I was recently invited to take part in two separate days of no complaints and positivity with Cuddle Fairy. You can read about her day, and posts from the other lovely people who took part here. These days fell at particularly interesting times for me; they corresponded with the two things that take up all of my… Read More
I hear your voice from the other room: “Hello H. I am running about in the kitchen! I was running about and then you came!” It is the longest utterance you have addressed to your sister. In fact, I can’t ever remember you speaking directly to her in this way before. My heart swells. I… Read More
We have all likely heard of the recently publicised recommendation that children under three should have no screen time. Even the over threes, it is argued, should be very restricted when it comes to time watching television and using phones, tablets and other technology. Anyone who is the mother of a three year-old knows that this… Read More
I was 20 weeks pregnant with my son, and feeling fairly happy about pregnancy. I’d had the usual spate of morning sickness between 6-14 weeks but was putting that behind me. My baby boy seemed happy and healthy and was measuring perfectly at my 20 week scan. I was feeling fortunate and amazed at the… Read More
I am someone’s wife. I am someone’s teacher. I am someone’s mum. I wasn’t always any of these things and yet they have come to define me. Each role brings huge responsibility and infinite pride – hard work and reward in equal measure. They are all relationships that require me to give a lot of… Read More
When my son was born, I wrote this: Woowar Inside your safe and dryness, storm-drenched, I’m happy. Wrapped in your sighs and smiles, all aches and shivers, I’m well. Beside your sleeping skin – soft as silk, pale as paper -Wakeful and despairing, I’m peaceful. Bound up in your absurdity, afraid and… Read More
Until they were one year old exactly, I took a photo of both my children, mostly in the same place and position, every single week. There are 56 photos for each in total, as there were a few special occasions thrown in for good measure. There are many ways to record the milestones of that… Read More
My husband has a theory about the Toy Story films. He says that they are an allegory for parenthood. The toys are not really toys at all, he says, but parents, learning to let go of the childhood versions of their children. Today is my second child’s first birthday. Birthdays bring mixed emotions. Her one-year-old… Read More
It took time. My second child, a girl, was born in January 2015. I felt the same instant rush of love I felt with my son two years previously – the same desperate need to protect, whatever the cost. Though, I know, this doesn’t always come at first. But I would be fooling myself if… Read More