Kids ask you the strangest things. When they’re just learning to talk, pretty much any answer will garner you one of two responses: either a “why?” or “ok.” When they’re older, however, you have to think your answers through a bit more thoroughly as kids discover the hallowed journalistic talent of asking the dreaded “Follow…
Undecorating Christmas. Or the one where I try to explain why my four year old keeps telling everyone that Santa is drunk.
While getting dressed myself this morning I overheard Hawkeye talking to the Mister while getting dressed in his own room with daddy’s help: “I’m now a lion wobot.” “You mean, you’re a robot.” “Lion rwobot,” Hawkeye sounded out more carefully. Ever mindful of my failure as a bilingual parent to pass on a second language…
After 365 days of posting photos / blogging without fail, I am shocked to discover that I am finding it difficult to stick to a weekly posting schedule. A part of it is exactly the reason that I forced myself to stick to the 365-day self-imposed regimen even when some people encouraged me to not…
I missed my self-appointed deadline yesterday to blog at least one a week by Tuesday evening, but in my defense, 2018 has kicked off in a spectacularly horrible fashion, and it just slipped my mind last night. However I intend to be as unforgiving to myself as possible. As there is a desperate need for…
Some time ago Hawkeye’s Aunt Strawberry and her Chap brought Hawkeye this little stuffed parrot back from her holiday in the Canaries. At the time, he wasn’t particularly interested in it (or many other stuffed toys). However in more recent times he’s been quite attached to his growing collection of small animals. I am particular…
There are the days when the words won’t stop coming. And then there are all the days when they don’t appear at all. Sometimes there simply isn’t anything to say. You can fill the space with noise and distraction but the spirit is empty and the substance is hollow. Other times, you have words exploding…
You all might remember my friend Vee from “The Tinder Dude” fairytale. Earlier today I came across one of her ever-so-on-point Facebook posts: This post made me smile very much. First of all, because OH HOLY COW was it nice to wake up to GOOD news coming out of the US for once. Please don’t,…
After so many photos and videos of our trips to the zoo, it was looking like a bitter disappointment that, for various reasons, we wouldn’t get a chance to take my mum to Dublin zoo. However, at the last minute, an unexpected opportunity arose this afternoon, on her last day in Dublin. The weather did…
I seem to be cursed with having extremely literary friends. I know several who have written books at this stage. Some are self-published, some are gaining steam in the traditional publishing world. Some are in the process of writing or shopping agents. I don’t mean this in a dismissive way of “oh everyone is writing…
Last time my mother was visiting Hawkeye was communicating with very basic sentences and a relatively limited vocabulary. Now, he’s a full blown threenager, and while much of his babble is still in that mysterious language unknown to grownups, there is also a significantly more complex communication going on. Observing natural language acquisition from up close…
The Feathered Rose 