Young Carers

Blog The Fourth or Summer Fun!

MaddiLeFrog — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Hey guys! Maddi here again.

Last time my blog was quite miserable and sad, so now I think it's time to brighten the atmosphere a little! Things have brightened up a lot, and there's just one big dark cloud looming on an otherwise sunny day.

GCSE results.

I don't even know why I'm panicking so much! It's only two results, and I can retake the exams because I've taken them early, but I'm so desperate to pass! The thing is, I've done well so far - after 5 exams, the 3 that I've had marks for have been great. I got an A* in my first ever GCSE exam, Biology, and two As in Maths module 1 and Physics. But then I had to take Module 3 and Chemistry.

Chemistry, I'm fine about. A few problems with the teacher, but that just made me want to show her that I could do it. I'm pretty confident about Chem, I'd like to get at least a B. I'll be happy with a B or above. Maths is a different teapot of fish. I think I have failed miserably. I had a total breakdown in the exam. Because I missed so much school last term through looking after Mum and Dad - especially for Mum when Dad went away - I got into the exam hall and found that everyone else seemed to be doing fine when I hadn't a clue of what to do. I've revised endlessly, copied up and checked the revision books so many times, but I was still absolutely clueless. I've never been a Mathematician or a Scientist. I do well in the writing and performing subjects, especially English. So why I was ever put forwards for the early exams I do not know.

My Mum says that just having taken it early is an acheivement in itself, and regardless of which grade I get we'll go out for a meal to celebrate. I know I should listen to her, but I'm not worried about what my parents will say. After getting an A* and 2 As, and being known for being good in English, the kids taking the exams early are now seeing me as competition. Whenever I do badly, they snigger and whisper and look pleased with themselves, and then hate it when I do well at something. So I'm totally freaking out about my exam. To make matters worse, the exam results are read out in front of the entire class when you take them early, so I do not want to have to wait until September like some of my classmates to find out what I got. I am, as well as some of my other classmates, going to school on the 21st August to get my results. I just want to know what I got. If I've done well, it's great. If I haven't, I don't really care. I just want to know my results so as I know how to do it next time.

Anyway, on a brighter note, my whole family are down again at the moment. They all live in the Midlands so it's always nice when they come to the coast. Sure, there are always a few arguments, but we can deal with it. It's going to be fun. Plus I now have a trampoline (!!!) in my garden as a birthday present, so we're going on it all the time if it isn't raining. It is raining now though....but it's ok. As you can probably tell by my poem "Rain In August", I'm used to unseasonal weather! I wish it was a bit sunnier though.

I recently started coming to the YCnet chats, and they're great! I'd like to thank everyone who goes there, because it's all really helpful just to speak to people who understand.

Congratulations to anyone who has had their SATs, Scottish Highers or A-Level results recently, and good luck to everyone getting their GCSE results! Good luck for secondary school, sixth form, college or whatever!

I hope things are going as good for everyone as they are for me at the moment, and I really hope you enjoy reading this blog!!

Maddi xxx

Blog The Third or, Spoke Too Soon

MaddiLeFrog — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:23:00 GMT

So much for a great summer, eh? Just yesterday - or perhaps the day before, I don't know - everything was going swimmingly. My brother and sister were getting along, and the whole family seemed really united. And now I don't know what's happening. My Mum is going to spend tonight sleeping on the floor because she and Dad have argued and quite possibly split up. Dad says he's leaving soon, and he keeps arguing with me and Mum. My brother seems quite unaware of all of this - if he has Incredibles on the PS2, he's happy, but my sister is definitely on Dad's side. She keeps telling me, "don't you realise he's ill?".

A phone bill came a few days ago, and there are some problems with it. It's in Dad's name, but he's refusing to call up and speak about the problems. He wants Mum to do it, but Mum can't because they won't let her. It's in Dad's name so it's got to be Dad, or the phone company won't do anything. So, they argued earlier, telling us to leave the room. I took my brother and sister into the playroom and played with them for a while, but all through I wanted to just jump into the room and shout "We're your family, so shut up, stop behaving like children and take your argument somewhere else!". I know they need to "discuss" things sometimes - very loud discussions, from the sound of it -, but why do they feel the need to shout at each other when we're around? I'm 14, my brother and sister are only eight and six years old! Why do my parents feel the need to get them involved too?

Mum went to sleep for a bit upstairs, thinking that she was leaving Dad with us. So Dad just gives us a few sandwiches, tells me to sort the other two out, and disappears to his shed for goodness knows how long. When Mum woke up she was in a bad mood, so me and my brother and sister were being treated completely unfairly - she was telling us not to do the slightest thing, when she should have been - in my opinion, anyway - banging on Dad's shed door, telling him to get up, clean up his act and start taking responsibility for us and for himself. I don't think Mum realises just how hard I'm trying to make everything ok again - I'll try and speak to her or have fun with her and she'll just fall asleep downstairs!

At the moment, I really couldn't care less if Dad moves out or not. In fact, I think the whole family would be a lot happier if he did leave, if we never saw him again. But life isn't that simple. He and Mum will be back together, one "happy family unit" again by tomorrow, or next week, or next month. I want some stability in my life, I want to know that when Mum says it's over, it's over. Otherwise, how can I ever trust her? How do I know that when she says "I'll be there at the train station to pick you up", she won't get caught up in another pointless argument with Dad and forget? She never has before, but I don't want it to happen.

Dad seems to want me to do things and take responsibility, but only when taking responsibility himself wouldn't give him anything. He was so eager to get back into Mum's good books that, when I volunteered to make pudding while he was on the phone, he told me to do some drinks for the other two instead, while he did pudding. But he'd happily left me to play with them, and stop their arguing, and make them behave, and fetch them drinks and crisps, and make sure they didn't interrupt him and Mum while they were having their "discussion", hadn't he? But no, when I told him that I'd do pudding, he went into a mood, glared at me and said "Fine, you can have a dry biscuit each". When I said "fine", he just looked at me and said "Don't be stupid". He's the stupid one at the moment!

He needs to learn that when things get tough, he can't just abandon everything and run and hide in his shed. The same goes for Mum - she can't run and have a sleep. Maybe they could do that stuff before, but now that they have kids, they can't just run away and hide. I don't think they realise that I've got troubles of my own - mostly their fault, too - and I don't need their problems weighing me down. They criticize my boyfriend, but they've got a perfect right to do that because their relationship is running so smoothly, isn't it? They tell me not to judge by appearance, but they hate someone who I really love because his hair is long. They say he's antisocial, but he's actually just very shy, and anyway they've never actually tried talking to him! If they're going to make comments about him - and his parents, too - behind his back, then I'd rather they don't have anything to do with my relationships and my love life.

I feel like the parent here today, and I shouldn't feel like that! I'm nervous about getting my GCSE results later this month, I don't particularly want to go up into Year 10 because the Options I've chosen are ones that I'm now having serious doubts about, the girls at my school want to rip me apart at any given opportunity and the school show should be a right laugh - a chance for everyone to laugh at me trying to audition, that is.

