Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement. **Drumroll** I have a child with a mental illness. There, I said it. Good for me, right? Go me for admitting that my child has some serious issues, and I am working my ass off to get her help. In the past week, we've been to no more than 3 Psychologist appointments and I am calling to find her a child Psychiatrist today. There are so many people out there, and so many programs to get her the help she needs! Yay! Not to take the spotlight away from her, but slow down a minute. While I am happy that we will be able to get her what she needs to thrive, what about us as parents? What about her dad and I? Why aren't there more programs out there to assist parents? Don't we matter? What about her siblings? Don't they matter? This goes beyond the normal "Oh, you can get family therapy/counseling and all will be fine!" Right now, I'm glad I am not working. If I was, I would be worried right now about losing my job. As an individual, there are times right now I can barely function without bursting into tears. I have spent the past week crying, worrying, and trying to get life arranged around her needs. And you know what? I'm doing it on my own. Not to say her dad isn't helping as best he can. The best way he can right now is to go to work so that we can keep our awesome insurance. Otherwise, that $150 a session would be killing us. I have a few friends that know what is going on, and they have been supportive. "Let me know if you need anything" type thing, and I even had one who gave me her expert opinion (she's a HS teacher, and trust me, I really appreciated what she told me). Hubby's parents have been great, calling to talk and to cheer me up. I'm not speaking to mine at the moment, which wouldn't matter. They have never been supportive of the whole ADHD stuff to begin with. Breathe, mom....just breathe. To my friends and family who are supportive, THANK YOU!!! You have done more for me and little girl than you can ever know. To those of you who are otherwise, FUCK YOU!!! Yup, I said it. You have no idea what my day is like. You have no idea how hard it is sometimes watching her push her friends away. You have no idea what it's like to hear her cry because no one understands why she does what she does, and they don't want to be around her. The whole walk a mile in my shoes? Even a mile wouldn't be enough for you to get it. And to her wonderful teachers, THANK YOU and WE LOVE YOU! You have helped us finally get to a place I wanted to be years ago. Thank you for helping me push the doctors into seeing there is more there than just her being hyper.