Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Jodi Bryant: This side of town, a head case

By Jodi Bryant
Multimedia journalist for the Northern Advocate·Northern Advocate·
3 Jun, 2019 06:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

What was I thinking? Seriously, what was it?

What was I thinking? Seriously, what was it?

I drove home the other day and wrote an entire column in my head. But that was the trouble.

Things don't stay in my head. I will have a prolific stream of thought and then, if I don't write it down, it's gone within seconds.

What triggered this story, I don't know. Probably I spotted something out the window which led to a thought and then another and, voila, I had a story of sorts.

I guess it's something we creative minds tend to do – capture scenes and moments. Writers capture into words, photographers in images and artists portray those images in their own way.

I caught my daughter, then aged two and a budding artist, doing this in the backseat of the car as we drove along: Her arm outstretched as she tried to air-paint a scene out her window.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

So although I knew I should sit straight down at my computer and spend 10 minutes tapping out the words, I had groceries to unload, a fire to light, a persistent cat to feed, dinner to cook and then, what do ya' know, Shortland Street was on …

And, come deadline day, do you think for the life of me I can even remember what the story in my head in the car was about?

So here I find myself, surrounded by three kids vying for my attention, at home while the teachers strike (and good on them!).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Will the twins return to being angelic when they leave the ''terrible 10s'' behind?
Will the twins return to being angelic when they leave the ''terrible 10s'' behind?

Well, actually, only two of them are vying for my attention. One, the oldest, is glued to the couch on his phone so, apart from the ongoing annoying commentary coming from the NBA playing out on his phone, he's not being a problem.

Then there's the twins. Is the ''terrible 10s'' an actual thing? If so, nobody told me. There's much said about the terrible twos and we made it out the other side of that unscathed, but I wasn't prepared for the terrible 10s - and times two at that.

Discover more

Nutrient-rich diet can help you lose unwanted weight

28 May 02:00 AM

When mall trip becomes a marathon

27 May 10:00 PM

'Fue' representative symbols of chiefly rank

27 May 09:45 PM

Ancient Māori sail inspires exhibition

08 Jun 06:00 AM

Admittedly I'm lucky, as they are good kids. But 10 does seem to have brought out their worst behaviour. When they're out the other side and turn 11, I'm sure I'll have my angelic children back (until the next phase).

It's mostly just the normal sibling antics - the teasing and chasing and beating up, then yelling for me to come to the rescue, but it seems to have intensified.

Today, however, the boy is counting down the time until he can go meet his bros up at the skatepark, and he's following me around giving me a running update of the hours, then minutes. His sis is following me round asking for jobs she can do to earn money for a future playdate (which I still haven't okayed) that she has all mapped out and involves walking up to the $2 shop.

All this would be fine if I wasn't distracted trying to remember that darn topic I'd written out in my head.

But, while I've digressed completely off-topic, I seem to have filled the 400-word space — so thanks for bearing with me and perhaps over the next two weeks, I will have an epiphany.

I would say watch this space, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Autistic man indecently assaulted by rapist who had served 33 years behind bars

12 Jul 03:00 AM
Northern Advocate

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM
Northern Advocate

'Massive milestone': Rare native geckos, parrots return amid pest-control success

11 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Autistic man indecently assaulted by rapist who had served 33 years behind bars

Autistic man indecently assaulted by rapist who had served 33 years behind bars

12 Jul 03:00 AM

Mark Williams wore a balaclava and entered the man's home in December 2023.

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM
'Massive milestone': Rare native geckos, parrots return amid pest-control success

'Massive milestone': Rare native geckos, parrots return amid pest-control success

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Joe Bennett: A journey through Cyprus and its vanished pygmy hippos

Joe Bennett: A journey through Cyprus and its vanished pygmy hippos

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP