I've always hear people talk about the joy they experience as parents but they never mentioned the challenges they faced or their sadness. But thanks to this contest which came at just the time I experienced sadness as a mother this week, it really affected my mental health but then it was nice experience though.

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As a parent or a kid, tell us about a period when you had lasting joy

Hmmm as long as we are in this wicked world, I don't think there is lasting joy. But we do experience joy as it comes then do well to create our own basis of joy and remain joyful at all times.

My joy

The joy I had when I first hear my baby cry makes me shade tears of joy, I was so thankful to the giver of life as I was given a precious gift by him to care for. Till now each time I remember I have a replica of me much joy and her pretty contagious smiles makes me feel happy always. My brother named her joy, her names is surrounded with joy and she is a joyous girl

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What have you done to ensure that this joy continues in your life and in the life of those around you?

Maintaining joy is easy but it takes determination to do so, as long as we live we need to be happy. I do share in the joy of people arround me and do well to also invite them out to make them happy. Giving makes one happy, I've make that my habit and I'm always happy when I give or help out.

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As a parent or a kid, tell us about a period when you had sadness.

Well like I said before we live in a wicked world, so sadness will definitely set in in our lives and our reaction to it will make it either last or brief.

Just this week, I experience my sadness as a mother and that is the reason my activities reduces, I went through a lot but like I said the duration of our sadness depends on how we react to it. My baby was very sick for the first time and I didn't sleep for two days, I didn't go to work I took care of her every minute, I never knew the joy of motherhood has so many untold stories behind it until I experience it myself. I was really sad trying one treatment to the other and the worst part is that she can express how she is feeling and where she is experiencing pains but she keeps running temperature and keeps crying all day, I felt her pains.

My ears all day

I was also sick as I couldn't stand her pains, the stress and mental health all this result in a serious illness that I and my baby were hospitalised. But I'm so grateful that we are fine now.

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What have you done to ensure that the period of sadness doesn't show up again in your life?

I will still say that we are not certain of what will happen next in our life and we are living in a wicked world so sadness is unavoidable in our lives.

We are fine now

But yet prevention is better than cure, I have just sit down and plan everything that I will do to prevent this serious illness again. I don't like sleeping under mosquito net but yet I try and keep the rooms free from mosquito especially baby's room, I have already bought a mosquito net for her baby cot to prevent her from having mosquito bite that will lead to sickness. Preventing her from being exposed to cold so she won't have catarrh and cough as the result of cold, I have already done most of this things.

With this I hope I will prevent this incedent from happening again.

I will like to invite @janemorane @yenny47 to join this contest