How a Facebook group for mothers is empowering women writers

An online group has been nurturing mum writers for the past two years, organising writing events, retreats, childcare and support. Single mum, writer and group member Nichole Brown reports on how it’s changing lives. We all know what happens when the internet, the media, and the world in general, turn women against each other. We … Read more

Turning Māori Language Week into a life-long celebration of te reo and whānau

Nichole Brown shares her love of te reo Māori and her hope that together, we can turn Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori into a lifelong celebration for our tamariki. This week marks another Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week – and as much as we would love a nation united in … Read more

More than words: Learning te reo with my daughter

Nichole Brown shares a beautiful personal essay about how her daughter’s thirst for knowledge has reignited her love for her te reo Māori. Shoes inside. That was my ultimate act of defiance against my mother’s tongue. Wearing shoes inside. It might not seem like much, but inside I felt like I was screaming rebellion at my … Read more

My daughter and I lived in 17 different homes last year

Rent Week 2018: Pushed to desperate measures by the high costs of renting with a small child, single parent Nichole Brown made a dramatic decision to reduce her housing costs. The hidden cost of single parenting goes beyond simply clothing and feeding children. Becoming a single parent had a huge impact on the cost of … Read more

‘Our people came home’: Finding myself at my marae

Nichole Brown returned to her marae to bury her daughter’s whenua. She writes of giving back to the land she loves to build the family she has. I cannot think of a more perfect place to spend our final night in New Zealand – cuddled up under the freshly painted walls of our marae, looking … Read more

‘Instead of living all year for that one day, we started living for every day’: On celebrating birthdays, and celebrating life

Single mama Nichole Brown writes about her beloved daughter Emmy’s birthdays and the celebrations she created for them in the chaos of change. Before she was even born I had started planning Emmy’s first birthday. I knew it would be pink, princess, delicate, and sweet. I knew there would be tulle of some kind, ribbon … Read more

‘There’s Emmy, and there’s me, and we’re happy.’ The joys and adventures of life as a single mother

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be introducing you to contributors to The Spinoff Parents, our new parenting blog edited by Emily Writes and made possible by Flick Electric Co. Today we welcome Nichole Brown, who will be writing about single parenting – and much more. I’m so pleased to have Nichole on board … Read more