MY ELDEST DAUGHTER is sitting the Junior Cert this June, which I was surprised to find is actually a fully hands-on-for-all-the-family, never-ending kind of event.

She will only study in the kitchen, likely because it’s the busiest room in the house, and she can have a little chat with anyone who comes in to make tea.

Our pet bunny has also taken up residence at her feet in a selfless act of solidarity, mostly due to the constant supply of fruit that she shares with him, but also, we think, a deep love of the Modh Coinniollach.

I haven’t seen the surface of the kitchen table since September, as it is buried under all of her books and papers, and yet I am already low-key dreading the first day this Summer when I go into the kitchen, and she isn’t there, waiting for a chat.

I’m not entirely sure what the ratio of chat to study is, and honestly, at this point, I am afraid to ask. She is, by far, the most competitive person I have ever met and started the year strong with study, but the stress is working against her now as we edge closer, and she feels an insurmountable climb ahead of her, along with the crushing weight of her own expectations.

A pet rabbit is doing well out of the Junior Cert. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The more the work builds, the harder it is to get going, and I don’t want to add to her stress by arguing with her over studying. The whole house is a pressure cooker, and her little sister got the brunt of it over the weekend for borrowing a moisturiser without asking and is now down one entire hinge on her bedroom door.

Advertisement

I know that she will do fine in the exams, and also that she has done her best, but after 15 years of researching everything at every stage along the way, from colic, to sleep hygiene, or enriching after school........

© TheJournal