“Hark, who goes there?”

First of all, I write for me.

This means I am verbose, sometimes emotional, often grammatically incorrect, and may suffer from the occasional spate of foot-in-mouth disease. I write because I want to capture thoughts and feelings, but I also write because I analyse best when typing aloud.

Which means I write as I feel or think on the spot, which also means I don’t bother to search engine optimise my posts. So if you googled “sushi” and instead got to a post about dressing your baby up like one, I’m sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for.

That said, my heart does a Snoopy dance whenever I get new people reading and commenting, so by all means STAY! And drop me a comment. I do so love comments.

Secondly, I write for family and friends.

Since the day we found out about Arddun, this blog has been an easy means to keep loved ones in the loop. We have friends and family from all over, and only a smidgen live in Canberra. So I blog with all of them very much in my thoughts. Keeps them all near to me.

I also write for complete strangers.

Because if you’re a friend 800 times removed but something you’ve read here strikes a chord, then we are kindred and I write for you. For the older I get, the more I realise how very different we all are – just like everyone else. And how very similar we all are – in a gabillion different ways. And I may be a Singaporean living in Australia, but parenthood is universal. And screwing up is universal. And laughing about it is universal. And gooey, tender, die-for-you love is universal. So yes. I write for you.

But most of all, I write for us.

Because this is a scrapbook of our family. And because Tony and I are terrible at taking real holidays and good photos, this is a photo album of our lives. And someday, when Arddun is old enough, I hope she’ll love reading about herself just as much as I love writing about her.

“What can I find here?”

Let’s start with what you won’t find here. And that’s a rulebook on how to be the perfect mommy.

If you’re looking for tried and tested ways on how to grow a perfect child naturally… then, no. I will disappoint you. I find I can’t preach mommyhood to anyone, since I’m hardly qualified myself. In fact, I could have 3 Ardduns and still technically be unqualified because that only gives me a sample size of 3 to learn from. Not quite responsible statistics, no?

You will, however, find many examples of how NOT to be a perfect mommy. I am riddled with imperfection. I also express this in several ways – sometimes I rant, sometimes I write a ditty, sometimes I post a video. Every Thursday, I try to be thankful. I might insert a recipe that worked for me. Occasionally, I’ll compile my research and give you Actually Useful Information – such as what to buy the Mother Who Has Everything.

And then, there’s the Boast Post. Where it’s all about The Child, or The Man who half-made The Child. It’s inevitable, I’m afraid. I write as a wife and mother in love.