I'm not sure how any of our family are going to get on if this splitting-up thing is for real. My main worry is that Dad would do something to himself - once, after an argument, he ran off into the nearby town and we had to call the police to send out a search for him - or that Mum would become even more Depressed, and I'd never get a break from being a carer. I can't be there all the time! Dad's just stormed upstairs and slammed the door, scaring my sister half to death. I don't care anymore though. I just want him out. He thinks about himself all the time, and I've had it with him. He's not my Dad, as far as I'm concerned. I've got enough to deal with, caring for my Mum and brother and sister.

Blog The Second?

MaddiLeFrog — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:56:00 GMT

I meant to post a new one sooner, but life gets in the way. It's the summer holidays - although it definitely doesn't seem that way with all of this rain and dull skies that we've been getting! I want to get out and do something, but on the days when it's finally sunny we're off out on a long car journey to somewhere! It figures, doesn't it?

Anyway, my Mum, brother and sister went away for the night, leaving me and Dad on our own. I thought there might be a few problems, but I've loved it! Hopefully I've managed to help Mum out a bit, by tidying the house up so that she can spend this week relaxing and having fun with us, but also I'm a lot closer to Dad now! Mum's coming back anytime now, and I hope she likes the fact that I did the dishes for her and tidied my sister's bedroom!! If she doesn't appreciate it I'll be upset, but I think - and hope!!! - she will.

I've been writing a hell of a lot recently - mostly poems. I've added a new one to the thread on YC, and for once it's not a Young Carers one. I enjoy writing them, but it's nice to write about a much more relaxing subject - well, it should be.... - family!

The summer is looking up already, though. My friends are coming over soon - they live far away so I can't usually see them in the holidays -, my family are all down here....well, some of them, anyway! - and I don't have any homework! It's great!

The counselling sessions that I have have been narrowed down to once a month, and I think I'm coming up to the last one now. It's really helped me these past few months, and I really think I can take all of this that I've learnt about myself and make myself more confident, less of a target for bullies, and just generally a more happy person. I'm learning that I've got to take care of myself and not just others, because I was forgetting that I need some time too. Mum still hasn't contacted the local young carers group, and I hope they don't get too impatient. She's just really busy and quite stressed at the moment.

On a brighter note, sound out the bells for merry old England! Sorry, that's a phrase I've been using quite a lot recently. To put it more bluntly, I'm happy and I know it (clap your hands!), because my Dad gets to spend the whole summer holidays with us! He doesn't have to go back into the support bed unit until September, which means he can spend the summer holidays AND his birthday with us, AND he gets to come on holiday with us for my karaoke finals at the end of September! I'm really happy about this, and Dad seems really well at the moment. I love it when everything's like this, because it's so much fun just having the whole family united!

I've been in contact with a load of my friends this holiday, which is a difference to being totally stranded and alone this time last year. People actually know my phone number now, so they can text me to their hearts' content! One of my friends is really getting on my nerves, about some play that I was in but then got kicked out because I have to look after my Dad, and then about a film that I was going to be in before deciding that no, I couldn't really be bothered to trek down sixty miles every day this summer, and then end up in a boiling hot room full of eighty other kids. My friend is now telling everyone that I got rejected for it, when actually I turned it down. Still, no-one believes me except my real friends. I was talking to one on facebook last night and he made me feel better, which is good.

In a way, I'm looking forwards to September again - a new timetable, a new school bag (!!!!!!), and I get to spend almost every day with my friends! Also, it's the start of the Youth Theatre group again - and all of the seniors (over-11s, which includes ME!) are going to have a main part in the panto, Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates! I love pirates, so I am SOOOOOOOOO incredibly happy!

Anyway, happy summer until I can get back to write again!!! Bye!!!

Maddi

Blog The First

MaddiLeFrog — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:44:00 GMT

Well, hi! I'm not sure how to start this, because the closest I've come to blogging is writing random things on MySpace, but I guess that counts. Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is much better than where I started! Maybe a suitable way to start would be with a quick intro.

So, I'm Maddi! I'm 14, and I come from North Wales. I care for my Dad, who has Bipolar Disorder, Fibromylagia and Borderline Personality. I don't do much caring for him - my Mum is his primary carer - but I suppose I care for him by caring for my Mum when my Dad goes into the local Support Bed Unit, and caring for my brother and sister when my Mum is busy caring for my Dad. It all sounds complicated, but it isn't really. I just help out and try my hardest wherever possible.

The hard part isn't caring for my Dad, it's caring for my Mum! She's got Depression, but it doesn't show very much (or maybe I just can't remember anything different, like with my Dad). I'm used more as an emotional sounding board for when Dad goes away and she's got no-one to let her feelings out to. I also look after my little brother and sister more when Dad goes away, because Mum's hands are tied doing the work of two parents (neither of my parents can actually go out to work, because Dad's too ill and Mum is his full-time carer), helping out on the support site that they run for adults touched by Bipolar, be they family members or the actual people themselves.

Well, life can be really stressful, like when I'm really aware that I'm a young carer, but sometimes it's nice to just forget all of that and chill out on my own or with friends. I've got some really great friends at school who understand what I'm going through, and I feel that I can tell them what's going on, and they know that if anything's going on in their lives they can talk to me. I think we're all close friends because we've been through so much. My one friend's Mum tried to kill her, and the other has a Dad who is Schizophrenic and abused her mum. We can all talk about what's going on - like my one friend saying how she doesn't miss her Dad now that he's in jail, which she probably wouldn't be able to say to her Mum or someone - and I can tell them how I get angry at my Dad when he can't do the things I want him to be able to do, like come out for walks with us or go out places with us in the holidays.

I like being with my friends, because when we aren't in need of a shoulder to cry on we have the best fun ever. We all love laughing and the same music and TV shows as each other, so we never run out of things to talk about. There are differences, though, too, like religion - I'm a Spiritualist with some Wiccan views on life, and one friend is an Atheist and the other is a Christian. I think having differences makes life more interesting, because you aren't always agreeing with each other on things and there's stuff to debate about as well as agree about.

For some people, their life revolves around caring 24/7, and it shouldn't have to. Mine doesn't, I'm lucky enough that I can have things taken off my hands. I can go out with friends, I go to speak to a counsellor every so often who just chats to me about things at home and other things like school and holidays and things to look forwards to, I can go to my Youth Theatre every Saturday and take part in productions. I can do lots of things that I wouldn't even be able to do if I wasn't a young carer - I've had to grow up very fast, and I think that I'm a lot more mature because of it - and I know things that I wouldn't know if I wasn't a young carer. When faced with situations like exams that are stressing me out, I can just sit there and think, "Hey, if I can get through all of this stuff that I've had to deal with about my Dad, and if I've beaten those bullies who tried to ruin my life completely, I can do this with my eyes closed". Not many people can do that!

I've got a lot to be angry at mental illness for, but I've got a lot to thank it for too. My Mum and Dad are always there when I get home from school. They're never out at work having to do night shifts or anything. We can go on holiday without worrying about getting time of work. Not many people can do that, either!

The next blog will hopefully be a bit more cheerful, so don't worry! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy my new blog! Just to say that I'm really honoured and grateful to be given the chance, because I love writing and it offers me the chance to just inflict misery on someone else's life without actually hurting anyone because the characters are fictional! Of course, this is real life, but writing is an escape anyway. You become so deep in concentration, trying to get the words out right, that you can temporarily feel like you're writing as someone else.

Anyway, thank you, and speak to you all soon!

