As we hit September, I have one child returning to school and one just about to start, meaning both boys will have moved on from those early years at home with me. With such a big adjustment looming for us all, I thought it was a good time to look back at this stage in… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Starting school
With everyone stuck at home, I’m enjoying the descriptions of domestic life in my Nan’s memoirs. She talks of many things in her daily life as she raised three boys under four. This excerpt is from the time when she was living in a flat within a large country house called Feldemore in Surrey, which… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Life at Home
So during a time that many will look back on as one of the most defining of recent times, I thought I’d dig out some old diaries and see what was happening on this day then, to take my mind off things. The one full diary I ever wrote was in the year 1990 when… Continue reading Dear Diary: March 21st
If you’ve not heard of ‘Soft Adventure’, it’s the opportunity to experience memorable adventures without the hassle of pre-planning or the requirement for specific skills or training. It works well for families as the trips are suitable for a range of ages and incorporate creature comforts as well as activities that are less physically rigorous.… Continue reading Balloon amongst the stars in Arctic skies
We went for a lovely walk today – the weather was great, the kids didn’t moan a bit and we came home refreshed and happy. ONLY JOKING!!! This is what really happened: We arrived at the country park. I’d told Rich I believe you have to pay for parking. He said that wasn’t the case… Continue reading A circular walk around…’why the hell do we keep doing this to ourselves?’
I’m making sure I document the different ways in which Herbie mispronounces words so that I don’t forget how great a skill this is and how much it makes me smile. Currently, he very much enjoys typing out poems on Microscopic (Microsoft) Word and is a bit annoyed that he has a bazuka (veruca). He… Continue reading Pronunciation fascination
Herbie and I visited London just before Christmas to see the Marvellous and Mischievous: Literature’s Young Rebels exhibition at the British Library with my brother and his husband. It made me ponder just how tricky it is to teach our children to be rebellious yet respectful, to challenge authority yet understand boundaries and to stand… Continue reading Rebels with a cause
Understanding why our children sometimes act as they do, and what they are trying to tell us through this behaviour.
Why? Why is this such a fucking nightmare? Where does the inability to put your own pants on properly but happily wear them as a hat come from? Why has the skill of putting socks and shoes on suddenly vanished? And brushing hair? I currently have to do this as Herbie twiddles around the kitchen… Continue reading Getting out of the house
Our cellar got wet during the last bout of rain, and damaged some of the storage we keep down there. One of the items was a box of Rich’s childhood things, like birthday cards, drawings and old school work. As they had been bobbing around on a tide of rainwater over the last few weeks,… Continue reading Imprints of life
My Beautiful Diary of the Amazingly Mundane 