“Daddy, I like this one … THIS one, daddy!” the girl insisted as she tugged on the spruce’s frozen boughs. I glanced at the child and her loosely bound tree and thought it too short, too sparse on the bottom, and far too scraggily to ever make it onto the roof of my car. I wouldn’t have taken the tree either. Read more
‘Twas the month before Christmas and as the first jingly shopping mall music thwacked me in the ear like a hard-packed snowball, I felt both excited and horrified by the looming prep work ahead that accompanies the word ‘holidays’. But at a time when even heavy metal’s Twisted Sister is reminding me to Come All Ye Faithful, at least I’ve got Read more
When is that magic, tragic age when your child is simply too old for trick or treating? I suppose when your son is the only power ranger in the neighbourhood with facial hair, it’s probably time. But how do you gently tell them the sugar shack is closed? Read more
When your bed is thrusting and vibrating and you’re the only one in it, something’s not quite right.
Today is my birthday, but it’s not just any old run-of-the-mill anniversary. At 7:00 this morning as consciousness broke I rolled over into my 50’s. However instead of gently greeting the new decade, this was the alarm clock parked outside my front door: Read more
Yes, it’s Mother’s Day, and I’m doing what every sensible matriarch does at the start of this auspicious day: I’m hiding in my room.
I’m never sure what the rules of engagement are for Mother’s Day. If I come downstairs, I run the risk of spoiling their big surprise, which given the sounds coming from the kitchen, include eggs, selected power tools, gushing tap water, and an interpretive dance routine to “Rock The Casbah”. Read more