And then your child is born, the beginning of all future hopes and dreams — There’s no interview. The position is challenging and fierce. It comes with no salary. It leaves you absolutely exhausted every day, deprives you of sleep, and the free time you once enjoyed, but you wouldn’t trade it even for free access to the biggest bank in the world. Welcome to…

Celebrating the birth of a friend’s little boy… — The inspiration comes from the poem, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ It’s all about seizing opportunity, and being open to adventure. Dearest William, CONGRATULATIONS! Today is your day, You’ve landed on earth And now you must stay. Today‘s your ‘birth’ day! And you’re perfect, we think. But we know that…

To look in a mirror and like what they see… — My 3-year-old daughter a shoplifter? Come on! It was a Friday night. Late opening in our city, a night when it is de rigueur to shop after work, and then enjoy a simple meal out. My husband needed some business clothes, and we went down to the basement of a large store in the men’s section. It…

until an entitled prick of a neighbor knocks… — Spend time with a bunch of children, and I challenge you not to be buoyed by their endless ability to find happiness in whatever they are doing. The unfiltered ways in which they think and respond, make them a joy to be around. At least, that’s been my experience! Children…

She’s the one whose husband died suddenly some months ago when she’d ducked out to collect her daughter from the airport… — We speak on the phone every few weeks, Jen and I. Most of what we talk about is family stuff, and outings we have enjoyed, maybe books we have read. She is always much busier than I because she’s lived most of her life in the same city, so her…

It’s now time to gird our loins and decide which part of our errant garden to tackle first — So this morning I wrote the title and sub-title above, and then I stopped. I stopped because I felt a sudden disconnect between what I have been visualizing for my garden, and what I can physically do. Ours is a garden with promise, but there’s so much to fix. Are we up for it? The…

It’s what happens when you look so pretty, spread so easily and demand so little — Dearest Oxalis, Today I met you for the first time, and only now, I wonder why I hadn’t noticed you before. To be fair, to me, it’s been wet and wild here in the east coast of Australia, wet, wet and more wet. But I’m not complaining. I actually love…

A title freely given to Lenore Skenazy when she dared to give voice to the idea of an alternative parenting style — A few days ago, after watching a historical documentary on world atrocities that had occurred in recent years, I happened to mention to my daughter that I felt incredibly sad about what is happening in the world. She reminded me about the beautiful things that are also happening, and though…