Monthly Archives: April 2012

Fancy a glamping holiday?

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Family, Travel

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Photo credit: Mackerel Clouds and Disappearing Sun, by Lovestruck

I’m going glamping this summer. It’s like camping, only more glamorous. Glamping.

I’ve been persuading the camping-phobic (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine that it’s going to be fun. He’s yet to be convinced.

Our holiday involves staying at the 5 star beach location that is Trevella Park campsite in Crantock, Newquay. That’s in Cornwall, for any of you not familiar with the South West.

The campsite has a heated swimming pool, play areas, lakes full of fish and is in a stunning setting with the choice of two beaches. There’s even crazy golf. Still, the husband is yet to be convinced. Continue reading »

The Diary. Or *cringe*

26 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Family

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Me. Aged 10. Or 11. Or thereabouts.

Remember 1994? When everyone was wearing those heatglo T’shirts you could turn flourescent just by blowing on them? Before owning a pair of GHD’s was the norm and Take That were big the first time round?

Well I’ve been right back there this evening.

I found my diary you see. It contains the thoughts, angst and lists of loves from my Year 6 self. I had just turned 11 and thought I had the world sussed. Clearly, I hadn’t (especially not Maths or boys), but who was I to correct myself? Continue reading »

The reason my 22 month old STILL isn’t walking

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Walking

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I’ve lost count now of the number of people to tell me my 22 month old daughter will, “Just get up and walk on her own”. Or that she’s, “Just too lazy at the moment”. Or that she, “Just doesn’t have any interest in walking yet”.

It turns out they’re all wrong.

No matter how well meant these pieces of advice were, they were misplaced.

When you have a child who doesn’t walk, everyone is eager to put your mind at rest. It’s a kindness. It seems that we all know someone who knows someone else who knows someone else who had a late walker. A late walker who just, suddenly, got up one day and ran across the room. (My own husband is one of these miracle children, afterall.) The result can be the false illusion that, actually, it’s totally normal for a child of 22 months not to be walking.

But this is a bit of a fib really.

Continue reading »

Five wishes for my daughter

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Motherhood, Walking

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When I became pregnant with my daughter, two years ago this October, I wished so hard that she would be born healthy.

Being the suspicious type of woman that I am, I would catch those fluffy white floating seeds, close my eyes and wish for my baby’s health, then let the seeds float away on the breeze again. Every kick would bring a sense of comfort, even if it was poking right up into my ribs, as I felt safe in the knowledge my unborn child was very much alive inside me.

And then she was born.

And the wishes became about more than just her health. I now find myself wishing all sorts of things for my daughter, on a daily basis. Here are the top five: Continue reading »

Do you have a flower, mini or fou-fou in your house?

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Speech, Uncategorized

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I’d like to talk about vaginas.

Right, now that I’ve got your attention, let me explain.

Frog doesn’t have a vagina. Well, I suppose she does, but we don’t call it that. She’s a girl and everything, without a willy (as her friend, Arthur, likes to point out over and over again) but, until recently her “girl’s parts” didn’t have a name.

We dabbled with “flower” but it didn’t fit. “Mini” enjoyed a short stay in our house too, but was eventually sent packing. For a while it was just, “that bit” or “you know…” until a better way of referring to it came along. Continue reading »

I know I’m going to regret this…

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Family, Uncategorized

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The tattered diary

I may have taken dedication to my job too far. And, in another lack of judgment, I may have taken dedication to my blog too far.

I found my old diary, you see. It begins in 1994, aged 11. It’s cringeworthy, to the extreme.

But it’s also a gold mine of content. References to subjects at school, friendships, tiffs with boys, favourite games, crushes, favourite films, favourite clothes… It’s an insight into my actual mind of 18 years ago.

I couldn’t sit on it. Continue reading »

You’re just like my mum

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Motherhood, Work

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My mum can take a back seat for a while. She’s not needed any more. I’ve got you, afterall.

When I rang my beloved mother yesterday in a fit of worry, terrified that my daughter was unhappy and withdrawn, that I’d made the wrong decision sending her to a childminder, that I should give up my radio job and just work from home, she didn’t answer the phone.

This was probably a good thing, because I would just have transferred the worry to my own mum. And, while Mother Worry is bad, Grandmother Worry is ten times worse.

So, instead, I turned to you. Continue reading »

Tell me this is normal

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Motherhood, Work

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The child I know.

When I look at Frog, I see a happy, fun, incredibly independent little girl. I don’t see a toddler that can’t do what other toddlers can.

But when I collected her from the childminder’s today, that wasn’t the case.

Although my nearly-22 month old was beyond excited to see me, the childminder said she’d spent most of the day watching from the sidelines. Because she can’t walk yet like all the other kids, she’s often happy on her own in the corner, reading a book. That’s not what bothers me so much as the next thing the childminder observed: she’s not talking. At all. Continue reading »