In beautiful language and with trembling intensity, Susan Cain tells usĀ in this TED talk why the world needs introverts, and why we’re in danger of missing out on what they offer. How’s this for ouchily insightful? There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas. Her bioĀ and introduction to the talk […]
I was single before I was married. That’s less obvious than it sounds, given the number of people who marry their high school sweethearts or have a number of relationships throughout their twenties and maybe thirties. I did neither. After a flurry of boyfriends in my teens (the internet won’t tell me the real […]
My Mum is my hero in lots of areas. As well as playing hockey for New Zealand and being one of the best teachers I’ve ever known, she’s extremely, consistently gracious. She’s my top role model when it comes to giving people āthe benefit of the doubt,ā choosing to think the best of people rather […]
Is the role of godparent archaic, pointless, essential, a lottery, fabulous, or just what you make it? Our baby, SBJ, has four godparents: two in New Zealand and two in the United Kingdom. Lucky boy! I didn’t grow up in a tradition that appointed godparents, and though my husband did, it’s not very common in […]
I’ve thought, written and preached a lot about hospitality over the past few years. But I’ve never accepted as much of it from other people as I have in the last ten months. Here is the first part of a set of reflections on just the overnight hospitality people have extended to me and my […]
The Girls-Can-Do-Anything 1980s seem to have melted into the Girls-Can-Be-Princesses 2010s. Is there any other costume option for girls in kids’ media? Pop culture has become a morass for parents of little girls. You have to sidestep sexualised clothing for 6-year-oldsĀ andĀ billboards of unusually skinny women in their knickers before you even get to questions of […]
I first encountered Carlos Gonzalez in this Guardian interview, and thought, what a lovely man! I bought his second book, Kiss Me!: How to Raise Your Children With Love, and gobbled it in a couple of days. He had me at ‘hello’ with this on the second page: The stance of a book or of […]
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. Listen! I will be honest with you, I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes, These are the days that must happen to you: You […]
The Nutmeg of Consolation. Is that not the best title ever? All by itself it’s enough reason to read Patrick O’Brian‘s magnificent – yes, MAGNIFICENT – Master and Commander books. If his books had no covers at all, they’d still be the very best evocation of male friendship I’ve ever read. Patrick Ness does a […]