“Just like a woman.” Someone actually said this abhorrent phrase to me this week. It’s 2016 and apparently he thought it was acceptable to make a completely sexist remark to me, right in front of my children. His shoulders shook
Just do your best
This week I have been painting fences. We share a boundary with no fewer than six neighbours, and all of those fences need a lick of paint. They have been neglected long enough; if we leave it any longer they
The Lies We Tell
On Friday morning last week, one of my children came downstairs with blue teeth. I didn’t notice but the other children clocked it in a second. “Why do you have blue teeth?” one sibling asked. “Oh, maybe because I was
The Sky’s the Limit: getting through challenging parenting moments
Over the weekend, a friend asked me what my children’s ethnic heritage is. (Answer: complicated.) When I mentioned this conversation to my six year old son, he soberly answered, “Human.” We nodded at his sagacity, but he very quickly followed
A full time job: trying to homeschool, mother & everything else
I’ve been clearing out my suits. Recently I went through our wardrobes, pulling out the things I will never wear again (neon orange sweater? Why?) or that no longer fit (goodbye Levi’s 501s; hello elasticated waists) (Sigh). I took a
Bopping to your own beat: parenting without comparison
“Wait. Am I even facing the right way now?” One of my Yoga students this week caught my eye and looked uncertain. Looking around the class, she could see that everyone else was doing something different from her, and she
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
All I did today
I have nothing to show for my day. If a manager came knocking on my door and asked to see what projects I’d completed, I’m afraid I would have to avert my eyes, create a diversion then hide under my
Wonder
We were sitting at the table crunching our cereal yesterday morning—the twelve year old, bleary in her mismatched pyjamas; the nine year old staring off into space; and the five year old—dressed in a red and blue polka-dot monster onesie,
Writing about happiness… and transformation
This week I went back to the writers group I mentioned previously. As you know, just getting out the door requires military precision. Monday is like most nights for my busy family, with the unfortunate exception that it happens to
