Septembering Again

It's half past two. One child keeps dawdling behind (then running ahead) while another is sad because something happened at school but she'll tell me at home, and the third is annoyed because I keep interrupting what she's telling me - to find the one who's dawdling behind (or running ahead). It's three o'clock, and we are finally home. Somehow ...

Snapshot of a woman on the cusp

I was going to call this Snapshot of a woman on the edge but that was just too melodramatic for what really comes down to wishing away the long, final days of school before the summer starts. So it's a snapshot from the cusp instead - from one tired mother to all the tired mothers, ...

Wash, rinse, repeat – the truth about afternoons

As anyone who works mornings and looks after kids in the afternoon knows, it's a day of two distinct halves. The morning is busy-busy, trying to cram in every last drop before the imaginary school-run klaxon sounds, and tools must be downed. Like the no-nonsense bell in a TV game show, ignoring the unsent email, the uneaten ...

Snow Daze

Wednesday morning, 5am. Pulled from sleep by a tingling feeling, not unlike childhood Christmas mornings. I slipped out of bed and looked out the window. A glistening white carpet - covering the garden, the slide, the bicycle we forgot to take in. I fell back to sleep, dreaming of magic words - snow day. And at 7, ...

The Midwinter Break

Outside, the garden is shrouded in fog, but the kids haven’t noticed, because they’re on the couch watching Gumball. They’re eating melted butter toast. I’m drinking coffee. They’re in pyjamas, and for the first morning since sometime back in August, they can stay in them. No swimming, no hockey, no football, no school. Nowhere to ...