My mental load is heavy right now… I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to share today. I’m quite likely to go off-road… Yay Women! While I applaud all the posts on amazing women and their excellent contributions to so many essential walks of life. I’d prefer to talk about ‘ordinary’ women. Also, I sometimes feel crippled by the inaction … Read More
Talking to Children about War
Talking to children and young people about the war in Ukraine isn’t something simple. It certainly isn’t something I was expecting to be writing about. Funnily enough, I have a War Studies degree and an MA in History, my dissertation on conflict resolution and military law… So, my kids have seen Newsround at school and heard various things in the … Read More
Cloudy Caring
I had a cloudy day this week, it was out of the blue and I knew pretty quickly that I was in a cloudy mood. These can be tricky as they are not bad enough that we can stay in bed and call on our emergency resources. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognise them and do what we can … Read More
Sunny Guilt, and how to deal with it.
Sunny guilt is a funny thing. It’s something that may come from within you or possibly from those around you. It’s about feeling happy or laughing while you are also sad. Sunny days can be a bit of a minefield, as they are the days we feel more like we can get things done. We might meet up with friends … Read More
Good Questions for Being Green
As with so many aspects of ‘being green’, there is a lot of greenwashing about. This is when a product or a business tries to look better than it really is. The only way to be really happy that you are choosing an environmentally positive option, is to do your research. Find out about who is selling that thing, and … Read More
Grief & Assumptions
This is a rant. It will happen from time to time, a topic sends me into mental overdrive. So, here’s a stream of consciousness about gender, grief and assumptions. Boys & Girls One of the aspects of our son dying, is that we now have all girls. We already had a larger family than average, and people would often comment … Read More
Stormy Self Care
On days when getting out of bed seems impossible, our self care abilities are likely to be VERY low. That doesn’t mean that they should be zero… Allowing others a role in our self care on these days can be the most important. Using a checklist can be a helpful way to monitor the basics e.g. drinking water regularly, or … Read More
Sources of Support
There are so many organisations that offer care during end of life, death and funeral planning. Where possible, go for the most specific support for your individual situation. Start with www.thegoodgrieftrust.org this is an umbrella organisation that lists almost every support organisation in the UK. Many will have a free helpline, some are 24hrs. You can also contact your GP … Read More
Peopling
After a death, you will have to deal with people. Some you know, and some you don’t. Depending on what has happened, you may have uniformed services involved as well as family, friends, neighbours, the list can go on. Dealing with all the talking, explaining and repetition is likely to be exhausting. Here are a few ideas for dealing with … Read More
The only thing we can’t avoid…
Apparently Benjamin Franklin said the only two certainties in life were Death and Taxes. As it seems not everyone pays their taxes, I guess that leaves us with Death. It’s the only common experience, one we cannot avoid – humans, animals and even trees that may live for thousands of years. Given all this certainty, and that everyone we know … Read More