"You can be anything you want to be!" is a lie some parents tell their children. Take a member of the Proteas cricket team for example. There are 11 players on a team. So the moment the 12th enthusiastic parent tells their child, "You can be a member of the Proteas cricket team if you want to be", something has gone wrong, unless they quickly add, "as twelfth man, serving them drinks". Because some things [...]
So I offered to write something for Brett about parenting a child with Aspergers, and I immediately went blank. What do I know? Sure, Tim, my son is nearly 16, and he has Aspergers. But what can I tell you that might be helpful? I dithered, wrote things, deleted them. Tried again. And so finally I decided, let me write up the questions I most commonly get asked, and the answers I try to give. [...]
You can tell i'm getting over my pity party. Well, maybe you didn't know i was having a pity party but it's my birthday and i'm trapped at home and my wife is out at work and the one thing i have to look forward to is an Improv show i am doing tonight which a total of seven people have booked for. And a number of those may or may not be related to [...]
Have you ever watched me Improv before? Tomorrow night at the Alexander Bar in Cape Town we make stuff up. Not stuff ups, that's something else. But actually it all begins tonight. Esteemed actress, director, short, story writer, long novel writer, activist, animal love and newly turned Vegan, Megan Furniss, begins three nights of Improv duets. Tonight it will feature Tandi Buchan. Saturday night will be the chance of Leon Clingman. Although the one i am [...]
A job interview is a scary thing at the best of times but imagine having to do it in poem. Well you don't have to cos we already asked you to and so many of you did and it was great... [The Story So Far: Every Wednesday at 1pm South African [6am EDT] an inspired and growing number of brilliant, creative and absolutely fun people from all around the world take part in what is called a Hashtag [...]
I’m. So. Tired. And I’m scared. Scared to admit how hard I find it. Scared to let people in to see my struggle. Scared of the judgment I expect to see. Because I knew motherhood would be hard. But I never expected it to be like this. It’s like boot camp. You get dumped in the deep end and you learn to swim through it, while somehow in the process you earn entry into the [...]
Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done. That’s stating the obvious, right? I mean, one can’t open Facebook without finding a meme that involves children and the need for copious amounts of wine (or maybe that’s a reflection on how mommified my Facebook feed has become?) I don’t think there is a parent out there who doesn’t feel tired (emotionally, physically, mentally) MOST of the time. Steve and I have been married for [...]
If the Jesus you offer... speak about... claim to follow... ...doesn't affect your money... ...doesn't engage your time... ...doesn't influence your decisions... ...doesn't infiltrate every one of your relationships... ...doesn't require [demand] your obedience... ...then i'm sure we're really not talking about the same person at all. Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,if any tenderness [...]
Two quick thoughts about whiteness that have been inspired by pieces that two amazing women [Jess and Jana] have written for my upcoming book on race. Less than ten percent of people in South Africa are white, by way of introduction and context. [1] Does living in the suburbs give you the illusion that most people in South Africa are white? In Cape Town at least, there are suburbs where this is true, and still a [...]
So i'm not drinking in 2017 [just in case the title wasn't too obvious]. i mean i'm drinking water, and coffee, and chocolate shots if i ever go back to Spice Route cos chocolate shots, Mmm... but not the alcohol. And it's not actually the biggest deal. i don't think i have a drinking problem [ah, but that's EXACTLY what people with drinking problems say]. i just was thinking about not drinking for a year [...]
