04 Wednesday Sep 2013
Posted in Motherhood, Uncategorized
It sits on the kitchen side, waiting to be filled, this symbolic reminder that my child is no longer a baby. Tomorrow she will take her brand new lunch box packed in her brand new rucksack to a brand new pre-school.
It’s no big deal. Kids start pre-school all the time. She’s been at a childminder’s and then nursery since she was eighteen months old. So why, then, does it feel like such a milestone?
It’s that lunch box. I’m sure of it. Continue reading »
24 Friday May 2013
Posted in Motherhood, Speech
Photo credit: CP Photography
Next month, my tiny baby will turn three years old. She is no longer a jumble of miniature fingernails and nappies. Where her head was once only covered in a soft down, rubbed bald where she slept, she now has loose curls and a fringe.
Those bendy little limbs are now long and strong. Any hint of soft pudge has disappeared, leaving a gangle of arms and legs that almost fill the bath when she lies down.
My baby is no longer a baby.
This week I had one of those moments. You know the one: it hits you like a jolt and you see your child as they are for the first time. Continue reading »
28 Thursday Mar 2013
Tags
This is a bumblebee I made with my toddler this week for her last ever tots’ music session. I wanted to make the effort to actually bother with the herculean task of crafting with a two year old, as this week felt like a bit of a milestone.
Not only has my toddler just had her last music session but, more importantly, she has had her last day with the two childminders who have cared for her, cuddled her and played with her since January last year.
Today has been a day of ends. Continue reading »
01 Wednesday Aug 2012
Posted in Charity
A couple of weeks ago I was asked to think about what childhood means to me.
I thought.
And then I thought some more.
And then I thought again.
Every answer I came up with sounded incomplete and contrite. “Childhood means splashing in puddles”. Nope, not quite right. “Childhood means wallowing in unconditional love”. Well, sometimes – but it’s not everything about the formative years. “Childhood means….”
I mused on the subject during our week away and I drew a blank.
Until tonight, when I was scrolling through my phone for inspiration. For me, childhood isn’t about one thing. It’s about a whole set of things. Continue reading »
27 Friday May 2011
Posted in Uncategorized
One month today, I won’t have a baby anymore.
One month today, my baby will be a little girl. A one-year-old. Big. Not a baby.
Every moment I look at her she’s changed – a new laugh, new scream, new babble. Continue reading »