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In some good news, my niece - the one who was hospitalised for some months last year with an eating disorder - is starting to make progress. The idea has been to gradually get her to eat more of everything on her plate, so that if she eats x number of peas, half a potato, half a carrot and some meat she's able to leave the table and have a reward of some kind such as dessert or a little more TV before bed. If she doesn't do it, she's asked to leave the table and spend some time in a designated room with no toys as punishment.
It's finally showing pay-off. She's gone up a size in clothing, so she's now a girl's four in underwear instead of a size two (yes, children's clothing sizes are roughly done based on age, and yes, we are talking about a nine-year-old here), and she's wearing size six to eight clothes more generally. This is a Good Thing, and I'm trying my best to view it for the value it gives her rather than worrying about the fact that she hasn't been getting the counselling she needs for the underlying problems because of all the moving around Sarah's done. The psychological-fu is inevitably going to take longer to deal with anyway, and at least getting the physical stuff under control means her development won't be as delayed.
In not-so-good news, my sister went for a part time job as a carer for people with disabilities, which she got. Yay her. She then went to Centrestink to see how this would affect the benefits she and her partner receive only to find that they'd be $450 a fortnight worse off if she took the job. Her partner is working two jobs already, and they're only a couple of years off the point where the government will be forcing Sarah to look for part time work anyway; under new Australian government policy that happens when the youngest child is in school.
Mum's suggested to her that she uses her time to get some training in an area of her choosing, which is a good suggestion. She doesn't even have her School Certificate (Year 10 qualifications), so most of the jobs she'd be going for which aren't manual labour are jobs usually given to fifteen year olds fresh out of school and employable at the cheapest possible wage. I might also suggest voluntary work to her the next time we talk. Still, it's a sucky situation for her - she's eager to do some work but she's better off financially if she doesn't bother.
As Mum would say (sarcastically): Thank you, Mr. Howard.
It's finally showing pay-off. She's gone up a size in clothing, so she's now a girl's four in underwear instead of a size two (yes, children's clothing sizes are roughly done based on age, and yes, we are talking about a nine-year-old here), and she's wearing size six to eight clothes more generally. This is a Good Thing, and I'm trying my best to view it for the value it gives her rather than worrying about the fact that she hasn't been getting the counselling she needs for the underlying problems because of all the moving around Sarah's done. The psychological-fu is inevitably going to take longer to deal with anyway, and at least getting the physical stuff under control means her development won't be as delayed.
In not-so-good news, my sister went for a part time job as a carer for people with disabilities, which she got. Yay her. She then went to Centrestink to see how this would affect the benefits she and her partner receive only to find that they'd be $450 a fortnight worse off if she took the job. Her partner is working two jobs already, and they're only a couple of years off the point where the government will be forcing Sarah to look for part time work anyway; under new Australian government policy that happens when the youngest child is in school.
Mum's suggested to her that she uses her time to get some training in an area of her choosing, which is a good suggestion. She doesn't even have her School Certificate (Year 10 qualifications), so most of the jobs she'd be going for which aren't manual labour are jobs usually given to fifteen year olds fresh out of school and employable at the cheapest possible wage. I might also suggest voluntary work to her the next time we talk. Still, it's a sucky situation for her - she's eager to do some work but she's better off financially if she doesn't bother.
As Mum would say (sarcastically): Thank you, Mr. Howard.
