Nicki’s Story

“I was a challenging child – the one that took risks and in hindsight made some pretty terrible decisions. There were nights lost to drink, drugs and other misadventures.  I fell out with my parents all the time and never really understood why.

Now, years later, I have two children of my own and I’m starting to see that being a parent isn’t always easy. Life always seems to be too busy to do everything, so I’ve had to rely on my own parents to keep us all going.

Last year my eldest son George was struggling with school. Every morning became a battle and I would feel such a failure as he rolled over… to stay in bed… all day… again. It didn’t take long until all became too much and I gave up trying. I’d spend days in bed and just let my dad lead the way.

Home became complicated. No-one knew who was in charge and I had very different ideas about how to raise my children from my parents. Don’t get me wrong I love them both dearly but I wanted to be able to stand on my own two feet and raise my family my way. So we’d often be moving in opposite directions.

After one particular bust up we finally decided we needed help, so we went to The Door. We met Sandra, their Family Support Practitioner, she suggested we do a Triple P parenting course so we signed up.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing but eventually by the end of the eight weeks we were far more on the same page. As part of the course we learned new strategies and negotiated new boundaries. Then we started Family Face Time and worked to reestablish appropriate relationships, defining who did what: me as the parent, them as the grandparents. It’s been a long and bumpy road, but The Door hasn’t given up on us. Sandra has been amazing, making meetings happen with school and her seemingly endless compassion for our situation has been incredible.

We’ve learned to change the way we approach things with George, more informed by his experience and less about strict punishments. It’s been lots of small steps but to see him taking control of his life again and moving in the right direction is the best feeling.

While George hasn’t gone back to school yet, we are supporting him at home wiith learning-based projects, Maths and English. With Sandra’s help we are working towards what next steps will be best for us all.

I can’t thank The Door enough for all they have done and are doing to help my family. If anyone is thinking of asking for help from The Door Just do it. It’s changed our lives.”