Maddi xxx

beth-custard cool, sad, mad, fab life! (part 4)

beth-custard — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:54:00 GMT

heyya, its me again, im a bit late in writing this blog, well no infact a lot late, so first im gonna apolagise for being soooo late, i havnt been doing much since my last blog, i did go to a butterfly and wildlife park the other week tho, that was very good, it was a really hot day, & at the park we got to feed baby owls and hold butterflys and these kind of lizzard/dragon things, & i got the pleasure of meeting a alagator, not that i stayed to chat to it for very long, im sure youll understand why!, but i think the best bit of the day, the absolutly fabuless bit that made my day soooooooooo perfect is when........wait for it........... i got to hold a barn owl and it had a poo on my mums wheelchair!! she was NOT impressed, but hten dad was even more un impressed when he had to wash it off for her beleive me my friends IT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK, other than that i havnt been uo to much really, oh im now half way through my dactor who collection, n iv finished my red dwarf collection, n hayleys nearly ready to drop her baby, if she gets any bigger than she is now she wont be able 2 fit through the door way it was my sister and brother in laws 2nd annerversary on the 13th of may and it will be hayleys 10th on the 23rd of may, shes havin a party for it actually, wich should be fun!! apart from that iv not got much else to tell you all, oh...... EXCEPT.........IM OFF TO BLACKPOOL NEXT WEEK END, im going to stay in a caravan for 8 people, im going with my mum,dad and to of my friends called lorna and sara and were going to pleasure beachan the doctor who meuseum! its gonna be sooooo cool

beth-custard cool, sad, mad, fab life! (part 3)

beth-custard — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:32:00 GMT

Some people mite say that the end of the year is boring, because there’s nothing to do and the nights are to dark, well its not boring for me, infact I considers the back end of last year to be a hive of activity, well first in September there was the end of summer ball, me and mum went with hayley and Chris, n there was lots of people there that we knew, in fact 5 of my best friends were there, and there was Christine(my French teacher and also the other bridesmaid my sis had at her wedding), it was very funny there, especially when hayley and Chris decided they didn’t want the meals they had ordered and they did infact like the look of each others meals so they changed their name tags round, Chris got a few odd looks, with his name tag saying hayley n all that, oh and then Chris played a trick on uncle Sid(who was also sat on our table) there were aftereight mints there and uncle Sid went to the loo, so Chris took Sid’s after eight mint out the rapper and put hayleys name tag in it then put it back in the same position as it was in before, uncle Sid’s face was a picture when he went to get an after eight mint and there was a piece of card init, don’t worry we did give him another one!!

The second thing that made the end of my year was…..ill give you a clue……picture Scotland in November!!! Yes we went to Glencoe(witch is in Scotland) in November, it was soooo brill, me, mum and dad went with hayley, Chris and Harry! we had a prezzie day there, n we saw fireworks, and we went up a mountain in cable cars(which was hilarious coz mums scared of heights and she doesn’t much like cable cars) and the mountains were incredibly big, no they were infact HUGE! No really I didn’t even know that mountains were sooo close to my doorstep I really didn’t believe they were in the next country to me and I really didn’t believe they were as huge as they are!! Fort William was good, I especially liked it coz I could txt my sister and my m8s there! Because we couldn’t use our mobiles where we were coz there was no signal! Oh the second best bit of the holiday was going on a ferry, it was fabulous, I so did not know that sooo many cars could fit in a ferry, seriously, we were waiting to get in and out came 3 lorry’s and a tanker! And here comes the best bit………………..wait for it…………….. We went on the ferry to get to the island of mull, witch has a place where we went on it and that place is called tobermory and that was the very place where the kids TV programme balamory was filmed so in short I want to balamory!!!!!! That was the thing that made It the best holiday like ever!!!!!

So that brings me to 2008, haven’t done much this year, gone to my sisters a couple of times, went round the castle the other week with my sister and her friends, which was very interesting, as we saw the magnacarter, which was pretty interesting!

And my FOSTER sister(not to be confused with my real one) is pregnant and we found out the other day that she’s having a girl! So I can see me getting lots of pocket money by baby sitting an changing lots of smelly nappies, GROSS arh!

So that’s it from me now, next time I do a blog ill probably have lots to talk about including my doctor who and red dwarf DVD collections, because hopefully ill have finished them by then! Lol ok then bye bye for now x x x x

beth-custards, cool,sad,mad,fab life!!!! (part 2)

beth-custard — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:49:00 GMT

You may be wondering where the name beth-custard came from well I will tell you beth is my nick name that evry 1 calles me, but custard that a funny story, well I have a cousin called david that’s 3 years older than me n when I was aboue 8 he decided that the words custard and cousin sound the same so from then he nick named me custard n I nicknamed him rhubarb (so now I call him rhubarb and him and his sisters all call me custard!)

a while after mum got her arthritis, me, mum and dad went to black pool for the weekend it was gr8 we went 2 Louis Tussaud's Waxworks (witch is a bit like madam tussaud's, but smaller) and i had my photos taken with 1) James bond 2)Marilyn Monroe 3)kiley minogue 4)a photo of me in a model corrie pub 5)Elvis 6)Madonna 7)cher 8) the queen mother 9)prince Harry and William! 10)princess Dianna and the queen! 11) William the conqueror 12) Richard the lionheart! my dad has his photo took with Clint eastwood, Elton john and he also head butted Gordon Ramsey! hahahehe!!

after that we went to the Doctor Who Museum where me and dad had our photos taken with, the cyber men and mum had hers taken with a dalek (to this day I cant work out witch one is witch) (hehe) I also got to have a snoop round in the control room of the tardis (but sadly didn’t get to fly it ) and I saw all the old costumes that the doctors used to wear and even met k9 and met this men there pretending to be one of the old doctors (Jon pertwee i think) lol! and the lights in black pool are amazing, i soooooo let my inner child came out that weekend

everybody on here will know that one of a good thing is never enough, 2 on the other hand is much much better! well I especially discovered this when i went to flamingo land and Scarborough twice! well the only time i remember going to Scarborough was when I was about 10, mum and dad had took me and Emily and Katy(the girls next-door) to the sea life centre there!

That was quite a funny story actually, I remember we were walking along the bath by the beach after, but the sea was VERY rough , and there was like the beach, and then the path( but the path was kind of above the beach) so like there was about 10m steps you had to climb up to get to the path from the beach to the path, and then there was a grass bit, where you had to climb another 10 steps to get to, well I remember being stood on the stairs between the path and the grass, n the waves were coming over the wall and onto the path (coz there’s a wall between the beach n path) anyway me, mum and Emily n Katy were all running down the stairs when the waves came over the wall, n they were landing on the 2^nd step n we were all running to that step and getting our feet wet, and dad was stood at the top of the stairs saying to us all, ‘‘your all nutters, im not joining in and im NOT getting wet’’ well a few waves after he’d said that, a really BIG wave came if was about 6ft am the least! Well it came rite up over all the steps and rite on to the grass, and it soaked us all, the looks of shock and astonishment on our faces as we all stood there soaked was priceless!!!

