Autoblography
The sentimental claptrap of a recently-separated 40-something mum
11/04/2011
WHY do more and more people find it so necessary to personalise their car’s number plate?
Is it unimaginative loved ones buying the plates as a “special” gift? Or do people consider their car a member of the family and so must give it a fittingly dorky name? Or are they just so egotistical that they think having a personalised number plate makes them look somehow more classy.... more »
20/01/2011
* When people recite their mobile numbers starting with a block of three numbers instead of four ie 041 355 555 5. Has the ‘official’ style of writing and saying these 10-digit numbers changed?
* Cars with number plates that say Kerrys, or Als or Heathaz et al. So, you have a car, congratulations!
* Erectile dysfunction radio ads featuring a female voiceover pressuring men.... more »
10/12/2010
GIVE me daughters anytime. They might morph into alien-spawn undergoing exorcism during the hormone-abundant teens, but at least I don’t have to teach them how to be a good man, in this good-man drought.
I feel sure teaching a young man how to be a good man is a very difficult job, and not one I am equipped for, hence why I have daughters - I think we are given what we can.... more »
2/12/2010
HEARTBREAKING is one way to describe selling your dream home - the former hub of your not-always broken family - in the middle of a global financial crisis. Strangely thankful is how you feel when someone falls in love with your dream home and offers to buy it for not much less than your brutally realistic estimate.
Panicked describes the realisation you and your children.... more »
23/11/2010
CHILD maintenance - a term that once struck the fear of a very large and unforgiving god into me - is something I’ve had to get an intimate grip on. And squeeze. Hard.
When you are caring for your children 100 per cent care of the time plus paying 100 per cent of your living costs, including the hefty family mortgage, it’s time to learn about the Child Support Agency. more »
11/11/2010
HOW do I tell my daughters their dad has narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)?
Curiously, NPD - the medical term for incurable selfishness in the extreme - is not debilitating for the sufferer, just his or her family and friends. It often goes unrecognised by the sufferer and can be misdiagnosed by others as severe self-absorption, which is infinitely more treatable. more »
2/11/2010
YOU think breaking up with your long-term partner is hell? Try getting ‘divorced’ from your mother in-law.
Be prepared to strap yourself in for a spine-jarring rollercoaster ride, and bring sick bags and anti-perspectives (depressants).
While you expect things to be emotionally strained if not on Cold War terms, with your former partner, don’t naively expect a respectful.... more »
25/10/2010
WHEN the only place to turn for help is Centrelink, you know you’re in serious trouble.
It’s worse than realising the bucks stops at you, because, when faced with the financial fright of raising two children (daughters at that) with one less parent, only the government can help. And that just exaggerates the sadness of a relationship breakdown.
From the moment I sheepishly.... more »