Thanks so much for sharing your experience @KeepSmiling - that sounds like a really helpful solution to call in friends and family to help when your kids were struggling with separation anxiety. Were they happy to accept support from other people? I imagine it would help with your stress levels to know you had help too.  Is there anything else you found helped to reduce your kids' anxiety over time?  ... View more

Hi @Beenthere and welcome to the ReachOut forums - it's good to have you here. It sounds like your family has been through a lot of ups and downs, I'm so sorry to hear your daughter has COVID - that must be worrying. If you would like to create a new thread of your own to talk through how things are going for you, please feel free to go here. We're here to support you.  ... View more

First of all you should find the reason first why she behaves this way and only then look for a solution. Perhaps you offended her, or she has accumulated a lot of childhood grievances against you and this is a problem. In this case, it is better to help her find housing and try to improve relations. ... View more

Hey @mrskode    Thanks for sharing with us here on ReachOut. It's great that you're reaching out during times of stress. It must be hard to watch your innocent 8 year old be treated negatively by her older sister. Can I ask - is this sort of behaviour typical of your 19 year old or is it uncharacteristic of her? If it is an ongoing issue it might be helpful to speak with a child/adolescent psychologist or counselor. Parentline can be a helpful starting point for such services. The number for Parentline may vary depending on what state you're in. This link provides the numbers per state if you are wanting to call.    I like your thought of only returning her presents to her if she apologises to, and does something nice for, her younger sister. Did you end up doing this? If so, how did it go?  ... View more

Being 18 you can change the locks after you have given her the boundaries of your expectations. It isn't up to you to help - apparently she is an adult who already knows everything.. Mothering is such a guilty job!!   A new child psychologist is your best move to start but, make sure you both develop a rship with them. Be guided by your girl, even at 8 they are pretty on top of who they like or not. 2 years in a child's development is huge.   Money is always an issue. We have started in community health and come across some brilliant psych's in that time (over 16 yrs).    Have a look at the different sites for school kids with anxiety it will be very beneficial for you to understand some of what she may be feeling. Breathe, lots of us are dealing with the identical issues.   ... View more

Hi @Fred2019,   Just wanted to check in and see how you are going this week? Our community is here for you if you need someone to lean on      ... View more

Can't help with the friends part (I'm kinda used to losing friends), but it sounds like your daughter just needs space. She needs to live her life and experience it. Don't pry. Ask how her day was, if anything interesting happened, the like, but don't force a conversation if there isn't one. If she doesn't want to talk, don't force her. Otherwise keep the conversation light hearted and happy. (Also, if she tells you she wants to do something alone, just let her.) ... View more

Hi @mrskode,   That must have been really hard to get that news from centrelink. You mentioned that your daughter is working part time, is your daughter studying as well? Would it be possible for her to pick up more work?   It sounds like there are very limited housing options for her at the moment- I can imagine this is also contributing to stress. I can see on the centrelink website that they can make a young person independent in extenuating circumstances, did they walk you through whether your daughter can be made independent early or fits any of their criteria?    I am sorry to hear how hard this process has been, I have just replied to your other post here with some options for our ReachOut one on one service for Australia parents.  ... View more