Seren K

I used to be able to afford to pay for my daughter's swimming lessons, gymnastics classes and an art /drama workshop on weekends when she was younger, at least one activity or club a week, but now I don't have any in the pot to cover her interests, it coincides with her becoming a teenager and being mostly unbothered/ not interested in doing anything which is a shame, some of her friends have music lessons and theatre school and have a day trip every other weekend, which she is not part of, it distances her, she's not got much in common with them now so the distance grows, being othered. My daughter acts unbothered but I think it does affect her mentally and physically, we used to go out on long walks/museums/exploring etc but she has no interest now, part of this is down to growing pains and is a stage they go through I hope it's short lived.

I make sure I have enough money for her school lunches/snacks etc sometimes I will eat toast and drink tea the whole day, or cereal so that I've enough money for a decent dinner for her.

They want certain brands of trainers/clothing, tech etc teenagers are ruthless when judging/ shaming each other. I hope she continues to share her feelings/thoughts with me, she is also technically a young carer, people often say she's so mature/helpful/kind, often I wonder whether she hasn't really been able to be a silly funny loud kid, I also worry for her being an only child, she may feel like she has to be perfect, the isolation of having 2 sick parents, what will her future be like...