Having a snail crawl across my arm does not feature strongly on my bucket list. But my four year old son delights in it. Picking up insects and carrying them around is not what floats my boat. But gosh, my
Keeping up appearances
I’m the only parent struggling right now. Everyone else seems to be fine. Parenting is such a challenge and I’m part of the minority of people who feel this way. Why don’t my children behave like other peoples’ children? If
When responsive parenting pays off
Sometimes I wonder whether the difficult choices I make as a parent will actually pay off. Although responsive parenting is what feels right to me, it isn’t always the easiest way to parent especially because it can be so different
Doesn’t it feel good to be forgiven?
Several days ago one of my children hurt another child’s feelings. At school she did something that was unkind and it upset another child, someone she actually really likes. When I found out what she’d done, I felt a mixture
What will they remember?
I knew something was up when I could hear water rushing upstairs. I wondered whether Aidan had turned on the taps in the bathtub, and at worst, I thought I would have to go upstairs to turn them off and
Worry
Like most mothers, the majority of my energy is used for my children. Physically caring for them, wiping bottoms and noses, feeding babies, looking after the home, preparing meals, cleaning up after them– this is the hard manual graft of
If/then
I was interested but not surprised to read this week about new research from the University of Warwick that shows that in spite of their differences, most parenting advice from the past 50 years sets unattainably high standards for mothers.
Rushitis
One of the worst times of day for me is 8.55am when I am trying to get the children out the door on time for the school run. In the morning there always seems so much to do: breakfast, hair
Mother nature hasn’t read that book
I am a lover of books. Several walls of my house are lined with full book shelves. I always have at least one, if not more, books on the go. I’ll read fiction and non-fiction. I’ll read paper books and
Freedom from pain
This week my daughter has found it difficult going to school. Squabbles with her friends, which adults see as petty but mean the world to her, have reduced her to tummy aches and tears every day. My experience tells me
