Miss L, our 21 month old, has taken on a new set of behaviours lately. It has become most obvious in terms of her new bedtime antics. For a week or two now, our darling (said through clenched teeth) has caused us no end of frustration in her reluctance to go to sleep. Initially we thought it was the … Continue reading Terrible Twos: A Sign Of What Lies Ahead?
There is a new development in our house…Master Z has a girlfriend. And not just a ‘Will you go out with me?’, then five seconds later ‘You are dropped’ type of girlfriend. This one seems genuine. They chat all the time on the phone and via social media, and have spent quite a few occasions … Continue reading A New Development In Our House
I met Lisa when I was three months pregnant with Master C. He was to be my final child: the one I intended on raising completely on my own. Years of co-parenting my older three kids had worn me down emotionally, and I was determined not to have to share this little one with anyone. … Continue reading Why Single Motherhood Wasn’t For Me
There are those who go about life with care and caution: considering all the options, weighing up the pros and cons, and making careful, rational decisions. So organised, considered and correct. Like the main character, Macon, from Anne Tyler’s An Accidental Tourist, these folk plan out every inch of their existence, and usually even possess … Continue reading One Hit Wonder
Our youth tend to get a bad rap at times. I read recently about how the dreaded ‘Helicopter Parents’ - who swoop in at the first sign of trouble - have been usurped by new variety of overbearing Parentals known as the ‘Lawn Mower Parents’. These ‘Lawn Mower Parents’ are the parents who actually go … Continue reading It’s Not All Bad
I have spent years feeling guilty. Guilty for making my eldest three children live two distinct lives, at two different houses. Guilty that they have to traipse themselves and all their belongings between the two places, and negotiate with two sets of parents all the rules and regulations at each location. Guilty that nothing is … Continue reading The Positive Side To Having Two Houses
How do you make sense of such a tragic, senseless event? How do you explain it to kids? How do you explain that it was an Australian, one of our own, responsible for killing so many innocent victims, in such a callous and heinous manner? The events in Christchurch in the wake of the terrorist … Continue reading Christchurch
I can still remember the smell of the University classrooms even now. So different to those from my school. The musty, old and dated carpet and the ancient desks and chairs that filled classrooms that seemed to magically appear behind the closed doors along the never-ending corridors. It was completely different from the spacious hallways … Continue reading A Whole New World Part 2
Sometimes all it takes is a song – one that you haven’t heard for years – and you are instantly transported back to a distinct time or place in your life. Hoodoo Gurus songs were the soundtrack of my first year at University. I was a very young, nervous, apparently "straight" and naïve seventeen year … Continue reading A Whole New World
A colleague of mine from work was on sick leave recently. The staff notices just said ‘Sick – Family Responsibility’ so naturally we were not overly concerned. He is a father of six so we simply figured that one of the kids must have been ill. After a week, we started to ask questions. No … Continue reading Family Planning
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