Tag: love
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Mental Illness: Why Love and Acceptance Must Be the First Line of Treatment
With love and acceptance – what I believe should be the first-line of treatment for people with mental illness – people like my son feel less isolated, judged and ashamed. Though “tough love” may be the gold standard approach to care for some mental illnesses, it is a risky choice and one that doesn’t necessarily…
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There Is No Better Education In Love, Compassion And Empathy Than Having A Child With Special Needs
A few weeks ago we went to a fundraiser. It was a black tie event to raise money for the family of an old colleague of the old man’s whose son broke his neck and damaged his spinal cord in a freak rugby accident recently. Alex Noble is their son’s name, and if anyone feels…
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Mothers: Admit It, We Never Stop Worrying About Our Kids
Mothers, be careful with those little comments you drop into the conversation each time you see your adult kids (who have left home) and look like they haven’t eaten a square meal that month. Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash You know the type – How much fruit are you eating? ARE YOU EATING? You’re…
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Empty-Nesting: You Know When It Is Time…
Photo by Mantas Hesthaven on Unsplash The old man and I became empty-nesters this week. Kurt has left the building. I swear he wasn’t pushed. We view our negotiations as closer to a manipulation that made sense – primarily, for him. Not once did we bring up the subject of our sanity in the conversation.…
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And The Progress Prize For Best Father This Father’s Day Goes To…
I’d like to say an early “Happy Fathers Day” to all those men for whom fatherhood hasn’t been quite what they expected, perhaps due to their own issues, the pressures of “toxic masculinity”, or perhaps because, (as in the old man’s case), they produced a square peg. First of all, I should probably justify my…
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I Must Thank My Son For His Mental Illness
The boy turned twenty-one last week, and while part of me wants to scream and holler with excitement, pride, and relief, the other part wants to sit in a corner, rocking and licking my wounds. Many of you will be familiar with our journey with Kurt, our son. It was one of the reasons I…
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My Kids Will Be Able To Say A Lot Of Things About Me, But Never That I Didn’t Love them.
A friend asked me the other day about how I felt about Mothers Day, and I knew that the question was loaded – you see, I haven’t had a mother for a long time. And for the first time, it struck me that I don’t view the celebration from the perspective of my own mother.…
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Why Every Parent Needs To Watch Lady Bird
Described by Empire as ‘A coming-of-age story like no other, Lady Bird is smart, emotional, funny and completely original. Rarely has a directorial debut been so assured, so singular and so heartwarmingly affecting,’ the movie Lady Bird has been critically acclaimed worldwide, and as a sucker for any movie that offers the secret to parenting, it…
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My Husband Seems To Have Forgotten This Year That Valentine’s Day Is A Competition
I choose not to remind the old man about special events during the year, such as our anniversary, my birthday and Valentine’s Day because it makes our relationship so much more interesting. I know that many people frown upon the commerciality of Valentine’s Day, but personally, I have always lapped up the opportunity to receive the…
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To Be Loved In Death As In Life Is All Any Of Us Can Really Hope For
I lost an uncle over Christmas. And as I write this post, an aunt lies in a hospital bed somewhere in the UK in a medically life-changing situation. Both events have been a sharp reminder that the wheels of time stop for no-one. In words that echo the theme tune of Love Actually – sort of…
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Heghan – There’s Something About Harry
I failed miserably to maintain the cynicism of my Royal Grinchness as I watched the Harry/Meghan engagement interview yesterday, although it is irritating how difficult it is to turn their names into some catchy moniker such as Kimye or Brangelina, which is why I’ve decided on Heghan. My apologies – I’ve used this phot before.…
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And On The Topic Of Self-love And Acceptance…
And while I’m on the topic of self-love and acceptance… Cue kaftan, joss sticks and Hare Krishna chanting… That trip to the movies symbolized the start of a new chapter for me this week – a chapter I like to call “thinking about myself for a fucking change” – not to be confused with the…
Louisa Simmonds 