Category: Motherhood
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Graduating With Your Child
Thank you to Em Rusciano for the inspiration for this post. See the video on my Facebook page about her being a NEXT LEVEL, FORMAL MUM on 2Day FM. You see, there can be no better prize as a parent than those academic award days when your child’s achievement is unveiled publicly and you can…
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My Son Has Never Read A Book
To have to admit that at the age of nineteen my son has never read a book fills me with the sort of bad-parent angst and shame that I imagine I would experience if I stood in front of an AA meeting and admitted to being an alcoholic. He reminded me of this fact yesterday…
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This Time Last Year My Son Should Have Been Sitting His HSC
Don’t worry, I’m not torturing myself with this fact, but this post is one that I’ve wanted to write for a long time about my son. It’s similar in vein to the piece Jenny Lawson, “The Bloggess”, wrote on election day in the US – It’s Going To Be Okay. It’s about holding onto the…
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Kate’s Parenting Angst and Toddler Versus Teenage Tantrums
I know she has about thirty-five staff on the payroll to help her, which must give her a level of confidence that none of us can truly understand – because who else in the world could pull off white jeans with a baby and a toddler in tow? – but Kate Middleton must be an…
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The Hardest Part Of Parenting Is Agreeing How To Parent
When we were in London a few months ago, we listened to LBC, a talk radio station where current news topics are raised and listeners call in to voice their opinions. One of the topics was about the LGBT community and how universities are providing halls of residence strictly for LGBT students in a bid…
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Australian Survives Horror Jelly Fish Attack In Italy
One of the gnawing fears you have when you make the decision to migrate to another country is that your children may respond to the beckoning call of the homeland once they are old enough to decide where they want to live. That worry has been brought home to me over the past few weeks…
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Crap Parent Therapy: ‘Consulting’ Rather Than ‘Enabling’
I had to go back for a session of ‘crap parent therapy’ last week, tail between my legs, following another situation with Kurt where the parenting shit hit the fan and the old man and I found ourselves sucked into another potential vacuum of despair. Patiently, the therapist reminded me for the umpteenth time about the…
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Concessions for Women
Hats off to Fu Yuanhui, the twenty-year old swimmer, for mentioning the P word at the Olympics. And I’m not talking about the P in Phelps. When asked how she felt after her race, she responded with: “My period came last night and I’m really tired right now … but this isn’t an excuse, I…
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The Fashion Mistakes Teenagers Need To Make
We’ve been through a lot of stuff with our son Kurt, as many of you know, and I can’t deny that there have been occasions when I’ve felt a tad wistful as I’ve walked down the street and spotted groups of clean-shaven, preppy-looking boys in their Polo shirts and boating shoes. The weight of loss…
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Empty Nesting: When The First Takes Flight
NC left for her trip halfway around the globe at 5.30am this morning. She looked somewhat out of place with her backpack and beanie on. It’s not that our girl’s a princess, but she’s not into roughing it either, like her mother. We celebrated her departure last night over much too wine, our favourite Japanese…
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When Your Child Has Mental Health Issues and You Want To Use The Get Out Of Jail Card
I’m tired of this particular journey. Self-absorbed I know, but there I said it. No “parent of the year” award for me; I’m the parent who loves her child but is tired of this arduous journey at his side. I’m tired of not sleeping, the stomach pains, the disagreements about the best way to raise…
LOUISA SIMMONDS 