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Kia ora, friends Last week, an excellent new short-form documentary series began releasing episodes, via the NZ Herald umbrella. It manages to shine a light on stories of individual people, while adding context and research from those who can provide a broader context. Full disclosure: my work and I will…

Jeez, but i am susceptible to succumbing to brief and intense passions … each one often worth years of focus. Today: the poetry of Mary Oliver. Yesterday: images from the Hubble space telescope. Last week’s obsessions included new music and some old music, too. I tell ya what has been…

Here it is: I want to be positive. I want to talk about the things that WORK for families, and that are life-enhancing. I don’t want to spend my days in a defensive crouch, parrying and rebutting. I mean, I’ll do it, because sometimes you gotta. Because, to quote Naida…

Kia ora friends I am listening to the playlist I made for the Baby Lounge I hosted at the Rangiora A&P show, in October last year. At the time, it was competing with a showjumping commentary broadcast, an enthusiastic covers band, and a highland dancing competition. Yup, with bagpipes. I…

My neighbour took this photo on the way home the other evening. You guys … I get to live here. It’s really hard to want to leave. This week, I finally heard back about an international conference. “Yes”, they said. “Congratulations. We would like you to share your research at…

Kia ora friends. Here’s what’s going on …this website is held together with paperclips and prayers. String and a song. It’s limping along and barely able to function. She’s so rickety I can’t even share links anymore, and that’s what made this website special all along. The indigestion is real.…

Kia ora friends, Excitement is high, in my house. Next week I will graduate with my PhD and my oldest will graduate with her Bachelor’s degree. Super exciting. There will be champagne, and regalia. That’s not all … I have begun work to get a new website up and breathing.…

Kia ora friends, Little Girl is still unwell – it’s day nine (?)… meanwhile, f you could see the number of open tabs that are squashed along the top of this screen, you would be worried for my state of mind. Rightly so. There are several I’ll be able to…

Kia ora friends, Yesterday, the news was full of this story, concerned about the oral language skills of children arriving in New Zealand’s schools, aged five. Later in the day, speech language therapists joined in, confirming how worrying kids’ language is, and adding their own workforce shortages to the list…

Kia ora fam, I really would like to be allowed to exist for love. Like Aurora. My training and work and research and life all justify my long held pro-mama, pro-baby, pro-relationships stance. Relationships and play, y’all. I live to fly the flag for these vital ingredients! So it’s gutting…

Kia ora friends, so … um … yesterday at about 2pm I submitted my PhD thesis. I have decided this is like winning a quarterfinal – worthy of a little celebration, a wonderful milestone, but TEAM we ain’t done. Still needing to be examined and defended … but we are…

Kia ora friends Here we go, 2024. So I’ve employed my dad’s excellent life advice to wait till you’ve had two sleeps after a difficult situation, in order to decide whether to succumb to despair, or not. Two days ago I attended a fraught public meeting in my community, surrounded…