after

">Neda Balluku's statement , which stated that parents should not tire grandparents out with raising their children, has received a reaction from Sonila Meço.

The journalist reacted through a post on social media, sharing a different perspective on the situation. She asks that parents who entrust their children to grandparents not be judged, emphasizing that often this is not a matter of selfishness, but of inability.

"Don't be quick to judge parents who raise their children with grandparents. Because many have no other choice in the country we live in. Not out of selfishness, but out of inability," Meço writes.

She calls the judgment of these parents a form of morality that does not take into account the concrete reality of life in Albania. She emphasized that yes, grandparents are tired, but this fatigue does not only come from caring for grandchildren:

"I agree that grandparents are tired, but not just from the forced (or willing) raising of grandchildren, but from a system that treats them as a burden and not as an asset."

Referring to the difficult economic conditions, Meço underlines that many parents work non-stop, often at more than one job, just to meet basic needs:

"Parents work 10 hours a day, working 2 jobs, often without weekends, just to cover rent, bills, and basic food. Under these conditions, when do they raise their children? In the middle of the night?"

Furthermore, she criticizes the lack of public care for young children:

"The state does not provide real care for young children. Public nurseries and kindergartens do not meet needs, are overcrowded, while private ones are unaffordable for most. I am not talking here about physical and food insecurity."

According to Meço, the problem is not with the parents themselves, but with the lack of state support and a political model that has ignored parenting as a public responsibility:

“There are no policies that help with housing, childcare, psychological support or work flexibility. There are none! None of the politicians in power have made this a cause. Not a single MP. Becoming a parent today is a private burden in a state that has no public responsibility.”

Sonila Meço also shared her personal experience, showing how she too has been in the same position, where grandparents have been an indispensable support:

"I've experienced it firsthand, when working in the media kept us busy, especially when the government considered us enemies and we had to keep our fingers crossed for hours on end for the program or television that was ordered to be shut down by the government. My husband's parents were the salvation for a young family, so that the daughter could grow up with love and care."

In conclusion, Meço emphasizes that judgment of parents should be avoided, as circumstances are different for everyone and not everyone has equal access to help or choices:

"Parents have not become selfish. They have become exhausted. And it is the fault of a model that does not support parenting, does not invest in children, does not recognize the burden that the Albanian family bears every day."

"In this country, the family is no longer a choice, but the only social structure that works. Because the state has failed."

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