Getting Ready
My preparation for a month in hospital hasn’t been what I’d planned. I thought I would be doing more exercise. The blister on my leg stayed for two weeks (I called it Stanley - figured it should have a...
View ArticleNew York Novels
After the Big Book Purge of 2012 I reordered the books on my shelves. I have a shelf of my favourite books, and a shelf of books to read next. The books I’ve been taking to hospital with me have...
View ArticleA Year in Bed
I’ve always been interested in the biographies of creative people. I’ve noticed that people who go on to live a creative life have often spent a year in bed as children, with polio or long bouts of...
View ArticleWomen’s Events May 2013
Sydney Writers Festival finally has the theme of Women and I can’t go. There are talks I’d be going to, if I could. Ruby Wax, Naomi Wolf, Jane Caro, Wendy Harmer, Monica Dux, Anne Summers, Mia Freedman...
View ArticleEngraftment
Good news. I'm engrafting,My neutrophils are 0.5. My whitecell count is 0.6.In order to go home I need to stop having temperatures and for my blood counts to be normal. Five to ten days, the doctors...
View ArticleRevolving Door
I made it home after a month in hospital, only to stay home for two nights and then go back in for another eight days. I had fevers of an unknown source. Hopefully I can stay home for a while now. Five...
View ArticleIs your Dance School Grooming Children?
When I ask this question, I don’t necessarily mean grooming for sex with the dance teacher, but grooming for sex generally.I am the mother of three dancing daughters. Some years ago we joined our local...
View ArticleIs cancer a character test?
I have this letter in smh today. I'd add that going through the treatment might test your character, but whether you live or die is due to the cancer, not to moral strength. Cancer not character testI...
View ArticleHell is Other People
I've spent enough time in hospital now to think that Sartre was in a four bed ward when he wrote 'No Exit'. My experience of hospital is very dependent on who else is in the ward. I've shared with...
View ArticleA big week for calling out sexism
It has been a big week for feminism in Australia.The Prime Minister is mocked in a sexualised way by the Opposition, and the disrespectful questioning of a radio broadcaster about her partner's...
View ArticleDay 55
And how is my recovery going after the transplant?Well, it's a slow process.Sometimes I feel OK, but mostly I'm tried and nauseas. I'm not really doing much. My partner and I are at home in the day...
View ArticleDoing Nothing
Mostly, still, I’m doing nothing. I’m observing myself embracing doing nothing. The more I do nothing the more comfortable I am with it. Life goes on without me. Occasionally I feel a cog shift into...
View ArticleTimes Tables
No, this isn’t a snappy title for my metaphysical musings. It is actually about multiplication tables.Over the years I’ve had lots of conversations with parents and teachers about children learning...
View ArticleSpring 2013
I’m getting better. At home I’m in charge of dinners and running the calendar. I still have a nap every afternoon, but I’m getting out and doing things. I’ve been to yoga, and I’ve been to the dentist...
View ArticleActions and Interesting links (a bit of a catch-up)
After Opting OutJudith Warner, who wrote Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, in which she compared mothering in France with mothering in the USA , has this very interesting article...
View ArticlePovvo Cooking
Now that we’ve been unemployed for nine months while my partner has been stay-at-home carer, I figure it’s time to try to save money on groceries, and try to waste less food. I went to a workshop run...
View ArticleWhat was THAT all about??
I don’t feel like this now - I’m busy with uni, ethics and planning Mamapalooza - but because I did feel like this a few weeks ago, I think it is worth posting. All part of the process and normal.Now...
View ArticleSocial Media and Young People
I’ve been talking with some other mums lately about social media and our resident young people. My oldest child is thirteen. I’m going for a ‘lead by example’ approach. Here’s what we do and don’t do...
View ArticlePersonal essays and short stories
File this one under ‘thinking in public’ because I’m not sure what my point is here. Feel free to jump in anytime. Together we might find one.Personal essays are easy to write. Sure, there’s some...
View ArticleMovies for Tweens and Young Teens
When I get together with other mums of tween and young teen girls we sometimes talk about finding movies that are suitable for their age. My kids aren't ready for M rated movies, with some few...
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