The puppy has arrived. An utterly adorable, squirming bundle of liver-and-white Spaniel, with a furiously wagging tail and a face you simply couldn’t refuse. I am besotted. Yesterday I worked in the garden, fire-fighting emails while Maddie explored our sunny garden, and taking five minute breaks to teach her to ‘sit!’ Today I left her […]
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Don't tell the neighbours
We decided not to mention the rat problem to the neighbours. After all, the rat man had it all in hand. Dead within a week or so, he said. I expressed concern that the bright green ‘pest control’ branding on his van might give the game away, but he winked and tapped his nose. Ants. […]
I always thought…
I always thought I would never let my children watch television. Until I realised they need down-time as much as I do. I always thought I would never let my children sleep in my bed. Until sleep only came when they were lying by my side. I always thought I would never allow the kids […]
Remembering the little things
How much do children remember? How is it that the tiniest of events are etched on their minds, yet huge, earth-shattering milestones seem to pass them by without a shadow? ‘We’ve been here before!’ one of mine pipes up, as we pull into the nondescript car park of a supermarket I don’t remember ever visiting. […]
Chipping Norton: the fifth best town in Britain
A pull-out in yesterday’s Times ranked Chipping Norton as number five in their list of the ’30 best towns in Britain’. Obviously we Chippy folk were delighted. That is, until we actually read it… This town is sometimes described as Britain’s answer to Beverly Hills Is it? By whom? It was market day in Chippy […]
Learning how to read: it's about more than just letters
I am teaching my six-year-old how to read. Reading isn’t about putting letters together to make words, or even putting those words into sentences, and those sentences into paragraphs. Reading is about how to translate these words and sentences and paragraphs into a story. My son is learning how to make reading aloud exciting, both […]