01/08/2025
“Well, better than wiping bums, isn’t it?”
That’s what my mum said to me when I told her about my day 'off' this week
And it hit me like a punch to the gut.
Not because she meant it cruelly, she didn’t.
But because that one throwaway line carries so much of what carers hear, feel, and are made to believe.
That somehow, this work isn’t enough.
That if you’re “just a carer,” you could have done better.
That wiping bums is all we are.
But here’s the truth:
I’m not just wiping bums.
You’re not just wiping bums.
We are restoring dignity.
We’re managing meds, emotions, care plans and crises.
We’re showing up when no one else does.
And some of us are doing it while building businesses, raising children, and fighting to be seen.
It maddened me. It saddened me. But mostly, it reminded me why I work so hard to change the story.
So if you’ve ever been made to feel like your work isn’t “enough,” this is for you:
You’re not “just” anything.
You are everything to the people you care for.
And you are part of something bigger - a care revolution.
Let’s keep rewriting the narrative.
Let’s keep raising the profile of care.
Let’s be louder.
