Today while the big kids were at school and nursery, I took Jude in his pram to our local Tesco to buy milk. Being the impulsive shopper I am, I thought I’d do a quick zip around the shop to see if there was anything I didn’t need but would …
You know those kids who can be playing with something or talking to someone or kicking a ball around and then their Mum calls out “Johnny, time to go” .. and little Johnny says “okay Mum, coming” and then drops whatever he’s doing and does as his Mum asks? I …
I feel very protective of my third child, Charlie. He’s nearly four and is the kindest little boy you’d ever meet. I already know that his lovely gentle nature is going to make him a target for bullies … I just have a feeling. That and the fact his older and …
Today is the first day of school holidays. Even though my kids have only ever been to school in the UK, because I was educated in Australia I still can’t get used to the concept of half term break and feel like they are forever on holidays. All made worse …
Hands up if you’ve ever spat the dummy and screamed at your family “I’m sick of being everyone’s slave. Tomorrow I’m not cooking for anyone and you can sort yourselves out”? I do that every weekend. Usually about 11am on a saturday. However in my case it goes something more …
Pretty much every week I find myself lecturing Luca when we’re doing battle over his reading and homework .. ‘Reading is like riding a bike Luca, do you remember how hard it was when you first tried to ride one but now it’s easy and it’s something you’ll never forget …
I often feel sorry for Holly. With three little brothers she is forever rescuing her things from their grubby little clutches for there is no greater joy in my sons lives than being in Holly’s room and in possession of her stuff. The problem being their inability to do so …
“Mum, I don’t have a bagina” “Luca, it’s vagina and do you even know what one is?” “Yep, it’s when you’ve got no willy in your bottom”. Conversations like this are pretty stock standard at our place, the only variation is that usually the favourite topic is penises rather than …
Today I took my eldest son, Luca, to the Science Museum. He loves taking stuff apart and seeing what’s inside so rather than watch him demolish any more of his or his siblings’ christmas presents I figured we could go and see stuff that other people have taken apart and …
It’s day six of the school holidays. Usually by now I’d be in a neurotic heap but this Christmas holidays something has changed. The loss of twenty innocent children in Connecticut has been an awful reminder of how precious life is and how in the blink of an eye our children …
Sometimes the reality of life with four kids hits me harder than usual. This morning I woke up when Charlie stuck his finger up my nose at 5.30am and nearly gave me a heart attack. Soon to be followed by the lungs on steroids upstairs squawking for attention because of …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …