That’s what my mum would always say to me when I was a kid dealing with the vagaries that come with fickle young friendships. “Rise above it. If they have no reason for not liking you, well then they’re just not worth it. Ignore them,” she’d firmly tell me. And she was right. She was always right. She still is. It’s why I love her so much. But sometimes I found the art of ‘rising above things’ … [Read more...]
Before we take off…*
I’m not a great flyer, something my friends, family and readers of this blog know full well. However, when your husband comes from the other side of the globe, you’ve just got to deal with it (my preferred method is to drink lots of champagne).For a nervous flyer, I’ve flown quite a bit in my time. And as a result, so have my kids - they’ve been hauled onto countless long haul flights since the … [Read more...]
Could’ve been. Should’ve been. Wasn’t.
Recently I sat next to a woman at a dinner party. I won’t go into who she was or where we were, but our conversation gravitated towards our children.Her face beamed proudly as she told me about her teenage sons. Her eldest son in particular, who was achieving top marks in all his subjects in his final year at school. But then her eyes flickered with worry as she looked down at her food.“He’s just … [Read more...]
Shortest post ever
Introducing Little Fairy and Boy-Who-Asks-Questions. Sometimes, I really don't know how they came from me. … [Read more...]
The unanswerable question
I thought my mind was playing tricks when I heard the sobbing coming from his room. It took me a while to realise it was him – I’d never heard him cry like that before. “What’s wrong sweetheart?” I said as I sat next to the rocking lump in the doona.His tiny swollen face peered out from beneath his dark hideaway. He had been crying for much longer than I realised.Gulping for air he struggled to … [Read more...]
Self-deprecation – it’s a family thing!
Self-deprecation has nothing to do with soiling one’s pants. Thankfully. Because it’s something I do quite a bit of.As you probably already know, self-deprecation is when you point out your own flaws either for the sake of a good laugh or to make someone else feel better.I do it mostly for the latter I think. I hate seeing people feel down on themselves. It makes me uncomfortable. So what better … [Read more...]
My crafty genius – exposed
A reminder of my 'genius'.You might remember a few months back my smug ‘I’m a crafty genius’ post. You know, the post about the time I made all of those Angry Birds masks for my son’s birthday party? Well, a friend who knows me well has badgered me to find out the real story behind those masks. So here it is…the truth exposed. The Angry Birds masks and some scratchy stupid staples.“What will they … [Read more...]
What’s in a name?
Everything, if you go by a stinging comment once made about the name we chose for our daughter. A person I didn’t know made the comment on a social networking site, where a mutual friend was seeking suggestions for the name of her own unborn child. “Whatever you do, don’t give your kid one of those weird Irish names that are spelt funny,” was this person’s advice to my friend.It was my cue to … [Read more...]
How to freak-out your friends
As some of you might know, Boy-Who-Asks-Questions started school this year - a Catholic school. I won’t go into the reasons why we chose a Catholic school, because I’ve already been over that ground here in my article on The Hoopla. Let’s just say I wasn’t brought up in a religious family (my husband is the Catholic) so the decision to send my child to a religious school wasn’t as easy for me as … [Read more...]
A case for religion?
I’m going to get shot down for this post. I know I will. I’ll probably be branded a hypocrite, naïve, or some kind of Holy Joe lunatic. Or I might dramatically change my mind in few months time. Either way, I have to write this if I am to remain true to myself. This is what’s going on in my head…I’ve had a pretty big change of heart about something lately. Something I once felt very strongly … [Read more...]