Everyone has different families
Different houses, different lives
I don’t want to write about kids with everything
They buy a new pair of shoes every week
And all the food and snacks they want at lunch
The kids who have rooms that they haven’t even explored yet
They only need to ask when they want something
Because that’s what money can buy

Or the average families, the lucky kids
They aren’t rich or poor
Not spoiled or unloved
They might not have too much
But at least they don’t have too little

I’m here to talk about me, my friends, our lives, our families
We get free breakfast and lunch because our parents need the money for savings and repairs
And the food for dinner and weekends
Or we make a lunch out of our friends’ food
We wear the same jeans day after day because our laundry machine is broken
We can’t pay to fix it, we don’t have overflowing dressers full of clothes

We kids who come home to fighting
We  live in a normal house only because our grandparents are willing to give us money
We take care of ourselves and our siblings because our parents have to work
But all the time we hear the words
Failure
Disappointment
I Hate You
I Wish You’d Never Been Born

We hold on to broken furniture until it is completely beyond use
We have to go to birthday parties and see the kids get two cell phones
And know on our birthday we’ll get clothes, books, food
And be happy
We try to keep quiet about our problems
But we always listen to our friends
Because we don’t want to leave burdens on them
So we take theirs
What else is there to do

Who go to the same school as the kids who brag about Disney vacations and cruises
Five times a year
Who talk about fancy colleges
Who go new places every week
Who get presents just because

And the kids who never brag
But you know because they wear brand named clothes
And have signed books

We are the other kids
Hand me Down clothes and the boots we’ve had for five years
Because buying cheap pairs of boots whenever one wears out
Is the same as buying an expensive one that you can make last forever
We know if our grandparents pass away, we might not go to college
I plan on going to a State School, and still need a Scholarship

But we all band together, we help each other out
One day she needs food
He needs a coat
I need a pair of shoes
We all need a shoulder to cry on
We care for each other
We stick together
And we matter to each other
We are there when no one else is
We are our own family