When I was a little girl, we would go and stay with friends of ours who lived on a farm in the Lowveld. Sandy roads, dry grass, herds of cattle, a rocky dam to swim in, three meals a day all sat together around the table and dark, quiet nights all snuggled in our beds,… Continue reading

When I was in my second year of studies I caught a proper case of the blues. One of my professors called me into her office, pulled a graph up onto her laptop screen and asked, “What is this?” The graph might have been illustrating a plane in the throws of a crash landing but… Continue reading

All of a sudden there are a lot more birds in our garden. Birds I’ve never seen before. We were discussing it recently, when one of us piped up, “Maybe it’s because of all the development going on around here? They’ve had to relocate.” By default, we have become one of the safe places to… Continue reading

I think it’s correct to say that parents are always learning alongside their children. We have never ‘made it.’ Fathers and mothers can’t be the sort of people who would like to learn something, master it, write the exam and, at the very least, pass. You cannot do your doctorate or become a professor and… Continue reading

Our home schooling journey has been one filled with wonder and discovery. I could write for days of our triumphs and our mistakes, but tonight I just want to write for a short while about ‘atmosphere.’ We figured out, early on, that no family is quite the same as another family; and that within a… Continue reading

We have just come out of a typical cool, dry winter and when it should have rained in the seasons before, it did not. The land is parched, the drought is for real, the wind blows dust into our eyes and onto every surface in our houses and the sound of rain on our tin… Continue reading

Is there a family tree, as in one singular tree, or is it more like millions of seeds planted down the ages that grow into forests of shade and orchards of fruit; a complex weaving of branches to hang swings from and knot holes to create safe spaces in, a network of roots intertwined and… Continue reading

We do a great deal of reading aloud in our family, and many a tale gets woven into the fabric of our lives. Over time, we begin to feel we are personally acquainted with the characters and places in the books. Long after I have put our basketful of stories away for the day I… Continue reading

“Sticks and stones might break my bones but names can never harm me,” sing the children, and it’s lies. As you read that, maybe you remember a time when words were spoken, even in jest, and you felt that they were aimed at you like arrows, piercing your tender heart before the sentence was complete.… Continue reading

Man, it’s all happening. Life is never dull around here, ‘specially at the moment. We are in a season of visas and travels plans, extra lessons and exams for the older children and nightmares, bed wetting and teething pain for the younger ones. The days require action and the nights are interrupted. Everywhere I turn… Continue reading