FNC - Release valve cry

Emily Writes

08 May 2026 — 8 min read

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This morning I said to my bestie, "I'm fine, I'm just going to cry but I'm actually fine." It kinda just sums up my week, really. I feel a bit like a shaken-up Pepsi so I guess it was a release valve cry because I did actually feel better afterward. Every day has been so full of work, commitments, and errands! The day just feels like it's half-over before it even begins. It's so hard to get everything done.

This week, I finally got around to organising eye tests for both of my kids. I wasn't surprised by the results, but I was shocked at how much glasses cost now. So, I've been reading studies on Myopia control glasses for kids (they cost $650 on top of the cost of the lens and frame). I was kind of hoping it was just a money-making scam, but it kinda looks like they actually might slow down myopia progression.

Still, $650 per kid already is $1300 without even getting to the frames and lenses!

To solve this, I'm rewatching Heated Rivalry while I work and try to book more jobs. Truly, my sanity has been saved countless times by my hockey boys.

Just your average day at the Writes Whare

I'm trying to focus on the positives, like I got an email from the SPCA saying they need foster parents urgently because they have so many puppies, and I didn't say I'd be a puppy foster mum. So that's progress for me.

Kids Rock 4 Sudan was gorgeous. Just the absolutely loveliest vibe. I wish I could bottle the feeling of watching those brilliant kids perform, and all the awesome kids dance and have the best time.

I was so proud of them all. They raised almost $4000. Which is pretty hard in this economy. They had so much fun too which makes me so happy. They're already planning their next one (but I've told them I need a break phew).

Immaculate lighting in the Meow bathrooms

What I'm reading:

I'm back on it and just reading Hollanov fanfiction again. And I read this smutty book Heart by Jesse H. Reign, which was pretty good. And The Silent Mountain Man (haha I know don't judge me). Which you know, if I have to like men, they should at least be silent. Since it was written by a woman, though, there are like six pages of these two guys talking about their feelings in a book that's only about 40 pages long. I can believe a man can survive a mudslide and be rescued by his childhood crush who he was separated from because of conversion camp but I draw the line at believing they'd talk about their feelings before having sex. More realistic is if they had to use those voice buttons they make for dogs.

Harrick. Sad. Harrick. Love. Horny. Sad.

The Pulitzer Prize Winners for journalism are out. So, I'm going to read them. You can find the list here.

What I'm watching:

Obviously my comfort show - Heated Rivalry. I'm also slowly getting through Heartbreak High season 3 on Netflix.

I tried to watch Half Man, the new Richard Gadd (of Baby Reindeer fame) series. But, it's so bleak I couldn't get past two episodes. Even for me, it's way too dark.

I don't know when season 2 of Virgin Island is coming out but I'm looking forward to that. I thought I wrote about it at the time but maybe I didn't? Anyway, season 1 is actually amazing. It has a terrible name and sounds like an awful premise for a trashy reality show - but it's actually a really beautiful and powerful show. I loved the first season which was free-to-air and I'm really looking forward to the next one.

I saw Caterpillar Chelsie Preston Crayford's debut film at its premier on Thursday. Chelsie and I are probably the same age - and she gets being a teenager in 2003 perfectly. Like, they're even drinking Smirnoff and Bernadino. And the soundtrack is perfect. Slightly awkward watching it with my mother-in-law in some scenes haha. But it's an absolutely beautiful film about mothering and being mothered - a beautiful tribute ahead of Mother's Day and a real tear-jerker.

I started watching Stalked the documentary on stalking in Aotearoa. It was a bit too triggering for me. As someone who knows very well how much the Police don't care about threats to women, it's just too much for me. I have a folder called 'If I'm murdered' just so you know what it's like being a woman with any kind of public profile here. Fun times.

What I'm listening to:

I finished the audiobook for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. I can see why the ending was considered a bit controversial. I loved it. So far, it's my book of 2026.

I loved the latest episode of If Books Could Kill. I haven't read Grit, but I enjoyed it a lot anyway. Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri have such good chemistry. They're so good together. I now have to listen to the Maintenance Phase crossover.

I've started Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen: The Essential Conversations You Need to Have with Your Kids Before They Start High School by Michelle Icard. Eddie is 13 so I'm hoping I haven't f**ked it all up yet.

I am really feeling like I've screwed up a few things lately in talking to my son so I'm hoping listening to parenting books will help me be a better parent. The issue is that I hate most parenting books. For a start, the authors seem to hate kids. Secondly, a lot of them have a weirdly authoritarian and Christian. But, I like Michelle Icard. She seems to genuinely like tweens.

It's actually so wild though that every stage of parenting is hard lol. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?!?! Don't say I told you so, I'll actually spontaneously combust.

What are you reading? Listening to? Watching?

What are your plans for the weekend? I'm looking forward to going out with my bestie. Last week's karaoke was so fun. We had a very fun time and ended up at bar with a few doctors and boy, we are a different crowd to doctors haha. When my friend says she makes videos she mentioned something about The Greens and they thought she filmed golf hahaha.

I also played The Game of Life with the kids twice - and we might be the worst family on the planet to play board games. We are all so competitive and everyone tried to quit at least once and I think the neighbours were about ready to do a welfare check by the end of it.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and you're kind to yourself. I have complex feelings about Mother's Day and I find it to be a pretty hard day to be honest. So if that's you too - I'm sending you love. Arohanui Emily x