Q. How are you managing with Christmas preparations?
I feel this year is harder than any other. I can see the rise in gas and electric prices and I can feel the pinch in my purse due to rises in food costs. I am feeling a bit low and depressed at present as I feel poor now. As an ex teacher it is hard to swallow all these feelings. I feel like I can’t provide for my children. What government willingly plummets thousands of families into immense poverty overnight and during the worst times in our lives - during the pandemic? It’s been a hard few years. I came out of teaching to deal with family court so my mental health is already suffering tremendously and now financially I feel at strife. I’ve had to ask for food help and help with Christmas. I don’t have a family who can support me in this way. I am having to rely on very good friends. Although I have one child who believes in Santa I also have a 12 year old girl who is on the cusp of teenagehood but she is still only a child. The pressures of her friends getting the latest technology or the latest iPhone and the best, top quality make up and £75 perfume - it’s hard to watch her world crumble around her. Even if I had that kind of money I don’t think I would spend that much on a simple perfume. I’ve had sleepless night including last night and I look haggard as I’m worried about what Christmas will bring. On Dec 23rd Last year I caught COVID and for the first time in my children’s lives I didn’t have them for Christmas and now the threat of this new variant terrifies me and I hope that I get the Christmas I didn’t have last year this year.
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