Shambolic Living

Why I’m Glad I Had Children

Janine — Sun, 14 May 2017 08:19:51 +0000

A twenty-something work colleague has decided that she emphatically does not want to have children. Clearly her choice, good on her. However, she did remark that us mothers in the office weren’t very good at motherhood public relations. Every day she hears our stories of the challenges we face dealing with our children who range...

Sunday

Janine — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 10:51:54 +0000

A calming shot for all the parents everywhere who have children completing assessment tasks for Year 11 and 12. Especially all the parents in Port currently dealing with the 30 drawings plus large self-portrait task our Year 11 art class is doing. Give us strength and wish us luck for 8.45am tomorrow when this...

What’s The Future for Generation Z?

Janine — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 01:32:44 +0000

Yesterday at soccer I overheard a young boy say to his team mates “I can’t wait to get home and have my steak sandwich with caramelised onion”. I didn’t make that up he specifically mentioned the onion was CARAMELISED. At the risk of sounding like a boring old fart, back in my day it was...

Naming the Royal Baby

Janine — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 01:44:07 +0000

Well in my temporary retirement I’m rapidly crossing potential careers off the list. Apparently Royal Psychic is out of the question. I predicted a baby girl, born at 2.25 pm (London time) and weighing 2500 gram (5.5 pounds). Instead a boy arrived at 4.24pm with a weight of 8lbs 6oz. However, we’ve still got the...

Not A Mother Of Boys

Janine — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 07:15:52 +0000

The last couple of weeks have been a dream run for ingrained sexism, misogyny and well just plain old-fashioned stupidity. We were treated to a “joke” menu referring to the PM’s genitalia, then a radio host hell-bent on quizzing that PM on the “rumours” of her partner’s homosexuality, the Army launched an investigation into “demeaning,...

What I’m Reading This Week

Janine — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:17:34 +0000

Well I’ve made it to Sydney! I left in the dark at 4.30am – and managed to waltz into the Curzon Hall at 9.30am – not a bad effort considering that involved almost an hour of standstill Sydney traffic – how do you people ever get anywhere? The Digital Parent’s Conference is proving to be...

Animal Farm

Janine — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 07:53:35 +0000

Yesterday here at Shambles Manor it was all butterflies and flowers as I wrote a lovely post to my eldest daughter in honour of her 16th birthday. Today, well the atmosphere has grown decidedly icy, you could grow stalagmites. You see, turns out I am an evil mother. At the last-minute I purchased tickets to...

Do You Need a Birth Plan?

Janine — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:45:17 +0000

I’m in the middle of flashbacks to childbirth. My friend had a baby. She had a carefully constructed birth plan and a mix tape of zen-like music to help create a calming environment for her little one’s arrival. Twenty two hours later the birth plan was shredded and NOBODY wanted to hear a sitar ever...

Breakfast

Janine — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:13:08 +0000

I nag my children about how important breakfast is and make sure they eat something as I throw them out the door of a morning, tossing lost socks and forgotten homework after them. Yet it is a case of do as I say, not as I do. I don’t normally eat breakfast. Unless it’s the...

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Janine — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:54:17 +0000

The Hippie Child goes into Year 10 next year. After that there’s two years of intensity for the HSC and then she has to head out into the big, wide world. The question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” is starting to be asked with a serious tone. We’ve gone...