Introducing Dr Tim Bulkeley, who taught me everything I know about the Old Testament! Tim has been a social worker in Belfast during ‘The Troubles’, Father Christmas in a department store, pastor of a Baptist church, missionary in darkest Africa, refugee for a couple of days, Bible teacher in universities and seminaries in five countries […]
When I was little, my internal picture of God was nothing like the white-bearded-old-man clichĂ©s. I’d never had any exposure to that idea. If you’d asked my six-year-old self, I’d have said God looks rather like Sam the Eagle from the Muppets. Sort of stern. And definitely male. I could articulate from young adulthood that […]
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 […]
I’ve just reviewed a stunningly good Joy Cowley book for the Kiwi Families website: As Easter approaches, and shops are already full of hot cross buns and chocolate eggs, I know plenty of families would like to bring some balance. Exploring the original story of Easter isn’t just for Christian households, either. If you’d like […]
Without wanting to profile y’all, there is an extraordinarily high chance that you are a fabulous parent. I have this cocky certainty because you read parenting websites. You’re interested. You realise being a parent is something we do, as well as who we are. I know endless folk who get their advice from www.slackraparental.com, evidenced […]
It took me some courage to decide to blog on this activity from the 40 acts of generosity Lent challenge. Is there any book in the world that provokes such diverse and heated reactions as the Bible? Among Christians there is an enormous range of responses, from obedience to respect to frustration. Fans of the English language […]
We have a dog addict in the house. One of SBJ’s first words was do’, (sounds like dog but without the g) usually repeated with gusto and accompanied by excited pointing. His favourite moment of our recent holiday in the South Island was meeting this big, fluffy, boisterous white dog at the Kingston Flyer railway […]
I used to teach a course in legal writing that was famed for its pedantry (not thanks to me – on that occasion I didn’t make the rules). There was half a mark off for every error of any kind – punctuation, spelling, citation, style, everything. Before the first ‘opinion’ (the main kind of assignment […]
Take a deep breath, parents. This is a manifesto of cooperative parenting, and I’m pretty pumped about it. As AHLondon and Angela said the other day, it can be so hard to have an open-minded, open-hearted conversation with other parents about How To Be A Parent. There is so much sensitivity and  defensiveness in […]
I’ve learnt an awful lot, in the way of facts and vocabulary, since I entered the world of parenthood. Who knew a pregnant woman’s blood volume increases by around 40 per cent? Heavens! Among the contraptions I didn’t know existed are breastfeeding pillows (highly recommended) and bowls that suction to the table-top (ditto – though […]