Life

It’s Not Because of You – Reparenting My Inner Child

Reparenting my inner child - sad little girl

The little girl – she must have been seven or eight years old – sat on the stairs in the dark of the hallway and concentrated really hard. If she could just stay quiet enough, breathe more shallowly and strain her ears, she would be able to hear what was being said, and work out if it was her fault. She opened her eyes wider and stared through the bannister rails at the crack of light under the kitchen door, as if she might be able to see the words, and that way understand better if she had caused them. …

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Parenting Your Mum – How it Feels to be Part of the Sandwich Generation

Old age and being part of the sandwich generation

The Sandwich Generation is something I’d only vaguely understood. Until now… Today I posted on Instagram about how I’m really feeling. At lockdown 3, and entering month 12 of the Coronavirus pandemic I think a lot of people are feeling rather hopeless, and I’m no exception. I’m sad for all the loss – of lives, and of life in general. I feel despondent about how much longer this might go on for as we approach our second summer of restrictions. Where once I was resolute and stoical about it, I’m now joining the cries of “But it’s so unfair!” that …

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Why kindness matters if you want more White people to speak up about racism

Be kind is still an important message as we take on anti-racist work

  Kindness matters, whatever your argument Why we must reclaim the Be Kind message “Be kind.” It doesn’t seem to be a popular message at the moment. There’s a devastating social justice crisis happening, and anti-racism work is absolutely the most important thing any of us could be doing right now. But there’s a large section of the White population who aren’t doing the work, and it’s not because they don’t believe in it. It’s because they’re scared. Why? Because all too frequently, as people try to do right, and inevitably get it wrong, they’re faced with recrimination and shaming …

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Are you a Bully?

Are you a bully? Some types of bullying are less obvious than others

Why more of us need to take a good look at our own behaviour

Life With Teens: Getting the Glow Together Through Running Together

Heart Feel Good Challenge

I’m not big on resolutions. For starters, how miserable is the average January?! That special kind of cold rain it has that gets into your bones; and nights that never quite make it into day. It’s no wonder the vows to ditch wine and only eat pulses dissolve into a guilt-ridden Twix by the middle of the month. So no, resolutions and me are not friends. I am, however, a fan of adding in little things along the way that make my life better (exercise, music, books, chocolate..). So when Heart asked me to take up the #HeartFeelGoodChallenge – taking …

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The Real Life of an Insta-Mum

There’s been a furore lately over the Insta-Mum phenomenon. Most of us are on there, even if it’s only to stalk our children’s accounts. We laugh and nod at someone else’s crappy day, and get shopping envy over their new pink boots. The phony Insta-Mum claim Apparently some of us are letting the side down, making motherhood look way too easy and glamorous. We’re posting too many perfect lattes and sparkly manicures, and not enough eyebags and carrot splats. Our houses look too tidy, our children too angelic, and our beaches too pristine. It’s not the truth, some claim, and …

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How I became a YouTube Fan Girl overnight

This was me this morning. Like all pictures, there’s a story to this one, and it starts with a 30 day photography challenge that I embarked on at the beginning of the month. I’ll tell you about that later though, because that’s not what you came here for. Basically, the reason I’m wearing this weird kind of ohmygodcanireallydothis? expression is because I’ve just realised what a big deal Louise Pentland is. First things first, I’m not that badly under a shell that I didn’t know that Louise is the rather very ultra-famous YouTuber behind Sprinkleofglitter. Unlike my husband who, when he saw …

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Why I Couldn’t Care Less About the Blue Tick

  The Blue Tick. I’ve given it a name, because it is an actual thing, with a mind of its own, and deep, mysterious power over those in its thrall. Like one of those eighties horror films, the blue tick has taken on a significance disproportionate to its actual merit, turning ballsy social media account holders into needy, insecure individuals, uncertain of their worth. I’m speaking for myself here. I’m referring, of course, to the official badge of recognition gifted by the main social media platform gods – Instagram Idol, Twitter Tycoon, and Mark Zuckerberg, to name the three biggest …

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Family…

I wasn’t going to write a post today. I’m in the midst of packing for diabetes camp. I was up 5 times last night alternately adding insulin, then sugar to my daughter’s sleeping form. Bloody hormones are screwing with her big time. I lay awake last night thinking about teenage growth spurts, puberty, and what might lie in store for the next couple of years. Then I realised that the timing of said girl hormone patterns are going to clash perfectly with another hormonal phenomenon in this house. Menopause. Oh God. I can almost see the boys packing up a …

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Being Brave: BritMums and Type 1 Diabetes

In June 2015 I attended the BritMums Live conference for parenting bloggers. I have been many times to the event, and have transitioned from nervous new blogger to being relaxed and excited to catch up with friends and discover new brands. I have spoken at the event in previous years, and gained valuable experience in public-speaking. I have even read a blogger keynote speech before – a funny one that gave me the satisfaction of a few audience laughs. This year though, I was brave. This year I spoke out about what it means to suffer a life-changing event in …

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An Interview with the Loose Women

An interview with Loose Women Nadia Sawalha and Kaye Adams

Now it’s no secret that I’ve had my virtual falling-outs with the team at Loose Women. They are not girls to hold back, nor do they profess to be experts in any of their discussion topics. What they are, is opionated, outspoken women, who don’t hold back on what they believe. A bit like me, and lots of other women – and that’s a good thing. They are not always right, as the link above illustrates, but they do get things talked about, and for that reason I was happy to take the opportunity to conduct an interview with Loose …

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You know your partner is a social media addict when…

When I started blogging, my husband didn’t really know much about social media. He had an impressive LinkedIn profile, but didn’t really see the need for Twitter, and Facebook was just a place he went to virtually wave at old girlfriends occasionally. He is now a fully-fledged digital marketing expert, but in the beginning I was ahead of the game. A couple of months into my blogging career, I sent my first tweet. For a while, he lost me to a glass of wine in the kitchen every evening, as I chattered to my new friends. Then one day, he noticed …

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