I just found this article, and, to me, it’s spot on. I’ve had several conversations with friends who have younger children who’ve commented that the parents telling the children what to do is “old fashioned” …
Marriage and Motherhood
Every Mother’s Worst Nightmare
THE DEATH OF YOUR CHILD When your life is blown apart by something so traumatic, things can never be the same again. This wasn’t a planned conversation. My friend, Deborah Corbin, and I had planned …
Woop Woop!
“Hmm, where’s Karen got to? I haven’t heard or seen her online for months. Maybe she’s given up on the whole blogging thing?” I’m sure HEAPS of people have been saying EXACTLY that, I’m sure …
The Pain And Stress Of Getting Cancer… Twice…
In this episode, I talk to Kylie Mitchell, House Designer, business owner, and all-round awesome person about how she dealt with a brain tumour, a marriage break up, becoming a grandmother before the age of …
If Life Goes Smoothly For Too Long, You’re Probably Dead
In this inaugural episode of Menopause, Marriage and Motherhood, I talk about some of the ups and downs of life. I have to say, this was by far the most difficult and confronting episode to …
Kiss and Makeup
I’m going out to a special event tonight: my friend’s 40th birthday bash. She’s a high profile online entrepreneur who likes to dress in designer gears and who spends a fortune on makeup at Chanel. …
I’m not sure whether this one is covered by the medical insurance…
I have this growing suspicion that sometimes I get sick just so that I can justify sitting on the lounge for a few days, talking to no one and not doing anything. I’ve been sick …
I Am A Hot Rock Chick
I found out something interesting yesterday. And I’m not very happy about it. Here I was, sitting back, smugly enjoying the fact that I can completely justify every single resentment that I hold, every grudge, …
Not much of a girl
I’ve always felt that I’m not really a girl. Or rather, I am a girl but I’m not a ‘proper’ girl, a ‘real’ girl, a ‘girly’ girl. Personally, I blame my parents, it’s all their …
Back off, Vegan Warriors!
How can you tell if someone is a vegan? There was a rare but companionable lull in the conversation between my friend and I as we sat having lunch one sunny day. Both of us …
The things that happen when you’ve got a warped sense of humour…
Xena, Warrior Princess Like most mothers, I turn into Xena Warrior Princess if anyone so much as thinks about hurting my children A fully grown bear would hesitate to take me on when I’m in …
I Just Don’t Like Music… Apparently
I love it when life presents me with new ideas, new skills to learn, new things. While I might get a bit scared at first, I love strapping on my big boots, picking up my …
Australia is big. I mean, really big.
Australia is big. That’s stating the obvious, right, but it’s all very well to know that in an abstract, classroom kind of way; it’s quite a different thing to experience it. Australia is big. The …
My Family and Other Animals
My family and other animals When I was at senior school, back in the dim mists of time as far as my teenaged daughter is concerned, we were given Gerald Durrell’s book My Family & …
(Potentially) Harmful Habits
Out of the blue A couple of months ago, an old friend, Jane, got in touch with me completely out of the blue. In one of the bizarre twist s that life likes to put …
The mind blowing angst of trying to pick a name
Laughing at life I rarely take life seriously… That’s a complete lie. I try not to take life seriously but sometimes (quite often), I do take things very seriously as they happen, but when I …
A 30 Day Challenge
A 30-Day Challenge As I was moseying through Pinterest today, I came across a post titled “30 Day Challenge – Day 3 – A Picture Of My animals” I assumed that it was a photography …
How to be playful
Regrets Between you and me, I’m seriously regretting certain of my actions right now. An old friend got in touch with me completely out of the blue and I was so impressed by her energy …
A moral dilemma
Moral dilemma The universe recently presented me with a very interesting moral dilemma. A big one. It’s really, really fascinating to see what went through my head. And, by the way, my kids are going …
Switching off Running-On-Adrenaline Mode is quite tricky
I’m avoiding things. I’m not procrastinating, of course not. I’m simply avoiding. I’m doing things that are easier, things that I don’t have to think about, things that involve automatic doing, not things that require …
Screw up your courage: it’s a long way down
We put up a video on our YouTube channel – Stop Being So Poor – last week about John’s recent rock climbing experience (you can check out the video here) and I wanted to tell …
Little S**t of a Pony
I’ve always loved horses, so it was only natural when Kira expressed a desire to learn how to ride, that I enrolled the kids into riding lessons. I have to go onto a bit of …
Growing Old Disgracefully
Between you and me, since I was a teenager, I’ve actually been looking forward to getting older. I mean, the whole sagging bits, aching joints and grey hair doesn’t intrigue me one iota but there …
The beginning and the end of hormones
I love feeling physically fit and being physically tired, it’s one of the reasons why I’ve exercised my whole life. When I did the interview for the Daily Mail recently, about women who’re the same …
Not a country girl, then?
I could never quite understand my cousin Julie (I’ve changed her name. Regardless of the fact that she lives over the other side of the world, I’m still not going to invite her wrath). She …
Certifiably Insane
Between you and me, there have been times over the last twenty-five years where I’ve wondered whether I was actually certifiably insane. One time when I clearly remember questioning my sanity was while lying in …
The lengths to which I go…
The lengths I go to to keep my husband alive and in one piece (and hence able to earn a decent crust for the family)… While my husband is unconcernedly swinging on the end of …
“Stop being so poor!”
“I need help!” I said to my brother, “I’ve got these programs sitting there, ready to go and I feel bad because they’re just going to waste. You’re good at selling, and I hate selling, …
Intolerant Old Bag
As I write that title, I’m beginning to wonder something: our bodies reflect our minds (so the new age, mindset kind of books say), in which case, is what’s going on with my body a …
Sometimes I get too smug
Weekend? What weekend? Oh, you mean the last two days? The ones that normal people, with normal Monday to Friday jobs spend doing things like the weekly shopping, mowing the lawn, washing the car and …