Youngest is six now so we’re well and truly beyond the baby years. She and her brothers – who are 10 and almost 12 respectively – are all pretty independent. So you’d think that the evidence of the early days is in short supply. But you’d be wrong! It struck me recently that there are …
There’s a particular piece of advice my late Grandad once gave me as a child that has always stayed with me. Namely ‘Don’t count your chickens’. His intended purpose was to help manage my expectations of Tottenham Hotspur and it worked. Since he imparted these wise words, I’ve endured three decades of them snatching defeat …
I love the abandoned play scenes that youngest leaves. The most recent one featured Captain America watching an episode of Shimmer and Shine. I quite like the idea of the most earnest of the Avengers enjoying the antics of two frankly useless genies. It would make a great mashup actually. This got me thinking – …
It recently struck me that thee are quite a few unlikely similarities between the two TV shows I watch the most. Namely The Walking Dead and Peppa Pig. What could a compelling survival drama and an irritating anthropomorphic pig possibly have in common, I hear you ask. Well here’s the evidence I’ve gathered so far. …
It’s been a while since I wrote a post about Amelie, so it’s high time for an update. She is now 17 months old and continues to make her presence felt at every turn. The most noticeable development recently has been her speech. The baby babble is starting to sound less like scribble talk and …
Something I never cease to amaze myself with is my propensity to buy things that I soon end up regretting. Take this weekend, for example. We were in a charity shop and spotted a practically new Mouse Trap game. I always wanted it as a child but wasn’t allowed. Despite that, I had held a …
Education has changed greatly since I was at school. The curriculum is much more structured and my sons know a hell of a lot more than I did at both their ages. It’s not all progress though. There is something that has become ‘a thing’ in recent years that’s driving me round the bend. Mud kitchens. They …
If the emails I receive from PR people on a daily basis are anything to go by, I’m a parenting expert. The fact that I’ve been on the radio a handful of times, popped up in a couple of newspapers and even spoken on a panel at a Mumsnet event add weight to this suggestion. But …
I knew this day would come. It did with Dylan and there was no reason to expect Xander to somehow dodge this inevitable landmark, but it’s still caught me off guard. He’s started giving us hints of what he’s going to be like when he’s angry. And, yes, the early indications are that we’re not …
It recently struck me that I haven’t written much about Xander of late. How rude! Dylan’s long-awaited achievements of speaking and sleeping in a proper bed have dominated rather. So the littlest member of the household has taken a back seat. Well this post is going to be all about him. So how’s the little fella …