"You just end up buying things for them, you never shop for yourself anymore," said a friend of mine, when I was expecting my first baby. And indeed, lots of other people have echoed that since. Many's the mum who has had a rare child-free shopping trip, only to find herself shopping for her kids. I ...
On Monday morning, my youngest got up at 4.45am, and as is always the case when he comes into my bed, neither of us could get back to sleep. An hour later, I convinced him to go back to his room, but for me, it was too late. I couldn't get back to sleep, so ...
Another week done; in fact a whole month done now, and a little more progress with getting used to school. Actually, to anyone who sees at us at the door every morning, it would all look perfect - my small boy gives me a cheeky grin, runs towards his classroom, then turns to blow me ...
I had my fortnightly spill-on-the-desk incident today, only instead of the usual full cup of water, it was a full cup of tea. And not just on the desk, but all over my chair too, and the floor, and my notebook, and my dress. In the middle of the day, soaking wet. I tried my ...
We're in a coffee shop, I'm talking to a friend. Another friend across the table catches my eye and nods towards you. You're perched on my knee, engrossed in something. I look down. You've unscrewed the pepper lid and tipped the contents onto the table. That's the signal - coffee time is over, we should ...
I have two little girls (and one little boy - but he's the easy one in this story). For the two little girls, everything must match. The water in their glasses must be to precisely the same height, and is measured accordingly. I'm dispatched to the tap, to even things up. The number of chips ...
Some days are just grand, and some days are great. Not for lotto-winning type reasons - just easy days, when things fall into place. We had one of those today. It started wonderfully - nobody cried during breakfast, and I didn't shout. Winning by 8am. On the way to school, Clara, who is six, told me ...
Drink eight glasses of water a day. Take the stairs. Put the phone away when the kids are around. Be on time for work. Be on time leaving work. Pay attention during homework time. Eat five servings of fruit and veg a day. Don't let the kids watch too much TV. Get seven hours sleep. Don't eat red ...
Last Saturday morning was always going to be stressful. My husband was leaving at 7.30am for his annual trip to a Liverpool game with "the lads" (at what age are they no longer "the lads"?) - this in itself was not a problem. I feel that six years into being a parent, I can no ...