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Steph

Same S**t, Different Day

Today started in the usual way with Jude screaming like a banshee at 5am. You just have to hear it to believe a noise so ghastly can come from such a cute little boy. Think screeching caged monkey high on crack and you might be close. The boys have been …

Not Dumb But Definitely Dumber

Since the birth of my first child, I’d say my IQ has probably halved. I have taken ‘baby brain’ to a whole other level and sometimes I feel like the village idiot. It’s no secret that Mums feel a bit foggy when they have a newborn, but is it supposed …

Holiday Hell

It’s that time of the year when Rob and I decide what to do for Christmas. Living overseas means no decisions have to be made over whose family we spend it with so we’re free to travel wherever we like. Our family holidays are infamous for going spectacularly wrong. Cancelled …

A Hoarder I Am Not

  Today I started clearing out our basement – two small rooms crammed full of accumulated crap. Most of it is boxes of stuff we packed when we left Australia in 2007 which I never got around to unpacking because I was too busy getting pregnant and churning out babies. …

Lets Talk About My Handbag

A couple of months ago Rob and I had a long weekend in Paris. I’d be lying if I didn’t say one of the highlights of our trip was the exchange of money for the delicious handbag pictured above. I adore handbags. Love them. I get a warm fuzzy feeling …

Location, Location, Location

Once upon a time there was a young woman in her early twenties. One day she and her then boyfriend drank too much beer and decided to get a tattoo. A small Egyptian Ankh. She chose to have it on her belly next to her hip bone so it would …

Worcestershire Chocolate

I think it’s fair to say that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I am going to re-phrase that. I have absolutely no self-control whatsoever when it comes to sugar and chocolate. Today I went walking with a friend of mine and I was telling her about how I …

Airport Farewell

Today my Mum flew back to Sydney after spending three months with us in London. She comes every year so I’m used to having to say goodbye, but it never gets any easier. I’m not normally an overly emotional person but something weird happens to me at airports. I turn …

Restaurant Hell

Tonight we took the kids and my Mum out for Holly’s birthday and also Mum is going back to Australia this week so it was a farewell dinner as well. We thought we’d kill two birds with one stone because my nerves simply don’t have the fortitude for two restaurant …

Surviving Your Child’s Birthday Party

  Today we had Holly’s 9th Birthday party. It went really well, the girls all had a great time and I didn’t have to call my therapist even once. Not even a text message. Winning! If I’m honest, with four kids birthday parties are a giant pain in the arse …

Wellies, Boobs And Fireworks

Tonight we went to the bonfire night that’s held every year in the park at the end of our street. I usually avoid it like the plague because it’s basically a fun fair in the mud with a few dodgy fireworks to watch … and I really hate mud. But …

Supermarketaholics Anonymous

I do my supermarket shopping online and it arrives every Monday morning. I shop online mainly because of the sheer volume we buy each week with a family of six – it’s easier when I don’t have to cart it home and lug it in myself. That and because groceries …

School Holiday Survival

School went back today after half term break. Thank God. It spells the return of my sanity and the chance to get my voice back. And to recover from the trauma of the previous week’s mess. Winter school breaks are always the hardest because when you live in England, entertainment …

How Much Do You Embarrass Your Kids?

Yesterday Luca told me I was ‘crackers’ because I was singing to him at the hairdresser. So I asked him if all his friends’ Mums were crackers too and he said “er no, just you”. I thought this was pretty funny and probably quite accurate but he said it without …