I travel with work. Not too often, but when I do it’s long distances and I have to leave my son with my mother. I have a love-hate journey with work travel as a mum, from the moment I close that door, till I place the key in its rightful slot some days later. I…
Motherhood
Life and Toddlers: It’s Just a Phase
Alongside ‘I don’t know how you cope‘, the other most annoying phrase I hear as a mum is, ‘it’s just a phase‘. What, you mean my son won’t be taking three hours to fall asleep when he’s 15 years old? What about when he’s 37? You mean he won’t be jumping on my head in the…
To The Health Visitor Who Made Me Cry
It was my son’s 27 month health check with you – the health visitor. I arrived late, huffing and puffing because I’d had to run home having realised, half-way there, that I’d forgotten the all important ‘red book’. I dashed upstairs to the clinic when I arrived, panicking that you’d tell me I’d missed my…
Co-Sleeping With My Toddler
I was co-sleeping with my son until he was about 13 months old, then, out of sheer desperation for a decent night’s sleep following my return to work, I reluctantly put him in his own room. To my surprise he bloody loved it. He loved the independence and instantly started to sleep (slightly) better. It was…
5 Ways Blogging Saved My Life
Blogging save my life. It sounds dramatic right, but it’s true. I always dabbled in writing but a cruel twist of fate meant that my treasured writings and journals that I had hand written from the age of nine were destroyed around the same time as I ‘lost’ my husband and became a single mum. Those…
Human Connection: That Moment in the Swimming Pool
No matter how long this* goes on for, I am still struck by those moments where I crave human connection more than all else. Those moments when I’m so amazed and astounded by something my son has done that my yearning to share it boils out of me. I turn, scanning the vicinity for another face,…
Why My Toddler Won’t Sleep
I have a son who won’t sleep. I mean he will sleep, eventually, but everyday it’s a nightmare. It’s been like this for about four months, there has been the odd OK couple of days, but on the whole it’s been getting gradually worse. I’ve heard all the advice (and pretty much tried it all,…
10 Reasons Why I Have a Genius Toddler
I read a blog the other day by someone whose baby is a genius. Like, no shit, their baby is a real live genius and they decided to tell the whole world about it. So it got me thinking, perhaps I’m overlooking my child’s geniusness (is that a word??). And sure enough I was right.…
10 Things Every Part-Time Working Mum Can Relate To
Since having my son, like lots of mums, I’ve gone down to part-time hours. When you have young children* being a part-time working mum is often seen as the best of both worlds, but the reality is a lot more complex than that. 1. It provides a good work-life balance. I think this is the one…
I’m A Great Mum
I’m a great mum. Really, I am, and most probably so are you (well, unless you’re not a mum in which case I’m sure you’re great anyway). I know you’re probably giving me one of those coy sideways glances now, thinking: “Me? No… Really?…Me?” Yes. Really. You. It’s true, even if you don’t think it…