It is, however, not all bad. Kathy, for example, learned a great deal from parenting her siblings. When it was time to have her own daughter, she had already gotten familiar with parenting and knew much more than the average first-time parents would. Also, when her siblings had their own children she received the joy of becoming a pseudo-grandparent. The trials of raising her brothers and sister had yielded a triumph in life by watching them have children of their own. It is joys like these that have helped Ms. Borkowski deal with difficult situations like the passing of her parents, and even the death of one of her brothers to leukemia. Life is not an easy road, however, people like Kathy are proof that strength is in everyone.
Dr. Vicki stated that it is important for children who raise their siblings to find a support group. If the extended family can help that is great, if not, they can find help in their new peers that may have similar life experiences.
Raising children is no walk in the park and youth that step up to take care of their brothers and sisters need assistance more than anyone else. People today have to be more intuitive and resourceful. If you do not immediately see a solution to a problem it does not hurt to look online. For example, a common problem that some people encounter today might be that the child that you are parenting plays too many video games. Dr. Vicki actually has a solution for this in an article that provides techniques to help redirect and engage the child. To achieve a favorable outcome you have to limit their game play time so that the child can actually make time to do homework, play outside, socialize with friends and family. Today, no one is alone, the internet has connected the world and even if you do not have a smartphone there are libraries where you can access computers and books for valuable information.