Last week, I posted a Letter to My Children About Fifty Shades of Grey. Within hours it went viral – I’m talking millions of views and comments and shares – and BOY did people have strong views. Yesterday, I was contacted by a CNN Headline News producer and asked to appear, via Skype call, on… Read More
A Letter to my Children About Fifty Shades of Grey
My precious children, Tonight, I succumbed to peer pressure (exactly what I caution you NEVER to do) and went with a bunch of girlfriends to see Fifty Shades of Grey. I ignored the little voice in my head that implored me to just say “no!” because, after all, it’s just a silly movie, right? Well,… Read More
Insensitive Things That People Say When You Have an Invisible Condition
Yesterday, I saw a woman at the grocery store. She was in a wheelchair and was struggling to manoeuvre around and between other shoppers but, with a smile on her face, she got on with her shopping. Every now and then, she would ask for assistance from a fellow shopper when something was out of… Read More
A letter to YOU.
Hey, you! (Yes, YOU.) I see you, you know. I see you in those moments when you think nobody’s looking, those moments when you’re not sucking in your tummy, when you’re yelling at your kids, when you’re serving McDonalds for dinner because you’re too tired to manage anything else. I see your panic when you… Read More
Six Lessons I Learned from Nelson Mandela
Today’s post is syndicated at Bonbon Break – a stunning portal to the internet’s best blogs and fast becoming a second home to me. I hope you’ll take the time to click over and read about my childhood in Apartheid South Africa, my family’s struggle to fight the system and my tribute to Nelson Mandela…. Read More
Myth of the perfect mother.
This morning, the most beautiful picture found its way on to my Facebook newsfeed. It made me smile. It grounded me. It made me proud to be privileged enough to be called “Mum”. Here it is: I was all loved up and happy until I read the horrific caption that went with it: “This picture… Read More
Enough Mylie!
If you were an alien visiting the Earth and found yourself in a Western country this past week, you’d have learnt the following things about the People Of Earth: ONE: Miley Cyrus is Very Important and has magic powers. With a few shakes of her rear (accompanied by an unnaturally long extension of her tongue), this… Read More
Is that your baggage?
I couldn’t believe I was finally here. After a whirlwind six weeks of pre-cooking meals, re-organising of karate/dancing/footy schedules and some serious yanking up of my big girl knickers, I was finally standing at the Qantas check-in counter at the airport. Brand-new red conference handbag slung (so fashionably, people were fainting left and right) over… Read More
A letter to a little boy in a scary world.
In a world that seems increasingly discriminatory based on religion and race, I have some words for the little boys of the world.
I can’t help but feel sick that we live in a world where race is still an issue, where religion is an issue, where sexual-orientation is still an issue. What a world for our kids to grow up in. All I can offer is this: A letter to that little brown boy. A letter to… Read More
You are a shit-head.
“Daniel called me an S-WORD HEAD!” (She actually said “S-word” head because she could NOT bring herself to say, ‘shit’.) Miss M was six years old. She came running to me after school, upset because someone had used *gasp* the S-word. She was horrified and devastated that a child could use THAT word. It was… Read More
Parenting. Like a Ninja.
Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. Yes….and no. I have tried to raise my kids with good manners, compassion, respect for other people’s property, the ability to share and a sense of kindness for everyone around them. I thought I was doing the right thing. I wasn’t wrong. If we lived… Read More
The Test.
Today’s post is prompted by a writing challenge. It spoke to me. I’d love to hear about your thoughts on this challenge. You have the choice to erase one incident from your past, as though it never happened. What would you erase and why? The Test It was 1986, a temperate Summer’s day in Johannesburg,… Read More
I’m Not The Favourite.
Today’s post is a MOMfession by Tracy @ Momaical Blog. What’s the MOMfessional? It’s a place where Parenting Bloggers can come to write about something that they usually keep hidden. It’s a place where we let our skeletons out of the closet and let ’em dance! Welcome to the MOMfessional – a space where other parenting… Read More
I met a troll.
When I was a little girl, my mother would read stories to me about nasty, evil little trolls hiding under bridges, with the sole purpose of disrupting the day of innocent passers-by and causing undue stress and misery. When I grew up, however, unlike other mythical creatures, trolls didn’t disappear into the category of imaginary… Read More