Never did I ever imagine walking into my bathroom after being hollered at, to find a four year old standing bent over with a dirty, soiled bottom and his whole 'nether region' facing up in the air unashamedly towards me. Never did I ever imagine having conversations about making sure the skin underneath the tip of the … Continue reading Toilet Humour
Category: About My Rainbow Tribe
The Ties that Bind
Being a parent changes your perspective in ways you can’t even imagine. It’s funny how we can be so blasé about issues until they enter our direct sphere of influence. A class discussion arose recently during a History lesson with my Year 7 students. We were studying a unit on Ancient China – and as … Continue reading The Ties that Bind
Public Relations
As I’ve previously mentioned, my inclination to escape the family tradition of being a teacher was strong. I was young, as far as I knew, straight, and highly motivated at the age of seventeen. Such a different person to the near forty-year old mother of five I am now. I would still describe myself as … Continue reading Public Relations
Out of the Box
I feel like a coward. I keep teetering on the edge of ‘Coming Out’ at work, but then I keep finding that the opportunity doesn’t present itself. Even when it does, I sidestep it. I don’t think I’ve been ready. Over the last couple of weeks, however, I’ve started to feel differently. It’s coming, I … Continue reading Out of the Box
In the Blood
Five minutes back from holidays and it’s like I never had them. The bustling environment of a school is always busy and loud – the atmosphere one of excitement mixed with both a healthy dose of terror and loathing. Once I’m there, I love it. It’s just the coming back after a delightful two weeks … Continue reading In the Blood
The ‘Oven’
I’m often asked if how I feel about my eight year old Master M is any ‘different’ to how I feel about my biological kids. The answer is a resounding no. I carried him but he isn’t my child biologically. My partner at the time went through IVF and had her eggs removed, fertilised with … Continue reading The ‘Oven’
So Many Baskets
“When it comes to generating writing material, teenagers are gold. Their world is a narcissistic, anarchic, paranoid hell of anxieties and stresses about how they look; how popular they are or aren’t; and how fast or slowly, big or small their private parts are growing […] Lifts and pocket money aside, teenagers crave privacy – … Continue reading So Many Baskets
Donor ‘Siblings’
Now here is a contentious one for you... I write this entry with as much care and sensitivity as I can muster, having already experienced a taste of the polarising and colourful reactions to this ‘land mine’ of a discussion. I stumbled into this issue for the first time about fourteen years ago, completely by … Continue reading Donor ‘Siblings’
Old School
I want him to read this while he still can. For me, the most difficult aspect of coming out was realising that my life was NOT going to head in the direction I had planned. Having to justify yourself to others around you, when you yourself don’t even feel it’s OK, is really, really tough. … Continue reading Old School
Modern Family
Not everyone who wants to be a mother wants to carry a baby. For some women, that urge to physically grow another human never arrives; however the desire to be a mother does. The ‘maternal instinct’ comes in many forms, and is different for everyone. It is a spectrum – with those like me, who … Continue reading Modern Family
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