Parent-teacher interviews can release within a parent both searing pride and also the pit of guilt and despair. And as a mother of five in a blended family, Kellie Polaschek has had her fair share over the decades.
But the latest one, for her youngest daughter Nicola, 13, was different.
"I'd raced from work and was sitting in her English teacher's classroom. I know Nicola loves creative writing, storytelling and reading. So I was surprised by what I was met with."
The English teacher's face turned sombre. He gulped.
"I don't know if he was trying to find the words or the courage," explains Kellie.
And then the words tumbled from his mouth. "He said, 'I wanted to tell you that her stories are dark. Like really dark. She'll write about someone dying, but also how they died – and how it was cleaned up," Kellie says.
It was then she began to chuckle.
"I told him not to be concerned. That's normal for our household. That's dinner table talk," Kellie laughs.
Peer into the Polaschek household on a Sunday at dinner time and they're like any regular family. There are trays of baked veggies on the table, the 'chink' of cans opening, the warming aroma of a chicken roasting in the oven, and conversations competing over the top of each other.
But while other households may be discussing the RBA interest rate rise, their latest holiday, or what’s on their Christmas wish list, this dinner table conversation is, well... darker than most.
You see, Kellie – while raising a family, rescuing animals, being an active member of her local softball community and keeping her home tidy – is also the matriarch of a family business. Which just happens to be cleaning crime scenes, jail and rail accidents, hoarder homes, biological hazards, deceased estates and more.