Anyway Id never been there after that, and in 2006 a few months after mum got poorly, my dad took me and tom and claressa (to of my best friends) to flamingo land, that was an ace day and I sooo loved being with them, and then a couple of weeks later hayley and Chris(hayley’s husband) said they were taking Harry to Scarborough and asked if I would like to come with them and so I did, it were well good, I went on a speed boat, wow speed boats feel sooooo ace! And then me and hurry went on the big wheel, and hayley went on the shake it with me and we all went on the dodgems it was an ace day and really enjoyed it! Well what a surprise got then, when last year (2007) mum and hayley had a fabulous

Idea of booking a hotel and going to flamingo land on a Saturday and then going to Scarborough on a Sunday, well I was sooooooooooooooo sooooooooooooooooo chuffed I really, really, really, really, enjoyed it!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my inner child came out then as well)

beth-custards, cool,sad,mad,fab life!!!! (part 1)

beth-custard — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:34:00 GMT

heya! im beth! (as you might have already guessed!) im 16, iv been a young carer for 2 years now (well nearly 2 years anyway) i care for my mum who has arthritis, my mum and dad split up when i was young, but i still see my dad a lot, infact they get along more now than they did when they were together (witch is a bit odd) i have a sister called Marisa (who is 28) and personally i think she’s the best sister in the world! iv always wanted a brother (but haven’t got one) well no actually that’s a lie because i adopted ewan as my brother in the chat room the other day ( and im now considering adopting Sam as my aunty!) any way back to the subject, i do have a brother-in-law called mike (who is 27), i do believe i get on rather well with mike, infact i think he’s the best brother in law in the world, but im not going to tell him that, as it is a common known fact that younger sister-in-laws do NOT admit to liking there brother-in-laws, and im sure any one with a brother-in-law would agree with me!! (and just 2 let u know im a Jehovah’s witness so if any 1 has any questions 4 me about it feel free 2 ask)!! lets see what should I talk about now??? likes and dislikes, well i like a lot of things, here are a list of them! 1)doctor who! 2)going 2 my dads flat & my sisters house! 3)being with my friends! 4) painting (and anything to do with art! 5) poems, i love writing my poems! 6) skating, im not really that good on the ice, but i must admit i am getting much better! 7)Cleethorpes kite festival, its such a grate event the kites there are huge! 8)music, listening 2 mika always makes me happy! 9) holidays, iv been on holiday 2 many places, London was a good one, but I do prefer 2 be in Scotland, gala, Glasgow ,Edinburgh etc: iv been 2 all them places, but my favourite place is Glencoe, infact id like 2 move there when im older! 10) BIG HUGS , anyone want a hug??? come 2 me!!!!!!!! things I don’t like are 1) any vegetables that aren’t green(except carrots and potatoes) 2)my dads veerry smelly feet! 3)the speed in witch my legs seem to grow hair! 4)being cold! 5) bullies! 6)lots more things ( to many to name) 7) people nagging, and one of the worst people I know for nagging is hayley, hayley came to live with us when she was younger and we sort of adopted her in a way, and we haven’t seemed to be able to get rid of her since, but oh how she nags hayley has a son called Harry, I think hed be pretty hard to get rid of as well, not that we want to ofcorse because he’s our haz! erm, more about me?? my favorite girls name is tiffany, my favorite boys name is kinloch! ( from kinlochleven in Glencoe) (ill tell u about that later in this blog)

my mums arthritis started the day after my cousins wedding, she had a bug ( or so we thought) then somehow she got from bad to worse, it went from just a normal bug to a painful joint condition! then she became bed bound, which wasn’t very pleasant at all, i had to help her walk to the loo, and nearly do everything! witch I really did NOT like (dad came 2 help me move he bed downstairs, and i slept on the floor on a bed next 2 her incase she need me in the night!, I really didn’t want to be a young carer at first, and mum didn’t want me to be one, mum wanted her freedom and I did not want the responsibility, but as time passed we got used to the fact and now were fine with it!!

A new year, A fresh Start

artygirl — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:11:00 GMT

Well everyone, happy new year! I hope you all had a happy christmas, or at least, a safe christmas. I spend the day with my family then Conor and I visited my little cousins and gave them presents- was great fun! Can't believe it's 2008, I remember being in P7 and it was coming up to the millenium, everyone thought a crazy computer virus was going to take over the world.. Haha I actually remember having this little book, it was a 'time capsule book' and you wrote all your thoughts in it about the new year and your plans for this millenium. I guess it's an old version of the blog.. unbelievably I'd probably never even been on the internet back then! How weird is that?!

I dunno about you but I think New year is a strange time of year, everyone sets themselves challenges- things like: I'm going to stop eating junk food, going to start being a nicer person, going to go to the gym etc... Suppose I said to you, right, today I want you to do nothing at all- tomorrow I want you to swim across the atlantic. It wouldn't be do-able, however, if I said to you 'tomorrow, go for a long walk and keep doing walks for the next week, then work up to a run, then start going swimming etc, you'd eventually get to the standard to complete the challenge. If you're finding it hard to stick to your resolutions, do them in bitesize chunks- otherwise you'll get overloaded.

I've decided to take my time over things for my resolution... I have a habit of doing too much and burning myself out.. I'm starting to realise the importance of some quiet time at the end of the day where I don't have to think about university, work or anything else.. You should try it, if you are like me and collapse into bed at the end of each day because you haven't taken the time to sit back and contemplate over the days happenings then give it a go :) I know you'll all be busy with school now, christmas test etc- it's not always an easy time of year, just try to stay positive, I believe in you all- anyone I've met on YC are all very talented and I have no doubt that any new member will be the same.

All that's left to say is that I'll be thinking of you all and you won't be forgotten. Have a great 2008 and hopefully I'll be in touch with you all soon! P.S: Read this poem, always remember to enjoy the happy times while they're there- you're all fantastic, everything you do- be proud of yourselves!

Slow Dance

A poem by David L Weatherford

Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Do you run through each day
on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste,
not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
to call and say "Hi"?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Allo

artygirl — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:16:00 GMT

Sorry for not writing for a while! Things have been busy with end of term projects and I was away seeing my sister at the weekend in Surrey- my little niece has gotten so big bless her! She's teething so she's biting away at everything at the mo haha

Hope all is well with you? I finish uni for christmas on friday- can't believe my first semester is over, time really does fly! I'm class rep in uni which is fun, means I get to meet lots more people and get to know the tutors better- pretty cool. I've organised for the class to go out on friday night, dancing and all that, should be fun haha even though we're all broke! We have to design 6 book jackets over chrsitmas, some with typography and others with photography/illustration/print etc... it's gonna take up so uch time but I'm kinda excited about the outcome!

Any of you guys getting up to anything exciting this christmas? Hope you'll all have a good one- as always, you deserve it! I'll spend christmas day with mum and dad, then my sister, her hubby and the baby are coming over on boxing day- soo excited! Can't wait to show her to friends,

Chat soon, Arty xox

Weekend Happenings

artygirl — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:52:00 GMT

I decided to write you all a wee entry tonight, I'm in a good mood so I thought I'd share it with you. Had a crazy day at work today but as soon as I got home it all picked up. My brother's back from London and after dinner we decided to go down to see the Christmas tree in Belfast.. My bro, mum, dad and I all headed to the market- was nice to do something fun like that as a family - it was nice having dad in town, he rarely gets to do things like that!

