. All of these things will have supported the wife and left her with limited experience of actually parenting. Fast forward to landing in NZ, 2 weeks alone in MIQ and suddenly in Timaru with 3 kids, no friends, no support. We can't imagine how that must have felt and harming the kids would never be ok, but it wouldn't have taken much to snap.