The day after moving day; boxes piled high from ceiling to floor, making it impossible to get through the house without weaving from side to side in a dry slalom. The only room fully unpacked was the baby’s, and he was lying in his cot, basking in the sunshine streaming through the windows and giggling […]
Childcare cheating
Having a nanny is like having a wife. I have always felt it somewhat unfair that wives (generally speaking) don’t get to have their own wives, and I am immensely enjoying the experience. My house is permanently tidy, the dishwasher and the laundry baskets are always empty, the children well fed and tidily dressed, and […]
How to drive a mother to drink
I don’t generally diarise my life in my blog; it would be spectactularly dull to read, for a start, as well as lacking in variety from day to day (got up, orchestrated chorus of whines and moans, tore out hair, drank vat of wine, went to bed). However today I am going to give you […]
An exercise in inspiration
My enjoyment from writing, and therefore my primary focus, is to take an isolated incident and describe it in such a way that it takes shape before the very eyes of the reader; so that they can see the events unfolding as though in a movie clip, and picture the characters I describe, as if […]
Shuffle ball change
We make a motley crew as we traipse into the village hall on a Wednesday evening, coats buttoned up against the cold. I suspect I’m not the only one who firmly believes, every time I put on my shoes, that I’ll be transformed into Ginger Rogers. We’ve all danced before; a spot of ballet as […]
In praise of the toddler
I spend far too much time moaning about my children, and not nearly enough time appreciating and enjoying them. After all, does it really matter that, thanks to an application of crayon, my decor is more shabby than chic? Or that, thanks to a couple of natural twin deliveries, I have lady-bits that would put […]