We went around the market stalls, looking at the christmas lights and even had some mulled wine! Lovely evening really- you should see some of the beautiful stalls, haha I was pretty amazed- there were some muffins and OH my WORD- they had thick belgian chocolate all over them with full chocolate sweets on top- unhealthy? why yes but ya know what? I think I'll buy one for the fun of it some day soon haha.

What I'm lovin about uni is the fact that you don't have to go in eeeeevvvvery day at the same time, some days I'm not in at all- or even in durin the evenings some days. Cool eh? I'll tell you something though, if you're hating the exams and stuff at the moment (which I'm sure you are!) it'll all be worth it- whether you head to uni or straight into work, I know you'll all rock the working world- honestly! It'll all be cools

Alrighty, I'm gonna go get ready for work in the morning- working in a shop at the moment, it's crazy with the run up to christmas. Hope you're all looking forward to Christmas? Not long now m'darlins!

Love yas lots like jelly tots etc

Arteh xo

University Life

artygirl — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:00:00 GMT

So, how about a bit of a low-down on uni life for me? I'm a design & visual communication student-a fancy name for me doing graphic design, advertising etc. The course is pretty tough but I'm learning a lot. The one thing that I find quite hard is organising my finances but it's very much a possibility to go to uni if you're from a low income family- or no income (like mine).

If you're worried about not being able to go to uni because of lacking money- don't worry. Generally your fees will get paid by the government. For me, my course costs over £3000 pounds per year for 3-4 years. (yes, an insane amount of money) but I got a grant which means the government pays money to me 3 times a year so that it's possible for me to pay my fees.

If you work very hard in school and make a lot of extra curricular achievements you might even get a scholarship. This is something I did get a few weeks ago, which was a lovely surprise- it means I can pay for my supplies for university myself with money from my part time job and then put my scholarship money in the bank to save up for the future! Cool eh?

If anyone has any questions about anything you want me to cover in the blog, uni related or caring related- I'm sure the YC Net team will let me know! As for the folks who know me from before I left YC Net, Hallooooo! Hope you're all well- things are going great as far as uni's concerned, meeting some really cool people. Still with conor and loved up etc <3 haha and I'm also gonna be an auntie again, my brother this time. fun!

Awlrighteh then, Seeyas soon.

T <3

Long time no see!

artygirl — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:25:00 GMT

Dear YC'ers,

It's quite exciting to be back surfing the white and green slopes of the YC NET website once again. I must say, it took me a sec to remember where I had to log in- clearly all this old age business is affecting my memory.

I'm guessing some of you are new to the site and have the burning (or mildly tingling) question: "Who's artygirl?!'. I'm 19 and I'm a girl. So, that's the gender and age issues sorted out, but why am I here? Well, my dad has MS (Multiple Sclerosis) which some of you might be all too familiar with for your liking or indeed, you might be hearing about it for the first time. In summary it's all down to his central nervous system (which is pretty important for making your body work) He can't walk very well and has lack of control over his hands and general body- especially when it's really cold.

I'm hoping that through my blog you might learn from some things I'll tell you about. Even if you just take one thing away from my blogging then that'll be me happy. I hope you're all holding up well and things aren't getting too tough for you. Remember that even when things seem daunting, you WILL get through them and you WILL come out the other side. Young carers have a few challenges to face in life that most people will never come up against, but hey, we're fighters, we can get through it and you know what? I reckon it's made me a stronger person in the long run and I'm certain it'll do the same for you as well.

Well, until tomorrow,

Artygirl

how ive dealt with the bullying

xsaucyx — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:10:00 GMT

if i'm honest i'v never really dealt witht the bullying, i've tried 2 ignore it but as life cna be very manic that didnt always work. i did on a few occasions tell teh teachers but this guy was bullying alot of people so nothing was really going to stop him and the otehrs were pretty much the same. I was lucky as for most of the bullying i did have really good friends but they did sorta just tell me 2 shrug it off which is easy said than done! i wished i had told the teachers more often now, as maybe it would have dne some good. Nothing actualyl ever got sorted out, but they just got bored i guess, and it does stil go on but not as much. People still bully me fr me and they still talk about my sister as if i'm not there but as more things have coem into my life its made me think how much i shuldn't let the bullying get to me. This guy has scard many people in our school and the other 'group' have still not yet mutared but maybe they will soon. I still get down about it and it does make school life hard but its sometihng i've got used to and for me its part of everyday life.

If any of you are being bullied, as ims rue there are, i rlei wud tell a teacher. nothing was doen in my case cuz i was shy to tell them it kept happening. Make a point of letting them see its not jst "hamrless fun" cuz bullying can get rlei serious nd its made me do a few things id wish i hadnt done.

x x x saucy x x x becci x x x x

My Tuesday 13th Nov to be read when you have lots of time!!!

X~x~Kiwi~x~X — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:28:00 GMT

Hiya Every1 on yc.net,

I thought id blog what happened on tuesday of this week as it was one hell of a day. Lots of things going on and it really was a rollercoster. So where to start begining i suppose. Please read to the end of the blog no matter how much it may/ may not bore you.

Ok the start of my Tuesday 14th November started at about 3.30am when i finally managed to get to sleep then waking up a few time and being up from 6am (im sure many of you have had nights like that before.) Anyway reasons for such a late/ early night- well i was doing the house work and washing ect and my dad isnt too great at the moment and he kept me up cuz i was worrying about him more about that later. I got my self out of my lovely warm bed at about 7am n got dressed and ready 4 school, then i had a stress on for about 20 mins rushing arround collecting all of my art work that i had left lying around, today i had an art interveiw agh i was so nervous!!! Then i sorted dads tablets out and left for school with my mum (who yes works at my school- and yes she is really my mum and yes i do get on with her [sorry comments i often have to say to other pupils there]).

When at school i put all my interveiw art work into the art room and went to the common room where i was called by my head of year to help her with her computer and then make sure she got to her meeting on time. I often have to tell her she needs to be in staff breifing ect, ect. Next was a 10 min relaxation period yeah!!!! i talked to my freinds and began to organise my birthday weekend events- like going out for a meal ect ect. However i was stressing because i thought i had left some of my art work at home- but no it was in my bag just like it always is. During form period also know as registration i spent my time in my 2nd form which is the music teacher (Hannah) helping out, making sure their planners are signed and that their uniform is correct. I love being in lessons with the lower school as you will find out in the rest of this blogg.

Period 1- I spent my time with Year 11 group E music. In this lesson we started off with a listening exercise during which i sat at the back of the room sticking photos on a big board for my art. Then i helped with compersition giving lots of ideas for lyrics with hannah (who was very ill that day and couldnt do much).

Period 2- Year 9 woop woop NOT!!!! as much as i love kids these little darlings did my head in- they are a high ability group but have already got them selves 1 whole lesson behind on lesson 2 of the topic. They were crazy- and my voice was killing by the end of the lesson. At the moment with year 9 we are teaching them how to be in a band and what pop music actually involes so they have to perform their own version of Knock Knock Knocking on Heavens Door, so myself and Hannah are teaching them chords on the keyboard, Electric Guitar and Bass gutair and the drum beat. It will sound amazin when they have all done it but the setting up and actual teaching of the chords just takes such a long time and they dont listen to what you have to tell them. With Hannah being so ill i had to try and get them to do as they were told- which after 5 mins of me stood in the middle of the room not responding and mins being added on the board they finally listened to me.

