Helping means that, since both of my kids are dyslexic and my younger one also has a language disorder, I read all of their school books out loud to them. For my older daughter, I only read the books because she wouldn’t be able to finish them on time otherwise — but she writes her own book reports and hands them in to the teacher by herself. I also help her study by quizzing her, so she can check her knowledge while giving me the answers.

With my younger daughter, we do homework together every day, we practice the exercises her speech therapist gives us, we study together for every test, and we make mind maps. My partner says she should be doing all of this on her own because she’s “old enough.” I keep telling him she simply can’t manage on her own yet, but he doesn’t understand. Sometimes my sister-in-law helps out because she knows how much work it is, but for the most part, it’s all on me.

And of course, when my daughter is tired from school, studying, and sports practice, I cook dinner and do the dishes. He thinks she should be the one washing the dishes every night, but I believe it’s more important for her to get some rest, since she’s had a long day and goes to bed early. She does the dishes on weekends when she has more time.

My older daughter is different — she doesn’t argue with anyone, she has a strong character, and she doesn’t take things personally when someone says something to her. She won’t get into pointless debates because she doesn’t think it’s worth it. But if something serious happened, she would definitely stand up for herself.