Tag Archives: baby

The box of treasure that isn’t really treasure

20 Thursday Oct 2011

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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 »

A discovery of parts

19 Wednesday Oct 2011

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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 »

When the battle was won

11 Tuesday Oct 2011

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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 »

Shamed by my daughter

07 Friday Oct 2011

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Ever since the birth of this blog,  I’ve jealousy read posts from other parents, gleefully sharing moments their children have embarrassed them; the time their four year old son swore in the supermarket, or the time their three year old daughter innocently insulted the lady at the checkout. Damn those parents and their speaking children, providing a lifetime of amusing blog material.

But now Frog has stepped up to the plate. Continue reading »

Have a little patience…

04 Tuesday Oct 2011

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It’s fair to say I’m not a particularly patient person. In fact, my first real knowledge of the word came with Take That’s comeback single, when I crooned along with Gary Barlow, still not really sure what this “Patience” word actually meant.

But in the last couple of weeks I have come to know the term rather well.

Being a mother requires a huge amount of patience. Which I now know to mean a huge amount of biting one’s tongue and deep breathing. This doesn’t come easily to someone who was used to chasing down stories and meeting hourly deadlines pre-baby (I have yet to meet a truly patient journalist). Continue reading »

Walking is an overrated activity

26 Monday Sep 2011

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I’ve come to the conclusion that I have an abnormally bright child.

Hear me out on this one…

It’s all to do with the walking.

I have never been one of those parents to brag about their child’s advanced developmental milestones. Mainly because my child hasn’t reached these supposed milestones before any of her peers. In fact, she’s always been last. Continue reading »

My treacherous child

22 Thursday Sep 2011

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This time last week I was panicking about abandoning my child.

When I say “abandoning” I actually mean leaving her with a fully competent, registered and rather lovely childminder. But you know how I like to veer towards the drama, so I’ll stick with “abandon”.

As a freelance journalist I don’t do regular hours. Sometimes I do radio work (usually while Daddy Daycare’s around during the school holidays) and sometimes I work from home writing articles for various websites and magazines. Sometimes I sit around and eat biscuits all day and don’t do much of anything at all. But most of the time I juggle. With lots and lots of balls. Continue reading »

I’m leaving my baby

12 Monday Sep 2011

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OK, so technically she may not be much of a baby any more. At 14 months, Frog is learning to be an independent little creature, but seeing as that independence means a refusal to get up on her own two feet and walk I’m going to continue to call her a “baby” until she shows me otherwise.

So, leaving my baby. I hate it.

On Wednesday, for the first time ever, Frog will be left with someone she barely knows. Now, before you go thinking I’m being precious and sentimental, I’m not. The work situation and the cost of childcare means that it makes more sense to do radio shifts (where I have to put proper clothes on and leave the house) during school holiday time, when Daddy Daycare steps in. Continue reading »