Room with a mingo

Tonight my daughter is sleeping in her own bedroom. I’ve never been able to say that before. Yes, she’s slept in a room with her bed and her things, but it hasn’t been truly hers until now. It’s been a rough few years. When I had my daughter, I brought her home to the toxicity […]

This Moose Belongs to Me

We shared this wonderful story by Oliver Jeffers at bedtime recently. We had a little chat about it afterwards. I asked my daughter who she thought the moose belonged to. She thought it belonged to Wilfredo (he’s the chap on the front), even though the others thought it belonged to them. I put forward the […]

Frustration

My daughter has conceived a little project for herself, and has been ardently collecting cardboard toilet rolls for the past couple of weeks. She’s delighted every time we finish a roll, and proudly lines up her collection. Well today was the day she announced she was ready to start. Depending on when she’s talked about […]

Choose your battles…

So today I lost the battle of which cuddly toy was coming with us to the shops. And, as predicted, she got fed up of carrying Emily Elephant within minutes, so that vital job has fallen to me. My “I told you so” is falling on deaf ears. She’s not bothered. She’s had her own […]

What’s cooking?

“Can we make cakes today, mummy?” I love when she asks this, and have rose tinted visions of how our little baking session will go (despite having enough experience by now to know that it never quite goes that way!). I find it really difficult to let go, and be child led, when it comes […]

Me and the farmer

Our local activity farm is one of our favourite days out. The very nature of a farm means that there is always something new or different to see, which means it’s always an interesting trip. Yesterday, we were lucky enough to be able to see a brand new litter of piglets. They were less than […]

Festival…

We’re about to brave our first family festival. By “we”, I mean my friend and I and our three kids (2,3 & 4). Excited? Yes. Nervous? A little! My only other festival experience was Reading 2005 and I have a feeling this time round will be very different. I’m clearly not going to be dancing […]

Propagation

Suffering from a touch of post court malaise, spending an evening with my succulents seemed like the best kind of therapy. This is a hobby of mine that I’ve been cultivating for about the past six months, and I find it both incredibly rewarding, and grounding. Tonight is a landmark as I’m moving my first […]

Absence

Apparently children process grief very differently to adults. And to be honest, I envy them this innate ability, that we seem to grow out of. A good friend of mine told me that children do not take on more than they can handle in terms of emotional trauma. They manage it, take on what they […]