I like the idea and the reality of a family. You have company without having to get out of pyjamas. You get to be around somebody who has seen you at your absolute worst and still thinks you’re pretty awesome. You have in-jokes and non-secret codes. All in all, it’s a pretty sweet deal.
That is, until somebody gets sick. This week that person was me. I was the evil carrier monkey that brought this flu into our home. And then spread it to all and sundry. But even before I’d …

This year, Mothers’ Day was a pretty awesome day. Sleep in, pancakes for breakfast, lunch made for me, a nap in the afternoon and generally waited on hand-and-foot.
But. And it’s a big but. Somebody should have told my daughter that it was Mothers’ Day. Would not let me pick her up all day – it was ‘Josh! Josh! Josh!’ and she was having a daddy day. No cuddles or kisses (although I did manage to sneak a cuddle before bed. This morning when Josh was going to leave for work …

Mothers’ Day has got me thinking about fathers’. Strange, yes but it does. Josh often comments that I am the Queen of left-field comments and will often get me to recount the connections that happened in my brain before the words came out of my mouth, just because it’s a roller-coaster ride.
When I said I was thinking about writing about Dads’ for my next post he said (rather indignantly) ‘you should – it’s like you’re running a one man show’. Point taken. Or point not taken and get your …

I thought it would be a brilliant plan to make a dent in the painting. Long weekend. Perfect time to do projects around the house – or so hardware store advertising would have me believe. Obviously the marketing geniuses for those advertising campaigns don’t have toddlers.
A sweet little bundle who looks up at you with her big eyes when you are in the middle of cutting in and says ‘Mummy! To-urn! Pu-lease’. Very difficult to resist. Also very difficult to impress on her that the paint brush doesn’t need to …

The birthday girl. There’s something magical about the second birthday. She’s still too young to understand the concept of the birthday. So she wakes up on what to her is any other day and is greeted with balloons, bubbles, presents, more chocolate cake than she could eat and lots of adoring visitors. Its innate randomness just adds to her joy in it.

She was shown the kitchen as soon as she woke up. Or to be more accurate as soon as she slapped us awake and told us to get out …

It’s Easter. Easter has a lot of different meanings to different people. For us, it’s not religious. It’s about easter eggs, bunnies and a long weekend. I caught a few snippets of some comments made by the Australian Clergy during their Good Friday sermons. Is there anything that Twitter isn’t good for?
Some of these were re-iterated here in this article:
Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen on Friday describing non-belief as a

“human assault on God”
every bit of a religious commitment as Christianity itself.

Don’t worry it get’s worse:
The new Catholic …

It has been far too long since I visited Pompa. Weeks go by, and sometimes I don’t think about it. But then I feel guilty, or rather the guilt builds up to the point where my choice is either to be swallowed by my own self-loathing or go and visit him. Visiting him is so much easier. And I’m always pleased afterwards.
I’ve been to a fair few nursing homes, and I can’t say that I’ve liked any of them. Even the good ones. Necessary cages for people who either mentally …

That’s the assertion made by Elisabeth Badlinter in her new book, discussed in this article. The idea being that it’s a bit of a waste for a parent to sacrifice every part of their life for a child, given that we live for an average of 85 years and childhood is temporary. Her theory is that women get their life back by any means necessary – formula, childcare, whatever it takes – and get back to enjoying their life with a drink and a cigarette. And while I do enjoy …

On Saturday I made my maiden voyage (driving on my own) to Sydney. No animals, people, or property was harmed in any way. Major success. I was there for the Sydney Mum/Parenting Bloggers Meet Up, but decided I might as well make a day of it and headed down nice and early. It is also conceivable that I left early to avoid dreaded traffic. I went to my brother’s place first that he shares with his better half. It’s one of those beautiful old cottages that you can still stumble …

Australia is a little bit behind the eight-ball with the whole parental leave thing. It wasn’t until the last Federal election that an idea of leave was introduced (due to start next year) which would see families who earn $150,000 or less be entitled to 18 weeks paid leave (at the minimum wage) for people who had worked an average of 10 hours a week for the preceeding 12 months. It’s not as giant a leap forward as you might imagine. Parents are already entitled to a baby bonus ($5,000) …