Then came break- and every year the week of children in need is known as Charity week at our school- and it is the 6th formers duty to put on a weeks worth of events all arround school. Now at break time i went arround with a bucket refusing to let other 6th formers back onto site without coffing up sum cash- whilst others went arround doing similar things- sum ppl were even busking for money (all for charity of course).

Period 3 came arround so fast it was untrue- only one lesson till my art interveiw agh agh scary stuff. Period 3 ment i actually had a real lesson- one that i was the pupil in which is unusual nowadays to be fair. Simply because in all of my free periods im in music and im helping to teach lessons. Anyway back to the subject i was in drama this lesson (sorry if i am boaring any of u but please keep reading as i want your thoughts on an issue in a bit) It was led by dave and myself as our drama teacher was doing a course work day with year 11's. Around christmas we have to put on a performance that we have devised our selves (Made up). Our chosen topic is about cosmetic surgery focusing on *** enlargements. Which sounds easy enough typed out on here but it is much much much harder than that. In the lesson we had to show a medical waiting room but we could only say one word at a time to say our whole sentance- it worked really well and we ended up adding in lots of dance.

Then came the dreaded bell to signify the end of the lesson and the beginging of the next- which just happened to be my interveiw.

Period 4- My worst nightmare had just come true, i actually had to show case my art work for so far this year. Luckly one of my freinds went first which gave me a bit of time to stick things into my sketch book that i hadnt yet managed to do. Then my turn came! I was called into the interveiw room- which just so happened to be my mothers class room so i had to chuck her out so that i could fully focus on my work- i had a few mins to set out my work so that the teacher could see all of what i have done so far (this will be added to my image cave site within the next few days and when it is i will add a link on here and on a new tread of the disscusion boards) My chosen topic is Music and sound collaberating art and music together. But basically tho i had two A01 mood boards (quadruple the size of a3 paper) 3 medium size canvases- one with a painting of my favorite peice of music by einaudi called Primavea. One with a tester of back ground and one with wax background with glue gun over the top of it. Then 70 pages of my sketch book filled, and 4 black box canvases with paintings of slinkis on them. To really get a taste of my art work please please look on the image cave site (link to be added to the blog soon). I had to talk my art teacher through what i had done so far for my project and why i had used the materials that i had- then what i wanted to do next. Now my teachers reaction on entering the room would just be filtered on this site- he was so shocked at all the work that i had put in over the weekend that he hadnt seen he swore. At the end of the interveiw he asked me what my minimum target grade was- which is an E i think. He then asked what grade do you think you are on?? To which i replyed seriously about an E. He nearly killed me- screamed at me you think this is an E an E!!!! he told me what he had given the other two girls that had been interveiwed what they had got a C+ to which i looked at my work then at him and said 'But sir i have more work than them' still thinking i was on an E. Eventually i found out that my work isnt work an e in the slightest but a very strong B, and was told that if i complete everything that i want to complete i will get an A. I was over the moon Jumping for joy- wen my mates came in with my mum, u wouldnt tell them what i had been given because i knew i had done better than one of the girls and didnt want to rub it in. Although she was fantastic and has been telling every1 to congratulate me on what i have achived so far. They were also over the moon that i got given a better grade than the girl that wants to go to art college next year and has been bragging about how she was going to get an A by the end of the year. She is now sum what dissapointed with her self and her work because it is no where near an A as it stands at the moment.

OMG IM 18!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Agh- sorry its just turned midnight while im writting this blog on thursday 15th nov 2007 and im now offically an adult- oh no i can no longer drink illegally- not that i am trying to encourage that behavoir it is simply idiotic. lol

Right sorry this is sooo long i havent even got to the reason why i was writting this blog yet- sorry i really hope ppl are still reading this as it will get even more intresting soon.

Lunch time- this had to be the 2nd best part of the day- best part being i got a B in art!! As i have already mentioned in my thousand words of blogging essay thingie lol its charity week at my school and we are organising event- tuesdays event was egg roulette- where the teachers got egged. Basically we had lots of contestants and we got the audience to bid (like an auction) to get the teacher of their choice to smash an egg on there head some were boiled and others werent, We also had cream pies thrown in the teachers faces and on their hair by bidding too- it was hillarious to see some of their reactions.

Period 5- This lesson was again me teaching well helping to any way- i took the started as Hannah looked dreadful and needed to go and get a drink. the lesson went really well and they all are in bands and are preparing to perform for january/ febuary time.

Then came the dreaded period 6 lesson- 3-4pm lucky us!! not lol. Drama- it went really well- we worked as pairs and developed a fight/ surgury / love routine which included lots of moving arround and linking jumps ect ect ect. I wish that you guys could see it because it just looks amazing. and it is so fun to do.

After this i finally got the chance to go home although i didnt actually get in till 5.15pm and then had to do a mimic of my art interveiw for my dad and sisters who hadnt seen any of my latest work either. After this i took on some of my caring role and sat and chatted to dad while the others were sorting things out and having a bath. Unfortunatly i found out what my dad was thinking and whats been going on. My dad is not good at the moment because is meds have been changed and there for he is hearing voices again- he thinks that mum is having an affair with someone- today it was suggested that it was our school head master which is basically a noo noo dont even go there job. And he is not conviced that i am his child again- which is really tough on me to be quite honest, because its my bithday today (thurs 15th nov) and it really hurts me because i dont have the dad that brought me up and the dad that celebrated my two older sisters 18th bdays properly. Its more like me bringing him up- teaching him the things that i teach my lifesaving group- about general saftey ect ect.

Next came 30 mins of oboe practice- all i could fit in before swimming then swimming- which started out fine but then all went horribly wrong for me.

So here is the story- it all started the week before for in the middle of the training session- i am a teacher to the rookies at my local lifesaving club the kids i have vary in age from about 9 to about 14. However i was in the middle of teaching when i noticed something was wrong the other side of the pool- one of the pupils in the next group up- who was an old pupil of mine had cut her foot open on the bottom of the pool- and her foot was bleeding- and i could see it from the other side of the pool- now i know this girl is a moaner but her foot was bleeding and she needed an antiseptic wipe on it. Now the girl was telling the teacher that her foot was bleeding but the liz the teacher wouldnt give her the time of day, and turned around and said something like 'Oh laura! will you stop being a silly little girl! and just get on with it. Your pathetic and i am not going to help!' When i heard this i decided it was time for someone else- that being me, to step in and do something so i went into the lifeguard office and got her an anti-septic wipe- she wanted a plaster but i refused as it wouldnt have stuck. Anyway i went back to my group and adrian one of the adults who help with the rookies said that i had done what was needed. But then this week at swimming liz asked to speak to me- which i agreed to not knowing what she was going to say. She brought up this incident from the previous week and told me how i shouldnt have done anything because la9ura is just a silly girl who is to be egnored by everyone and only wants attention. At this point i said that as a teacher- it was my duty to make sure the child was safe as she is in the care of the club at that time. I also said at how if it was a tile of the floor anything could have got into in and it could have got infected, she said that laura wanted a plaster and i should know for well that she didnt need one- so i pointed out calmly that all i did was get her a wipe to clean her cut- as health and safety regs say we have to do that. This point liz starts shouting at me and basically telling me that i was completly wrong- and that it was her group and it was her that should have been dealing with it and only her- she chose to egnor it an that was it. By this point id had enough- so stormed out saying liz im not gonna listen to this any more- id got so angry that i through my handbag and ran off out side and went on a run- i came back about 5 mins later in tears still because she had upset me so much- i had to phone one of the other members of the club to say wot had happened so that i could move on and teach like what i had gone to do. The session went really well and because it was my bday 2days later i got chucked in the pool fully clothed- luckly i did have more clothes with me- However then 2 of my 11 yr old pupils from this group came up to me and said "so what have u done wrong then kiwi- liz has told us that u have been told off for something that you have done wrong." This was it then- id had enough- she was being completly un proffesional to tell my kids this- and was stepping well out of line- however by this point it was too late to do anything really. So i went home- in tears because she had upset me so much- thing was today (wed) i was still extremly upset about it and it affected me all day- so much so that wen i came back from school i was in tears again about it- so i called my mate liza who is at the club and is also a teacher like me- but swims for the compertions instead. She told me to phone one of the adults on the committe about it and tell them what happened- they have then said that liz was completly out of line from the very first moment- and has actually put me in a situation where i should ever have to be in- as i should never be crying down the phone to another club member because someone has done something so unproffesial. Thing is now i have to phone the big boss man to tell him- and to get something done about it so that it will never happen again- anyway this is where my blog needs you help and advice- what would you do in my situation, should i leave it or get someone to confunt her about what hapened?? Who is actually in the right??

