Tag: Mental Health
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A Mother’s Calculus of Pain
Having babies is fucking hard on the body. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed pregnancy, for the most part. And birth is pretty amazing too. But my back has never been the same since I herniated a disc pushing my daughter’s pram through a department store, and it only gets worse as I age.…
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Showing up
Today, I am showing up to do the thing. The thing I don’t want to do. The thing I am an expert at finding excuses to not do. Because it’s hard. Because I deeply understand that I do want to do the thing, and my deep wanting raises the stakes to the point where not-doing…
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Handfuls of Hope
Discovering slow and steady progress amidst the chaotic urgency of parenting The beackseat of my car is a burial ground for broken toys, errant lego bits, crusty hats, food wrappers, mouldy crumbs of long forgotten, half-gnawed muesli bars, the lonely, disembodied lids of drink bottles, paper-dry husks of orange peels, crumpled receipts, and the dumped-out…
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Sure, ND kids need boundaries, but not the way you mean it.
Woe to the next person who tells me my ND kids just need boundaries. A pox on their house! Surely a pox would be more gentle than the serrated edge of my wrath. Being told “Kids need boundaries” gives me the absolute shits. Not just the shits though, perhaps the most violent diarrhea of any…
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For My Lily
My smart watch is smarter than I am. Sometimes it reminds me to breathe.It counts each breath for me:Inhale 2… 3… 4… 5…Exhale 2… 3… 4… 5… It has all these functionsthat allow me to calculate my well-being. The pedometer tells me if I’ve moved enough.And it has GPSso it also tells me if I’ve…
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Perfectly Good Advice Unless You’re a Neurodivergent Parent
I am desperate to be a good parent to my three neurodivergent kids. I have read so many books, I’ve done the webinars and the workshops, I know all about peaceful parenting, positive parenting, secure attachment parenting, low demand parenting, good enough parenting, meeting the most basic needs is still feels like an uphill battle…
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We need to talk about neurodivergent parents.
I’ve been struggling with parenting my own three ND kids over the school holidays. The sensory overwhelm, the meltdowns, the constant bickering and bargaining. The mess piling up at the confluence of carelessness and boredom, multiplied by every hour they’re inside. It’s hard being a parent when your kids are home all day, every day,…
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Getting an ASD/ADHD diagnosis is identity-affirming (and it shouldn’t have to be so fucking hard)
Discovering the fundamental truth about how my brain works in my 40s has been a fucking trip. And as an AuDHD person who is suddenly learning how much that handful of letters can change the way I see myself and where I fit into society, I’ve come to the conclusion that diagnosis for an ND…
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Navigating the Waste Land of Generational Trauma
A narrative review of It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn What are the roots that clutch, what branches growOut of this stony rubbish? Son of man,You cannot say, or guess, for you know onlyA heap of broken images, where the sun beats,And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,And the…
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What Makes Good Days Good?
What makes a good day good? I just realized I don’t actually know how to answer this question. Let me back up a minute. I was just sitting down after lunch and I had a Vonnegut moment. I love Kurt Vonnegut. He’s an absolute fucking legend. Storyteller, philosopher, funny, flawed, fucking brilliant. I just adore…