This week I learned a life lesson and I was found wanting.  Overdue for a haircut I went to a new hairdresser, Chantal.  My first impression judged her (with great inaccuracy), within the first seconds of meeting her, I put her in a box labelled ‘slightly low class’ and ‘intellectually challenged’.  Yuck!  How awful of me!  My 3-year-old daughter Acacia …

Since 2011 we seem to have developed a habit of making an annual trip to the Planetarium at Wits University in Johannesburg. Fjord (age 6) loves the kids show and he currently has to do a school project on the solar system. The planetarium’s very special star projector reminds me a bit of one of those alien things on the …

There’s an ache in my sternum as we drive out of Durban. Each road familiar, mapped in my psyche. No specific memories occupy my mind but flashes of impressions associated with each place, passing like trees seen from the car window, intangible in my visions periphery. Fleeting emotions and reminders that this is where I belong. Subliminal, wordless poetry, striking …

We discovered Martin Waddell at the library when Fjord was 2 the first book being ‘Tom Rabbit’.  I always choose books quite randomly but it was the Martin Waddell books which he asked for over and over.  I bought 2 packs of 10 Walker books at different times and despite the illustrators being different it was the Martin Waddell books …

Over the weekend we visited Pretoria Zoo.  Whilst seeing animals in captivity is sad, I believe that zoos have an important role in education and creating an environment where compassion and knowledge are nurtured. For the 1st time we hired a toddler buggy which was easier than carrying children on the other hand it meant that Fjord was more interested …