Low

Oh man I am feeling so low right now. It has been one of those disappointing days. I have now sent in all the stuff I needed to for my application to Uni next year. I won't find out till January if I'm in, but today i thought I'd look properly into all the things I'll need to organise for the kids for next year. I had already had a brief look at before and after care and had thought that I'd be eligible for Austudy, seeing as I don't work. Well, first of all, apparently I don't qualify for Austudy, I guess a teacher's wage is so astronomical that you don't need any extra help... so somehow I have to afford books, transport, uniform and child care fees on what we make now. And speaking of child care- oh, there is no Before School Care in Wollongong. Well, there is one centre, but they don't take the kids to our school. Would be nice if that was actually said in the information book that lists all these centres, but that doesn't seem to be neccesary. Also rang After Care Centres. The fees are $14.00 per day, per child. And I'll need 4 days I think. I will get some of that back, so I may just be able to manage, because it's more or less what I pay now for preschool.

AAAAARGGGGHHHH

So right now I have no idea what to do. My only option for before school is to rely on the kindness of friends- I think I will only need 2 mornings covered. At least we fixed our home loan rate a couple of months ago, so we won't be affected by rising interest rates. It just shits me, you know? If I was a single parent who had baby after baby to different fathers, sat on my arse all day and did nothing I would be entitled to a bloody fortune in benefits! Health care card, pensions, you name it. But the people who are trying to do the right thing and retrain or return to work get nothing. Don't get me wrong, I think all stay at home parents are entitled to family assistance, we are doing a great service by being at home with our kids. But at some point I have to go back to study, you'd think the system would help you with that....