Tag: Motherhood

How did you manage to have a boy and a girl? Is it worth-knowing this?

Unfortunately, I never learnt to play the guitar. Neither did my son. He chose hockey instead. Lots of people ask me how did we go about having a boy and a girl and in all honesty we did not leave it to entirely to chance. Instead I read this book and applied the knowledge and this is how it was handled. The book is called Taking Charge of Your Fertility and it is written by Toni Weschler. I bought it via Amazon but I read the one with this cover. I know this is an unusual post but I also know that there is a lot of pain that surrounds the topic so I hope the pain can be eased or a solution found here.

Maybe it is a message worth spreading.

But of course, I cannot guarantee the results.

Love to all,

Alicja

More than a line. But I guess there is an improvement.

My daughter is seven now. She makes us laugh with her honest observations.

”Mum, when I run at the highest speed at the treadmill, my socks come off.”

My son is nearly 14. His school is on strike tomorrow and after tomorrow so we’ll have some time together organizing the garden.

I came to some very honest realisations today which kind of scared me somewhat but perhaps my life is meant to be a cautionary tale and maybe at times we ought to be those. So in the spirit of care for us all, I thought I will point it out the glitch in internal software that we all might carry.

My self-realisations are as follows:

I resolve the problem of having a career by not having it.

I resolve the problem of writing a book by not writing it.

I resolve the problem of ………. by not doing it.

This attitude is of course not visible in all my life choices and developmental areas but I do have it in some areas and where I have it, it shows.

That said..

I think that good mental health starts from first principle: ‘Deny nothing.’ As soon as we start denying knowing or feeling something (be it our need, our experience, our want, our achivements, our loves, our strengths), our psyche misaligns. I think it’s good to hear oneself.

Hear yourself.

Lots of love, A.

Colour combinations

It’s been around Easter when we played around with my daughter with painting plates, melting bee’s wax and dropping shadows on different textures. We enjoyed it all and making different arrangements with different colour combinations. It was a playful and joyful time together.

I feel my internal batteries are a bit discharged today as the week days were long and intense but I hope you will find the photographs energizing and inspiring. Can you spot a bunny in the last photo?

Till next time.

Have a nice weekend!

Alicja

Photos and text: Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini

Thankful

I’ve got an impression that last winter my mother was making this soup every three days for our children. Her grandson was competing with himself to see how many bowls he could comfortably consume. We all looked at him in disbelief, wondering where that quantity was disappearing. Surely, he was not spoon-feeding the dogs under the table. He loved it. Everyone else did too. They gladly returned from the cold and sat in front of a steaming bowl and each bowl came with a piece of popular Polish bread showered with flax seeds. Yummy.

Do you cook? What do you like making?


The knitted cloth that the soup is placed on is actually a scarf made by my aunt. It is so warm, you won’t believe. Shoulders wear it gracefully indebted to my aunt for many hours of her work. I was comforted by the softness of the scarf. The warmth of the soup also brought reassurance. I am grateful that my mum and aunt keep their skills fresh and that they continuously make an effort. It is mesmerizing to see how things emerge in other people’s hands. As if from nowhere…

Creativity blossomed in our house over the weekend. Icy weather gave us many opportunities to refresh and revive our spirit and gave us hope for a good and creative year. I hope you are feeling equally energized.

The photos of the soup were taken last year in Poland. The photo of my children was taken in Melbourne (UK) at Woodhouse Farm. Many thanks to Brian Woodhouse for allowing me to take photos on his farm and fields.

Below is a photo from my parents’ place in Poland.

*Corrected draft.

When ego bursts…

(...)
When ego bursts
It makes space
For the other...

Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini, Autumn 2024

From the anthology On Immaturity (not yet published) by Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini
Photograph: Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini, Ambergate, The Birches, Derbyshire, UK