Toilet Training Twins – Mother of all Messes
That got your attention, didn’t it? When other mums think about my life with twins and say to me, “I can’t imagine it…”, I say, you can, just close your eyes and imagine. You have toilet trained one toddler - caught wees and rushed little bot bots to the loo with the speed of a mother possessed. Read full article
Shaming Teen Mums is a Bad Idea
What if instead of deciding to shame teenagers out of 'choosing' to become parents with a questionable 'public health' campaign, New York City instead focused their efforts on ending the 'epidemic' of advanced age motherhood? Imagine the outrage. Read full article
Working Mothers or Working Parents - Language is Powerful
A UK personality and businessperson - Hilary Devey - is quoted in the Daily Mail as saying: “I can’t get any women on my board because women generally put their partner and children first.’ and "There are lots of myths about why women are under-represented in the boardroom, but the excuse about a 'glass ceiling' is the worst. I am living proof there’s no such thing.” In my opinion, both of those latter statements are utter nonsense... Read full article
Helicopter Parenting - Why Is It Still the Mother's Fault?
I live in a small town way out in the country where – it’s true – debates about helicopter parenting are pretty rare. Here packs of sunburned kids ride helmetless around our winding roads, the wind blowing through their sweaty hair, the sun reflecting off their freckled faces...When Catherine Deveny decries helicopter parents and all their associated neuroses, she avoids the very persistent reality for many mothers: that of an oppressive sense of responsibility. Read full article
Dismissing Motherhood - a Common Experience?
I am a mother; therefore I must be dumb. Well, that’s what everyone keeps trying to tell me, right? I got my first hint when I returned to work after becoming a mother. “Don’t call yourself a ‘working mum’. They won’t take you seriously. You have to be professional at work and calling yourself a ‘working mum’ isn’t very professional,” was the advice given to me by a senior female executive. Read full article
My Mothering Heart Needs More Lion, Less Rabbit
Life is often an endurance test. Sure, there are bright moments when joy fills your heart, when you can re-charge. But often it is a relentless quest. At present, my patience as a mother is tested daily by an irrepressible toddler who is now more wilful and dastardly than I thought possible. I need to rapidly acquire new skills. Read full article
How to Silence the Parent's Inner Critic
Is your inner critic getting you down? You know: that little voice in the back of your head constantly telling you what a lousy parent you are. Every parent has one. It’s a stream of thoughts making up an endless real-time commentary on what you are thinking and doing, continuously pointing out and cataloging you deficiencies and weaknesses...So what do you do if your inner critic is getting out of hand? Read full article
What My Mother Whispered In My Ear
This is a conversation my mother and I had last week. What started as a conversation about the current economic climate in Greece, soon turned into reflection for my mother who was born in rural Greece in 1935. As a small child she would walk to primary school with her older brother. Read full article
Pregnancy Rollercoaster - Will Everything be Okay?
My youngest child recently celebrated his first birthday. Being the third child he has always had to fit in with the schedule of the other two as well as us, so naturally his first birthday was shared with the big soccer presentation day. It was a very busy day, kick-started with balloons and present opening ...as I always do on my kids' birthdays reflected on his birth – the order of events, how I felt when he was born, etc. But I also found myself revisiting feelings of being very thankful that he was here with us, because my pregnancy with him hit some bumps along the way. At the beginning of it, I honestly thought he was gone. Read full article
Parenthood Changed My Perspective on Teaching Piano
I am a piano teacher and a composer. I am also a parent. Back in the second half of 2006, when I was about 16 weeks pregnant, Gina Wake (from Hal Leonard Australia) and I did a two or three week tour launching Getting to Grade Four. In the January of 2007, between weeks 28 and 31 of my pregnancy (and when Gina was 15 to18 weeks along in her pregnancy! we toured the nation again launching. Crazy stuff. Yes, I know. One teacher said to me with quite a twinkle in her eye “I wonder how becoming a parent is going to change your piano teaching…” Read full article
