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...

Things My Mother Never Had To Deal With

Janine — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 04:07:12 +0000

Earlier this year Rachel over at The Kids Are All Right did a survey of her readers. When she asked who they turned to for parenting advice this is what she found. In last year’s Changing Face of Motherhood Report (undertaken by Proctor & Gamble), mums sought parenting help from their own mothers first, ahead...

Another Sad Goodbye

Janine — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 06:36:06 +0000

The house is a little quieter today. There’s no padding of paws up the hallway, no frenzy of barking when you arrive home, no little yap to let you know you are taking a bit too long to dish out his dinner. For the first time in 10 years we are without a pet in...

What Happened To Childhood?

Janine — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:55:29 +0000

I’m as guilty as any parent of rambling on to my children about how tough my childhood was, “what do you mean you can’t walk to the bus stop, I walked to school EVERY DAY and IN THE FROST”. Yet it has struck me this week that perhaps my children are experiencing a childhood more...

Mother Guilt

Janine — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:28:17 +0000

Image from © Lime Lane Photography Can someone please explain to me the purpose of mother guilt? You know the way mums worry, stress, feel bad, whenever they “let the children down”? It appears I have doubled booked myself this morning. This week I received one email, three text messages, and participated in two...

Team Sports – Why Do We Do It?

Janine — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:52:18 +0000

I am exhausted this morning. Last night I played the longest, hardest game of soccer EVER. Oh all right, I was on the sideline but I swear I ran every inch of that field in my mind. It was finals night. Five minutes from the end we were leading 1 – 0. The Grand Final...

This is What Happens When I Try To Be A Responsible Parent

Janine — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:35:31 +0000

It is clear that for 90 per cent of the time I’m flying blind with this parenting gig. Look we’ve survived 15 years, everyone is still here, there are only a few physical scars (Princess Child had a habit of throwing herself into activities with a little more vigour than her coordination development allowed; hence...

Five Things I Should Have Learnt By Now

Janine — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:35:17 +0000

Over at Life in A Pink Fibro Alison Tait wrote a post, 10 Things I Learnt Last Week, then Alana at House Goes Home picked up the concept and ran with it to create 8 Things I didn’t Learn Last Week. Now in a shameless rip-off due to limited time and little creativity I’m going...

Should We Raise Our Daughters To Be Nice?

Janine — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 19:30:10 +0000

Yesterday I noticed this tweet from writer, broadcaster and comedian, Catherine Deveny and it got me thinking about the way we raise our daughters. I sometimes lament my own “niceness”. I like to help people, I’m (mostly) kind, too polite for my own good and don’t like to offend anyone. Is that a drawback...

At What Age?

Janine — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 21:22:22 +0000

When the kids are little there is an avalanche of baby books telling you at what age you should do things or when your children should be reaching certain milestones. Introducing solids – got it covered. Crawling – should be happening. Talking – under control. Toilet training – we’ve got an age span where it...