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No Book, No Way: when children love the things we love

No Book, No Way: when children love the things we love

A few days ago, my daughter said, “Do you know what my motto is? No book, no way!” It reminded me of how I can’t help but feel warm inside when my child loves the things I love, and also how uncomfortable it can be when they don’t. I think it’s okay to acknowledge this – it’s probably a normal human emotion, right? We feel a bond with people who share our passions and interests. But I think…

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Childhood is not a build-up to adulthood, and you may never find your "one thing". And that's okay.

Childhood is not a build-up to adulthood, and you may never find your “one thing”. And that’s okay.

Today over dinner my daughter said: When I grow up I don’t want to be one thing, but many. Some I’ll get paid for, some I won’t. Things like a baker, an activist, a book illustrator and a babysitter. And other things. As someone who for a big chunk of my life believed I had to find the one thing I was meant to be doing, this was such an amazing moment. Some of us do find one, true passion in…

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Perfection and why it's not good enough

PERFECTION: I’ve been reflecting on how a lot of the parenting talk fuels perfectionism. Read more in my post, including my thoughts about Montessori and perfect, why imperfect is what we should all aim for, and what my mantra is right now.

One of the things I’ve been working on lately is perfection. And not in the sense of achieving it. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I think a lot of the parenting talk fuels our perfectionism. All the blogs and articles and books and courses. Some days I feel like they are so needed if only we’re going to walk ourselves through this parenting thing without losing our minds and hearts, while also…

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Boundaries: why we need them and why they are Montessori

Boundaries: why we need them and why they are Montessori

 I’ve never been much good at boundaries.I think this stems from a deep-down feeling of guilt about even having them, and of constantly questioning and second-guessing their real point – is this boundary unfair on the children/my friend/this person? Does this boundary just serve me? Could I be more self-sacrificing? Should I be more generous? My feelings basically stemmed from a deep…

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Montessori Parenting: the lazy version

Montessori Parenting: the lazy version

I’m a Montessori-ish parent. I wasn’t for the longest time, and I went from attachment to gentle to peaceful to unschooling to a bizarre mix of all of these and finally landed on hard-core, purist, make-no-mistake Montessori. Except, that never really worked out for me. And I realized that being so rigid and uncompromising about my parenting wasn’t doing anyone any favours, least of all my…

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Time: it's never enough but let's kill it

Time: it’s never enough but let’s kill it

Several days ago I had a classic meltdown. The bike I needed to cycle to the beach was out of order and we had to order a taxi to take us. The thing is we’re on an island in Sicily, so the taxi service is like one man and his minivan. I called at 9.30am and he said there were no taxis available at all for the foreseeable future, probably because he was busy and well, he’s the taxi service.

So I…

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No-one wants to talk about death

No-one wants to talk about death

Hours after my diagnosis, my husband and I had our first conversation about death. We like to jump right into things like that, no messing around. It was evening and we were driving across a bridge and Dubai was all lit up and sparkly and impossibly beautiful.

I remember I said to him that ultimately, I could deal with the idea of dying. I really could, I said. It was just that we had the…

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The other mothers that I love and envy

The other mothers that I love and envy

Since becoming a mother I’ve been lucky enough to make amazing women friends who are also mothers, whom I’ve connected with and been there for and received so much love from in return.

We don’t talk about this enough: friendships between mothers and how important they are when you’re all deep in the wee-stained, sleepless, edge-of-sanity sinkhole of motherhood. I’ve felt so much kinship and…

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Be positive!! If this phrase makes you cringe/clench your fists/roll your eyes/sigh loudly or if you’ve ever said this to someone, read my post! Link in my bio. And look at my happy, positive feet heading for a swim. And ignore my missing toenail (yes, the chemo meds are still doing their thing, apparently) #positivevibes #cancersucks #itsoktofeelsad #silverlinings #lymphoma #lymphomasurvivor #cancersurvivor (at Dubai, United Arab Emirates) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByKEXHFnKI2/?igshid=n624czhvyv60

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Be positive!! (They say.)

Be positive!! (They say.)

I have a problem with positivity. Wait, no. Positivity itself is fine, on its own, just sitting there. But if I have to be it, then that’s a problem.

It’s a bit like being told in a yoga class to relax. Just relax, the teacher says. What does that mean?!? you think, as your shoulders stiffen and you grind your teeth.

What I’m saying is, being told “Relax!” doesn’t work. Being told “Be positive!”…

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