A short while ago, I attended a businesswomen's social meeting (complete with festive nibbles and bubbles) and listened to the supremely calm and organized Emma Grey (author of our recent book … [Read more...]

As our thoughts turn towards New Year, we sometimes contemplate what we’d like to change about ourselves, and what we’d like to achieve in the year to come. When ‘resolutions’ are broken it’s usually … [Read more...]

As of this article, it’s only a short time until Santa sneaks into our homes, his sack stuffed with splendid treats for good little boys and girls. Lucky the Good Children List has now gone on the … [Read more...]

I'm quite techno savvy. I work online, run my own sites, know how to use the latest internet software and understand what an emoticon is and what twitter does. I'm on facebook, I blog, I can text … [Read more...]

It's a Festive Irony that the more convenient and accessible the media and retail markets make Christmas, the less time, energy and funds we have to inject into this all-encompassing time of year. … [Read more...]

Oh boy, my kids could pass for the Queen of Lackadaisical Land and the Sultan of Lazytown. Have you been to these places? I visited briefly when the heavens opened and delivered us an 'ayi' [read: … [Read more...]

I put an exclamation point on the title of this article because I wanted to you to think I was really excited for Ocsober to be over and that I was rolling about on the floor, clutching at my throat, … [Read more...]

Lock your doors. On 31st October every year, the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. Rustle up your goblins and ghouls, your witches and zombies, and concoct a cauldron-stirring … [Read more...]

Holding a Halloween celebration in your house can be as easy as pumpkin pie. Follow these basic ideas and get ready to spook! When we lived in Beijing, our family became hooked on Halloween. Like, … [Read more...]

Oh boy. It’s started. A sober October. My tee-total commitment to raise funds for Life Education’s invaluable initiative – Ocsober – is about to begin. Thursday, to be exact. At midnight. Well, one … [Read more...]

I just love a bit of trivia, especially when it's on subject matter that I love. Like nursery rhymes, for example. What is it about nursery rhymes? What is it that enchants us even now as we slide … [Read more...]

Family Matters Column. Last night we left our kids with a baby for the first time. Okay, well, she wasn’t exactly a baby, but seventeen does seem awfully young. I have to keep reminding myself this … [Read more...]

Family Matters Column. All of us have a public toilet story. Some of them involve the kids, some of them adults. Some of them have happy outcomes, some not so clean, and some downright dirty. Many a … [Read more...]

Who doesn’t like a good bounce? Along with twirling, spinning and swinging, it’s the stuff kids’ dreams are made of. And it doesn’t dissipate as adulthood descends – I still love a good bounce and … [Read more...]

I’ve recently come to a realization and a major decision. The realization is that I hate hate hate to cook dinner. The major decision, coming directly from this stunning realization, is that I really … [Read more...]

Perhaps like most mothers who stand on one leg and perform a multitude of tasks like a thrashingly efficient octopus, I'm often hit with the crashing reality that I am indeed a mum. The daily … [Read more...]

June long weekend, in celebration of some figurehead monarch across the seas (will Queen Liz II soon be 100? who will send her a card?), has snuck up behind me and slapped me hard on the back of the … [Read more...]

If you want to compete in a man's world, you better not have a baby.  The Science Faculty of the University of New South Wales says they can prove women experience significant deficits in memory for a … [Read more...]

The mother of a little boy who was mauled by the family's 50kg mastiff-staffordshire cross has said she won't be getting rid of the family pet.  Alicia Cottier told the media she blamed her two year … [Read more...]

I was reading Caroline Baum's article Silver Linings which appeared in the Good Weekend section of the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, when it occurred to me that I could no longer avoid the … [Read more...]