It’s been on my radar screen for a while to take the children to the zoo. Something of a tradition at this time of year, I’d been waiting for a free day. Tuesday this week was the day I’d earmarked,
Secret pain, compassion & connection
I saw a friend this week who has had a particularly difficult five or six years, struggling with mental health challenges, the dissolution of her marriage, and the subsequent fight for access to her children. Of course, if you’d been
Just like a teenager: embracing language that connects
“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
“When I was your age…” — connecting with our children through empathic memory
I promise, I’m really not a bad cook. In fact, I love cooking. For the past two weeks I have been clearing out old copies of a cookery magazine, which I have been collecting for 17 years. Yes, seventeen. (The
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
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
Gliding through the sky: parenting now-ness & perspective
“Kee!” I heard it, thought: “buzzard,” and accordingly lifted my head to see it. There it was: a tail like a tomahawk, light patches on the undersides of its broad wings. Gliding through the cloudless sky in the way
Questions and Answers
This piece was originally published in the LLLGB Members’ Magazine, Breastfeeding Matters, for which I have been writing a bi-monthly column since 2008. To find out more about how to receive this magazine, click here. “So how long are you
On friendship
Part of the problem with becoming a new mother was that I didn’t have any friends. That’s not to say that I was Billy No-Mates. I had many friends, but they were either at work or at my old University or
Seeing and being seen
Shortly after I had my first baby a friend from work visited me. She spent plenty of time cooing over the new baby, but she got right to the heart of the matter when she asked, “So, how’s it going?
