Blog List

My little boy recently turned five, and for his birthday he asked if he could have a toy kitchen. Seeing as he loves to help me bake and cook, I agreed that it would be a lovely present to celebrate his big day. Already hugely impressed by our son’s culinary prowess, his dad also agreed that while expensive, it was certainly a worthwhile gift. Although I thoroughly enjoy having him help me out...

Had another scan yesterday and all the babies are behaving. They is forward flow through the umbilical cord to each of them so hopefully they are growing well. They are still closely monitoring me and I am being very well cared for. I will continue to have scans every other day and just hope I can get a bit further before the babies need to be delivered. The consultant was very pleased I got to 27...

Remember the last time you had a child on your hip or a surly teen to contend with and you just couldn’t fight the yawn building inside you? Remember how you opened your mouth, vaguely resembled a growling hippopotamus and released a noise not dissimilar to an animal’s mating call, such was the extent of your exhaustion? Yeah, me too. And remember the way you then considered the action...

My daughter has decided that my presence is no longer required during her nightly bath. I hadn’t seen this coming just yet and it’s taking a little getting used to. Grace is just seven-years-old so the prospect she is becoming body-conscious startles me somewhat. I know that it’s a normal part of growing up and the insistence to assert her independence should be celebrated, but it’s left...

Working full-time and trying to keep track of my daughter’s hectic social life, I’ll be honest and tell you that my home would never win a prize for being the tidiest house. Couple that with the fact that me and cleaning just aren’t the best of friends I’ve accepted that I'm just never going to live in a Pinterest-worthy house, no matter how much I want to. My mum, on the other hand...

My husband approached me last Sunday looking like guilt personified. My heart lurched as he uttered the words that instil fear in the heart of any living human. “We need to talk," he said. To say my blood ran cold is an understatement. Hearing these words come from the man who takes everything in his stride and regularly picks me up and dusts me down without so much as a backward glance before...

When I became the mother of a baby girl, I spent many hours imagining the conversations we’d have as she grew up. Girlie chats about make-up, hairstyles, clothes, boys and weddings – I’d teach her so much! Or so I thought. And then she turned 13 and I realised I had nothing left to teach her. Apparently, she knew everything there was to know and my input was nothing but a dull noise in the...

Is it just me or is it becoming increasingly difficult to impress when it comes to kids’ birthday cakes? I remember being in total awe of my mother when she produced a simple, round, chocolate ‘clock’ cake for me. The height of sophistication back in the late seventies, the cake had icing hands pointing to numbers iced onto chocolate buttons - with the added wow factor of them pointing to my...

We’re heading away to sunnier climes tomorrow and I’m in the throes of the packing frenzy. This year, I decided to be super organised so I actually started buying sun creams, insect repellant, bikinis, etc, in early May. Yet here I am, the day before we are due to head off, still buying and still packing. I’ve done as much packing as I can for the kids at this stage. Shorts, t-shirts...

Overall, I think I do okay as a dad. I can give advice. I crack jokes that have AJ hyperventilating with laughter and my wife rolling her eyes. I can cook healthy meals and dish out the 'don't tell mum' treats. I occasionally get delusions of being 'cool' when AJ's friends shout "HI AJ'S DAD!" when I drop him at school and birthday parties. There's no...