We have always made an effort with both of our daughters, not to stereotype, not to call things “girly”, or to use words like “tomboy”. We preach that all colours are for everybody, that looking beautiful is less important than being kind. That being kind is important, but so is being clever. It has mostly … [Read more…]
Some people might describe me as seeing things in black and white. I am – I believe – ruthlessly logical, and will accept nothing other than scientific evidence (ideally peer-reviewed in a meaningful sample size) to influence my decision. “But homoeopathy works; I used to have dreadful back pain, but since taking this tiny dropper of … [Read more…]
Bethnal Green is my old stomping ground, my manor, my endz. Yes, of course, like most people who live in and around London, I’m not a true Londoner. I would never claim to be “from the East End”. I don’t even affect a Mockney accent. I was never a proper Eastender. I never had pie, … [Read more…]
We have previously touched on the facts of life with EldestGirl. I was pregnant with YoungestGirl when EldestGirl was coming up for three, and she had a few questions about how the baby got there. At the time, she was easily placated with, “Mummy and Daddy wanted a baby, so we put a seed in … [Read more…]
“EldestGirl, why were you the only child not wearing your sunhat when I picked you up from school today?” I asked. “I don’t like it, Mummy. It’s a bit embarrassing.” You know what, fair enough. It’s bright pink (not her favourite colour), and I had hoped the fact that it had sun-activated designs that appeared … [Read more…]
You may have noticed that things have been rather quiet at Nunn the Wiser HQ. That is because we have been on A Holiday. “Aha,” you are likely thinking. “A lovely, relaxing break where you read your book, do nothing and bask in the sunshine.” And you would be perfectly right. That is exactly what … [Read more…]
Once a week, I take EldestGirl to Rainbows. It’s about a 15 minute drive from us, and as Rainbows is only an hour long, it’s not really worth going home, so I tend to kill the time by a wander down past the canal, into Waitrose for a quick scoop-up of anything with a yellow … [Read more…]
So after the Never-Ending Snow Day, EldestGirl’s school was open again, and there was much rejoicing. Until, at 3.30 a.m., her dulcet tones came drifting down the landing. “I’ve been sick.” She was indeed sick. Very, very sick. She spattered every surface available. And so commenced another 48 hours with no school. I was very … [Read more…]
On Thursday, EldestGirl’s school was closed because of some severe snow locally. TheBloke (TM) and I are in the extremely fortunate position of not needing to battle to get to an office, and so I, at least, was delighted at #makingmemories (vom vom vom) but I genuinely was a little bit excited about doing loads … [Read more…]
I have been waiting for this day for a while, and have been biting my tongue in the meantime. At the end of last week Barclays announced their gender pay gap. In 2002 I started working in banking, beginning at RBS, moving to HSBC before ending up at Barclays, from which I was made redundant … [Read more…]
