Long jump progress
After getting a new PB of 6.75 in his long jump, my son plateaued a bit. It’s to be expected. You can’t get a PB every single time you compete. He’d reached and exceed the qualifying standard of 6.70 for English Schools nationals, but he also needed to be in the top 16. When he jumped 6.75, he was in the top 16. But every weekend he slipped down a little bit, because everyone around him was competing and improving...
Feeding an athlete
For an athlete like my son, who is really serious about doing his absolute best in his sport, you have to get everything right. Every little change – from the right shoes to the right length run up to different warm up exercises – can just give that few extra centimetres which make all the difference to him achieving his dream. And one of the most important things to get right is food. There have been times when...
The Runaway Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
The Runaway Girls is Jacqueline Wilson’s latest novel and is once more set in Victorian London, this time against the backdrop of the Great Exhibition. Lucy is a privileged little girl, living in a house surrounded by servants. But her father is away a lot and she doesn’t like her stepmother. Lucy is jealous of her new baby half sister and isn’t even allowed to hold her. She has a new governess she doesn’t...
The end of the school run
After nearly 16 years, it seems that I have come to the end of the school run. My son is in year 12, he recently passed his driving test and it makes sense for him to drive to school. I don’t need the car in the day. The only reason I need it in the day is to take him to school! But I will miss it. Unlike many people, I’ve always enjoyed the school run. It’s a chance to talk to the kids (or kid in my case for the...
