About two weeks ago I coined the term “Yogapocalypse.” It had been such a lovely evening: one of those sunny, quiet nights when the blackbirds’ throats are swollen with song, the grasses sway like an ebbing tide and jasmine wantonly
Different children, different people: balancing different children’s temperaments and interests
There was a moment yesterday when my daughter slumped her shoulders, dragged her arms and lay her head on my shoulder saying, “This is boooooring. When can we go?” Meanwhile my son was energetically leaping, gazelle-like, through a wildflower meadow,
You’ve got to get your eye in
Regular readers and Twitter followers will be well aware of my youngest child’s love affair with things that crawl. He is particularly enamoured of insects, but he simply needs to be outdoors, so he’s happy to watch birds, hunt for
Beach Walk with a Four Year Old
In my bag I always carry a journal, a pen, some bite and sting cream and a specimen pot. Yes, a specimen pot. Like the ones you get at the doctor’s office for a urine sample (not the ones with
Looking for what you want to see
My four year old son has an uncanny knack for finding insects. Everywhere he goes, he finds little animals, or evidence of them, including munched leaves or nearly-microscopic eggs, and less salubrious things like poo or molts. Even today as
The last sip of coffee
Like most writers, I write an awful lot more than I publish. I have several journals on the go: one for evening gratitudes, one for daily writing and two related to home educating my children. Although this blog has been
Freedom to be Myself
Having a snail crawl across my arm does not feature strongly on my bucket list. But my four year old son delights in it. Picking up insects and carrying them around is not what floats my boat. But gosh, my
Little reminders: compassion, learning and connection
Sometimes it takes little reminders to see things through my children’s eyes. I’ll be going along with my day, working with them on their maths problems, supporting them in their projects, telling them how to spell ‘Wednesday’ properly, making family
Mothermorphosis
“Hey, are you going to reunion this year?” A message from my childhood friend caught me by surprise. Apparently it has been 20 years since we graduated from high school and the reunion is in July. I have never been
Make a wish
Linking up with Amanda at Habit of Being – November prompt-a-day 29 November’s prompt My eldest child is a maker. An idea possesses her, and with a single-mindedness I can only admire, she decides what she is going to create, and she
