Category: relationships
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Those Embarrassing, Inane Conversations Of Middle Age
I’m not sure when the old man and I silently agreed that inane middle-aged conversation was acceptable now. It was probably another one of those telepathic, marital communications that we couldn’t verbalise due to the shame, but one day it was suddenly okay to talk about gibberish – about stuff like the weather or what…
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When Equality Leads To Divorce
I know I’m a feminist, nevertheless I’ve decided to impeach my house husband for misconduct in the area of the family food shop. He’s simply not up to the job. Albeit he has done some fine work in terms of a reduction in cost to our weekly food bill, happiness isn’t just about money and…
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Role Modelling: When You Get Tired Of Being The Responsible Parent
One day over the holidays, after lunch out with the old man at our local pub, NC and and I continued to paint the town red while he disappeared to check the cricket scores. Obviously we didn’t leave the house – because that be supremely awkward for her – and the focus of our “session”…
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Christmas In The Sun
A few days before Christmas I couldn’t decide whether the sparkle of the festivities had begun to dim with age. It’s not like they don’t go as hard here in Australia, it’s just different to what I’m used to and so takes a little longer to get the Christmas juices flowing. In spite of being…
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Teenagers, Privacy and Door Slamming
A friend once bragged how when her daughter went through that special teenage phase when she used to ram home her opinions by slamming her bedroom door, she finally reached her tipping point one day, found a screwdriver and removed it. When her daughter returned home from school, she explained to her that privacy is…
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Every Picture Tells A Story
I did a job I do about once a decade the other day; I changed the photos in my photo frames. It’s an onerous task that has about as much appeal as cleaning the barbecue or filling in school forms because you have to be a maths genius to work out how to print the photos to…
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The Best Five Therapies To Cure ‘One Of Those Days!’
You know, the real bitch kind of day that I seem to have a lot of, when the proverbial shit hits the fan so hard and fast you haven’t even had time to rub the fairy shit out of your eyes, let alone imbibe your first coffee before your phone rings. At 6.30am, no less,…
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The Secret To Long-Term Relationships
If I could seriously answer this, I’d be a millionaire by now. Nice pic, but like it would ever happen in our relationship! Either I would fall off or the old man would keep moaning about how my weight made it impossible for him to pedal until we had a fight. But… You do get to…
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‘Pretend You’re Good At It’
I’m reading “Furiously Happy” by Jenny Lawson, (aka The Bloggess) at the moment, upon the recommendation of Lana Hirshowitz, and although I initially struggled to decipher the twisting maze of her brain patterns, I’ve since tapped in and have found myself identify with the author’s self-professed craziness and daily struggles with anxiety. The book is…
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I’m Learning About ‘Privilege’
‘Privilege’ is a word that crops up increasingly in conversation at the moment – as it should – to make every one of us question our attitudes towards different races and genders. As a middle-aged woman with some free time now that the kids are older, I have noticed a reignited hunger and enthusiasm for…
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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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The Eternal Quest For Love
‘Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for’. Bob Marley It would make life so much easier if we, like the simplest animal forms with little intelligence, only had to mate for the sake of procreation, and feelings couldn’t complicate the process. Wouldn’t it? Wary applause…
LOUISA SIMMONDS 