21 Wednesday Aug 2013
Posted in Family, Uncategorized
Sometimes you just need to get out of the house, don’t you?
I love the school holidays. LOVE them. But I’ve been guilty this week of looking forward to my teacher husband being back at work so I can crack on and get some work done myself. In peace and quiet. Without a nagging husband or three year old hassling me for things. Today I made a decision to stop attempting the juggle and get out of the house. Continue reading »
09 Friday Aug 2013
Posted in Home
One of my favourite things about the past couple of weeks has been exploring our new Devon home.
We’re currently living in a rented place, while we go through the whole house buying process (I don’t want to write anything about that yet for fear of tempting fate).
Our rented home is in a little town called Ashburton, nestled against the edge of beautiful Dartmoor, a 20 minute drive from the coast. Ashburton is a pretty place, full of independent shops and bunting. It’s a town, but feels more like a village really. Continue reading »
04 Sunday Aug 2013
Posted in Family
It was a sunny day in Cornwall. We stood at the gates of a castle, as we came to the end of a review trip last week.
As I attempted to take a photo on my phone of the beautiful view, I accidentally hit the button that turns the camera round, so you end up staring back at yourself instead of what is in front of you.
I’m not loving the way I look at the moment. It’s something I’ll no doubt blog about soon, but it’s a safe bet that if you scrolled through my recent phone photos you wouldn’t find any of me; it’s all about a cute three year old and an often photo-phobic husband. Continue reading »
24 Wednesday Jul 2013
Posted in Family, Motherhood, Relationships, Work
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As my sandals thudded on the pavement, smack smack SMACKING against the hot cobbles, a continuous monologue was droning round my skull. “WHY do I have to do it ALL THE TIME?” I huffed to myself, as I pushed the buggy down the hill, ignoring the chatter from my three year old.
The sweat trickled down my back and my cheeks grew redder by the minute. “It’s always ME!” I muttered, eyes squinting in anger as I turned the corner into the park.
I was cross. Scrap that – I was furious. Continue reading »
15 Monday Jul 2013
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We moved house this weekend. But, because of my spectacular attempts at organisation, we are now back in our old house 200 miles up the road, cleaning. I say “we”, I mean “me”. And I say “cleaning”, I mean “blogging”.
It turns out moving house is quite a different experience when you throw kids and work into the mix. In my overly optimistic mind I thought it might be as easy as chucking a few clothes into a suitcase and bunging them into a van. I wish.
After going through the hell that is moving with a family, I thought I’d bring you some tips for what not to do, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. Continue reading »
19 Wednesday Jun 2013
Posted in Family
“What do you want on your toast?” I asked the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine as I buttered his bread this morning. “Whatever, something nice,” He replied. I reached for a jar of marmalade. And then it hit me. Does my husband like marmalade? Why don’t I know if my husband likes marmalade?!
Our first family breakfast brought home quite a few revelations this morning.
Having worked on a contract that saw me leave the house by 4.30am for the past 18 months, I’ve not been privy to the weekly early morning routine in our house. While my husband battled to dress a sleepy toddler and get her to nursery, before arriving at work on time, I was talking on the radio. I am clueless to the routine, or what to do. Continue reading »
21 Tuesday May 2013
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We’re going to our first festival together next weekend. It will either be a tremendous success or a huge failure. I am a little scared.
We’re heading to The Sunrise Festival near Frome, to grab our first taste of family festival fun. It looks amazing. But I am also a little scared. (Did I mention that I’m a little scared?)
Set against the backdrop of the stunning Thoulstone Park, The Sunrise Festival is billed as, “Another world”, incorporating a “micronation” of different spaces. Continue reading »
19 Sunday May 2013
Posted in Family
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On Friday morning, I tweeted this:
As a weekend of mundane chores and To Do lists opened up before me like a yawning chasm of drudgery, I sighed over the days when weekends were different.
It’s over three years ago now – more like four really – when weekends meant late nights on dancefloors, drinks in the pub, shopping trips and lazy afternoons at the cinema. In the absence of swimming lessons or trips to the tip, Sundays were spent sleeping in until midday, followed by an impromptu pub lunch and an evening in front of a DVD.
These days, weekends are punctuated with a morning in a cold swimming pool, a flurry of housework and piles of dirty laundry. Continue reading »
10 Wednesday Apr 2013
Posted in Family
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Just over three years ago, when I became pregnant with my little girl, I had a plan. It was so refined that it even had capital letters: The Plan.
I became a mum at 26. We didn’t own our own home and we weren’t married. But that was all OK, because that was part of The Plan. We moved from our town centre flat to a little cottage in a village, with the intention of saving and enjoying life as new parents. We had always discussed having two or three children, about four years apart.
The Plan involved buying a house before another child came along, getting married at some point and continuing with my career as a journalist. That evolved along the way, as we realised that childcare is blooming expensive and my meagre salary would barely cover the cost of a morning at nursery. So we made some adjustments and Ta Da! The Refined Plan was born. Continue reading »
04 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted in Family
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My toddler is lucky. Really, really lucky. She has two sets of grandparents who adore her.
She’s been adored from the moment they met her.
In fact, as I write this, my little girl is with one set of grandparents (my parents) down in Devon, on her own. And you know what? That’s how it should be.
My daughter’s grandparents love her and want to spend time with her and I like that they (sometimes) get to do that without me. Frog’s completely comfortable with both Grandma and Granddad, Marmar and Dadaz. Continue reading »