The alarm goes off. I fumble under the pillow, trying to press any button I can find. There is no way on earth it's morning. I refuse to believe it. I try to find the button that snoozes rather than turning it off, because even though it's clearly impossible that it's morning, I have a ...
Date: September 1st 2015 Mood: Wild elation Source of mood: Three kids in school and preschool for the first time, meaning I could start working mornings instead of only nights. Guilt levels about feelings of elation: Surprisingly mild. Date: September 5th 2015 Mood: Spirit utterly broken Source of mood: Realisation that 45 car journeys a week might just kill me Guilt levels ...
It's been eight weeks of school-runs. Eight weeks of yellow-box waves and headlight nods. Eight weeks of leaf kicking and breath taking. Eight weeks of russet and orange and yellow journeys. An up and down start to a whole new phase; finding feet. It's the most beautiful autumn I've ever witnessed. I don't know if it's because ...
Three kids. Two locations. Two drop-off times. Three pick-up times. I do the math. Over and over. It's nine separate car journeys a day. Forty-five car journeys a week. I am broken. We're only two weeks into the school-year and my new work from home life, and I am broken. Almost literally. My knees hurt. My ...
Not on purpose, one day two weeks ago, I had a test run of what's ahead as a work-at-home freelancer self-employed type person. And it left me pretty worried. By 10.30am, I was phoning my husband to tell him it wasn't going to work, and that I needed to start talking to recruitment agencies again IMMEDIATELY. He talked ...
“I usually collapse in my pyjamas by 8.30pm… I flake out on front of the TV, watching soaps…taking off my make-up and putting Sudocrem on my spots.” This week’s interview is with Lucy Kennedy; TV presenter on The 7 o’ Clock Show and mother of two. She talks about childcare, trying to do everything, working mother ...
Walking back to the car after the school run, I called to Sam to hurry up, then caught myself, realising that for once, there was no reason to hurry. It was 9am. We had just dropped Clara and Emmie to school. And both were invited on playdates after school – both being collected by other mums. ...
Do your kids ever open seat-belts while you're driving? Or accidentally open a sibling's seat-belt when opening their own - the one that's supposed to stay closed because it's holding a car-seat in place? We don't have a problem with the first situation but the second is a regular annoyance. And OK, it's not always the ...
Working mother guilt – does it ever ease? If we’re not feeling guilty about being apart from our children, we’re feeling guilty about an un-ironed uniform, unsigned homework or giving toast for dinner. And sometimes we feel guilty about work too. While I would argue vehemently that parents in the workplace are working just as hard ...
After reading "Here's why we need to start asking men - how do you do it all?" I started to really think about why we don't ask men this question, and about all the other questions we are asked as women. Can you picture a man being asked any of these: "Are you going back to ...