For years I tried to juggle full-time work and parenting 3 girls. I always felt like I was stressing and watching the clock. I decided to drop a day of work to ease the load. I was so excited to have Tuesdays off, that instead of letting the day flow naturally, I wrote a long, unattainable “To Do” list every week. By the end of each Tuesday, I was deflated because I could not possibly accomplish all my goals. I was over scheduling like crazy, trying to fit in cleaning, cooking, visiting everyone, writing, working from home and grocery shopping. The list goes on. The worst part was that I felt ..read more

I open the heavy, double doors and enter a gigantic, open space, inhaling the warm stimulating atmosphere. There is no stress or pressure. Not here. Not now. I look at all the new friends I have made. There are thousands of them. They don’t demand anything from me. However, if I choose to, I can read one of them. My husband was not working at the time when I received a call to ask if I would be willing to fill in for a school librarian going on holidays at an exclusive all-boys school. Given our financial situation I gave an enthusiastic yes! I also had a quiet chuckle to myself. In my mind I ..read more

I met a woman yesterday at a party who had four children. The oldest two were 15 and 13. She said to me, referring to the oldest children, “Now that they are in their teens, they don’t want to be loved by their mum anymore. My job is done.” I couldn’t believe my ears. My eldest daughter, Eva is approaching 13 and she is still kind and sweet, but when I tell her that I love her, she has stopped saying it back to me. This will not stop me from saying it. I remember my parents always saying, I love you throughout the years. To this day, every phone conversation ends with those three words. My da ..read more

“Mummy, why do you have hair down there?” My five-year-old bluntly asks me, as she stares at me having a shower one morning. With soap in my eyes, I am startled and drop the shampoo bottle on the floor. Before I have a chance to answer the first question or wash the soap off my face, she hammers me with the next one. “Will I have hair there when I become a mummy?” WARNING: When you become a parent, be ready for questions like this from the minute you wake up, until the end of the day. Even with my experience answering awkward questions after teaching Kindergarten for years, I have still been ..read more

I throw my bag on the ground and rush next door to my neighbour Jan’s house. I pull my heels off as I hop in a frenzy, already 45 minutes late! It is the same old routine. Dashing out of work and speeding home for my kids. “Sorry Jan, I had a work meeting I wasn’t expecting,” I apologise out of breath. “It’s no trouble,” My elderly friend calmly responds. She is sitting with my three girls having a relaxing afternoon tea on her back porch as always. “I tried to leave work early, but it’s so hard…” “I understand. You do not need to explain,” she assures me. “I think it’s so much harder being a ..read more

When I studied the “Five Stages of Grief” at university many moons ago I never thought it would be associated with a world-wide pandemic. This raging storm is literally sweeping the globe and killing thousands of people daily. As the waters begin to calm in my local ocean, it allows me time to reflect upon the last few months.  I begin to ask myself if the whole world has been grieving? It feels like we have all lost something, even if we haven’t lost a loved one. We are all battling the same storm, but not in the same boat.  Australia was not hit with the huge waves that America, C ..read more

I wake up to a light tap on my shoulder. My little one, Cleo, silently and without disturbing the king-sized mattress, manages to wiggle her tanned body in between my husband and me quicker than I know what is happening. My motherly instincts are to draw her in close for a cuddle, even though my mind is telling me to say, “Go back into your own bed.” As it stands, exhaustion wins out and I let her stay in my bed. It is the first cool night we have had in Sydney in 2020. April is always unpredictable, so crisp nights sneak up on you. One day you might be swimming at the beach and the next day ..read more

For years I tried to juggle full-time work and parenting 3 girls. I always felt like I was stressing and watching the clock. I decided to drop a day of work to ease the load. I was so excited to have Tuesdays off, that instead of letting the day flow naturally, I wrote a long, unattainable “To Do” list every week. By the end of each Tuesday, I was deflated because I could not possibly accomplish all my goals. I was over scheduling like crazy, trying to fit in cleaning, cooking, visiting everyone, writing, working from home and grocery shopping. The list goes on. The worst part was that I felt ..read more

I open the heavy, double doors and enter a gigantic, open space, inhaling the warm stimulating atmosphere. There is no stress or pressure. Not here. Not now. I look at all the new friends I have made. There are thousands of them. They don’t demand anything from me. However, if I choose to, I can read one of them. My husband was not working at the time when I received a call to ask if I would be willing to fill in for a school librarian going on holidays at an exclusive all-boys school. Given our financial situation I gave an enthusiastic yes! I also had a quiet chuckle to myself. In my mind I ..read more

“Mummy, why do you have hair down there?” My five-year-old bluntly asks me, as she stares at me having a shower one morning. With soap in my eyes, I am startled and drop the shampoo bottle on the floor. Before I have a chance to answer the first question or wash the soap off my face, she hammers me with the next one. “Will I have hair there when I become a mummy?” WARNING: When you become a parent, be ready for questions like this from the minute you wake up, until the end of the day. Even with my experience answering awkward questions after teaching Kindergarten for years, I have still been ..read more