A Quest to Discover the Woman Within
Little Man: Where did I come from, Mummy? Gulp. This conversation had been threatening to ambush me for weeks. I could feel it. This was my moment and I had only one chance not to stuff it up. I remembered the advice I’d been given by a much wiser mum-friend to give just… Read More
Dear parents of “The Bully”, Let me start by saying, you seem like really lovely people. This makes me feel a little awkward because if I wasn’t writing this letter to you, I’d probably be trying to befriend you. How do I put this? I suppose I’ll just come out with it – your child… Read More
Today, someone said to me , “You’re always smiling, always so happy.” She went on to imply that if only she had a life as perfect as mine, she would also be happy all the time. It got me thinking. I really don’t think I have more reasons than the next person to be smiling… Read More
“You suck!” Are you aware that you tell your kids this all the time? I did once. I would tell them, “You’re fat, unattractive, unloveable. You are not good enough. I wish you looked like that prettier person over there.” Shocked? I’ll bet that you do the same. Every day. And you don’t even know… Read More
Today was the day your moment of truth. You’ve been waiting and hoping to lose this loose tooth. You could hardly believe it, you cried (with joy…) you danced round the garden screaming “Oh boy!” In front of the mirror you examined your teeth, some gaps on the top and some underneath. And then you… Read More
The number one reason I yell at my kids is mess. They generate mess at a fascinating rate and it infuriates me. I seem to spend all day, every day cleaning up after them. Today, I paused. I looked around with a fresh eye, and for a minute I didn’t see the mess at all. I… Read More
Dear Mom, I realise more and more that I am the Mum I am because of the mother you were. Here are some of the valuable lessons you’ve taught me along the way. From the time I was born, magic existed in my life. It was first revealed to me when you magically appeared from… Read More
Baby G: Mum, wake up! Me: (incoherent grumbling) Baby G: pleeeeease! Me: grumble grumble….sun is still sleeping….grumble grumble. Baby G: C’mon mummy! Lets snuggle and wake up the sun togevuh! Best invitation ever. We snuggled, drank OJ and with one squinty eye open, I watched the sun ‘wake up’ with my little princess’ hand wrapped… Read More
After 21 months of pregnancy (collectively…although each one did feel approximately that long), haemorrhoids, nausea, varicose veins, false labour (doesn’t get more fun than that), real labour (a whole other post), cracked nipples, repeated public boob exposures and The Battle With The Scale, there is a bright and magnificent light. There is! It makes all… Read More
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been administratively challenged/off with the fairies/ditzy. I’ve had a diary in my bag, on my phone, on my fridge. I’ve had post-it notes flapping off door frames, my computer screen, my forehead. I’ve set reminders and alarms. And I have consistently forgotten my best friend’s birthday, lunch… Read More
Today, I needed Baby G to sleep. I had a lot of work to do and not much time. We spent the morning doing ‘special girl stuff’ like ballet and playing princesses with her best little friend EVER in the whole wide world, we ate lunch and I popped her into bed for a nap… Read More
This morning Miss M came to me, as she does every morning, and asked me to check to see if any of her teeth are wobbly. You see – for the last 18 months she has been watching all her friends begin to lose teeth and get visited by the tooth fairy but her teeth… Read More
Today I decided in a crazy ‘carpe diem’ moment that I was going to surprise the kids after school by declaring war on homework, chores and responsibility and taking them to the beach to play and swim and make sandcastles and then get fish and chips for dinner. Of course this was naive. I’d… Read More