Posted by: Rachel on: October 15, 2008
If there were only adults at Kyah’s birthday party, it wouldn’t have been much of a party – it would have been rather miserable in fact. However, with tonnes of kids playing, laughing at the clown, petting animals, jumping in a bouncy castle, having their faces painted, whacking helium balloons and eating yummy food, it was a real party for Kyah’s 3rd birthday. It even made the front page of the Sunday paper. We were so glad to have flown down for it – and we weren’t the only ones to have booked last minute flights.
Seeing all those kids running around having a fantastic time was a vivid reminder to savor each moment we have and to enjoy life to the full. To celebrate life.
Reading through the comments on Kyah’s Journey shows countless people saying they’ve been challenged to do just that – spend more time with their family, hug their kids and tell them they love them, not sweat the small stuff and to get out there and do things because no-one knows the future.
The other theme which flows from the blog is how much honesty speaks to people, draws people in and is never a weakness, always a strength. Writing about her daughter’s fight with cancer means every single raw emotion under the sun being displayed there for the whole world to read – and in response, tears have flown freely: honesty breeds honesty.
Kyah’s defying the doctors’ predictions. She’s alive and that’s something to celebrate each day.
Posted by: Rachel on: October 10, 2008
Incredibly rushed and not very planned, we are jumping on a plane to Wellington tomorrow morning.
It’s the right thing to do and I wouldn’t want to miss Kyah’s birthday party for the world. I think it will be the most special birthday party I’ve ever been to.
Haven’t ever planned a plane trip this last minute before, and of course it will be E’s first flight. The only advice I’ve been given about travelling with babies is to feed him on the way up and down to help his ears adjust to the pressure changes. I’m now wondering how many changes of clothes, PJs etc to take… right must get back to it!
Posted by: Rachel on: October 7, 2008
“The best memory is that there aren’t any bad memories” – Gareth Hemmings
This quote has stuck in my head ever since I read the Herald article a couple of weeks ago. What a moving thing for a teenager to say about their late father.
Posted by: Rachel on: October 3, 2008
I was thinking about how often I use this phrase or hear others using this phrase and how maybe I should cut out using it. It’s amazed me at how often people’s comments are towards becoming a parent are tinged with negativity. Here’s a list of common ones I’ve had said to me over and over:
On telling people that we’ve had such a great run so far with E sleeping so well and being such a happy baby, these are common responses (yes, honestly!):
We tinge so many of our comments with negativity – “worst case scenario” – instead of just enjoying the good things in life, just saying “yay!” without the “it’s not going to last”. Hearing it in others’ comments makes me resolve to say less “worst case scenarios”.
Posted by: Rachel on: October 1, 2008
The other day I was watching a TV soap (mm, yes) and got moved by it. No, it wasn’t a wedding, birth or death (although seeing an ad for a birth on another TV show moved me to tears recently). It was a voice-over quoting about love and fear. This isn’t the exact wording they used, but you get the idea:
There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. We, though, are going to love—love and be loved.
As a new parent I can’t pretend to have figured much out about the whole process just yet but I have already had moments of realising just a teeny tiny part of how deep the love for a child is and how you don’t want any harm to come to them. This quote then came to me at a time when I was really wrestling with the whole vaccination issue and just thinking about being a parent in general.
It challenged me and gave me comfort. There’s just so much fear-mongering on so many issues in life – and the media plays on this: whether it be crime (“Good Samaritan stabbed in broad daylight”) , health (“50,000 babies affected by formula”), finances (“Stock market crash!”)… I don’t want to live a fearful life!
Soaps aren’t all bad food for thought.
Posted by: Rachel on: September 30, 2008
Posted by: Rachel on: September 30, 2008
Posted by: Rachel on: September 29, 2008
Do you know what my favourite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation. That’s really what we’re missing today – 100,000 people out there trying 100,000 different things in 100,000 garages. Who knows what will come out of that? - Thomas Friedman
Time magazine – September 15, 2008
Posted by: Rachel on: September 29, 2008
There’s something rather liberating about writing. I’ve been blogging for so long but lost touch with writing from my heart as writing for business slowly crowded this out. While Facebook, Twitter and other social networking is fantastic, it doesn’t quite quench the desire to write at length about feelings and reflections on life.
I discovered a personal blog of someone I know professionally today and it rekindled my desire to write just for the sake of writing and even if just for me.
My daily rhythm changed dramatically two months ago with the birth of our first baby. He’s a very happy laid back little man who has defied the dire predictions of sleepless nights and difficulties with feeding. Transition into parenthood has been smoother and more rewarding than I could have imagined and I feel like being a mum is something I was born to do (as obvious as that must appear).
Oh and labour? Thankfully it wasn’t traumatic and I was so proud of myself to have done it without medical interventions or drugs and so relieved I ended up without stitches.
In fact, the biggest hurdle so far has been the agony of deciding whether or not to vaccinate. I wish it were an easy decision that didn’t play on my mind as I went to sleep, tossing and turning weighing up the pros and cons and doing further reading which left things more grey than ever.
When someone asked me what we had decided, I couldn’t lie. The conversation which followed hurt pretty deeply: it’s such an emotionally-charged topic, wrapped with guilt. I’m still recovering from the sense I’ve let this other person down immensely and the fear they think I’m not trying to do the best for my child, which of course I am.
Second biggest hurdle: getting this body back into shape. I’m 7kg above my pre-pregnancy weight but I’d ideally like to lose another 5kg I put on last year due to miscarriage and complications. So I’ve joined the gym again and try to have selective amnesia when I start back at square one with weights and wonder if I actually have any stomach muscles left in my body.
I laugh and shrug off celebrity post-baby body photos outwardly but inwardly I can’t help but compare myself to the sun-kissed toned sticks.
The hurdles are temporary. The joys are plentiful: there’s nothing nicer right now than my son smiling at me when he sees me come into the room and talking to me in the cutest coos ever. It’s so lovely to be someone’s mum. I can’t imagine going back to work and leaving him each morning. Let’s make that hurdle number 3: figuring out what to do about work!
Summer is on its way! The grapevines are sprouting leaves and we proudly count the number of bunches (more than 40 already) popping out. The garden is coming alive with rapid growth, bees and birds and we can open the doors up again and sit outside for lunch. Pink and white blossoms are smothering our fruit trees. I love the feeling in the air in spring.
I continue to make lists for myself to do. I want to finish the photo albums, learn more about the art of photography, read more books (I want someone to set me a reading list I can work through), read more of the bible, get swayed less by what the media says are important issues, write snail mail to friends, pray more and encourage others more.
And now for the mundane: it’s time to do some housework!
