Sam’s Sandwich was a gift from my friend Nice Kate, to my children, and quickly became a firm favourite. Nice Kate had been astonished I’d never heard of the tome, and so swiftly purchased it for my children, introducing them to some funny rhymes, cheeky characters, and the idea of putting insects in their sibling’s dinner. … [Read more…]
I thought we had got off lightly with YoungestGirl’s tantrums. She is annoyingly difficult to discipline, usually smiling beguilingly when you tell her off, or making you laugh despite yourself, but the positive side of this is she rarely loses control into a full-blown tantrum. Whenever EldestGirl was made to sit on the naughty step, … [Read more…]
EldestGirl is basically a Jane Austen heroine trapped in the twenty-first century. She adores correspondence. She writes to everyone. Whilst she hasn’t quite progressed to embroidery, harpsichord playing and calling cards yet (please nobody tell her these are a thing), she adores writing letters. Her missives are not just confined to friends and family – … [Read more…]
My children’s love of Nuddy Ned can be blamed squarely on my parents. When EldestGirl was about three years old, she went to stay with Grandma and Grandad, and they took her to the library and brought back a copy of Nuddy Ned. My parents – clearly with the same sense of humour as an average three … [Read more…]
In January, many people like to take stock after the excesses of Christmas, and turn over a new leaf. Dry January is all about spending the month without any alcohol at all, in the aim of being healthier, abstemious and smug. OR For us, Dry January is about finally, finally having successfully potty trained YoungestGirl (including night … [Read more…]
Well, regular readers will be delighted to know that our Christmas tree did indeed survive until Christmas Day (just), despite dropping approximately 3000 needles every half hour, along with whichever ornament it particularly wanted rid of at any given time. By Boxing Day, the dried-out old twig was clearly a fire risk, and so we … [Read more…]
This month’s Let’s Cook the Books is slightly sneaky, firstly because it’s featuring YoungestGirl, rather than EldestGirl, and secondly because we’re not actually cooking a recipe from The Gruffalo itself (roasted fox, anyone?). YoungestGirl received for her birthday, from my lovely friend Erica, a fantastic children’s cookery book based on The Gruffalo. (Believe it or … [Read more…]
I mean, I barely know where to start. When I was younger, I was never a big fan of Christmas; being indoors for several days whilst all the shops were shut and the weather was shit, and the heating was turned up too high was never my favourite time of year. Now I have my … [Read more…]
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was one of the first chapter books EldestGirl and I read together. I had loved it as a child, and remember playing for hours, imagining I had my own slippery slip to slide down a giant tree. Unfortunately, my parents lived in a new-build in the Midlands, so … [Read more…]
Wednesdays are my least favourite day. EldestGirl has a music class across town after school. The unpredictable traffic means that we tend to get in the car as soon as we’ve walked back from school and everyone has been to the toilet. If the traffic is OK we’re usually about 15 minutes early. I use … [Read more…]
