During the United States primaries, I had to consciously limit my fascination with US politics and remind myself that it was getting daily updates on the campaign trail shenanigans wasn’t much different to reading about foreign celebrities in gossip magazines. I had better things to do with my time and attention. And then Trump got elected. […]
‘Feisty’ is one. ‘Bossy’ gets a lot of press. And don’t get me started on ‘working mother’. How many men have you heard described as ‘working fathers’, let alone ‘dadpreneurs’? Subtly sexist words about women and girls. Not the obvious, awful insulting words (which are depressingly many and varied), but the ones that fly […]
Last month, the newly elected Parliament of Myanmar chose Htin Kyaw as the country’s first non-military President since 1962. It was another step towards democracy, and a happy one, but Myanmar’s path to recovery is likely to be long and windy. The military still controls much of the government and has veto power over constitutional changes. They could […]
Michaela Cisney is executive director and founder of Priyam Global, a US-based international health organisation that works in India to tackle root issues of poverty for children affected by disability and their families. She also works as a freelance communications consultant for a large humanitarian agency. Michaela lives and works between Indiana, USA and Chennai, […]
A little visitor came to our house for the first time recently. This was the conversation between the visitor and my four-year-old son, SBJ: Visitor: Whose bike is that? SBJ: Mine! V: It can’t be yours. It’s pink. Pink is a girl colour. SBJ: No, colours are for everyone. Pink is one of my favourite colours. […]
At the moment in my corner of the church world (I’m a Kiwi Baptist), the number of our 250-odd churches in New Zealand led by a woman (as the sole or senior pastor) is in single figures. Low single figures. It seems likely that by the end of the year there will be only two such churches […]
This is an all-in-one post for Week 3 of our Lent with Kids plan. To fill in some background, start here. You can also see the series index here. One of the things I love about the Montessori philosophy is that kids can make do meaningful work. Give kids brooms and cloths to match their size, and […]
You’ll be astonished to know that my complaint via the Air New Zealand website (thanks Lucy for the motivation to make it) has not resulted in the ‘Safety in Paradise’ ads being withdrawn. Here’s how the correspondence has gone so far, and what I’m doing next. After I wrote this post about why I thought […]
I’ve been reminded this week why the ‘un’ in unschooling is not the same as ‘anti.’ First this challenge from Buffalo Mama, who is unschooling/homeschooling her son after traumatic school experiences: “Unschooling,” maybe, can be seen as an attempt to open up the pressure valve and let some of that build up out of everything […]
St Paul’s Church in Auckland is famous for the impossibly cuuuuute nativity videos they produce each year, starring their kids. This year they have also released this compelling short film for adults, reminding us that Jesus was a Palestinian. There are several parts where my eyes widened. Watch for the shepherd (who has an accounting degree) talking about […]