These school holidays we headed away for a few days to spend some time by some stunning beaches. Everyone we met said to us “You live on Waiheke Island, why on earth would you leave and come here for your holiday?” It is true, we live on an island with…
Dear Hannah 10 years ago today you arrived in this world 6 weeks before we expected to meet you. I remember that first night sitting by your humidcrib, in the wee hours of the morning, just holding your hand and wishing I could hold you close. You probably don’t remember that when you were…
Motherhood. Sleep. These things really don’t go together … ‘Sleep when your baby sleeps’ … I was never good at that … I remember when my first baby was born how I tussled within myself about my sleep deprivation. I struggled to simply be accepting of the relentless calls through the night. Fortunately I found…
A couple of weeks ago a very dear friend of mine died unexpectedly. He was 62. I was shocked to learn that he did not have a Will … nothing … not even a note expressing his wishes. I get it … Wills are one of those jobs that keep being put off because they…
A friend of mine recently had her first baby. As I watch her enter the steep learning curve of motherhood it has given me a chance to reflect on how much I have learned and grown over the past 10 years. Reading books has been a very important part of how I learn new things….
I first met Anna in August 2017. I had arrived at a local beach playground to set up my daughter’s birthday party. Anna had just finished a short ocean swim with some other women. I decided anyone willing to swim mid-winter in New Zealand was the kind of person I wanted to know and so…
This year is the first year I have had three children at school. On one hand this is wonderful and freeing for me but on the other hand the number of things I need to keep track of and juggle has increased. I have shared before some of the key ways I keep my family…
I had an interesting conversation last week with a woman I know. She is 32 weeks pregnant with her first child. She was sharing with me how it feels to have so many other women sharing (without invitation) their childbirth stories. Did this ever happen to you? It can be quite overwhelming! You have never…
Last week I was invited to speak to around 15 local mums with young babies, many of them were first time mums. When I was contemplating what I wanted to share with them I decided to share some things I wish someone had told me when I had my first baby. I feel like there…
Disneyland. A place I NEVER had a desire to visit, even as a child, and I never wanted to take my kids there. Too much hype, too many people, just … too much! Then a few months ago I had an unexpected opportunity to take my girls to LA to visit my brother and his…