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Musings on Good Friday
This morning, while I kneaded the dough for hot cross buns, my daughters were discussing their plans for the day. They were intending to attend an Easter event and were…
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Sexual Bereavement: What Happens when a Lover Dies? (part 1)
A while ago I read an account of a man absorbed in early morning love making. The warmth of the sun’s rays piercing the diaphonous curtains. The sensuality of his…
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Re-branding the Mind
Most of us have grown up with a tin of Golden Syrup on the larder shelf, and few of us would have realised as children licking the sticky spoon after…
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Domestic Abuse and Grief
“We define domestic abuse as an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner…
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The Kindness Tree and How Easy it is to Corrupt a Child’s Moral Compass
When my children were asked recently by a friend, what is the most important rule in our household, they couldn’t think of one. ‘I don’t think mum’s got any rules…
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Would you See the Gorilla?
A group of students were invited to count how many times dancers on stage swapped partners. The students observed the dancers carefully and, at the end, reported the number they’d…
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Talking About the Death of a Pet with Children
On Valentine’s Day, I had a call from my friend. Her cat, Mochi, was dead and she was distraught. Death often comes into our lives suddenly. My daughters (ages 13,…
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Gentleness and the Raising of Children
Parenting can sometimes feel like a battleground as we pit our adult wills against those of the little people in our lives who seem to come with full throttle as…
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“Art’s Whatever You Choose to Frame”
I came across this quote from Fleur Adcock’s poem, Leaving the Tate, shortly after making a visit to the Tate Modern in London. In the gallery, I had watched Wael…
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Replace the Loss – Navigating Disappointment with Children
In Scotland where I live, Guising, the pre-cursor to Trick or Treat, is still practised. So, every year my daughters learn a song to perform at each house in exchange…