I wrote the above as a reminder to myself a few weeks into maternity leave, not long before Ruby showed up. I’d been writing notes throughout pregnancy so I could remember it when I wasn’t pregnant anymore. This note anticipated that one day some months ahead, somewhat ground down by motherhood, I might contemplate my […]
‘Not working is class’ Read More »
It’s all a bit tough at the moment isn’t it? Along with most people I speak to, I’m struggling more with this lockdown than the previous iterations. We’ve had January, which is perfectly depressing in its own right. It’s still dark. And it’s been freaking freezing. I sacked off the tough Northerner chat a while
Everything will be fine, because it has to be Read More »
Yep, this mama’s been drinking some hot, hot tea. That’s what happens when a little thing called Shared Parental Leave kicks into action. HOT tea. Giving me life. Every day. For two weeks. And then Tom went briefly back to work, and me and the microwave became besties yet again. But, while Tom had the
Mama’s Hot Tea, by The Blue Bucket Read More »
I had abandoned this little blog believing/ hoping it was becoming irrelevant – that life was somehow on the cusp of returning to what it was before the world caught Covid. And because I thought I’d expired my chat on the pitfalls of raising a bébé (in the accent of Moira Rose, for those watching
The optimistic edit Read More »
My brother and his wife welcomed their beautiful baby girl Grace this week, the latest addition to our expanding gang. I’ve looked up to my brother for as long as I can remember, so – being a few months further into being a parent – it’s nice to be the one able to offer him
The things I wish I’d known Read More »
I’ll cut to the chase: I’ve been struggling to string a basic spoken sentence together lately, never mind a semi coherent blog. (“Can you pass me the thingy on top of the thingy?” My hand waving in the direction of nothing in particular. Blank stare from Tom. “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”.) Like many, I
The great regression Read More »
On Tuesday I was sitting bare foot in the kitchen with a sleeping babe on my lap staring at the six of my toes that retain a patch of the red nail varnish applied three weeks before she was born (that’s 19 weeks ago folks!). I was convinced our baby would arrive early, and naively
The self maintenance selection Read More »
There’s nothing that shows the passing of time quite like a baby. In the past 15 weeks – the entirety of Ruby’s life – she has almost doubled her birth weight. In the past seven weeks since life radically changed for us in the UK, she has grown a mini mullet, started smiling, watching things
In last week’s Big Issue (which I’m well chuffed to be getting delivered) the editor wrote that “we’re all philosophers now”. He’s correct. We’re all living through something exceptional and we’ve each got a new perspective on, well, everything really. So this post is a bit sentimental, because I am a bit sentimental, and because
“We’re all philosophers now” Read More »
A cliché that has never been more accurate than in these days of lockdown and new parenting… Picture this (although not in too much detail): Sunday night, 10.30pm, baby asleep, husband winding down for bed, me: marigolds on, all clothes except underwear off, mop in one hand, bathroom cleaner and sponge in the other. It’s
You can’t win ‘em all Read More »
