Families

3^rd grade is no joke. There really isn’t any way around it, their curriculum is tough shit.

Day three of “no.”

Let’s get dressed.

No.

Let’s eat breakfast.

No.

Time to get our shoes on!

No.

I’ve always wanted four children. I’m not sure why. What is really giving me pause is the fact that my second child, Giovanni, 8, is special needs. It’s difficult and expensive. We have no idea how his life is going to be and how best to help him. Add to that my “extra needs” first child Philip, 12, whose food allergies guaranteed his first few years of life were as terrifying as possible. And still I want another child.

I think we can all agree that there is some messed up stuff happening right now.

This morning my son woke up laughing. My son woke up laughing and I woke up crying. My son woke up laughing and his little squeaky voice was a light in the darkness to me. I went into his room and moved towards his crib and he smiled at me. And I was so grateful, grateful for him and who he is, but also grateful that he is still a baby and I do not have to explain what happened last night.

Most of us grow up envisioning the “perfect” family that we will have one day. One boy, one girl – 3 years apart. Right?

This is a public school, and every bloody week, there is at least one of these coming home. And before I go on, I know that our public schools are underfunded, and I know they need to get money somehow, but it’s getting ridiculous. At the moment, we are lucky enough that we can pay these fees. We can pay $20 for a picture our own child drew even though we get 20 of the same drawings every day for free. But not every public school family can. So many families are struggling to give their children the basics, to send them to school with breakfast in their tummies and lunch in their bags, without worrying about how they’re going to send their kid to the disco all their friends are going to, or how they’ll buy milk after sacrificing their last fiver for a Mother’s Day gift.

The teen years are difficult for everyone involved, and rehashing the same fights time and again is exhausting. You may be losing hope that you will have a healthy relationship with your kid before they turn 25. Don’t worry, it isn’t an impossible feat. You can learn to ease yourself through these arguments more effectively with your teen, while building a solid foundation of trust between you.