Parenting is flipping hard work, yes? You’re responsible for, as my friend Jess says, tiny sociopaths. They’re cute, sure, but they have little in the way of empathy, self-control, or social graces. You get no sick leave. You’re operating on so little sleep that serious reading now means clicking ‘see more’ on Facebook. Communities like […]
Do you know someone with PND/PPD? The answer is ‘yes’ Around 10-15% of women who give birth experience postnatal depression, so if you know more than eight women who are mothers, you probably know someone who has been through it – whether she knew that’s what it was or not. Here are two facts you […]
A warm welcome to Kathryn, sharing the story of a very difficult year of motherhood. This was originally written several years ago. Next week is my babyās first birthday. And Iām not planning a party or celebration of any kind. I donāt think I would cope very well with that right now, and I donāt […]
A warm welcome to guest poster, Melanie Carroll, who is writing today about the Blue Christmas service she ran on the weekend. Melanie is married to Sean and has two young adult children. She trained at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, New Zealand, but is currently living across the ditch in Sydney where she is […]
This is part of a series aiming to help us all go easier on ourselves and make our parenting lives more enjoyable and satisfying. The whole series list is hereĀ and more links are at the bottom of the post. [Update: 2.5 years later I’ve revised this and added some stuff in. Feel free to suggest […]
I wrote this a few weeks ago. It’s part of a long-running series on my experience of severe postnatal depression, which has been part of my life for over two years now. You can find the whole series here, and the first post here. One of the reasons I can’t sleep tonight is the […]
‘It is a tragedy when the human spirit dies before the body. But the answer is not to kill the body too, but to revive the spirit.’ Ā So saidĀ Prof Margaret SomervilleĀ at a conference on euthanasia held in Wellington a couple of years ago. On Sunday I tried to canvass the arguments on both sides of […]
Sadness and little children are a funny mix. Literally, I guess. You can’t spend a day with a toddler without cracking a few smiles, so even on a hard day, having a small comedian in the house means the black cloud sits alongside some sunbursts. Or maybe it’s like a two-lane road, where you can […]
Indulge me in a little linky celebrating. This is the 200th post on Sacraparental, and I’m sitting in Bristol feeling pretty good about that. Thank you, all. A gaggle of guest writers, a civility of commenters and a quietness of readers (like my collective nouns?) combine to make a welcoming lounge conversation. If you’re a […]
The writer Dorothy Parker famously said ‘I hate writing. I like having written.’ On Saturday night I said to Jody, ‘Please remind me next time I’m considering a preaching engagement: I don’t actually like preaching.’ On Sunday morning I preached at North Porirua Baptist Church. I loved it. I hate the anticipation of preaching – […]