31 Monday Oct 2011
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babies, family, holiday, New Forest, Parenting, relationships, travel
So, I left my child to go off on a jolly. I dumped my 16 month old daughter on her grandparents so I could indulge in some mature adult fun with her father… Continue reading »
30 Sunday Oct 2011
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26 Wednesday Oct 2011
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There’s a woman who lives in Derby. She’s 87, has five children and is extremely kind. She’s also rather funny and far too generous for her own good.
Her name is Nana, or Anita if you want to get all formal.
One of my earliest memories is receiving a present. I was about two and a half and this present was pretty much the most amazing present I could have ever imagined. It was a huge doll called Lucy, which Nana had lugged on the train all the way from Derby to Bristol. I still have her now (although she has a little less hair after I decided to practice my hairdressing skills on her as a teenager). Continue reading »
23 Sunday Oct 2011
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21 Friday Oct 2011
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I’m going on holiday today. Without my child.
While my daughter stays at home with her grandparents, her father and I are going off on a jolly. We’re ditching her for a few days, neglecting our responsibilities as parents to go and have some fun on our own.
What a mean mum and dad we are.
Or are we? Continue reading »
20 Thursday Oct 2011
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art, baby, box of treasure, craft, development, Parenting, play, toddler, toys
Frog has a new toy. It cost me, well, let’s just say it was very very cheap. As cheap as a box of treasure comes, in fact.
At nearly 16 months, my daughter has decided she’s not particularly interested in toys any more. She’d rather play with real stuff. It doesn’t really matter what stuff, as long as it’s stuff.
Useful stuff is best; a bowl, a wooden spoon, some pegs. Anything that isn’t a real toy and which I’m likely to need within the next half an hour. Continue reading »
19 Wednesday Oct 2011
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baby, body parts, boys, child development, gender, girls, Parenting
My daughter has just found out she is a girl.
It hasn’t been an instant discovery.
There was the fascination with her hands when she was around six months old, with the constant inspection of her fingers. And then came the perusal of her feet and examination of each toe. Each day brings a new discovery of body part, which occupies my 15 month old daughter for a good few hours.
And now we appear to have moved on to a new area. Continue reading »
17 Monday Oct 2011
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I’ve been cheating recently. I’m not proud of it – it’s not big and it’s not clever.
I was feeling a little tired, you see. Taken for granted, if you will. I felt like we just needed a break, to give us both time to grow.
And that break has worked wonders. Because, thankfully, the relationship is back on track. Continue reading »
14 Friday Oct 2011
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.motherhood, babies, blame, grumpiness, husbands, rage, time
Before I became a mum I used to suffer the occasional bad mood. Something trifling like my monthly pay packet being £10 too low – or a few dirty dishes left in the sink – could leave me cold. I would let the grumpiness envelope me like a warm black cloak, enjoying exercising the muscles in my forehead as I scowled for England.
And then I became a mother.
The Mother Rage is a whole new ball game. It takes the black cloak of grumpiness, throws it to the wind and replaces it with a clinging wetsuit, impossible to remove (especially when you have wobbly bits which cling to the unforgiving fabric). Continue reading »
11 Tuesday Oct 2011
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baby, bedtime routines, breastfeeding, Parenting, sleep, swaddling
Bedtime used to be a horrific affair.
At around three weeks old, once Frog “woke up” from her newborn slumber, she decided she didn’t much want to sleep at bedtime. She’d rather stay awake sobbing while her mother jiggled her around, tightly wrapped up in the fleece (and now nicknamed) magic blanket.
Baths were a nightly occurrence from the age of 1 day and 6 hours. Stories entered the equation a few months later. But the tears, oh the tears stayed around a good while longer.
If I could go back and revisit the me of this time last year, I’d shake her by the shoulders and tell her, “Don’t stress about it. Your baby will get the hang of bedtime eventually”. All that time worrying she’d need the nightly placatory boob sessions to get to sleep – what wasted time. Continue reading »
