Category: Parenting
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Everyone Needs A Token Baby Jesus At Christmas
I’ve got earache. The Princess was too mature to adorn the silly moustache. Obviously, mine is real! It’s either payback for jumping into the pool for that revitalising swim on Christmas Day, (sometime between dessert and cheese), to celebrate the end of a glorious lunch that finally made it to the table in spite of…
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How Much Is Too Much At Christmas?
There’s been a lot of talk in the media this week about how much we should spend on our kids at Christmas, after a women in the UK made headline news for ‘pressie-bragging’. Decorated Christmas tree on white background It’s a tricky topic and one that is bound to make those of us who indulge…
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We’re Lucky Enough To Be Holidaying With Our Parents
It’s family holiday time and no, I never did manage to lose the three kilos I needed to semi-confidently wear my swimsuit in public. I wish I could savour this feeling of excitement and anticipation that I always experience in the weeks leading up to a holiday; that is, before we go. Before I remember the…
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The Question That Divides A Nation of Parents Of Teenagers
A lot has changed over the past thirty years in terms of what teenagers can and cannot do. happy young couple in bed at morning But nothing sets the cat quite as freely among the pigeons as the question of where parents stand on sleeping arrangements and privileges in the homestead, once teenagers enter into…
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How A Small Part Of You Celebrates When A Friend Fails At Parenting, Too
Just as a small part of you dies when a friend succeeds, (according to Gore Vidal), a small part of me celebrates triumphantly when a friend fails spectacularly at parenting, like I have so many times. Do you know what has truly kept me sane through all these troubled ‘Kurt years’? It’s the support of…
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Dressing The Christmas Tree, With A Little Help From Captain Morgan
After twenty-one years of being forced to compromise my artistry and stem my superior creativity when I am forced to dress the Christmas tree with the kids, I’ve finally found the solution of how not to give a shit. Decorating A Christmas Tree With Tinsel, Balls And A Ribbon Drink copious amounts of Captain Morgan…
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Sometimes It Feels Good To Coast
For those of you who read my posts for my input on ADHD, I discovered the most fantastic read on ADDitude magazine last weekend by Frank South, aka ADHD Dad. It just so happens his post was about his twenty-three year old son, who sounds suspiciously like he is carving a similarly dodgy career to…
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Do Mothers Ever Stop Worrying About How Much Their Kids Eat?
So, my son turned eighteen this year and I still worry about how much he eats. Knife and fork with white plate on red background While I try to limit my own calorific intake a little more every day, I face an ongoing battle to shove as many calories as I can down my son’s…
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When Hormones Get In The Way Of Your Work/Life, Family Balance
Ever feel like God was having some kind of sick joke when he coordinated the onset of menopause with the metamorphosis of happy children into entitled, grunting teenagers? We all strive for the perfect work/life, family balance but it’s not easy to get that balance right when there are effectively four adults living in one…
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Family Life Is Not All Cookies And Cream, Sometimes It Is Salad Cream
Heinz_Salad_Cream_285_gram by suetheslowknitta at http://www.flickr.com Out of all the schmaltz, sad stories, perfect gifts and cheesy quotes to fill my FB homepage on Mothers Day, this article by Rosie Waterland stood out for me. Thirty Seconds It’s not pretty because it’s about real family life. Because Mothers Day isn’t a cookies and cream day for…
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The 8 Best Mother’s Day Gifts
As the excitement builds up in the commercial world for Mother’s Day, the suspense of how well my progeny will repay me for another year of self-sacrifice and doormat behaviour is almost killing me. Actually…not so much. Because the thing about Mother’s Day, if you have normal kids, is there’s only the tiniest glimmer of…
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A Mother’s Pride
Too many faces of grief-stricken mothers have haunted us in the media this week. It’s hard to remember another time when we’ve borne witness to such rawness of despair from so many mothers in the face of tragedy, as vividly as we have this week. We’ve watched the pain of loss etched visibly on the…
LOUISA SIMMONDS 