The mind of a four year old is a wonderfully unpredictable thing. Whereas with adults I can pretty easily predict the direction a conversation will take, with Orla I frequently land in discussions that aren’t even on the map. So it is that her new favourite thing is the ‘I hate game’. What started as a teasing
Living
notes for my daughter: skincare (sponsored)
In my early teens I read a lot of glossy magazines. To say I read them, in fact, implies a passivity that was never quite present; I inhaled them. I devoured them like forgotten religious texts; committed them, noun, verb and predicate, to memory and heart. So it was that by age 16 I was
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Parenting
on success & sacrifice
I was relaying some of the amazing stuff that’s been happening for me to my friend Hannah recently, and she said to me “you’re flying!” And it made me pause, because I feel like I’m doing anything but. I’m chasing my tail and burning the candle so universally that it’s now just a puddle of wax.
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Personal
10 things I’ve finally forgiven myself for
I’ve spent a lot of my 32 years trying to change. I truly believe it’s important to understand your own shortcomings, and of course we’re all trying to grow into better & happier people. However, over the last few years I’ve come to appreciate that some of my self loathing was targeted in entirely the
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Parenting
an ode to the small things
Can we talk about small things for a moment? About the impossibly sweet and nostalgic accoutrements of childhood. A little blue cardigan hanging from a big hallway hook. Miniature shoes lined in tidy little rows. Small, pudgy hands clutching smaller, balding Sylvanian rabbits, who in turn hold impossibly tiny jugs and teapots and cakes. Most days I am immune
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Parenting
quotes for my daughter: the fence
A Tim Minchin song might not seem like an obvious place to find wisdom, but I’m a huge admirer of his clever wordplay & humorously accurate observations on life. The Fence is chock-full of exactly this – ‘an anthem to ambivalence’ – taking a stab at the stream of false dichotomies we’re all living our
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Living
quotes for my daughter: Ani Difranco
Alternative title for this post: everything I know about life I learned from Ani Difranco. If you’re not getting happier as you get older then you’re fucking up. If you don’t like abortion don’t have an abortion and teach your children how they can avoid them. But don’t treat all women like they are your
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Personal
notes for my daughter: on jealousy
Ok, it’s not snappy – but it’s surprisingly true. There will be times when someone is inexplicably rude or mean or condescending, and you cannot figure out why. A girl at school who consistently picks on you; an older woman at work who does all she can to keep you down. “They’re just jealous“, people
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Parenting
a day in the life of my maternal emotions
I’ve decided that toddlers are like chocolate. I love chocolate. Who doesn’t?! It’s sweet and delicious and most of the time I could just eat it all up – pleather leggings be damned! Sometimes, though, I’m really hungry for something different – something healthy, perhaps – and the thought of all that sweetness makes me feel a