Definitely think that working is good for them, our eldest 2 both work at Maccas and #3 can't wait til she's 14. Great for them to earn money and brilliant for self confidence and making friends too. ... View more

Yes I absolutely would! Maybe changing schools though? Might be easier on him to start afresh and not have other kids knowing his 'history'? ... View more

Busy, busy here our 2 primary schoolers have their school disco tonight! My eldest is still struggling with depression, has had a couple of sessions with a lovely guy at HeadSpace, he broke up with his girlfriend of over a year a few weeks ago which has actually eased things somewhat for him Phew! It's horrible, I would give anything to take away his sadness :( We did a bit of planning for his 18th today Does anyone else have teenage girls who FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT? ours are 13 & 15 and it's dreadful at the moment, they share a room which is unavoidable but doesn't help :/   ... View more

I Love winter! Love our fire! Love making slow cooked curries etc! I'm a pom so I don't really feel the cold too much here! Don't enjoy all the snotty noses and colds however! ... View more

I will definitely show him the link, that's really good! :) He doesn't feel that a counsellor will be able to help him, I don't think he really knows exactly what is troubling him, so probably feels as though people will think he's stupid. It's very hard, he has SO much going for him, it makes me very sad that he is in such a bad way. ... View more

Thank you everyone for your advice and support, he's still not keen to have counsellimg but I'm working on it! He and his GF are having a 'break' which hopefully will help, yes 17 is too young for such a serious relationship, I'm hoping that our next oldest will wait a bit longer! ... View more

Lots of great ideas here :) the suggestion of him leaving his phone out of his room was met with a look of utter shock, as though I'd asked him to chop off a limb! He has muted it and faced it downwards when he doesn't want to be bothered. Hopefully that will make a difference! He told me today, that with hindsight, he wishes he'd changed schools at the end of year 10, too late now , that makes me sad. ... View more

Hi tenacious dad, I'm doing okay, but yes it is a constant worry, none of us like to see our children sad. I think that the depression is a culmination of all the factors, he's talked to the Gf and is now getting a bit more space, but she's obviously upset by his need for solitude , it's a hard situation. ... View more

In regard to the HSC, I saw a great pic on Face book which says "My child's mental health is more important than their grades" which i wholeheartedly agree with. I suspect that was doing the rounds because of the Naplan testing! He's struggling a lot because of not actually knowing what he wants to do career-wise.   ... View more

I will definitely show him the link, we went to our GP who took bloods etc to check there wasn't a physical reason for the 'depression' and he referred him to a teen counselling place locally, I think on-line help could be better as it's more annonymous :) I'd love to be able to tell his girlfriend to just give him a bit more space but it's really not my place so I won't! ... View more

Today I'm grateful for my family's health, we have had my neice staying with us this weekend, her younger  brother has brain cancer and is on round 5 of chemo in Sydney. Good to have her chill here with our girls for a few days :) ... View more

I found Reach Out through Facebook  am proud of my kids 3 boys aged 17, 8 and 3 and 3 girls aged 15, 13 and 5 for just about everything they are and do, obviously they're not perfect all the time but I reckon they're awesome! relaxing - hmmm wine is great, music is great, running with our 2 dogs is too, oh and date night😄 worst parenting advice would be to adhere to strict routines, best was to trust my instincts. ... View more