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I’m Sorry, Employers, But Resumes Don’t Tell The Whole Story
I’ve slipped off the wagon over the past few weeks and put my helicopter costume back on to help Kurt search for work, because unless the old man and I can both agree that we don’t need cereal in our life, ever again, we need to get the boy out of the house and into…
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When You Use Your Age As An Excuse Not To Chase Your Dreams
I went to a workshop on freelance writing on Saturday. Pursuing the dream, seizing the day, there are a number of clichés I could come up with to describe my final charge into a job that I love. I learned that journalism is not for the faint-hearted these days, with cutbacks and job losses and a…
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The Perils Of Letting Your Kids Go
Life definitely gets easier as your children grow up. You get to sleep again, go out again, enjoy free time again, but letting them go also has its drawbacks. When you release them from the nest and the clutches of your taloned feet, it means that they are free to make their own decisions, and sadly,…
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A (Sort of) Birth Story For Easter
I’ve been caught up in between worlds these last few weeks – the worlds of back pain, Easter chocolate and that of my characters, as I put my final touches to my manuscript. I’m not the best multi-tasker, so I find it difficult to tackle other writing projects when I’m so invested in these four…
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I Hope I Go Doing Something I Love
Laeticia Brouwer, a seventeen-year-old surfer lost her life to a shark yesterday, and shortly afterwards her devastated parents were forced to give the press their thoughts about her life – presumably, so they’d leave them alone to begin the grieving process. ‘She died doing what she loved,’ is a comment we hear often after these…
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The Problem With Inviting People Over Is Then You Have To Clean The House
We had the surrogate family over for Easter lunch yesterday; no pressure really but it meant that my slovenly attitude to housework was at risk of exposure and that the dust on the floors may need more than a gentle push under the sofas. It’s funny how that works: how you can live in denial…
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When It’s Time To Motivate Your ADHD Child, No Matter What The Psychs Say
One of the reasons I gave up my day job recently was to motivate Kurt to get back on track with his life. He’s had a difficult transition over the past two years since he left school and has suffered periods of depression and self-doubt at times, countered at other times by the ADHDer’s insatiable…
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Graduation Photo Smugness and The Sacrifice of Parenting
The big day came and went last Friday when NC graduated from her university with her degree in Advanced Science. Three years of hard work for her and eighteen years of hard work for us culminated in an hour-long ceremony. The Dean reminded his graduates to go and do what they feel passionate about –…
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I Can’t Do It All
It was with a heavy heart that I closed the final chapter on my day job today, in pursuit of fulfilling some dreams and kicking some goals before it’s too late. I’ve loved my job and at the end of my last ever face-to-face meeting with a client today, for a brief moment “doubt” stepped…
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Why Is My Hair Thinning In Middle Age?
One of the greatest challenges in a woman’s life – apart from men – is to find the right hairdresser – someone who truly understands the fickleness of female hair. Once you discover your hairdresser, a bond of trust is formed that can be almost (if not more) precious than those you share with the…
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Change, Anxiety and Crazy AF Dreams
There are some exciting changes coming up in my life in the near future. Or at least I’m pretending to myself that they are wildly exciting even though inside my organs feel as though they’re dissolving in acid, something that happens each time I go through such changes and my anxiety goes into overdrive. The…
LOUISA SIMMONDS 