Sponsored post I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I have two favourite phrases in the whole world. They are, ‘I love you,’ and ‘have some free chocolate.’ I’m not entirely sure what my order of preference is, either. All right, all right, I’m never going to be the second Mother Theresa – but we kind …
Poor Child 2. This week is the start of a new term at school – her very last. If it weren’t for the looming A2s, I bet she would be excited. Life is about to open up and reveal all its splendours. But first, she has to clamber over yet another hurdle and finish off …
On my way back from the station yesterday afternoon I saw the children from the local primary school trekking to the big assembly hall in the village for the nativity play. There was Mary, in the now-traditional floor length Frozen gown, Joseph wearing some sort of brown sack, many more than three kings with yellow …
I can’t quite believe it but I’ve finally done my last parents’ evening. ‘Done’ rather than ‘attended’, because it always seems like a chore, even though I’ve always been one of the lucky ones who has been blessed (so far, I’m still crossing my fingers) with hard-working and really rather lovely children. For some reason, …
I always feel a sense of rush at this time of year. As darkness creeps up earlier each day, there’s usually a lengthening list of stuff I am not quite getting round to. I think it’s the effect of both Child One and Child Two having autumn/winter birthdays, and as soon as they are out …
I’m so cross about this that I can hardly type. Child 2 and a friend were harassed by a large group of boys yesterday as they walked home from the bus stop – a stroll of only about 200 yards. Her friend is 11, and has just started year 8 at the big school. Child …
Sponsored post The crack of dawn on a Monday morning, when the schools have just gone back and my street is so quiet you can hear the first autumn leaves fall, is the ideal time to contemplate how work is going to shape up this year. It’s not easy to get motivated when working from …
We were pootling along in the car this morning when an ad on the radio caught my ear. I couldn’t quite believe it, but someone was singing the theme tune to Skippy the Bush Kangeroo. You know how it goes, ‘Skipppppy, Skippppppy, Skiiiipppyyy the Bush Kangeroooooo.’ Instantly, I was catapulted back into the past, when …
Next month, I’m taking Child Two to see my old university, St Andrews. No one is more surprised about this than me. I’m surprised to be going back there for the first time, surprised to have a daughter the right age (or almost) for uni and surprised that she’s interested. Most of my stories about …
I absolutely LOVE the news that a 52-year-old Frenchwoman has been thrown out of a Baccalaureat exam for impersonating her teenage daughter. In a mean-spirited and purely speculative way, I can’t help but imagine this lady as one of those whip-thin, perfectly poised Parisiennes who spend their lives looking fabulous – and cross. The type …