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, but when I got out of bed and heard the rain drumming on my roof, […]
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 up with, “No! I mean the culprit. I’m the culprit.” Interesting, not just for vocabulary […]
The first hour after waking is beautiful. The nights and mornings are drawing in, so as my eyelids flutter open at 6am (no alarm clock or child required these days, strangely), I see only the crepuscular semi-haze of dawn peeking from beneath my curtains. As autumn arrives, each dawn is darker than the one before. […]
Every time I unfurl my Yoga mat or try to sit in quiet meditation it’s the same thing: cra cra cra cra craaaaaaa! While we were away on holiday, the seagulls that nest nearby welcomed a new baby. That baby is helpless and needy and EVERYWHERE. Its call is plaintive, persistent, repetitive. At 4 one […]
There’s a phrase that I often hear, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” The title of a book published in the 1990s, it’s become a sort of catch-phrase for those who want to simplify their lives and cease getting worked up about little things. Today, as I was staring into a dense hedge, I was thinking […]
“You need to get more time for yourself! You need some ‘me’ time!” I didn’t miss the irony when, earlier this week, a health care practitioner remonstrated me about the busy nature of my life, then in the next breath advised me to sign up for the extra classes he offers. Didn’t he know that […]
Overnight, five inches of snow fell. We awoke this morning to find the world clothed in white silence. Soon, we heard that the local schools were closed. We knew we were having a ‘snow day.’ We have had a wonderful day. A morning of playing in the snow, then coming inside to get back into […]
Is there such thing as a perfect parent? In my mind, I can see the sort of mother I’d love to be– fun, patient and kind. A good listener, a problem-solver, a supportive navigator for my children on the path of life. Realistically, I am often short-tempered, stressed from juggling too many things and at […]
How you think affects everything you do. I have written here before about how the mind affects our parenting and our world outlook. If we accept that the mind has a role to play in determining one’s actions, then getting in touch with the mind might just be the key to develping greater sensitivity in our parenting […]
There are certain things about motherhood that I really struggle to accept. The relentless nature of housework, the critical or patronising remarks of other people who assume that my life is one coffee morning after another, the mind-numbing nature of playground small talk and gossip… all of these make me want to put my skates on and […]
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