After this hecticness i went home- and tlked to my family about what had happened- watched my favorite tv show spooks whilst eating tea, then had a go at some of my caring role- so sorting out things around the house setteling dad and making drinks ect ect. But to be fair on a tuesday i dont do that much caring but do fit it in around everything else- this is only one day of my life in words and ive used over 3000 words sorry- couldnt stop writting.

So this is where my blog comes to an end- sorry it was so long but what do u think?? Does this sound anything like your day?? Please leave comments

Thanks for reading Love you all Kiwi

bullying

xsaucyx — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:49:00 GMT

i've spend alot of my school life being bullied but only now i'm starting to not cope, but take it as it comes. i've been called names and been pushed but its never gone really far luckily. people used to cal me 'fat' and 'nerdy' 'geeky' etc. it made me feel really nasty inside cuz they were judging me on the way i looked. nd at the time i jst wanted 2 make a gd impression at a new school and do wel, i didn tsee that as being geeky bt they did.

Ive also had the name ' rachels' sister put on me alot, which althugh not a form of bullying, does get anoyying as in my view they cnt b bothered to call you your own name nd cuz everyone knows im rachels sis then they jst think oh well she wnt care, bt i do. sooo fustrating.

people have bullied my isster as wel which always gt 2 me cuz she was 'different'. but its had a effect on me because theyve been talking about her and saying all the things that are naughty shes done and saying how shes rude or w.e nd i was stood right near them. they were using my sister 2 get at me as wel which i felt took it way 2 far.

*i changed my sisters name

my life as a young carer

xsaucyx — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:39:00 GMT

My parents were told my sister had downs syndrome when she was a few days old so i've never known what life is like with a 'normal' sister. But around 4 years ago more responsibility for my sister was being put on me. Its always affected me seeing my friends lives and then comparing it to mine but as time has gone on you appreciate how special they actually are. My sister is now 11 and i'm 14. She's rather clingy to me, but i love her and in my view thats the most important thing. I pick her up from her bus once a week, help her with cutting food, getting undressed/dressed, baths, washes etc, the day to day stuff. To me though, the main thing i help her with is helping other people to understand what she has said. i've watched her speech become alot clearer but it fustrates me when people can't understand her because it fustrates her. she is just coming to the age where she wants to know all about why her mum and dad aren't together and why she is going through the cahnges she is; which i hve 2 admit im finding relli hard. i always put caring for her before my school work but i have some understanding teachers which helps. My dream for my sis is that she gets a job in theatre cuz shes amazing at perfomring!

Well, thats a bit about my life as a young carer and my sister, for anti bullying week.

My manic half term

X~x~Kiwi~x~X — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:58:00 GMT

Hiya everyone,

My half term has been absolulty manic. I cant believe how much i have been doing in this past week. Dad hasn't been so great- but he's tablets for his illness have changed so hopefully that will make him better soon. Its to try and stop his shaking because they are really worried about how much he is shaking. I have had to do so much school work this week its been untrue- dont even think i have finished it all yet ahhhh. I still have got to do some art and drama- i have far to much to get done its never going to be done in time. A-Levels are really really hard, never mind though- it gets me where i want to be.

I have recently got a new oboe teacher- she is amazing- im on past grade 8 (highest grade) peices and i can actually play them its really weird. I have also been learning the basoon- its going well. Only problem is is that i have to find a bassoon so i dont have to rent it anymore.

Do any of you ever wonder what life would be if you didnt become a young carer?? As much as know being a young carer has changed my life for the better i would love to change it. Just for one day it would be nice to not have to worry about my dad- and to come home to be able to have a proppa conversation with him.

Anyway thats whats going on atm just fort id blog it,

Kiwi

The story behind the magic of Kiwi

X~x~Kiwi~x~X — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:01:00 GMT

Hiya,

Welcome to yc.net Bloggs- for those of you that dont already know me, im Ceinwen also known as Kiwi. Im 17 and i help to care for my dad who has schizophernia. Im the youngest of 3 children, my two sisters are 25 and 21. Im currently at 6th form i only take three subjects this year- I take Music, Art and Drama, all of which i love by the way.

Im really pleased that i have been asked to blog 4 yc.net- only thing is i dont know where to start. I suppose that the start is normally a good place to begin so i might try and go from there. I havent been a young carer all my life, but on the 18th August 2005 my life turned upside down. When we had been away on holiday a few days before dad had been acting weird but we just put it down to him acting up (he'd always had a slightly bazar side to him). But this was different- this was big, I was at my best mates birthday, but i didnt wanna go home something wasnt right. That night dad didnt come home- at 11pm we had a phone call from a hospital about 20-25 miles away, dad had arrived at the fire station near to where he used to work saying he needed a place to stay cuz hed lost the house and all of the family cuz he didnt make it home by five. That phone call was torcher- we all knew it was about dad but it wasnt untill the next morning at 2am when my mum came home from the hospital that we knew he hadnt been in a car accident or something. The next morning i woke up with my best mates mum in my room- mum had gone to the hospital again. For the next few months dad spent time in hospital with us visiting him every day- at the same time to set a new routine to the man who believed i wasnt his.

Then came the start of term at school, i was just going into the most important year of school- Thats when things started to hit the fan. I couldnt cope, i wasnt sleeping at home because i was so worried about dad and the pile of courework was flung at me. Lucky the teachers knew what was going on with my life so things were slightly easier for me. But then the news came that i had been dreading- Dad was coming home. I suppose i should have been excited about it- but i wasnt, i hated the idea simply because he still wasnt back to dad. It was really hard to cope with him at home because my life completly changed, i actually had to do things for myself, i learnt to cook, clean, wash, iron and all the things that all the yc's are so use to doing. But to me at this point was something i would have never dreamed of doing.

