I am finally on the other side of a four-day headache and am here to share with you a party political broadcast. Because you definitely haven’t had enough of that already, right? Last General Election I lived in Ilford North – a hotly-contested marginal seat. For those of you unfamiliar with UK politics – a … [Read more…]
Today I am excited to bring you my first ever guest post on the blog. Take it away, sir. *** I never wanted to have children. I just never saw them as part of my life. I saw them as something that would interfere with the things I loved most in my life (great food, … [Read more…]
We live on a new-build estate, which currently doesn’t have much in the way of facilities. Excitingly, a new Miller and Carter restaurant opened up last week actually on the estate (number of facilities in our area since the restaurant has arrived: 1) and, even better, they were offering 50% off to go to one … [Read more…]
The underground wind whisked around me as it always had, as it always would. The scent of London’s tube network is unique; part soot and grime, part ambition and possibility. It still smells of home. Navigating the tube remains second nature to me; I don’t need to refer to a map to know that the … [Read more…]
I wish there were a device that would let you save a day and come back to it at a later point; not from a schmaltzy, sentimental perspective, but purely practically. For example, today. I would have liked to have skipped today, BUT gifted it to myself in the future, perhaps when I have horrid … [Read more…]
“I have the best news, EVER,” EldestGirl triumphantly announced last week. Thoughts of fast-track scholarships to boarding schools flashed briefly through my mind, followed by free ponies and a lottery win. Before remembering she was four years old. “Next week,” she continues, “it is my week to bring home Duffy Bear.” Fuck. Duffy Bear is … [Read more…]
In some ways, YoungestGirl has had a better parenting experience than EldestGirl did. Since she was born, I haven’t been out of the house to work (though I do work from home a reasonable amount, so she doesn’t get 100% undivided attention). I am able to make our day-to-day schedule meet her needs more than … [Read more…]
Rosie Smiley was the most unlikely name in the world for this person. At nearly six foot tall, wearing sportswear in a corporate environment, my new line manager for my six-week placement on the graduate scheme introduced herself as, “I’m Rosie. Don’t fuck me around, and I won’t fuck you around. And I fucking mean it.” … [Read more…]
One of the joys of having a four year-old is their insistence that we listen to whatever they want to in the car. This is usually the Frozen soundtrack for the nine hundredth time. (“Love is an open dooooooooor”) Thankfully most of our journeys are fifteen minutes or so, so we don’t usually get as … [Read more…]
There was one time at work… I remember the year. It was the year I lived in Hackney, on my own. It was a sunny day, crisp, that first promise of Spring that comes sometimes in February, sometimes in March. I was a new graduate, on the company’s training scheme, and the following week I’d be … [Read more…]