31 Tuesday Jul 2012
Posted in Behaviour
I can look away from the problem no longer. The signs have been appearing quietly for a couple of months now; a push here, a swatted hand there. Each sign was explained away as bad temper, tiredness or a toddler being playful.
But now… now I’m not so sure.
She looks at me so innocently. Occasionally I’ll even get a kiss or a rushed cuddle. But underneath that sweet exterior, lies a dark secret.
My daughter is thrilled by dishing out violence. Continue reading »
30 Monday Jul 2012
Review
Three weeks ago I was checking the long-range weather forecasts constantly. Not content with just one website, I’d check three or four – at least five times a day – to try and come up with the best outlook. I was desperate for sunshine for the first week of the summer holidays.
As our glamping holiday at Trevella Park in Cornwall approached, the rain thundered down with increasing ferocity, becoming heavier with each passing day. I was resigned to the prospect of our first family holiday being a complete washout.
As luck would have it, it wasn’t. The sun shone down on us for the entire week we stayed in our Safari Tent at Trevella, although it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing if the rain had followed us down to Cornwall, seeing as our accomodation didn’t really count in the realms of camping as I’ve formerly known it. Continue reading »
25 Wednesday Jul 2012
Review
You know when you’re on holiday and time sort of stands still? I’m there right now.
The days just merge into each other, with any sense of urgency or routine melting away. You wake when the sun comes up, spend the day doing exactly what you want, when you want, and sleep the sleep of perfection during the night. No dreams about work, no never-ending to-do lists. Just calm, relaxation, laughter.
I’m currently on a review trip at a beautiful campsite called Trevella Park in Crantock, Cornwall. It’s a five star campsite, with stunning fishing lakes, play areas, a swimming pool and some of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever woken up with. Continue reading »
19 Thursday Jul 2012
You know when you really need a holiday and you’re so excited you can hardly contain yourself and you can’t wait to spend a week away from it all with just your family and you know you’ll love every second and the very thought of it makes you break out into a massive grin?
That. Continue reading »
18 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in Home
It’s finished.
After nearly two weeks of living amongst wet paint, newspaper and clothes strewn across every spare inch of floor space, my bedroom makeover is now complete.
This is a big milestone. I’ve written before about the fact we’re saving towards a deposit for a mortgage. And with many banks currently requesting 25% – with the fees on top of that – in the area we currently live in we’d be lucky to buy somewhere with less than £50,000 in the bank. Unsurprisingly, we don’t have that kind of change lying around.
So we are saving. Saving, saving, saving. I work around 70 hours a week and we aim to put aside much of what I earn. We try not to make too many frivolous purchases, although white wine and chocolate buttons are budgeted for. But stuff like brand spanking new furniture is a rarity. Continue reading »
17 Tuesday Jul 2012
Posted in Motherhood, Social media
I was driving to work last month when I heard a piece on the news about the death of Nora Ephron. I’d never heard her name before, but I knew some of the films she’d written – When Harry Met Sally being one of my favourites.
During the piece, the reporter mused how Nora famously quoted her own mother’s advice that, “Everything is copy”.
Everything is copy. Continue reading »
16 Monday Jul 2012
Posted in Home
I’m giving up the radio work. I’m giving up the writing work. I’m even considering hiring a nanny and giving up some of the mothering work.
Instead, I’m turning to furniture revamping. Is that even a business? Should it be Furniture Revamping?
Either way, this is what I’m going to do with my life from now on. For I now know, I have missed my calling. I have an untapped gene of Furniture Revamping-ness within me which I’m going to embrace in my future. Continue reading »
16 Monday Jul 2012
Posted in Family
There’s a rare, precious thing in our house. It’s new and barely used. It glistens and twinkles like a fresh pearl.
So new and rare is this precious thing, that we don’t get to see it much. It hides away until, occasionally – on incredibly special occasions – it is brought forth, like the best family china.
During the whole course of my life I have only experienced the rarity of this sacred offering four times. Just four times. On each of these four occasions I closed my eyes and drank it in, safe in the knowledge I’d be unlikely to see it again tomorrow. Continue reading »
15 Sunday Jul 2012
Posted in Play
11 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in Weaning and eating
This time last year we were up and rolling on the whole Baby-led Weaning ride.
With a baby with a history of refusing to let anyone put anything in her mouth (seriously, no Calpol unless she was holding the spoon – and certainly no bottle) I dreaded the thought of weaning.
Baby-led weaning sounded like a far more fun – if messy – approach. One that wouldn’t see me suffer a nervous breakdown anyway.
I was very enthusiastic. I saw my baby eat cool stuff. Proper food. It was a bit weird and that was why I loved it. I wrote articles about it. I interviewed the Baby-led Weaning gurus on more than one occasion. I was a total convert.
And here I am, with a two year old child who has fads. Continue reading »