Poet's not doing so well raising small children (8)
I believe the answer is:
schiller
'poet's' is the definition.
(I have seen 'German poet' mean 'schiller' so perhaps 'poet' could also mean 'schiller')
'not doing so well raising small children' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is present in the answer.
'children' could be 'ch' (genealogical abbreviation) and 'ch' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'iller' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for schiller that I've seen before include "German poet, dramatist; William Tell, Maria Stuart" , "Author of Ode to Joy" , "German dramatist (Maria Stuart, Wallenstein etc.)" , "German author" , "German poet and playwright" .)