Blog

I’ll be the first to admit I have a problem with managing my expectations. I build everything into the most amazing version of what it can be and when it falls short, I’m left disappointed. This is the story of my upside-down rhubarb and strawberry cake, kind of. I imagined...

I have spent most of my time in the car today thinking how to write this post. There's no news or revelation, I've just been trying to articulate a feeling I experienced this morning. You know when you look at your kids and they look back at you in a...

You may have noticed from some of my blog posts we have endured a super long winter, the longest in 25 years. Winter got so hard, I seriously considered getting hold of a dawn simulator lamp to help me just get up in the morning. However, it wasn't until the...

My fella's mum gave me some 1920's Victorian Education Department cooking cards the other day. I thought it might be fun to make a few of the recipes. Being from that era and from the Education Department, I figured they'd be super simple with affordable ingredients. I thought it was...

I’m Not a Bloody Cafe! Actually … Perhaps I Am 1 September 2015 I have one kid who hates eggs and one who loves them. I try not to make meals tailored to their tastes, sometimes I yell, “I’m not a bloody cafe, you know!” Who am I kidding? I...

Teach Your Kids to Cook and You’ll be Rewarded with Kids Who Love to Cook You Things 30 July 2015 Let me introduce my buddy Stacey. She’s held the mantle of top cake baker in my circle of friends for as long as I have known her. And now we...

Maple Marshmallow Fail 7 July 2015 We are in week three of the school holidays and for the previous two weeks I have been promising the kids maple marshmallows. We’ve been preparing for this day by watching instructional YouTube videos, researching all available online recipes and finally by buying five...

It’s a Long Way to Shop if You Want a Lentil Roll 22 May 2015 What a primary school classic that was. I have been pestering a school mum for her lentil roll recipe for almost a year now. I am sure I have spotted her hiding behind the bushes...

Where Did I Come From? 12 May 2015 In the last few weeks my biggest kid had started Prepare for Puberty classes at school. We all giggled about it together, but underneath the giggles I think both of us were slightly petrified. When I was ‘preparing for puberty’ I was...

The Little Things are the Big Things 31 March 2015 Last week dad was telling me about something we did when I was a kid. I had absolutely no recollection and I could tell my dad was a little sad about my lack of memory. This is, however, a brain...

I started writing this post last week. It was to be about how I took my kids to a music festival, how it was awesome to share stuff I loved with them, and how I took real joy in them loving the experience. For some reason, I ended up writing...

We Should Really Do That One Day, Today is That Day 4 November 2014 You know those things you think would be nice to do with the kids one day. But in reality that day never comes around. Well today is that day. The girls and I have driven past...

I am a busy person. And most of the time it is because I choose to be. I don't like being still or bored. I get quite agitated. I spend a lot of time working. I would work day and night if I didn't have a partner to yell at me...

In 1996, I was 20. I moved in to a crumbling art deco apartment on busy Barkly Street, St Kilda. I had minimal possessions, the most important of them being my 3000+ CD collection and my coffee percolator. If that was all I had, I was fine. Nothing much has...

Bagels, Balls and Living Life Your Way 27 October 2014 I know it looks like there hasn’t been much happening in Lunch Lady land lately, but I can assure you, nothing can be further from the truth. Things are happening, for sure, and all will become apparent very soon! BUT,...

Why Are Mums Channelling Derryn Hinch? 6 August 2014 Shame… Shame… Shame… Mum Shame… Mum shaming, it is a thing isn’t it? Mum’s who don’t agree with another mum’s ideas and dragging them over the coals. I really struggle with this. I have actually always struggled with how women turn...

I remember when I thought I was too busy to sit down with my kids. To take time out and give them my full attention. So they could tell me about their world, what was on their mind or just for a cuddle. I always had 'something' to do, or...

I always wanted to set up a lemonade stand when I was a kid. But Frankston in the early 80s wasn't the place for entrepreneurial kids and their cute hand drawn signs. We had a few crazy neighbours, like the woman who took her budgie for a walk in its cage,...

I have a joke with a friend of mine, how we are 'that mum'. The naughty mum, the one who forgets (or in my case is totally in the dark) about special days at school, early finishing times or when school starts (just made the phone call today, it is...

It is so nice to be home. Back to the chilly Central Highlands and out of the heat of Central Australia. It is such a beautiful thing to come home, it is the best thing about a trip away, I think. To feel safe, loved and comfortable. I have thought...

Some of you may or may not know that last Tuesday I left on a bit of a crazy, healing adventure of a lifetime. I packed my 1966 Holden HD station wagon 'Crystal' and headed for Uluru with my two girls and my dear friend Peta Mazey. This is just...