Will I ever have any space? Will I have to fight this child to sleep every night? Will he ever go to sleep? I roll over and turn my back on the tossing, turning, screeching, toddler. My eyes fall on my big boy. In his almost too small bed. Asleep. I remember when it was […]
I am Imperfectly Perfect
My fingernails are never clean. My boobs are too big. I am boringly practical and I worry too much. I tuck the flap of my belly into my jeans and try to ignore it. I have no waist, no bum and shoulders broader than most men. Sometimes I can only see my flaws. I only […]
Crocodlie Eats Giant Grasshopper.
The house was finally quiet as I walked into the bathroom to deal with the aftermath of three children all vying to look in the tiny mirror while they brush their teeth. And as I wiped the toothpaste off the basin, the wall and finally the shower screen I saw something that made me laugh. […]
Thank Goodness for Imagination.
Being woken at 5am to gale force winds, water cascading down the walls of your bathroom, water flowing in under the kitchen door, and ‘rain drops’ dripping from the corner of the kid’s room doesn’t make for a very fun start to the day. And things just went from bad to worse as the morning wore on. No electricity in parts of the house, which also means no running water. A school project to do in a week already full of extra activities. Two outfits to be purchased last minute for a violin concert and the baby’s birthday party to be cancelled. By lunch time I was on the verge of loosing it.
In the Middle of the Night
In the middle of the night I am awake. I glance at the clock; 1:36 am. The baby is crying and kicking about. I roll over and offer my breast, adding to the rod already firmly attached my back, and hope this will settle him back to sleep. It’s cold and he’s trying to do […]
Do You Pay Your Child for Chores?
Our girls are seven and a half and they LOVE money. They are so incredibly motivated by the idea of getting money and spending money. They spend hours pouring over junk mail, discussing what they would spend their money on. They spend hours counting their cash and dreaming up ways to earn more. They argue […]
Did Becoming a Parent Change You?
I can’t help but smile when she says it. “I’m not going to let having a baby change my life…” She says it with such earnest conviction, almost as if she is challenging the universe to prove her wrong. I don’t say anything. I doubt I could convince her now, even if I wanted to. […]
The Idiot Box and Us.
For a long time I’ve held the view that TV is not great for kids. I still hold that view, but lately I’ve been reassessing how TV works in our family. The nick name ‘idiot box’ well describes how I feel TV and kids generally get along. You plonk a child in front of the […]