Photographer Andrew Currie


Parenting is hard work, you have to take on so many roles. My favorite is that of a spy, an evil spy, a sexy evil spy, with mad ninja skills.

Sometimes the best thing for your children is to trick, manipulate and coerce them into doing something.

I kept having issues getting my kids to read so I decided to make it into a competition, 1st place wins $100, 2nd $50. The rules: the person who reads the most pages in one month wins. I have to read double, and they can count the pages they have already read in their current novel. I happened to be between novels, so I started at 0. Boy child locked himself in his room saying he had to ‘earn his living.’ Girl child walked around with her book, only setting it down to try and steal mine so I couldn’t read.

Before bed we wrote our totals down. Girl child was in the lead by one page. Boy child declared that he was just taking a break and would be reading again before he went to sleep. Girl child yelled at him to stop reading, then remembered that she could spend tomorrow reading while boy child worked. Her grin of satisfaction was scary.

The winner will be decided on Aug 1st. But I have a sneaking suspicion that super sexy ninja spy mom will be the real winner.