How grown up are you?
Jun30

How grown up are you?

A recent list of 50 things that prove you are ‘grown up’ got me thinking. How grown up am I? 1 Having a mortgage – Yes, I’ve had one since I was 25 (I’m 38 now!). 2 Mum and Dad no longer make your financial decisions – they haven’t since I went to university, although I must admit my husband makes all the big financial decisions for the family now. 3 Paying into a pension – Yes, since...

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Colin
Jun29

Colin

A new family member came into our lives a few days ago. He is very small. And he is green. Yes, he is a caterpillar. And his name is Colin. He looks exactly like the Very Hungry Caterpillar. On a very tiny scale. And he doesn’t eat strawberries, oranges or cupcakes. Against all the odds, he is still hanging on in there. Because after all, he is a caterpillar taken away from his natural habitat, living in a small plastic lunchbox...

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Early days
Jun28

Early days

Continuing my memories of life as a new mum 11 years ago… I was wiped out from my ridiculously long labour and just wanted to sleep. But I had to try to feed my baby. And he wouldn’t latch on. The start of my son’s lifelong battle with food. I got up from my bed, which looked like a murder scene, and had a bath. I begged to be able to sleep. At 5am, as it was getting light, I was allowed down to the ward to sleep and...

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Birth of a beautiful boy
Jun27

Birth of a beautiful boy

My biggest boy is 11 today. I can’t believe that. To celebrate, as I did with my other children, I am sharing his birth story – what I remember of it. As with his brother, I recorded the story onto a dictaphone to write up when I actually had a computer. And never did. So these are my memories. My boy was due on Saturday 30th June. On Monday 25th June I woke up early with a ‘show’ and panicked. Then nothing...

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Disorganised birthday
Jun26

Disorganised birthday

It’s my son’s 11th birthday tomorrow and I’m not ready. Not emotionally. Physically. I’m disorganised and I hate it. It’s not me. I take birthdays seriously. I love them and I’m always ready for them well in advance. Not this time. As I write this I am praying that a violin and three Funky Pigeon birthday cards arrive today or I will have failed massively. I know some families are happy with cards...

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