Saturated

Our whole life is absorbed with living, waking, waiting, Listening, anticipating, second guessing, planning, Plotting, back peddling, emailing, texting, Meetings, organising, posting, signing, Explaining, explaining again, explaining  more,   Controlling our breathing....   Catching the next curve ball, dodging the grenades, Building the scaffolding, putting out the touch-paper, Fighting the fire, damping the flames, It's...

Don’t Flinch

2016 has exploded into our house. Just after midnight it became too much. We were simply sat at home, watching Big Ben and the fireworks. We watched a bit of tv. Then it was bed time and all hell broke out. Sometime ago I learnt if I flinch things can escalate, very quickly. In a...

Calm and Peaceful

It was our first Christmas. The children had moved in 9 months previously. I was still on adoption leave, so had time to prepare. I wanted to make new memories. To create new traditions. To create some magic. The house resembled a garden centre festive display. There were lights everywhere. Tinsel hung off absolutely everything....

I’m Sorry

I'm sorry my son set off the fire alarm, again, when it was raining and cold outside. I'm sorry he disrupted yet another lesson. I'm sorry you heard him swearing, and shouting. I'm sorry you actually saw him thumping the wall with his fist. I'm sorry he smokes. I'm sorry he makes annoying random noises....

Sharing Melt Downs

A colleague at work told me they had thought of me the day before. She asked if we had any meltdowns recently. I asked what she meant. She told me what a melt down was to her, a stroppy out burst; a defiance to an instruction; a refusal to eat tea. She then said our...

Summer Holiday Memories

This was from nearly two years ago. Last year we managed a couple of two night breaks. Nothing since. They simply find it too hard. So do I. I still remember my summer holidays as a child. I am sure they were never as idyllic as I believe they were, but they were happy times....

Taking Care

Caring for the Caretakers * Be gentle with yourself. Remind yourself you are an enabler, not a magician. * We cannot change anyone else. We can only change how we relate to them. * Find a hermit spot. Use it daily. * Give support, encouragement, and praise. Learn to accept it when you can. *...

The Words They Use

In the heat of the moment, during a rant, or simply because they want, they will hurl verbal abuse at me. Some of their words are unbelievably hurtful. Most of the time I hide how disgusted I am by their verbal diarrhoea. It coming from a place in the past. It is their primitive brain...