A year lost

A year ago today, and a week earlier than most, we said goodbye to my daughter’s last birthday-party guest, made our last family trip to the supermarket, pulled all three children out of school, and started shielding. Thus began a year that passed in a flash; a year that lasted an age. A year that …

Overwhelmed

A few days before Christmas, I went as a parent helper with my daughter’s class to a carol service: shepherding seven-year-olds along frosty pavements, trying to keep their wiggly crocodile in line, shushing them as they waited excitedly in the pews. To be honest, it was the last thing I wanted to do when I …

Knowing better

When I was ten years old, I had a best friend. Her name was Helen. She lived ten minutes up the road on a smallholding with ponies (!) and had her own (rickety, damp-smelling) caravan, where we used to spend our afternoons hiding from our little brothers, singing Jason & Kylie songs, trying on lipstick …

Breaking the chain

Last week was a tough one. My eldest was under-the-weather and whiny. My youngest was angry, violent and loud. My husband was overworked and unwell. Benjamin’s health was up and down, as usual. No-one had enough sleep. We had problems with transport, issues with medication, missed phone calls from professionals, unnecessary arguments, and at times …

It ain’t easy being green

So, this week I got into an argument with some people I don't know on Facebook (I know, I know, I should know better). The argument was about this picture, originally seen in a viral tweet: A friend shared the photo with the single strapline 'wtf' and there followed several comments along the lines of …

We are the 57%

if the 57% can share a little more and the 43% can listen a little more, maybe we can all judge a little less

To those who make our lives difficult … and those who make them better

It has not been a great week. Friday night I finally worked out (with the help of a head-torch and strong stomach) what had been keeping my five-year-old (and therefore the rest of the family) awake for large proportions of the last couple of nights: threadworms. Cue a weekend of swallowing foul-tasting medicine (okay, banana-tasting, …

It takes a village…

I didn’t know we had crocuses in our garden. When we moved in, almost a year ago, they had already been supplanted by bluebells and Alchemilla. Now here they are in swathes, brightening the front garden, popping up boldly in my new veg patch, creeping into the lawn. And here we are, suddenly, a part …

Ambition

They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger … or at least turns you into your mother. After growing up in a highly politicised family I thought I’d finally escaped all that campaigning nonsense. However, if having kids makes us think and care more deeply about the world they are growing up in, and …

The invisible line

When you get pregnant, suddenly – before you even begin to show – you notice bumps everywhere. It seems the whole world is expecting. Buggies become ubiquitous; you start checking them out, eyeing up the features that would suit your lifestyle (or the lifestyle you think you’ll have). When you become the parent of a …