I am in such an amazingly foul mood today. I guess its because I can't understand the lack of motivation my mother has to look after herself. Or rather the whole "can't be bothered" side of it. Plus I don't understand why my mum slags off my stepdad so much - she has the wrong impression of him - completely. I just spent a weekend with him and my sister Bex - and we had a great time! Beckys behaviour is usually completely off the rails, especially more so now shes turned 13, but this weekend - shes totally different. She gets in the shower and brushes her teeth - no fuss. She eats whats put on her plate, she doesn't complain if shes asked to make a cup of tea or wash up her breakfast bowl - and she treats everyone with genuine respect. Such a difference - cos my stepdad doesn't do nonsense.

And my mum?

Well its just chaos. She doesn't cook, she doesn't clean, she doesn't bother checking her kids are looking after themselves - well she feeds them junk 24/7 - pizza, fish & chips, chinese takeaway & kebab is usually all thats on the dinner menu. She practically lets them do anything they want, then invents rules as and when its beneficial to her. She gets them to do everything in the house, "because she has a full time job and pays all the money." Hmm, yeah, like my sisters don't go to school/college all day. Like they are old enough to pay a mortgage anyway. And what kind of stupid excuse is that? Shes a single mum, she has a job, she pays what needs to be paid - thats fucking normal in todays soceity! Come in, take your coat off, have a quick cuppa and then stick the oven on - it won't kill her, surely, to whip up a quick spaghetti bolognese or chicken stir-fry or something once in a while. Her children are still her responsibility, and theyre suffering because theyre taking on wayyyyy too much at their age.

Problem is, mum thinks shes doing it all right, and that my stepdad is doing it all wrong. And no matter how hard we try to get her to see that slagging off their dad in front of my sisters is NOT going to help them and the situation - well it doesn't work. I try to mediate between them - though I find its often pretty one sided. Mum thinks dad is always wrong and she is always right - Dad sees things from both sides, accepts he has weaknesses and actually says SORRY when he realises he's done something wrong. I guess I should have just stayed out of it, cos now mum thinks i'm taking sides and being very selfish and disrespectful to her. But I felt I had to, for my sisters sake - I will not let them suffer. I'm not taking sides, and certainly not being disrespectful in any way. I'm just trying to help. Dad isn't all that great when it comes to mum though - he acts pretty childish. He refuses to talk to her, just prefers to get a solicitor to send her threatening letters. He won't talk about her in front of me and my sisters either.

Maybe I should just bang their heads against a brick wall and see if it knocks a little sense into the pair of them.