My son sat his learner licence test recently and passed. I was so excited for him as we left the testing office and headed off to buy the L plates for my car. I’m not sure where I dreamt up the idea that getting your learner licence magically turned you into a competent driver. The […]
I start dreading winter at the end of summer. I wear shorts for as long as I can tolerate the cold. I paint my toenails bright colours, and I don’t give up easily on the idea of one last swim. I feel anxious as the long warm days start to slip away and the crisp […]
Perspective is great, it helps you to see a situation in a different way. “My kid isn’t doing well at school, but at least she’s not a drug addict”. I have heard mums, including myself saying these sorts of things, minimising the pain we are feeling to look on the bright side and be grateful. […]
Being in lockdown has brought many changes to our schedules and habits, and with the possibility of moving into level 2 just around the corner, it might be time to look at tweaking your teen’s sleeping routine. Especially if they have adopted the ‘vampire’ type lifestyle. Not all teenagers are going to be excited about […]
In my last post, I talked about unlimited screen time and how we were trialling that in our home during the lockdown. Our ‘all you can eat’ philosophy of being online was working pretty well, mostly. But then I started to witness some pretty dark moods and attitudes in my kids. That made me feel […]
It is day 11 of lockdown for our family as we self-isolated a few days earlier than the Government suggested. Things are going well for us. We are all healthy, there is food in the pantry and we are adjusting to the new pace of life. It doesn’t seem too different for my husband and […]
Today we are living a different life from what we are used to. It kind of feels like the school holidays, except we don’t have a house full of teenagers, and I am not driving kids all over the countryside. School was closed quite suddenly so online schooling isn’t set up yet. One of my […]
When my kids first started school I would pick them up full of questions about their day. I knew that they were tired but I just couldn’t help myself. How was your day, who did you play with, did you eat your lunch? They weren’t very good open-ended questions, so obviously I didn’t get much […]
It was my son’s 16th birthday recently and he had a few friends stay over. They are a great bunch of guys with different personalities, but what they all had in common was that they liked to blow things up. A plan was hatched over pizza to light some cascades which were conveniently leftover from […]
On my morning walk with my dog Milo, I heard the sounds of stressed-out parents in my neighbourhood. A result of the long summer holidays slowly coming to an end. I really enjoy the pace of the school holidays, and having my kids around. But it can be challenging. Parenting is hard. It’s hard when […]
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Hi I'm Robayne, a freelance writer and mum of two delightful teenagers. Parenting teens is quite the journey so I have created this space as a way to share stories and connect with others who are walking the same path. I have studied freelance journalism at the NZ Writers College and I create content over at Magnusson & Co. If you enjoy my blog and want to know when I post something new please subscribe to my newsletter.
