Last week my 9 year old complained about her dinner which was baked chicken breast, vegetables and pasta. MISS 9 : “Mum, you know I HATE chicken, why do we eat SO MUCH chicken?” ME: “We eat chicken about twice a week and as you know it is basically impossible for me to cook…
Over the summer holidays we completed our first overnight hike as a whole family. My husband and I have done a lot of multi-day hikes over the years using tents and a year ago he took our eldest daughter and her friend on a multi-day hike staying in huts but having all three girls on…
We have reached a new milestone as a family – we are preparing to embark on our first overnight hike as a whole family. I am very excited about this – we are going to do the Pinnacles Walk and spend the night in the hut. At the time of writing our children are 11,…
I haven’t had a good book to read for a while and with school holidays just days away I decided I needed to rectify this. My children all love to read so when we are away together for the holidays I love having “family quiet time” in the afternoon where we can all curl up…
This past week I have been given an opportunity to test drive an electric vehicle, a second hand Nissan Leaf. This came about thanks to a wonderful initiative here on Waiheke Island (where I live) where several of these cars have been made available in our community to test drive over for a few months….
If you could go back and tell yourself three things at the start of your motherhood journey what would they be? For me they would be: 1. ASK FOR HELP Ask sooner. Ask more often. Ask without guilt or judgement. When someone offers help, just say YES. 2. YOU DON’T HAVE TO…
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…