Human

Human

Emotions “I’m only 12. I don’t really have emotions.” This bewildering statement was once delivered calmly in the middle of a poetry lesson. The child said someone had said to him once, “You’re twelve. What can you possibly have to worry about?” I asked him if he’d...
The Magic of Storytelling

The Magic of Storytelling

Stories Are Everywhere We tell stories all the time. We tell stories on purpose – hushed and giggling at teenage sleepovers, delighting in frightening our friends; gathered around a smoking campfire; tucking our children up in bed. And we tell stories without really...
Who Is Educating Whom?

Who Is Educating Whom?

    The perpetually enigmatic and shifting nature of parenthood means I have never in all my life been so acutely in agreement with Socrates, who is reputed to have said, “I know only one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” I have, however, learned a...

Instincts

Instincts Motherhood is an extraordinarily humbling experience. Before, I thought I knew about children. I babysat, I harboured ambitions of a career as a perpetually adored Miss Honey in an idyllic village primary school. Most of all, I dreamed of motherhood with an...
Journey to the Rainbow

Journey to the Rainbow

When I was pregnant, I made the obligatory list of ‘Vital Things for Baby’, many of which I didn’t understand and a good number of which also turned out to be entirely unnecessary. We did not buy toys. It did not occur to me to buy toys until I suddenly looked at the...