We've just returned home from what has been our best holiday ever. We say that every year of course, and it usually takes a few months and a healthy dose of hindsight to admit that two weeks in a damp mobile home while it rained almost every day was not in fact the best holiday ...
As the best man said “we’ve known each other since we were kids, and I’m very honoured and proud to be standing here today” , we all turned towards his wife, inclining our heads and expressing a silent “awwwww!” . Partly as we were genuinely moved by the best man’s words, but also as a ...
The bags are packed, the kids are packed and takeaway coffees are in hand – we’re on the road to Rosslare to take the ferry to Roscoff. I’m beyond excited to be going on holidays and not remotely worried (read: reasonably worried) about the potential pitfalls that might detract from our enjoyment, including: A five year ...
So I’ve learned two important things since writing the below post last April – it’s a story about tripping over a laundry basket and spraining my finger, being unable to drive and therefore taking a bus to work. This gave me some unexpected time for browsing Facebook and Twitter on my phone, leading to a severe ...
It's 9pm on a beautiful June evening and I'm typing this post sitting in my garden, drinking a cold beer (this doesn't have a huge amount to do with the post but I am unlikely to experience this again, so I'm noting it for the record). Last weekend we had Father's Day, and this weekend in our house we have ...
Today we went to a birthday party - all five of us. My eldest has been giving out about this upcoming birthday party for the last two weeks, saying she wouldn't know anyone, she'd be older than all the other kids (the birthday girl is a friend of my four year old), she'd have nothing to ...
So. Hosting children's birthday parties. I can't possibly be the only person who finds this extremely stressful? When chatting about this to other parents, I sense that they don't find this quite the ordeal that I do. Or perhaps some are better than I am at hiding the fear? I feel slightly...embarrassed about the amount of anxiety ...
Today is my birthday, and I arrived home from work to an eerily silent house. As I looked around in mild confusion, two excited girls, one bemused little boy and one smiling childminder jumped out from behind the counter and yelled "surprise!" There was a cake on the table - this is a picture of the beautiful cake ...
My husband and I don't do weekend lie-ins on alternate days, though I know lots of people who do. For us it just hasn't worked well for lots of reasons, not in the least because I'm a very light sleeper, so it's not a given that my lie-in would include much actual sleeping. Especially when the ...
On Saturday morning, as happens in houses all over the country on weekend mornings, my three kids bundled into our bed, at various times ranging from 5am to the somewhat more civilised 8 o'clock. The baby was snuggled into me, and Clara, my five year old was cuddled up with her dad. Emmie, my middle child, ...