This week has been another busy one (what’s new? I hear you ask). 

Sunday – The Brisbane Writer’s Festival’s Panel on Romance, Feminism and the 21st Century. Authors Anna Campbell, Christine Wells and Anne De Lisle discussed the topic in a panel moderated by QUT’s Glen Thomas, the only man I’ve heard of who’s devoting his academic life to studying romance as a genre. I was going to write the whole blog about it but once I got started and found three pages later that I still had things to say I thought; my blog readers have left to chase the kids/go to work/get away from me. So I’ll save the long treatise for another time. I’m thinking of writing a proper essay with references and everything, if I have time (laughs).

Suffice it to say for now that consensus was romance is not dead, not even on life support, because it doesn’t contravene modern social standards of equality but reflect them (if you disagree, you’ll be looking forward to the essay).

Monday – Being called at work in the afternoon to say my child has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Yes, doesn’t it sound awful? She’s actually fine but this thing makes infectious blisters break out on her hands, mouth and feet. Hers aren’t too bad but being contagious she couldn’t go to childcare. Is it wrong that part of me thinks at this time (once I know she’s going to be fine of course), oh goody I don’t have to go to work?

I think so. I think I am a terrible, terrible mother.

Which brings me to Tuesday night. I attended a talk presented by a child psychologist on controlling behaviour without punishment. It’s always good to be armed with information and the certain knowledge that you do so many things ‘wrong’ you’re going to scar your little Prince/Princess for life, and turn them into junk food eating, diabetes catching, rule breaking juvenile delinquents. It was a bit of a surprise to me and my mothers group friends to discover ‘time out’ (or the naughty corner as I call it in deference to the Super Nanny), is a pointless exercise, that you should give your child attention when they’re misbehaving rather than isolating them. I’m not sure about this, as taking Princess Two away from her toys and the TV and my attention for a couple of minutes has basically stopped her hitting me, which is a good thing, right?

Besides, ‘time out’ is for the parent isn’t it?


Sami