Basic manners are so drilled into us as children. We’re taught when and where to say please and thank you hundreds of time a day. The result being that the words become automatic. We don’t think about them, or about…
children
Letting go
Sometimes you just have to cross your fingers and hope it works out. Hard that. For a control freak like myself. I like to know how things are going to pan out. And, if possible, have them pan out my…
How to stay calm this summer holiday
Tomorrow is the last day of term for my two. Then we’ll be together for six full weeks of holiday fun. Optimistic me is happy about this. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my kids and we’ve got…
The great unhoming of home
We’re all feeling uprooted at the moment. We’re living in a kind of limbo. Someday – hopefully soonish – we’ll be uprooting our family from our home in North Cornwall to a new house near Falmouth. The actual move still…
Competition for resources (or stupid reasons you fight with your partner)
– Gah, I’m so tired. – YOU’RE tired? I’m the one who had to get up twice for the kids last night. – I’ve had a horrible day at work. – Well at least you got out of the…
May you always be this brave
‘I don’t want to have babies,’ Nell announces, pretty regularly. She’s only four, and it makes me smile that, although she’s quite happy to swaddle her stuffed baby elephant, she has no inclination for a human baby – plastic or…
How to survive the Furious Fours (kinda)
It’s been a truly horrible morning. Who knew that buttoning a cardigan could cause so much anger, frustration and distress? But it can when there’s a four-and-a-half-year-old involved. At least when it’s my four-and-a-half-year-old. My daughter is going through what…
A mother’s CV
Mummy Curriculum vitae PERSONAL STATEMENT Dedicated, hard-working and supremely adaptable individual seeks more credit for doing a bloody hard job seven days a week. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE Leadership: skilled in growing, educating, nurturing, managing and caring for two small human…
Boys don’t cry
Boys don’t cry. Any boy-mama knows this isn’t true. My 5-year-old son cries with the best of them. And I’m cool with that. But does it stop being OK for your boy to cry as he gets older? And if…
How tickling can teach your toddlers about sexual consent.
It’s International Day of the Girl. Hoorah! Wait. What does that mean? Well, it’s something the UN started five years ago: “The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the…
4 undeniable truths about long car journeys with children
586 miles in a Nissan Almera. That’s the long, long round trip recently achieved by me, husband and two young kids. Note the use of ‘achieve’ in that last sentence: achieve [verb] Successfully bring about or reach (a desired objective…