Just trying to keep my balance…
There’s something about the train. This is, granted, mostly if you almost never get the train. I suspect if you get it every day, there are frustrations like crowded platforms and delays and never getting a seat. But for people like me who only get trains every now and then, it’s very much an adventure ...
I was going to call this Snapshot of a woman on the edge but that was just too melodramatic for what really comes down to wishing away the long, final days of school before the summer starts. So it's a snapshot from the cusp instead - from one tired mother to all the tired mothers, ...
I'm a bit fragile today. It's a little bit down to last night's wine and tapas - the ratio of rioja to patatas bravas was not in my favour. But it's a lot down to the Last Supper - the goodbye dinner with the mums from my middle child's class. After four lovely years together, we're breaking ...
I am the mean-mom who doesn't let my kids have new toys when it's not Christmas or birthdays, despite the fact that every single child in the school goes to Smyths EVERY SUNDAY to buy new toys - these are the same children who apparently all have their own YouTube channels, own iPhones, are allowed ...
Back in April 2017, when I'd been freelancing for two years, I started this post. I think the fact that it's taken me over a year to actually finish it probably sums up freelancing life better than anything else I could say below. But anyway, just over three years into freelancing, here's what works, what doesn't work, and whether ...
“But why can’t I make a sandwich with a burger bun?” my youngest asked, “There’s no bread in the press anyway.” He had a point. And despite being the mother who won’t let her kids have treats in their lunch boxes (I’m the meanest mother in the class apparently) and despite everything I know about processed ...
Two summers ago, we spent a glorious fortnight in Marina di Venezia, a campsite near Venice that's situated right on the beach. About five days into our holiday, I was lying awake in bed, cranky after a bad night's sleep, and irrationally irritated that everyone else was still snoring (including the four-year old source of my ...
I woke up this morning unable to breathe. I'd been dreaming that I was suffocating and when I woke up, I found I still couldn't breathe. I sat straight up in bed and opened my mouth and gulped in some air. Hay fever. Just bloody hay fever making me think I'm dying again. I got up ...
I stared at the self-service till in the supermarket, and it stared back at me. I braced myself and pressed the start button. Bagels - check. The satisfying beep told me I'd successfully united the barcode and the scanner on first go - result! Bread - check. Surely a record? But I didn't reckon on ...
*Review: I was invited to review Martinhal Cascais, but all opinions are my own* I put my book down on the lounger and turned my face to the sun, pausing for a few seconds to appreciate the moment - to appreciate sitting by a pool in Portugal, with nobody to look after but myself. I thought back to ...