I cried earlier, packing away Kyle’s football kit to give back to his coach, tears of frustration, anger and sadness. Being a parent is tough anyway but sometimes it totally sucks, especially when there is something upsetting your child that you can’t do anything about despite the trying! I don’t like the cold, rain or mud and yet I happily stood in it most Saturday’s last season to support Kyle who wanted to play football. That’s what being a parent is about to me, giving them the chance to have a go, to succeed, to do something they enjoy even… View Post

I’m sure you know what it’s like when it’s a weekend or a day in the holidays and your kids are saying they are bored and asking to play on some kind of computer game. What do you do? My boys are pretty active and enjoy being outside and yet they still ask, sometimes to the point of me wanting to throw them outside, the computer games, not the kids! So how do you keep the kids active and why does it matter? Childhood obesity is no doubt on the rise with a worrying number of young children now classed as… View Post

I can’t believe it’s the end of the summer holidays, I’m distraught. I look forward to these weeks so much, especially as a teacher, it means I actually get to spend some quality time with my kids. The last year at work was stressful to put it mildly and the thought of going back to all of it makes me shudder. I’m starting to have sleepless nights filled with weird dreams and I know it’s the anxiety about returning. Not only that though, I’m morning the end of another summer, the end of empty days stretching out in front of… View Post

I love my days off with Ava I really do and I look forward to them every week. Then I get to them and find myself wondering what to do. I’m not sure why really but we end up spending those days just us two. If I think about it a lot of my friends have older kids and meeting up for a coffee was possible when she was a baby and is now totally impossible for any longer than it takes her to eat a snack. In other words not for long before I end up having to chase after… View Post

I’m typing this late on my phone unable to sleep, my eyes stinging from tears and tiredness. I need to write this down, to help get the grief out. Grief, because I guess that’s what it is although I still feel like a fraud calling it that. I’ve discovered it likes to sneak up on you, catch you out in moments of tiredness or moments of awake. When you are alone or surrounded by people, it even pounces unexpectedly in moments of happiness. For me I know the triggers now and I guess they are probably the same for others… View Post