Sundial

by Catriona Ward

I sometimes confuse my children’s bodies with my own.

Callie likes to talk about murder at breakfast.

But there is something bonding about the grinding exhaustion of parenthood, the constant teetering between laughter and tears, about that weary love for your children, planted so deep it is everything you are.

In my opinion you can’t be a scientist or teach in a school without abandoning all faith in a benign creator.

The sensation of being apart from your child is unique. It’s like being hollow.

“Women don’t often get to feel powerful like this, you know?”

Kids are mirrors, reflecting back everything that happens to them. You’ve got to make sure they’re surrounded by good things.

But we’re sisters now, and they’re powerful magic, too.”