For over two decades Sasha Hosein-Gulston has been a pillar in the Newsday newsroom.
As an administrative assistant, her workdays are just as hectic as the journalists with whom she works.
But even with all the phone calls, processing of documents, keeping track of who needs what and the million things she is required to do, she still finds time to check in on her children every single day.
“Even though I gave birth to three sons, I always tell people I have six children because I parented my younger siblings,” she told WMN. Her sons are 23, 19 and 11.
Hosein-Gulston began working at the paper as the PBX operator when she was in her 20s. Now 46, she said her experience trying to strike a balance between being a full-time employee and motherhood when she had her first son is not much different as it is today.
“It didn’t get any easier with time, and with the age gap between my second son and my last it was like starting all over again…Balancing a daily job and having to be a parent is quite a responsibility,” she said – one that she doesn't take lightly.
[caption id="attachment_1016051" align="alignnone" width="736"] Sasha Hosein-Gulston says balancing being a full-time employee and being a mother of three is quite a responisbility. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
Her youngest son is preparing to do the SEA exam next year, which she said is another challenge by itself because she always has to make sure he keeps on top of his work. And even though the other two are old enough to legally leave the nest and take care of themselves, the nurturing trait that dictates how a mother operates sometimes refuses to allow her to grant them complete independence.
“Because although they are adults, to me they will always be babies…When I go home I’m a wife, a teacher, I make sure all of them, even the big ones, are in order. But they do assist me.
"Being a parent isn’t easy because it’s something you have to do whether you feel well or not, and it doesn’t come with a manual.”
But even with all its challenges, Hosein-Gulston said when she looks at the young men she is raising and their accomplishments, she knows if she had to, she would choose motherhood all over again, and do it in exactly the same way.
“My children never did and still don’t give me any trouble, well at least nothing major, and I feel proud of them and I’m proud of the job I did as a mother.”
Her parenting method, as loving and gentle as it is, also includes straight talk and discipline.
“What I try to do is always speak and be straight with them. I don’t sugar coat anything. I give them attention and love, I send positive messages, I always try to be there and around which highly annoys them sometimes, and I always talk to them whether or not they like what I’m saying. I’m not sure if my parenting approach is 'right,' but I do what I think I have to do.”
And, she said, although she may sometimes be guilty of coddling her boys, one of the things she feels strongly about is allowing children to make their own mistakes and learn from them.
