‘Where are we going again?’ asks the 11-year-old, lifting a headphone away from one ear in the back seat of the car. ‘Stoke-on-Trent,’ I smile. ‘World capital of ceramics’. His sister, hunched over her tablet on the other side, looks up blankly. My mind scrolls through everything Google has told me about the Staffordshire city […]
Travel: 8 reasons to visit Lavenham for a daytrip
We visited Lavenham with the kids one sunny Sunday afternoon back in September, which seems like years ago now. As far as destinations go, this pretty Suffolk town is as chilled out as they come – but never more so than a Sunday afternoon. You can stroll through streets lined with timber-framed buildings, savour a […]
LIFE: Uncool Box (Yes, That’s A Poem About A Cool Box)
Maybe it was the grey, you know The grey that made me buy you so Adrift among a sea of blues A raft of overbearing hues Your slate-grey top, those golden crescents Slowly drew me to your presence Your rigid shape defied finesse A beacon of middle-agedness I swept you up, I looked both ways […]
LIFE: Two Battered Shoes – a poem for the end of term
Two battered shoes sit in the hall Bereft after a year at school The right one sighs, the left one slumps Comparing scuffs and scrapes and bumps A year of battles, playground pacts A year of daydreams, whispered chats A year of friends, a year of foes A year squeezed round ten growing toes A […]
Family: Don’t Applaud Me For Not Being On My Phone Around My Kids
I wish my nails looked like this. Alas, not my hands. Or my phone. Yesterday at the park, an older lady complimented me. “Well done you for paying attention to your kids,” she said as she passed, “and not staring at your phone like they all do these days.” The “they” she was referring to […]
Family: You Are Enough (A Mantra For Mothers)
It’s a learning curve like no other – The day when you become a mother. The days are long, the nights are hard, A sleepless stare’s our calling card. A thousand voices chiming in, It’s hard to hear above the din. But this I know – this much is true, This time is yours, it’s […]
Family: On Leaving The House (A Poem)
When your day starts off wrong and you don’t even know Where the car keys have gone when you’re ready to go Your coffee’s gone cold and your hair looks like sh*t You can’t find a comb and the toddler’s got nits You forgot the packed lunch and the milk’s all run out He can’t […]
Travel: 6 Indoor Activities For Toddlers At Center Parcs
It feels like an age since I wrote about outdoor activities for toddlers at Center Parcs, so it’s high time I ticked off things to keep young children – that’s babies, toddlers and preschoolers – busy indoors. While I focussed on our stay at Center Parcs Whinfell Forest last time, I’ve covered several different villages […]
Family: The 9 Rules Of Being A New Mum On Facebook
Yesterday I overheard a conversation in the coffee queue, where two women were chatting about a mutual friend. ‘All she ever posts is photos of her baby,’ said one, crinkling her nose in mock disgust. ‘It’s so bloody boring’. The other rolled her eyes as she counted her change. ‘I know – NOBODY CARES, right?!’ […]
Family: To my second child, I’m sorry.
To my daughter, AKA The Second Child… I’m sorry I skipped the puréed sweet potato stage and went straight to chopped up chicken kievs for tea. I’m sorry that 80% of your wardrobe is hand-me-downs. And that most of them are blue, so people in the park think you’re a boy. I’m sorry I didn’t […]