Domestic Bliss & Bloodshed

Two weeks ago, G had an operation on his back. He slipped a disc last March and finally the date arrived to get it sorted. This of course is wonderful, but it does mean that he a) cannot drive for 6 weeks, b) cannot work for 6- possibly 8 because he’s a chef and his work is very physical- weeks, and c) because of a & b, he’s living with me while he’s off. This is a huge adjustment for us. G works five days a week, leaving at 9am and usually arriving home around midnight as the restaurant is a 45 minute drive from my house. So although I’m now in … Continue reading

Turning A Corner

Although in the end it turned into a bit of shambles, my time volunteering at the school seems to have done me a lot of good. I’m more confident than I was and it seems to have brought a part of my brain out of hibernation. I now feel like I’m a) ready and b) really keen to get back into work full time. I blogged about this before, I’ve not been sure what to do because I want another baby and don’t want to stop and start too much. But we’re not going to be having another baby in the next year, or even trying, so I reckon I’ve … Continue reading

Miracle

Sometimes, just at random intervals throughout the day, I look at Chops and realise, as if for the first time that this is my Daughter I’m looking at. This astonishes me. Even though I’ve had over two and a half years to get used to it, 3 and a half if you include my pregnancy, sometimes, the fact that I Am A Mother just floors me. I look at Chops doing simple things- raising a glass of milk to her mouth before bed and having a drink and I think “Wow”. How on earth did that little person come from me? It’ll 11.40pm, just 10 minutes ago she woke up coughing (we’ve both … Continue reading

Changing

I think I need a new job. I’ve worked part time in pubs and restaurants on and off for the last 11 years, I’ve done bar work since I was 18. Fair to say it’s starting to get me down. Some of you who follow me on twitter were kind enough to help me last week when I was in work and had a … well I’m not really sure what to call it. A blip? I was working and surrounded by people I like and who like me, and a couple of hundred strangers out enjoying their Saturday nights. And for some reason, that black cloud rolled over me. … Continue reading

One Million Reps

So, on Monday I saw my best bud from uni and took great joy in telling him; “Hey, here’s a sentence we’ve been waiting to hear me say for a while- ‘I’m going to therapy tomorrow!’”. And we had a good laugh and, yeah. Very little else was said about it. That’s the way it is though I suppose. That’s what my blog is for, airing out all the stuff that the real world aren’t really sure how to react to. Yesterday, that something was therapy. Or counselling I suppose. Whatever name you wish to give going to your doctors surgery and chatting to a man you’ve never met for … Continue reading

Trust

Trust. A loaded gun in the English language if ever there was one. Sure, we know what it means. But what it means to me and what it means to you or our partners, or either of our best friends could be two, or three, or four dozen very different things. I’ll give you an example. My best friend got married this year, she has been with her husband for about four years. About a month before the wedding, she was in the car with him (he was driving) and their daughter and he asked her to send a text to his brother letting him know they were on the … Continue reading

Last Text Of The Day

Before I go to sleep tonight, I have just picked up my phone and sent a quick text to my Mum, letting her know that Chops is sound asleep, we are both ok and Chops has not been poorly this evening. As I put my phone down I feel that pang in my chest. Sadness, rage, loss, disappointment, confusion, fury and so many other emotions hit me in the chest for just a fraction of a second, as it crossed my mind, however briefly that you have no idea about this. I text my Mum last night before bed, we spoke today before her lesson so I could relay what … Continue reading

The Good Parent Guide.

This post is actually going to come with a dedication. Why the heck not. This post is to everyone who has ever looked despairingly at their child(ren) or their own reflection in the mirror and thought “Am I doing this right?” Or even “I’m really not doing this right!”. But especially, this is dedicated to my friend Rachel aka Mummy Glitzer. I have spent many, and I do mean many, many, many MANY hours in the last three years worrying. About my capabilities as a parent. I wonder if perhaps, I feel that burden weighs heavier on my shoulders as I’m a single parent and therefore I have to be two people’s … Continue reading

Four

Babies. I’m obsessed with them at the moment. I’ve met the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, he feels the same about me. And so… “Procreate, procreate, procreate!” screams my uterus. I have never experienced ‘being broody’ before. Chops was born out of a very different relationship under very different circumstances. I was only 23 then not very young granted, but younger than I saw myself when I looked into the crystal ball of my future. I’m almost 27 now and my little girl is two and a half. Not a massive different in numbers but a complete transformation in all other manners. Although I’m also … Continue reading

Safe

I’m writing this after watching tonight’s Panorama about Jimmy Saville. About the possibility of unspeakably dark things going on within the BBC, that were gossiped about and suspected by dozens of people. As with anything like this, I watch, I listen, and I think of my beautiful daughter who is asleep upstairs. I won’t pretend to have the monopoly on loving my child. I believe that the love I feel for my daughter is the greatest love ever felt by one human for another. But of course, I realise  each of you parents out there feels the same. But despite the unease this programme has given me, tomorrow, I will … Continue reading