Read this on galpod.com. I’ve been experiencing recently another hit of heightened anxiety. The kiddos went back to school, and today they started walking to school on their own. They are walking together, and it’s a 10-minute walk, and my son has done it through much of last year, and most of the way is packed with other students and their parents. Still, anxiety was high this morning until the awaited text message arrived. But it’s not just that, of course. On top of the pa

Read this on galpod.com. I usually love going back to school. About two weeks before, we try out the old uniform to check if they still fit and order new shoes, skirts, or shirts as needed. About a week before the start of the school year, we wash out the backpacks, go over last year's books, take pictures of things we want to remember, then throw the lot in the recycling bin. On the first day (sometimes the second) of September, we also hang the new calendar and start puttin

Read this on galpod.com. I've been thinking a lot about self-love today. This morning, Andy, over at the Headspace meditation, talked about how self-love and loving others are essentially the same quality. It's just that for most of us, one is more natural than the other. And I thought to myself that I could never view myself in the same way I love my partner or my children. Then, the daily journal prompt was to write a love note to yourself from the point of view of someone

Read this on galpod.com. My Love, How you've grown this last year. Even physically, which is a rarity. It's been an interesting year. The last few months, particularly. It seems that overnight we switched from child to teenager. Talking to your friends online has a lot to do with our feeling that you're a teenager. And the dramas that ensue are real: arguments over every possible little thing (like who causes the most arguments), tears, anger, and regrets. You've given me a l

Read this on galpod.com. Before I start, let me just say how incredibly lucky I am. My kids (8.5 and 10) are old enough to be independent, and not yet old enough to be annoying teenagers. They are generally well-behaved kids (as per their teachers), and they are both strong academically. We are also lucky to have a big house for a London residence, with four bedrooms, which means that we can each work/hang out in a different room without getting on each other's nerves. We are

Read this on galpod.com. Schools are closing afternoon on Friday, which means we're homeschooling from next week. It feels like the end of the world out there, but I'm bored talking about panic buying and how anxious I am. And besides, Chuck Wendig, as always, had written it so much better than I ever could. Here's what I plan to do starting Monday. Homeschool I've actually always wanted to try out homeschooling but didn't want to be the weirdo mom who takes the kids out of s

Read this on galpod.com. Well, the new school year is finally getting into gear. This week was almost routine in terms of clubs, except that my daughter got sick and spent two days at home. Then I caught whatever it was she had, so I took a day off yesterday. My day off consisted mostly of lying on the sofa watching Sherlock Holmes, which made everything better, really. It was very annoying, and at first, I refused to take a day off. My reasoning was that I'd started the new

Read this on galpod.com. My daughter has a fever. We went to see the doctor. It's probably nothing, but we went just in case. He gave me an antibiotics prescription just in case she doesn't get better over the next day or two. She'll probably be fine. But when it's 2 am and I have a grumpy, whining child in my arms who starts randomly talking about cobwebs, all of a sudden my grogginess clears and I'm wide awake. How high exactly was her temperature? Is it high enough for hal

Read this on galpod.com. When I was nine years old, we all took a national test at school. It was supposed to identify children who are falling behind, as well as children who were ahead of the curve. A few kids in my class, including myself, were identified as "gifted". That's how people called it back then. Theoretically, the government was offering enrichment programs for gifted kids. Practically, we lived in the middle of nowhere, and the closest enrichment program was in

Read this on galpod.com. It’s the beginning of the school year, and that means clubs. School is easy; you get the kids into uniform and make sure you leave on time. But clubs are hard because there’s choice. And you make the rules. You can put a kid in two clubs a day or none at all. It’s a complex balancing act between what the kid wants, what you want, and what the schedule looks like. I’m dead against overscheduling. I think we put too much pressure on kids as it is, and w

Read this on galpod.com. Our family summer adventure starts in a few days, which means I can't focus on anything. I'm way too excited and anxious. So I thought I'd write a post about travelling with kids. The first thing I'll say is I think we've waited too long. We could have taken this trip two years ago, easily. It would have been a lot more work for the grownups, but I think the kids would have benefited from travelling. We did weekends in various cities in Europe (reason

Read this on galpod.com. I have two Israeli friends who live close by. Both have kids, although a little younger than mine (their eldest are my youngest's age). The kids get along as kids do: sometimes they fight, most of the time they go off and play, and we only hear from them if they're hungry. That, by itself, is fantastic. But the thing I love is when they hang out at our place, stay over for dinner, and we sort of, for that day, raise the kids together. If you read The

Read this on galpod.com. As you can probably tell, I've been thinking a lot about my plans for the summer. I've had two amazing days in which grandparents took the kids out, and I had the day to myself. I got a lot done. But the next few weeks are going to be different. The kids are home, and I'm not yet willing to sit them in front of a screen all day. Also, it won't be more than a day or two before I'll have cranky kids. So that's not a good plan for us. I also want to take

Read this on galpod.com. Today is the last day of the school year. When I was in school, it was always a sad day for me. I loved going to school. I think now that what I liked about school was how routine it was. You get up at the same time every day. You catch the school bus at the same time. You know how your day is going to look like. I still like knowing how my day's going to look like, but I'm a lot more flexible now. So now, it's a mixed-emotions kind of day. I'm feelin

Read this on galpod.com. “Isn’t this nice?” asked Chris. Kayla looked at him, disgust etched on every feature. “Look at the stars,” Chris tried again. “Aren’t they beautiful?” The disgusted look remained. Kayla didn’t even look up. “I love the forest at this time,” he said, undeterred. “Not quite night yet, but definitely not day anymore. The woods are swarming with wildlife. It’s especially fun when you have your fire going, and you know the rest of the evening is just you

Read this on galpod.com. Not so much a story, but a scene I wrote a few months ago in response for a writing prompt. I'm working on my editing skills now, so I went back to it today and worked on it. Would love to hear feedback! :) “Mom! Mooooom!!!” Lucy looked up from the romance novel she was reading. She was sitting at the dining room table having a little evening drink with her guilty-pleasure romance when her 13-year-old daughter burst into the house. “I’m in the dining

Read this on galpod.com. It pisses me off when people tell me that writing a book (or a PhD thesis) is JUST like having a child. I'm not entirely sure why. Yes, I get that, like a child, you have to let a book go and send it into the wide world. And sure, like raising a child, it's hard work, and exhausting, and you're never sure you're doing it right. I've done all three. I've written a PhD thesis (submitted, defended, and DONE). I've written a novel (OK, a first draft which

Read this on galpod.com. I was at a writing festival all day, organised by CityLit's Creative Writing department. It was amazing, but I cannot write anything right now. So I'm posting the first flash fiction I ever wrote. I hope you enjoy :) Marla climbs up the stairs with the cardboard box hugged in front of her. She places the box in the living room, on the beige carpet, and goes into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. For one. As she waits for the kettle to boil, she looks