It was going swimmingly. Our first day. Actually it wasn't their first day of home learning; it was my first being home with them. Elsie was kneeling in front of the fire balancing her computer on her knees. Maeve had set herself up at the kitchen table. Perhaps tomorrow we could set up something a … Continue reading An apple for the teacher
Harvest is finished at last
Imagine there’s a cupcake shop on the corner of your street and they’re calling for cupcakes. If you bake cupcakes all year, you can bring them in at the end of the year for the shop to sell. As many as you like. You’ll get paid for what you bring in. You make some decisions about … Continue reading Harvest is finished at last
Bad mums have a night off to watch Bad Moms
We’ve had a lot of rain in a short amount of time - around three inches in the last week. That’s about 75mm for those of you who went metric 40-odd years ago. So our Facebook feeds started with photos of kids splashing in muddy puddles but have now become filled with warnings of severe … Continue reading Bad mums have a night off to watch Bad Moms
And by morning we had a new playground
Here’s why we celebrated today: Thirty delicious (mostly unpredicted) millimetres of rain. We’re guessing 30mm. Normally we can guess the amount before we even go out to the rain gauge. One or two mills wets the deck. Five will put a puddle in the driveway. And if there’s a puddle over near the gate, we … Continue reading And by morning we had a new playground
I think I just emerged from a chrysalis
It almost seems too strong a word. Grief. But I can’t think of any other way to describe how I felt for the entire first term of this year with both girls now at school. For the first two days of term, I was all excited, springing around the house talking about how I was … Continue reading I think I just emerged from a chrysalis
Goodbye Jackson and thank you
And just like that, our mob of sheep was halved. We welcomed Jackson two years ago, fighting over who bottle-fed him (I won a lot of the time): Just before we go on, can we take a closer look at Maeve? As he got older, we chased him out of the garden by swinging an empty bucket at … Continue reading Goodbye Jackson and thank you
Anyone else had a bad day this week?
Sometimes when I’m pulling out another load of tangled, wet clothes, I want to turn my head to the side and slam it onto the top of the washing machine. But I don’t. I carry the basket out to the clothes line and start trying to figure out which things can share pegs because the … Continue reading Anyone else had a bad day this week?
Getting up earlier? It works.
When I went to put Elsie’s lunchbox in her backpack yesterday morning, I found in there her reading diary from last year, a few sheets of colouring in with Indonesian words and phrases written on them and lots of worksheets, mostly unfinished. (No lunchbox though, thank heavens. I have taught her to do that much.) Things … Continue reading Getting up earlier? It works.
The only workout you’ll ever have to do
I picked the hoop up off the kitchen floor before anyone else tripped on it. And before I put it away with all the toys, I stepped into it to and lifted it to my waist. Surely it’s like riding a bike. It’s not. What the? It can’t be that hard. I flung it around … Continue reading The only workout you’ll ever have to do
Writing by Larissa Patton 