Sorry to bug you I am having a really tough night

[grantcart]

6. Stay strong.

"I will not be able to do anything for my kids".

You are doing a lot for your kids. You are showing them grace under pressure.

A decade ago we lost everything and were reduced to sleeping bags living in a house where we exchanged 6 months rent for painting and fixing up the house before a sale. At a family dinner somebody suggested that we go on welfare and my daughters laughed out loud. When they asked what was so funny the older one said "well you think things are desperate and Dad thinks we are on an extended camping trip he's no where close to going on welfare, when you see him doing dishes at a Chinese restaurant then you know he is getting close to going on welfare".

So they have had hard times but they are now both doing very very well.

Think of it as an opportunity to show your children how to handle hard times.

A couple of tips.

When you see something that you need to get something done, don't be afraid to ask for help.

I went a mechanic at one point and said "I need your help. I need to get my car fixed so that I can get to a new job. Do you have some paperwork or anything else I can help you with that would make it possible to help me?" He didn't but his brother had a house he wanted to sell but it need plastering and painting, so we stayed rent free for 6 months and worked on the house in exchange for rent".

Think out of the box.

We couldn't watch TV but we could listen to one station on the radio. So we would have Jeopardy contests together. I would make up silly answers just to get everyone laughing.

If you think Wheel of Fortune is hard on TV, try doing it by listening to the radio and not knowing where the 2 Ts and 1 Rs are.

I got a good job but instead of getting a better living condition we sent our oldest to an expensive private school. She was getting lost in the bigger system schools and sending her to the smaller school allowed her to blossom. You know those arguments that every teenager has with their parents? We never had any because she saw the whole family sleeping on the floor so she could go to this school.

I know how it feels and you are 100% justified in feeling the way you do. I really sense from your post that you can handle this. You will still have long periods of depression, I did, but try and step out and see if you can find some way to look at the possibilities from another angle. Give the 17 year old the pair of sizzors and tell her/him to make Dad look great.

Stay strong you have a great deal to offer, you will do this, your children will remember it for the rest of their lives and it will be something that will help them in their hard times, stay strong. You can do it.