Big Kid Time

Last weekend I had a rare treat – the chance to share two nights with just my eldest three kids. Before you jump on me, yes OF COURSE I missed my littlest two darlings. Absolutely, 100%, without a doubt – YES. But I also loved the chance to immerse myself in rare older child company … Continue reading Big Kid Time

Why Single Motherhood Wasn’t For Me

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

Early Introductions

I’ve had more time than I normally do with my Master C, who is four, over the past couple of Summer months. We have been to many playgrounds, movies and shopping centres, where he, being a very social creature, inevitably meets new ‘shriends’ (friends). What I have found incredibly interesting is observing the manner in … Continue reading Early Introductions

Sharp Reality

Students had a needle at school recently. What a production! I know they are young, I know it’s scary and I know there is the element of mass hysteria to consider. But seriously? It is a tiny little jab. A minute piercing of the outer layers of skin. So much drama. Not just from the … Continue reading Sharp Reality

Antenatal Classes

The reason I initially started writing about my sister and her wife going to antenatal classes is completely different to the story I ended up writing. That quite often happens with my blog. This time I think it was actually on purpose. Sometimes I feel like the stories I write about are too ‘heavy’. I … Continue reading Antenatal Classes

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

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’