Not many would think motherhood is a good time to be selfish, but I have learned that selfishness is, in fact, essential to being a good mom. If I had heard this advice before I had children, and even a year or two in, I would have rolled my eyes and dismissed the statement as…
Of those who have undergone IVF successfully, some are fortunate enough to have extra embryos to store for future use. But with that luck, a significant issue can arise. What should people do with these spare embryos when they have decided their family is complete? The options advertised are straightforward: continued storage, donation (to science,…
When I had my first child at 43, I was surprised at how well I eased into parenting. I was the mother I’d always envisioned: calm, patient, loving and mindfully enjoying motherhood. Now, as a 46-year-old mum of a three-year-old and a one-year-old, I feel like a different person. I’m exhausted, agitated, short-fused, fuzzy-headed, my…
For the birth of my first child, I had what’s called an “elective” caesarean. Ironically, I wasn’t given a choice. My baby was breech, and efforts to turn him were unsuccessful. It was not at all how I wanted to give birth, but regardless there I lay, paralysed on the operating table in a cold…
When I was a mom of one, I nailed motherhood. I was calm and patient; my child was well-dressed; the car was pristine; the chores were completed; and there was very little shouting. But as a mom of two, I just can’t parent to the same standards. Everything is messier, louder, more rushed, less organized,…
I moved back to Australia after decades in the US. The culture shock stunned me. When I was in my early 30s, I went for a three-week holiday to my home in Sydney and never left. For years, I had toyed with the idea of moving back home, a place I had not lived since…
As a perimenopausal mum of two toddlers, there are a lot of moods to manage in my house. Let’s just say my children aren’t the only ones losing it over things as trivial as banana-related offences: the banana was cut, wasn’t cut, peeled without permission, is too sticky or “broken.” Having had my children at…