User Comments

lisaskeeter April 22, 2024

I'm in Ireland now, but when I had my kids in Brisbane I practically lived in malls. Air con. Accessibility for a pram. Somewhere to pee WITH THEM. Somewhere to change a nappy and clean poop or vomit off your dress without being judged. 

A cold milkshake or a coffee while they play in the enclosed indoor playground. As they got bigger but did not develop normally, it was a safe place to bring them where they could not run across a road. And if they did break free there was someone to help me. It was where I taught my son to walk beside me, a big milestone for an active Autistic boy. 
I realise now it was also a safe place to zone out. CCTV. Security. "Nice people" who wouldn't tolerate a creep hanging around. 
Even during COVID when all but the supermarkets were closed, I used to get a coffee and a muffin and sit in the communal areas of the mall, with the other mums, pensioners and people who needed to be around others, even if we were 2 metres apart. 
I hope we can have this again. 

lisaskeeter April 13, 2024

I'm in Ireland. I woke up while this was happening and my first thought was "but that's Mia's happy place!"

Then I insta DMd everyone on the podcast to check if they were alright. (The baby!) Clare replied.
And that's how every woman who knows someone in Sydney would have felt.
Malls are our happy place. When it's too hot to go outside, or too wet or cold. When we are stressed, when you want to wander around and be distracted, zone out but still BE SAFE., then we go to the Mall. 
Hell I went to the northern beaches in December and spent the heatwave reading on the couch outside DJs at Warringah Mall. Me and the other pensioners staying cool and trying the Vietnamese rolls and sushi in the food hall. Feeling safe. 
It's our Tiffanys. And nothing bad can ever happen at Tiffanys.
Until now. 

lisaskeeter April 11, 2024

I learned in the school disco at Haddon Primary. Such White People "Dancing" - I would love to know what First Nations and people from continents where they actually dance make of it. Even better, can they try it? 

lisaskeeter March 23, 2024

I almost missed an Aer Lingus flight  to Rome after walking to the WRONG  end of the airport where  Ryanair had one taking off at the same time - after checking the gate on a big screen and reading the wrong line! 

This is the best hack ever. 

lisaskeeter March 17, 2024

Maybe when you have a son/brother who writes an international bestseller about how your respective houses manipulate the narrative; you learn to stay schtum.

lisaskeeter February 19, 2024

What is the deal with Ch7 platforming "problematic" dudes?

lisaskeeter January 31, 2024

I think the placards prove the point. I hope the sons of these parents flourish. 

lisaskeeter January 23, 2024

Too traumatic to finish reading but I hear you.

I bet my own birth mother tells everyone what terrible daughters we are, but I could fill pages with stories of her dysfunctional, abusive and neglectful actions from childhood, up until and including when I became a parent myself. 

And it took me years and 2 months of therapy to realise that I was actually a good kid (at age 50!) and it wasn't my job to fix a shitty parent. 


lisaskeeter January 18, 2024

As a teen I used to swarm the make up testers at Myer on a Friday night, sticking my  grubby fingers into the blue eyeshadow testers and asking the concession staff for free samples. I see the same now but they are swarming the wrong section. 

Someone needs to make ponds cream a thing again. 

lisaskeeter January 9, 2024

She was also very entertaining during Covid Lockdowns with her home disco Karaoke. . 

lisaskeeter November 3, 2023

Please add a link to the twins Cancelled episode on Hilaria ! It's one of their funniest ever. 

lisaskeeter November 2, 2023

@babble love it. 

lisaskeeter November 2, 2023

We are shoes off in Ireland which has been very difficult. I keep a shoe rack near the door, have slip on scuffs and even then, I have to remind people, EVEN my Irish husband who walks in forest parks where people don't pick up after their dogs. I have wooden floors downstairs, carpet upstairs so I maintain a firm policy from the bottom step upwards, leniency in the kitchen/living downstairs. And I have 2 Dysons! to clean up twice a day.

Maybe tell the older relatives about the longer life expectancy in the "Blue Zones" where a common factor is sitting on the floor regularly. (Along with eating beans, walking to the shops and mixing with the generations) So if they take off their shoes and sit down to play with their grandchildren they will live longer. 

lisaskeeter November 2, 2023

You've reminded me of when I was starting puberty and getting freaked out about a tiny little yellow discharge and it was DOLLY DOCTOR who told me everything was normal with my vag. So big snaps to Lisa Wilkinson and Mia for that. 

Seriously, I hope that this is covered in the Year 7 Johnson & Johnson film these days! 

lisaskeeter October 31, 2023

@laura__palmer a lot of them aren't violent until they kill. That's the problem. They control the life of the person they are with and everything seems fine. A lot of the time the control has been built up over a long period of time and the victim doesn't even realise how bad it is. 

We have to educate everyone about the signs of coercive control and we HAVE to support women to get away from it. 

lisaskeeter October 31, 2023

@kathydi well done you. 

lisaskeeter October 31, 2023

Australian living in Ireland. Husband is Irish but we lived in Australia in the 90's.

Australia tolerates open misogyny. That's the biggest difference I notice.
Sure, Ireland has a history of systemic misogyny thanks to the church which has severely affected women and much more needs to be done. 
But if a politician held a fundraiser with a sexist menu or stood next to a sign that said "Ditch the witch" he would be cancelled. 
Openly referring to a political opponent as an "angry woman" for pointing out weaknesses in your immigration policy while in govt. Allowing a national broadcaster to make threatening comments about TWO female Prime Ministers. Putting known domestic abusers and accused sexual harassers on national television to get ratings.

These are the things you notice when your 17,000 kms away. 

lisaskeeter October 31, 2023

Yeah can someone say who they are in reference to their 'job' and what the are supposed to be. Feeling lost AND old. 

Romy wins for me. 

lisaskeeter October 9, 2023

@bourkemelissa thank you and thank you Claire for being honest about your regret. It shows personal growth to be able to admit when you were wrong. 

lisaskeeter September 8, 2023

This is your child at their most powerful time of the day. Every minute they have been overlooked in favour of work, social engagement, day care or after school care or just looking at your phone/tv while you try to decompress is about to be paid back. 

Two tips. 
1. Build in some pure attention earlier in the day. Do a shared activity like Lego, a puzzle, throwing a ball back and forth or even playing with filters on their ipad. Just don't glance at your phone to check messages or or sports result. Pretend you are both balanced on the edge of a cliff and you cannot take your eyes off them for even a second. The person you are with is the most important in the world and nothing else should distract you. 

2. Create a bedtime ritual playbook. Do it early in the day when they are topped up with sleep and attention. Ask them for the 5  things they need and write them down. One step per page with a space for them to draw a picture of the step. St apple the pages together and add a drawing or photo to the front. This is a truly collaborative effort which will become a contract, enforceable by either party. If you skip a step, you have to make it up. If they try and add steps at bedtime, say that can be part of a negotiation the next morning when you can take the book apart and discuss which step will be replaced. 
You can refer to the 5 step book during any off book behaviours such as requests for glasses of water or a search for a missing item or a need to know what the universe is made of and can the dog sleep in their room instead of their sisters. 

It will keep you both on task and will become a treasured keep sake. (For gods sake make a copy of it to bring on trips!!)