School was tough, I was sleepingin english because i was just far too tired. French i would flip at the teacher because she would say something that would irritate me. Basically i wasnt doing to well, this was ovious to my head of year who decided that to get me back on track i needed to go onto report- this actually helped me loads, because she was able to work out where i was struggling and why. as the year went on things did become easier, but my results did show that i struggle through, but i got my grades to get into 6th form and for me that was all that really mattered.

So that brings me to now. I am now a much better person thanks to being a young carer- i've grown up. Im helpful and care about those arround me- something that a few years ago i wouldnt have been. That's my story of becoming a yc. Bit long winded i know but at least you know where ive come from- and you can all know who i am before you get into my blog.

So what do you think of my very first blog? let me know

Kiwi

Ponder

carer4parents — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:34:00 GMT

Leisure and tourism has to be one of the eaisest subjects. My mate katie isnt in yet and Im here bored doing nothing. This isn going to be long because People keep looking and its my business not theres well I had my toe done yesterday and extreme agony with it now and my sister kept screaming., Yesterday I emailed my dad and I was so chuffed he emailed back striaght away!

well im gonna disaper see you all around

Abbey

xxx

Coursework+screaming sister=Major stress

carer4parents — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:58:00 GMT

Well what a wonderful title, lol Its simple equation with lots of stories behind it. Ok I knew year 11 was going to be hard but I started one piece of coursework in english and we got untill next week to finish it and Hes starting another one. Im getting so confused, well I got my minor toe operation to slice a bit of my toenail of as its in grown. Gross you probley be sitting there and thinking and its gonna be pianful so Im not looking forward to it. My best mate prefers some dude to me lol but i dont mind im glad shes happy and I keep getting phone calls of my mate Melon aka Ryan because he keeps leaning on his phone. Oh I had better explain the second part screaming sister is my eleven year old sister who allways screams at me and my parents. My older sister Gemma got thrown out a few years ago after she threatened my step mother with a knife as gemma has allways been running away and the stress got so bad i had shingles 4 times because of her. The worrying thought is that Jess is starting off excalty the same way gemma did and gemma was in and out of care three times. I told mum if she carries on Im definatly moving out next year its just the stress I got a lot on my mind as it is with my dad as its coming up to three years on the 24th of October that he told me he was moving to Austrailia. Anyway I must be going

It was nice blogging Thanks a huge Bunch YC.net and to Sam and Ewan especially

Abbey

xxxxxx

Whats the point??

carer4parents — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:52:00 GMT

Well today I wasn't in school, mum and sarah went to her nans funreal, and I been at home all day on my own. Well Sunday I spoke to my dad and he was more interested in his Goats as per usual. Monday I went to school and came home as usual oh and today well My best mate katie the big thing I have againist her is that shes allways in a mood with me like allways. She has had a go at me for nothing. I recently broke up with Stuart now my ex-boyfriend and he asked me out a few days later, then I said I think about it then two days later he asked Katie out which really did annoy me of course she said no but katie has asked Stuart to come down and stay and he sitn allowed any whgere near the house but obivously she was going to. Lol anyway this blog is short today too much typing as I got coursework

See ya around

Love

Abbey

xxxx

First blog all about me and my life in general

carer4parents — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:22:00 GMT

Right not sure where to start with this, I guess we'll start at the beginning to be honest makes sense which I dont half the time but I try to this time.

Well I'm Abbey, been 15 since august 13th which is the worlds best day lol. I care for my mum who has (wait for the long list) fibromyalgia which is a specific muscle, joint, or bone pain, fatigue, and a wide range of other symptoms had chronic pain. Next is Sjögren's symdrome it is where you lose feeling in parts of your body in my mum's case her feet and some of her legs. Mum has borderline personailty disorder aswell which means she can get extremely angry or very depressed at times. She also has asthama,high blood pressure. For thy other partner in crime my step-mum suffers from bipolar disorder which is basically a manic disorder where her feelings can change very quickly, she also has borderline personailty disorder which the pair of them together when they argue can be very difficult.

Anyway If you do chat to me on the chat excuse my really bad typing I type really fast not concerntrating especially when im in my element lol. I have got my best friend Katie who helps me through so much, its pretty funny though when she has her hour of moaning a day and then has a mood with me for laughing. I also have a little group of mates now, I never use to I got bullied so much nd allways use to lose like big groups of mates of popular people to hang with the people who didnt have any friends. I didnt like knowing other people suffered things I allways have.

Well I like Music stuff like Rammstein,MCR,All American rejects,Calvin Harris, Beatfreakz, Medic Droid, Bon jovi are all so awesome. Usual teenager a lazy butt, love sleeping in my huge double bed so comfy. Love pc and games like quake sims 2 etc etc. God this is one blog lol.

One thing you probly have to listen to me rant about my dad for those who dont know my dad moves to austrailia about 3 years ago taking with him my step sister samantha who is so aweosme and means the world to me so I have a habbit of going on about him.

Sausages,Jitterbug,hotdogs and puppies!!

helen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:29:00 GMT

hey u lot! im dedecating this blog to Jitterbug who is leaving us! just come out of chat with 100 subjects this blog could be about so this is going to be random!!

the main subjects were hotdogs, Jitterbugs leaving do, puppies and sausages!

Jitterbug said to write about sausages, well what can i say? u can have them in all sizes, jumo sausages or cocktail sausages, in bread or on its own, fried or grilled, sauce or no sauce hot or cold, veggie or meaty cooked indoors or on the bbq! ok i think thats enough about sausages!!

everyone i think is going bk to school or college this week. How was it going back to the boring place? i dont go to school i have a tutor, she came round today, BORING!! sums and algerbra, angles and pie squared = DO I CARE lol! at least i got new stationary and exercise books!

talked about puppies! i love puppies and how much cats hate me!! poppy the puppy is a great name! i would like a puppy, the nearest i get is my stuffed cuddly one!!

nice to be bloggin with you!!

talk to ya soon

helen x x x

my first ever time at being a blogger!

helen — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 13:35:00 GMT

well, here it goes! cant believe ive won the competition, i no i can have a wild imagation but didnt think mine was that good! i have never done a blog before so not sure what to write, but bear with my while i blog on and hopefully il come up with something interesting!

im a 15yr old carer who looks after my mum with a mental illness after she suffered domestic abuse from my dad. Hes now in prison for a very long time and now its me and my mum. Didnt ever think i would be a young carer, thought a young carer was someone who looked after their blind parent or deaf relative, but now i no that you can be a young carer at any time, when you least expect it and it happens to the people that you love the most. Its hard and i thought i was on my own, till i have found this site who have helped me so so so much THANK YOU

Well ive just got back from my holiday with my mum and her 2 friends, we went to gran caneria for a week to give me and my mum a break. Sun was hot and the pool was great!! spent most my time in the pool, made some friends and hung bout with them, but still could keep an eye on ma old mum!! wasnt sure how mum or me would cope being in a foreign country for the first time while she had a mental illness. Coped quite well really, she even managed going down the water slides, but her friend kinda got her bikini top twisted and flashed the whole pool, she was slightly embarrased!! lol

Now back in Sunny England freeeeezzzzzzzzzing!! skool tutor cumin 2moz :( at least il have a tan tho!! got 3 million pairs of socks on in front of the fire!!

cant wait to talk to you all again on the next chat, ive missed you all!!!!!!!

i think ive blogged on enough dont you lol

talk to you all soon

love helen xxxxxxxxx