You want your children back.
You want them back from the morning routine, from the playground whispers, from the rush and the timetables and the after school activities.
You want them back from NAPLAN, and homework and schools’ admission tests and mid-year reports and parent-teacher nights.
You want them back from that girl who makes your daughter feel less than, from that boy who always manages to bump your boy in the hallway, from the comparisons over running shoes, and who’s got an Ipod Touch, and who was allowed to go and watch Maleficent at the weekend.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Kmart. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words.
You just want to hang out with your kids. You just want to start the day without a to-do list of 20 million things you all HAVE TO DO running in your head. You just want everyone to be. And have fun. And have some time. You know, family time. Quality time.
Let’s face it. Parents are not their best selves as they limp to the end of term (literally, because you stubbed your toe on the trumpet this morning. Who’s idea was trumpet, anyway?).
Things have become a little shaky. You’re stressed. The kids are tired. The awesome lunchboxes packed with kiwiberries and hand-rolled sushi have given way to honey sandwiches and a packet of beer nuts because that’s all you could find in the cupboard this morning. Or maybe just a $10 note and a lunch order. Because. Life.
But you’re upset that things have gotten so shabby around the edges. That you let the school term, with its relentless demands and appointments and places to be at certain times, get to you, break you down. Again.
You’re kicking yourself about that note that you missed at the bottom of the school bag that meant your daughter was the only one who didn’t have a native animal costume ready to go on World Environment Day.
You’re wondering what happened to ironing everything the night before and laying it out so neatly. Now you’re just thanking God that it’s Winter term so that the crumpled shirts are covered with a jumper, and no-one’s noticed yet that your son’s hobbling a bit from those too-small shoes that you were hoping to make-do with til the end of term.
You’re feeling a bit guilty because you’ve given up switching over the car radio on the way to the schoolrun every time an inappropriate topic comes on the pop talkback, so your kids are now fully across whether or not that man hooked up to the lie-detector is really cheating on his girlfriend with her sister.
In short, the wheels are falling off. In fact,you left them behind on the road a while back and you’ve been skidding along on the hubcaps for weeks.