I started the year with some significant anaemia and an elbow injury hanging around from months ago so I'm trying to address those things and declaring 2016 the year of a better focus on health. Health and beauty just take so much more effort these days, dont they?
My professional life is evolving to focus on postpartum support, which is a fabulous thing to do and unpopular with doulas who are often very birth focussed so there is a niche there and I have started to call myself Sydney's only specialist postpartum doula. It's a big claim but I think it is actually true. Who would have thought I could be the only anything in a city as big as Sydney?
Our feng shui overhaul continues, I don't notice any dramatic improvements in our fortunes but the skylight in the kitchen is nice and the new grouting in the shower looks nice, though incongruous with the decaying bathroom........
And I no longer have any school children. People keep asking how it feels but it doesn't feel any different, they have all been working towards independence from the time they were tiny, their hold on my apron strings grows weaker by increments and that is as it should be.
Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
-Hal Borland
That is a truly lovely photo.
ReplyDeleteYay for finding your niche. And here's to a healthier and very, very happy 2016. And beyond.
Thanks EC!
ReplyDeleteI noticed the calendar had changed just a couple of days ago when a clerk handed me a form back because I had the wrong date on it. I was a bit taken aback when she told me it was 1/8/2016. Must have been less celebratory gunfire in the neighborhood, as i slept that marker of the new year right through. Maybe my roof didn't catch any bullets this year--So Kiley if I find myself in postpartum depression over missing the end of 2015 should I call?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Mark! I'll make soothing noises and cups of coffee :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a lovely photograph. I hope that you achieve your aims for the new year and send you and your family my best wishes for the new year.
ReplyDeleteLovely photo. Hope the health problems get sorted out. A postpartum doula sounds like a good idea. There must be so many things new mothers worry about or are puzzled about and no doubt they could do with some helpful advice.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a great 2016!
That is a wonderful photo of you and your chicks. We are down to only one son left in college, so our nest is not only empty but we are one year away from having our last fellow gainfully employed. (And no Son3, I do not count your having a part time job 4 days a week as "real" employment) I don't feel like less of a parent, but it is lovely that parenting has become an advisory position.
ReplyDeleteI think a postpartum doula is a fabulous position. I can't imagine how wonderful it would have been to be able to hire someone who could understand that new moms have specific needs. Plus we all know the postpartum period is extremely rough for some women. What a smart career move!
Ramana,
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Nick,
I'm feeling a lot better but I'm due for some follow up which i keep forgetting!
Anne,
Four days work every week isn't too shabby, although a young man needs to stash away as much as he can, I always think.
The postpartum work is lovely to do and meaningful but unfortunately most people are still reluctant to pay for it but i think the tide is turning
You have a very attractive family.
ReplyDeleteSnow,
ReplyDeleteAnd tall!