EldestGirl took part in her first school play this week. It was a nativity, which our budding atheist was not delighted by. However, the lure of the spotlight proved too much; after the nine millionth time that she moaned about the vicar’s assembly, we asked her if she wanted to be withdrawn from religious activities, … [Read more…]
“I am not happy about this.” TheBloke (TM)’s tone was less than dulcet. “Who is Mark?” “Huh?” I said, intelligently. “Who is this Mark?” I mentally ran through every Mark I had ever met: three gas engineers (they are all called Mark; it’s a requirement of the job. So much so that I call the … [Read more…]
YoungestGirl had her two-year development check today. Second time around I’m a lot more laid back that she can’t walk up or down the stairs by herself yet, nor retrieve a raisin dropped into a bottle. (To be fair, she did retrieve the raisin, but not by tipping the bottle upside down like she was supposed to … [Read more…]
We all have conversational tics. We had a university lecturer who said, “um”, so much that we used to take bets at the start of the lecture if he would crack 200. They are one of those things that most people just don’t notice, unless it’s pointed out. We all “um”, “ah” and “er” our … [Read more…]
That’s a bit of an over-dramatic headline. I would like to think that our marriage would indeed survive without these five things. But here are five things that really do just minimise resentment and/or googling divorce lawyers make our lives that little bit better. 1. A cleaner This isn’t a luxury that everyone can afford … [Read more…]
I bloody love Lakeland. This is not a sponsored post. Lakeland have absolutely no need to pay me to make me throw twenty pound notes in their general direction, shouting, “TAKE IT ALL! JUST GIVE ME YOUR LOVELY THINGS!” My most recent purchase was a cake pan set, which came free with a Wilton food … [Read more…]
YoungestGirl turns two today. Entering the world with much less drama than her elder sister (planned C-section, opposed to Big Red Emergency Button, massive team of medical experts and all types of emergency), YoungestGirl quickly looked to rectify this and in her first ten days in the world: She refused to wake up on day … [Read more…]
One of the things I miss most about living in London is easy access to the theatre. When I first moved to the city, I used to go to the theatre incredibly regularly – often a couple of times a week, taking advantage of standby tickets at discounted rates. I lived a 15-minute tube ride … [Read more…]
Halloween is big where we live. Not the sort of big where you lackadaisically put out a half-hearted pumpkin and bung a few sweets in the direction of trick-or-treaters, but the sort of big where people have robot butlers, smoke machines, ten-foot inflatable pumpkins and giant projections onto the sides of their house. Of course, … [Read more…]
I felt invincible. I practically encouraged my children to lick other kids with chicken pox. Ours were vaccinated. We would be fine. YoungestGirl has spitefully gone and developed chicken pox, making a mockery of the £130 we spent on having her immunised against it. Her little face is covered in blisters. Her hands are all … [Read more…]
