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Showbiz Correspondent
FORMER Miss Zimbabwe Oslie Muringai-Matsikanyiri says she is blessed that she has had time to look after her two children although she is a working mother.

The former model, who is based in South Africa, works part time at a company there and feels being employed part time is the best for her and her family.
Posting a picture of her with her two children on Facebook on Thursday, Oslie said someone had told her that she would be unemployable in the near future because she was working part time.

“Over a year ago, while discussing careers with a friend, she warned me that soon I’d be “unemployable” in the corporate world if I didn’t get into it full time.

“She also noted that I’d wasted my best working years,” posted Oslie.

However, after some meditation Oslie, who is married to former Zimbabwe cricket player Stuart Matsikenyeri, said she found that the best years of her life were the ones she spent looking after her children Jayden and Ceille.

“It hit me hard at the time, but a few months later while meditating on the Word of God, God clearly reminded me that I’d invested the ‘best’ years of my life in these two.”

Although she has enjoyed being a mother, it has not been easy.

“It’s always been a challenge trying to get the perfect work life balance, but accepting that we can’t get it all has made dealing with it easier.

“Some days are tougher than others, but I know there’s one area where I’ve served as unto the Lord,” she said.

On why she was working part time, Oslie said being in the diaspora made it hard to work full time when raising children.

“Being in the diaspora, you really appreciate the support structure that you have back home. In Zimbabwe, you have a Gogo or a sister who can pick up the children or help them do their homework while you pursue your career.

“However in the diaspora, people don’t have those support systems. You’re expected to be the person who’ll do all these things such as homework, attending parties and soccer matches.”

She said other mothers take time off from work to dedicate it to their family.

“My friend who was Miss Bahamas during the same time I was Miss Zimbabwe told me she works for two years and the third year, she takes time off to be home with her family. Some want to work until they’re 40 so that they can have time to go on holidays with their family,” said Oslie.

Once in a while Oslie, a proud mother, posts pictures of her family explaining how much she appreciates and loves them adding that she would choose them over anything in the world.