help me please!
By Olivia Wilson
I
f your children went to school with mine, you would quite often see me standing in the middle of the playground once everyone has left and the bell has gone, holding my daughter tightly as she cries… no sobs. Or, you may see me trying to wrench my daughter off the school gates and get her into the building. You may see me desperately looking around for someone to help me, for someone to take her hand and make this separation easier for us both. Some days you may see me walking back to my car in tears, or possibly hunched over my steering wheel in a nearby road, trying to make sense of what has just happened. 12
Peninsula Kids – Winter 2018
Most, not all, but most mornings, we have issues; and most mornings, like lots of other parents, I am dealing with this ALONE. I am dealing with the "I'm not going" and the refusal to get dressed. I am dealing with the two hours of tears and the exhaustion as it took almost three hours to fall asleep last night. I am dealing with the loss of control at a seemingly fun event at the weekend, or the aftermath of seeing something scary on the news... Parents of anxious children deal with so much behind closed doors, and especially on bad days, after hours of battling, we can often be seen muttering under our breath, “oh god I just wish they'd do more!!!!"
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