March

'April is the cruelest month'.

That might be so, but now it's March, and I am sure as heck enjoying it!

I always forget how much joy spring brings. The rays of sun, the flowers, the sheer vibrancy of energy in the air, the prospect of the summer that lies ahead. In spring I particularly enjoy being a work-at-home mom. In between deadlines I potter about on the balcony which, slowly, day by day, is changing from gloomy to pretty. I am already wearing summer dresses when making my translations, in an excess of optimism and I start buying plenty of fresh fruit and veggies at the market. More than at any other time of year I feel like celebrating life. And..strange but true, this has a good impact on my work. I am much more productive and get better results whilst spending less time at my desk.

What about you out there? I'd like to know about the impact of seasons on productivity of parents with their own business!

To-day's quote

"If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people."

Harvey Mackay

To wash a child

The following is, in a sense, a double theft. Indeed, I will be using a poem by Pablo Neruda. A poem I recently found on Ana Johnson's great website: www.yummymummymanifesto.com.
I can't resist, however, it's such a beautiful poem. Last Friday I saw my friend and colleague Madeleine who works as a conference interpreter and translator and who recently became a mother. She showed me wonderful pictures of her son Xavier, one of them in a bath. It triggered powerful memories of the slippery body of my son Thomas when I bathed him, quite a long while ago now. As another friend and colleague, Karin, said 'bathing a child appeals to something very primitive and meaningful within a woman's heart'. Anyhow, there is no chance in hell I will ever be able to express these things the way Pablo Neruda did, so I will let him do the 'talking' for now:

TO WASH A CHILD
by Pablo Neruda
Only the most ancient love on earth
will wash and comb the statue of the children,
straighten the feet and knees.
The water rises, the soap slithers,
and the pure body comes up to breathe
the air of flowers and motherhood.
Oh, the sharp watchfulness,
the sweet deception,
the lukewarm struggle!
Now the hair is a tangled
pelt criscrossed by charcoal,
by sawdust and oil,
soot, wiring, crabs,
until love, in its patience,
sets up buckets and sponges,
combs and towels,
and, out of scrubbing and combing, amber,
primal scrupulousness, jasmines,
has emerged the child, newer still,
running from the mother’s arms
to clamber again on its cyclone,
go looking for mud, oil, urine and ink,
hurt itself, roll about on the stones.
Thurs, newly washed, the child springs into life,
for later, it will have time for nothing more
than keeping clean, but with the life lacking.

New mom of the month

There is a new mom of the month on the business and diapers site.
www.businessanddiapers.com

Her name is Mireille Geus, she is a writer of children's books, has won several impressive awards and prices for her work and also teaches writing to adults.

By the way, Mireille does not work at home, although many writers do. Read more about her and her work on the site www.businessanddiapers.com, free downloads.

To-day's quote

HE WHO DOES NOT OBEY HIMSELF IS RULED BY OTEHRS.

Dr Phil

A friend of mine, publisher Marieke Hoogwout (of publishing agency REUNION in the Netherlands) recently pointed out something Dr Phil had said to a mother. It stuck to my mind: "if you love your children, take care of their mother".

Worth remembering...

Quote of the day

"Each human being is born three times. Once from his father, once from his mother, and once from himself" (Persian wisdom).