Yesterday I found myself sitting next to my lanky 14 year old son at the radiologist while he filled out a medical form. "Mum, what's my Medicare number? And who do I put as my next of kin?" His right pinkie had taken a serious hit during a volleyball game yesterday at school. The joint was all swollen and bruised, so the doctor advised an X-ray to check for a possible fracture. The radiologist called us in. She was a sweet Japanese woman slightly older than me. As she adjusted the equipment, she recognised Nathan's school uniform and remarked that her son used to attend the same school. "He's at university now studying Electrical Engineering" , she said proudly. Afterwards as we headed out of the radiologist clinic, a little boy scurried past us on the stairwell, his mum behind calling out for him to slow down. I felt a wave of nostalgia as I saw myself sandwiched between the images of these two mothers. For a moment I was transported into that same sce...

For Grace... Today is the 15th of October 2025. It felt like it was only just days ago when you said goodnight that we shared a cuddle with your trademark "mmmn!" at the end. It was so important to get the tone just right. Sometimes you would make me repeat it several times before it would pass. Then we would finish off with a kiss and say goodnight. I might laugh or even seem slightly exasperated at how many takes we'd need to get our goodnight ritual perfectly right. But that was you. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. And I know how important it was to get every goodnight exactly right. Since that last time, I've felt a shift. It may seem like such a small thing. A little goodnight cuddle with the "mmmmn!" at the end. But it feels so big to me right now. Like the axis of my entire world has shifted. And that small tender sweetness between us is gone. Just like that. Without warning. The rug pulled from under me. Perhaps because you...

Sometime last term each of my children had some not so positive encounters with a teacher at school. This past year, there has been a bit of a revolving door situation with math teachers at Nathan's school. And the latest math teacher (who was supposedly the head of department) seemed to be picking things up several steps back from where the previous teacher last left off. Unfortunately instead of reflecting on why her students seem bored and disengaged, this teacher interpreted certain students' disengagement (including Nathan's) as having an attitude problem. For now Nathan has requested that I not intervene. He reminded me that we don't have to 'like' every teacher (or person) that we encounter. Some people are just destined to be thorns. He will manage. Grace had a new Indonesian teacher at school this year. One word to describe her would be 'finicky'. And that's putting it nicely. At the end of the semester, we were puzzled that Grace had a rece...