What is it about being a stay at home mum or parent that gets to people?
Since I chose to quit my job to be home full time I am constantly questioned about when I intend to return to work and the inevitable “what do you do all day?”.
In this post I discuss why stay at home parents, and mothers in particular are undervalued this way and why we do not owe people an explanation.
I’m a mum not a maid
What is the role of the stay at home parent? Is it to nurture and care for our children or is the unspoken expectation that your role is to do it all?
In this post I discuss the difference between what we expect from a paid childcare provider and what we expect from stay at home mums (or fathers) and whether society needs to rethink how it values the role of parents at home.
Please stop growing up
Is it normal to grieve your children growing up and mourn each stage as it passes?
As exciting as it is to watch them grow it can also be emotional saying goodbye to each part of their development. From the baby, to the toddler, starting school and moving into adolescence.
In this post I discuss the emotions of missing your child in each part of their life and the sadness of thinking ahead to ‘the lasts’.
Don’t tell me you’re tired
Don’t tell me you’re tired, if you have no kids or work a nice 9-5 job and aren’t unwell, even if you really are bloody tired. Because this mama hasn’t slept through the night for 7 years and I’m gonna rant.
School Holidays
School holidays where family fun meets fights, tantrums, mess and a gazillion snack requests.
Becoming a ‘school mum’
So I’m now a ‘school mum’. How did I get here so fast?
Having avoided all the cliques at the playgroups here I am now with the actual real pressure to mingle and speak to parents in the wild.
In this post I talk about the awkwardness at the school gates, my ongoing imposter syndrome and my impressions of the other parents.
Ticking ‘Ms’: The right feminist thing to do?
If the patriarchy had its way we would go from a Miss, the age old indicator of youth and virility to a Mrs; one possessed in marriage.
And if you don’t marry? Do you stay with a child title forever?
In this day and age is it time to say goodbye to Mrs and is embracing the Ms at 18 the right and feminist thing to do?
Primary School Offer Day: My last bubba
Primary school offer day is an emotional rollercoaster. The sleepless night before, the refreshing your emails and the anxiety about getting the school you want. But it’s so much more than just the school. It’s the sad crushing reality that your baby is growing up and entering the world.
I remember this with my first born but now it’s my youngest, my last baby, it feels different.
The Three Year olds Guide to Life
This is life according to the 3 year old. The age where tantrums are rife.
Have you ever tried to leave the house with a three year old when you are in a rush? Welcome to the land where putting on shoes takes a million years and if you dare cut their apple the wrong way you will be destroyed.
Fathers matter too: The patriarchy’s devaluation of dads
As a strong feminist could spend many an hour ranting and raving about all the BS women have to go through as the result of living in a society structured, constructed, managed and maintained by men at the top, but you know what is also a feminst issue?
The devaluation of fathers!
The role of a father is just as important and the narrative that men can just work and it has no impact on their children is false and damaging.
It robs our children of that precious time, it robs fathers of value and worth beyond rough and tumble and money earners, and it perpetuates the gender roles within families.
In this post I talk about how in order for us to really have equality in the workplace we need to stop devaluing the role of fathers in the home.