A hundred years ago, when I was young, footloose and child-free, supermarket shopping was a fun and engaging opportunity. Casually browsing the ready-meal section for a Weight Watcher’s lasagne, clicking my kitten heels past the ogling youth on the fish counter, swinging my basket toward the delicatessen, and always open to the chance of a […]
Parenting
The love of a parent
In the morning, just as daylight is breaking through the slats of the bedroom blind, my son comes into bed with me. I hear the gentle click of his bedroom door opening and sense, rather than see, the shaft of dappled light thrown out by the nightlight he insists we keep on in his room. […]
There's just one thing, darling. I'm pregnant.
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 […]
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 […]