I really like the cumulative information you’ve shown us about Jaden so far.

She watched her mom unable to afford basic necessities and they probably had to go without food some days.

Jaden experienced first-hand if she wasn’t perfect, if she had a bad dream or had any kind of problem, she was a bother and an extra source of stress for her mom who is about to break. So, she decided not to have any problems ever again. I imagine little Jaden didn’t want to be the straw that broke her mom’s back. If she dropped her bus pass in the yard, her family was so destitute and unable to get another one. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

She listened as her grandmother and mom mention her father’s side of the family wanting nothing to do with them. They are totally alone. They are on their own. There is no one coming to help them. There is no one who cares. So, Jaden needs to grow up fast and do her best to become a doctor ASAP so she can help her mom and little brother survive. She needs to be perfect because her family isn’t able to afford medical school and you can’t get many grants or scholarships if you don’t have excellent grades before college. I’m not sure what it’s like in Australia, but in America where I live you can get free money for college if you’re poor enough (I know because I got that kind of assistance lol), but it doesn’t cover everything. You need near perfect grades, extracurriculars, well-written entry essays, and putting in lots of work to fill out tons of scholarship applications to win more money for college. Having a C average wouldn’t cut it.

Jaden watched her mom struggle to get a job after being a full-time mom. She’s seen you can’t put any of the work you’ve done as a mother on any of resumes regardless of the years of sleepless nights, dedication, care, undying and unending loyalty, time management, disciplinary skills, and multitasking you need to have and develop as a mother. The reality of that would sink into me at a young age, too. This is our life as women, especially the reality of being a woman who has children. I don’t have children of my own because I listen to women who do and I’ve watched my own mother struggle alone even while married. It’s back-breaking and exhausting work. It’s the most critical job to have that gives the human race a future, but it’s taken for granted, looked down on, or assumed easy because somethingsomething “women have maternal instincts so it should come naturally easy for you” yadda yadda. I couldn’t do it. I’ve listend to and watched women, I know the reality. And I know the reality of men’s attitudes on it, so I’ve known since I was little what I’d be up against if I ever had kids.

Thanks to Jaden’s help with cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes, laundry, chores, etc. Jacob doesn’t have many cares and is free to play outside, play video games, and have parties with friends. Instead of Jacob stepping up and asking if he can help, he lets Jaden do all the household chores on top of her own schoolwork and helping Jacob with his own. Jaden’s too busy to have a birthday party of her own, even. It makes me wonder with all the work and studying she’s doing while turning down other kids to play, does Jaden even have any friends? I feel sad thinking about it.

As someone who would have died if I were to ever get a C in school, I feel like it’s kind for Jaden’s mom to celebrate both straight As and average grades, too. It’s kind to tell people you don’t have to be perfect and being a C student or mediocre at stuff is okay. But many of us don’t have the luxury to think that way. Jaden and her mom is working hard for Jacob to be able to relax and have that luxury.

All that, cumulatively with other scenes, the unfairness of it all shines through. Jaden’s straight As isn’t celebrated as anything exceptional or special. It’s celebrated the same as a C average regardless of how much more work Jaden is doing. I get the feeling everything Jaden does, every time she’s stepped up and gone above and beyond, it’s just expected now.

The same thing with Jacob innocently telling Jaden she’s good at explaining things so she should “just be a teacher.” On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that statement, but anything other than surface-level, it shows Jacob’s total ignorance of what is going on with his family. He has no idea why Jaden is studying so hard to become a doctor. He has no idea about Jaden’s childhood trauma. He has no idea about the money problems his family has and how and why Jaden is doing what she’s doing to help them. To help him. Part of me thinks, “And why would he know if no one tells him?” but when you see everyone working hard around you, wouldn’t you offer to help? I remember asking mom as a 5 year old if I could help her with the dishes when I watched her do them. Kids want to help even if they’re too small to reach the sink! But I haven’t seen any panels of Jacob wanting to help around the house?

All this comes with the message: Jacob is sheltered and Jaden has had a lot of pressure on her since little. If I grew up with my mom yelling at me and I watched her fall apart under the pressure of being a single mom, I’d be hypervigilant about making her life easier, too. And if my mom cried in happiness while hugging me when I told her I’d be a doctor and make a lot of money for her and for Jacob, I’d be stuck for decades on that path in life, too. The pressure of disappointing family is intense…

To make it worse, Jaden has been watching her grandmother deteriorate. Jaden watched her mother not able to survive without her grandmother helping. Soon after, Nana is forgetting things and Jaden is starting to look after Nana, too.

All the while, Jaden is such a good daughter and sister?? Even with all this pressure and the unfair dynamics, I don’t see her complaining!