October 08

Poems

A baby cries by Maria Josey

A look of love by Steve Gregar

A new life by Daphne Hargreaves

A poem for Kallahari by K. Danielle Edwards

A Quiet Radio, A Dim-Lit Room by Heather Taylor-Johnson

A teenage girl’s mother by Maria Josey

A tyranny of infant proportions by Ros Schulz

An autistic child to his mother by Caitlin Louise Thomas

At twelve by Sharon Kernot

Balloon World by Ros Schulz

Bath towel wings by Nathan Curnow

Bubble bath babe by Marilyn Linn

Careless by Debra Kaufman

Collecting honey by Silvia Manuela

Creation by Sheryl Persson

Earth to Avoca by John Blackhawk

For Hannah by Kylie Lehman

Goodnight by Michelle Brock

Harvey by Stella Jones

Have you done your jobs yet? by Jackie Hosking

Hey, watch this! by Heather Taylor Johnson

I remember… by Liana de Jong

Laura by Sheryl Persson

Labour of love by Maria Quinn

Love at eight by Debra Kaufman

Manflight by Heather Matthew

Married with children: An aubade by Brandy Lien Worrall(-Yu)

Moods of a mother (with postnatal depression) by Kristin Martin

Motherhood by Sue King-Smith

My grandchild by Marilyn Linn

My Life - Dawn to Dusk (and then some...) by Victoria Purdie

New beginnings by Felicity Chapman

No Giants by Ros Schulz

Painting your picture by Kylie Lehman

Please Don’t Play in the Toilet by Jackie Hosking

Reverse Parenting by Sheryl Persson

Poo sticks by Teresa Dikkenberg

Portrait by Heather Taylor-Johnson

Reef dreaming by Ray Liversidge

Roman at three by Maria Josey

Second shift by K. Danielle Edwards

Secret and silent rock by John Blackhawk

Seeds of Honesty by Ros Schulz

Spared by Sheryl Persson

Stark raving mad by Mardi Sheridan

Support by Heather Taylor Johnson

Sweating it out by Ian C Smith

The dream that haunts me by Hal Judge

The three of them by Marilyn Linn

The Transit of Venus by Sheryl Persson

The tricycle by Tiggy Johnson

They think I’m normal now by K. Danielle Edwards

This girl will burn… by Hal Judge

Today we played by Missy Willis

Trio by Andrew Slattery

TV Tragedy by Anne-marie Taplin

Untitled by Lynette Washington

Voices by Sharon Kernot

Wiggles by Tiggy Johnson

“Children are not a job you can leave, or a country you can return from. No one can guarantee you a child who matches your imaginings. You will get what you’re given – and there’s no turning back.”*

After seven years of motherhood, I still grapple with the truth of this brutally honest fact. There’s no walking away when things get tough. There’s no resigning to look for another job, one that pays better or appreciates your worth. There’s usually no gratitude for all the sheer, dogged hard work you put in on a daily (and often nightly) basis. And sometimes there’s no one around to de-brief with when you’ve reached your limit and have resorted to screaming to make yourself heard!

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* From The Divided Heart, Art and Motherhood by Rachel Power