My issue with ads

I’m always making choices for my kids. I choose healthy meals for them, I choose what time they go to bed and I choose what they watch on TV. That’s my job as a parent, right? Which is why I have such an issue with advertisements on commercial television stations in Australia.

Uncool

I’ve always been uncool. Ever since I was young I never quite fitted the mold in terms of what was revered by my peers. I liked school (uncool), didn’t like be in trouble, (way uncool) and was open about my Christianity (way, way uncool). It’s taken me years to discover my authentic self and to let go of what other people expect me to be. The only person I want to be is the woman that God intended me to be. I may be uncool in the eyes of others, but I want to make God proud.

M.I.A.

I’ve been missing in action from Big and Brave for a few months. Essentially, life just got too hectic! I was concentrating on my writing and simply ran out of time to blog here too. I intend to change that in 2010. I’m hoping to post here at least once a week. And as 2010 begins anew, it’s given me cause to sit back and think about what I want for myself and our family in the coming year. Here are some of my New Year’s Resolutions:

13 Reasons Why

Yesterday was my Wedding Anniversary. Apart from being delighted to have actually survived thirteen years together in this messy thing called life, it was also a good chance for me to stop and think about exactly why I love my husband. Here are my 13 Reasons Why…

Perfect Timing

It’s just as well I don’t believe in reincarnation, because if I did the events of the past 24 hours would be making me wonder what terrible deed I had committed in a past life. Parenting is wonderful and fulfilling and rewarding, but it is also the most highly unpredictable vocation around.

The difference with identical twins

My boys are physically alike and genetically identical. But they couldn’t be more different in every other way if they tried. I find it so fascinating I thought it was worth compiling a list.

Karen Collum: Kid-Wrangler

I’ve decided to add a new moniker to my titles list. Alongside teacher, author, wife, daughter and friend I now proclaim myself to be a certified Kid-Wrangler.

Sixty-eight Angels

It was a Monday like no other before and hopefully, none to come. We had risen early to get there in time and the drive was easy in the gentle morning light. We carried our bags through the corridors to our allotted meeting point, keeping a light banter of chit-chat to keep the fear that accompanied us at arm’s length.

Possum’s heart is fixed!

Well, we did it! We got through open heart surgery with our little guy and we’re now home and doing well. He had a record-breaking recovery and came home just 4 days after his operation. If you’d like to read more, you can check out the link to Powerful Squiggles  on my other blog. It’s so good to be home!

Update on Possum’s Heart

We were scheduled for open heart surgery to fix Possum’s Atrioventricular Septal Defect (AVSD) on Thursday. We spent Wednesday afternoon at the hospital for pre-admission with Possum undergoing blood tests (he was so brave – he didn’t move at all) and a chest X-ray. We had a tour of the hospital from Level 8 where we will be admitted, down to Level 5 where Possum will go into theatre and we will spent the first 24-48 hours after surgery in the PICU (Paediatric Intensive Care Unit), back up to Level 8 where he will go to the Close Observation Unit and then the main ward. We also got to see the Starlight Room where he can go for entertainment and the various play areas around the hospital. We came home exhausted and overloaded with information, but feeling like we were as ready as we were every going to be.