Hello Again, I read your message way too late to reply last night and wanted to pick up on this line: "It is hard to strike a balance of making sure I am there and creating positive moments and not being treated like a slave or a fool." You put that so well, and that sums up things for me as a mum of teenagers as well. I've always been a feminist and into equality, but have disability and health issues which have kept me out of the workforce and also impacted my capacity to parent my kids at times. However, while you think that might encourage the kids to help out more at home, you'd be sadly mistaken Our son is on the NDIS as well and has been heavily impacted by lockdown etc so I make allowances for him. Our daughter is also working at McDonalds, has a heavy dance schedule and school and has a medical condition that can get pretty nasty. I get support through the NDIS, but that's for me not for them. So these are issues we are dealing with at home too. I am considering moving more towards a house sharing model with housework. Son turning 18, daughter turning 16, they can do their bit. I must admit their bedrooms are shocking. I am also think they could each cook a meal one night a week. I also wanted to follow up on what you said about struggling to spend time with your daughter. We had some talks at our school last year and they mentioned how your teen will be struggling to juggle school, assessments, work, sport, friends etc. My daughter is working a fair bit during the holidays and usually dances about 10 hours a week and she feels between school, work and dance she doesn't get a lot of spare time. However, it's still important to lock in some family time and she values that too. I guess that's where the Sunday Roast has traditionally come into play. Its something I'm planning to work on more this year. Covid and lockdowns have derailed us over the last two year and we need to restart. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Best wishes, Birdwings
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