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…

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…

So despite the danger, returning home and being a family once more, is seen as the pathway to healing — This reflection was very much inspired by this story by Elaine Kasket, a psychologist who provided sanctuary for a Ukrainian family, who subsequently chose, despite her huge gratitude to Elaine and her family, to return ‘home’. I cannot even imagine the pain of women and children as they leave their…

Says who? Explain that to the person right now clinging to life — “Who in licking her fingers, passes on, her germs to your confec-ti-on” This line of an Australia hygiene ad, just popped into my head as I ruminated on how best to start this piece of writing. For a long time my younger students would parrot that line to each other…