FAMILY time

Diana and I are both working artists, but the challenge has never been to fit family life in around her painting and my writing, rather the reverse is true - the challenge has been to fit our art into the interstices available after our family's needs are met... er, mostly met. Our boys have been the centre of attention, with Diana as the 'primary' caregiver, me the main breadwinner.

That's been out of sync with the modern, two-income demographic. But even there, family needs have overridden both our desires. The simple fact is the arrangement has worked for us, and we have negotiated - sometimes quite strenuously - a contemporary relationship within what looks like an old fashioned home - sort of like remaking a wartime bungalow by knocking out some interior walls and tossing the Victorian furniture.

Our parenting days are drawing to a close, but we'll always be Mom and Dad. And, in the broader context: sister and brother; daughter and son; aunt and uncle. Nothing trumps family in our hearts.