Tag Archives: Parenting

The panic: why shopping and children don’t mix

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Family, Motherhood

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As I rifled through the racks of dresses on sale, hastily searching for my size, I was aware of a commotion across the store.

Looking up, I experienced the same feeling of dread suffered by any parent who has attempted to do a spot of shopping with a child in tow. It started in my stomach and rose, leaving a metallic taste of bile in my mouth.

Grabbing the last bargain dress in my size, I ran across the shop, heart sinking at the size of the queue ahead of me. The voices behind the men’s T’shirt section were getting louder. There may even have been a shriek.

The cashier was in no rush. Despite my best attempts at willing her to go faster, she languidly passed her scanner over each bar-code in a daze. There were five people ahead of me. The voices had moved from the men’s T’shirt section to the pants. They were turning to shouts.  Continue reading »

Painted nails and parental judgments

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Motherhood

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Toddler nailsIt started with a park. On a sunny afternoon around a year ago, right next to the swings in our local play area, I encountered my first taste of “Ooh, isn’t she a bad mother”. And as much as I hate to admit it, it was me casting the judgments.

My two year old was playing with another little girl who can’t have been much older. As this little girl ran around with my toddler, I caught a flash of sickly pink and winced as the glitter reflected the harsh sunlight. The little girl was wearing nail varnish. Bright pink, sparkly nail varnish.

In my head, I berated the mother for trying to “pretty up” her little girl. Why would you do that to your child? I thought to myself. I judged that mum, who was minding her own business in a park with her toddler on a sunny day. Continue reading »

Kid rules: Learning to laugh at yourself

06 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in Behaviour, Motherhood

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Putting on flip-flops

The other day, my nearly-three year old put on her dad’s flip-flops, wobbled into the garden and promptly fell over. And I laughed so hard I almost wet myself.

“You NOT laugh Mummy!” Scolded my child. “It NOT funny!”

That’s when I realised I was about to teach her a big lesson. One that’s right up there with being kind to people and remembering to say “please” and “thank you”. Continue reading »

Festivals with a toddler – genius or pure madness?

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in Family, Travel

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Sunrise Festival

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 »

Choosing happy

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Motherhood

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Choosing Happy

It’s funny how it’s so easy to fall into a default setting of “glum”. When the weather’s a bit rubbish and you’re tired and the dishes are piling up and you can’t afford that new dress, it can sometimes feel like the world is against you. Or is that just me?

We’re going through a bit of a stressful time in our household at the moment. Lots of change is afoot, which means a huge amount of juggling, not much sleep and more than the odd tense moment.

Although I relish change and get excited about new things, it’s difficult to let yourself get too carried away when you don’t know exactly how things will pan out. That lack of security has had me and The (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine doing that thing of, “Once this month is over, it’ll all be OK”. Basically, we’re wishing our lives away past this challenge, counting down the seconds of each day until things are more settled.

That is A Bad Thing. Continue reading »

Making my daughter wear a dress

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Baby and toddler products, Fashion

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Polarn O.Pyret spotty dress

The last month has been somewhat of a revelation in the parenting stakes. Have you ever noticed how just as you think you’ve got it sorted, a new curveball comes to challenge you? The challenge of the moment is… clothing. Or, rather, toddler clothing.

Despite not yet turning three, my daughter has developed incredibly strong opinions about what she will and will not wear.

Her fashionista choices deem wellies to be firmly IN and dresses firmly OUT. That’s fine, except for when she wants to wear her yellow wellies with a (completely inappropriate, bought by my sister as a joke) belly dancer outfit. To nursery. Not ideal. Continue reading »

Unique gifts for a newborn

29 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Baby and toddler products

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Review

Having a baby is better than Christmas, in present terms. You get showered with all sorts of new items that you never knew existed, many of which you won’t even get to take out of the wrapping. Having been the new mum with a million and one cuddly toys, there are a couple of items I look out for now when I buy a present to welcome a new baby into the world. I’ll always try to find unique gifts for a newborn, rather than something they may already have, no matter how cute it is.

Last Saturday I got to test my baby present giving skills to the maximum, as I met (and cuddled and got broody over) our lovely friends’ new baby girl. There was a moment when my two year old gave her “new baby friend” a cuddle, when I thought my heart might actually burst in two, leaving me with nothing but a mushy puddle on the floor. Luckily my heart is actually made of stone and I’ve lived to tell the tale.

So, new unique baby gifts… Continue reading »

New mum: you ARE doing it “right”

27 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by in Motherhood

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Parenting - no right wayI’ve lost count of how many pieces of advice I was given when I was pregnant. Eat this, don’t eat that, do this exercise, you shouldn’t over-exert yourself, have a birth like this, definitely don’t do labour like that… the pearls of wisdom came at a constant trickle, refusing to ebb.

And then I had my baby and that stream turned into a tidal wave.

From sleep positions to breastfeeding positions, the merits of the bottle to the best babygrows, my head was left spinning from the barrage of well-meant opinions sent my way. Whether it was an old lady in the street or the person taking my cash at the supermarket, everyone seemed to have something to offer me. It was like I was walking round with a huge placard above my head saying, “I AM A NEW MUM AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING, PLEASE HELP ME”. Continue reading »

Giving up the guilt

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Motherhood, Work

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Guilt wine

Guilt wine

What is it about parenthood and guilt?

My life seems to revolve around a continual cycle of guilt at the moment; guilt at working too hard, guilt at not working hard enough, guilt at spending too little time with my toddler, guilt at worrying about spending too little time with my toddler, guilt at eating too much, guilt at eating too little, the list goes on and on and on.

Guilt, guilt, guilt.

It’s exhausting. And also, totally pointless. Continue reading »