I cried today. As my first born made his miraculous entrance into my life and gasped his first breath. My heart was overwhelmed with a protective love and I marvelled at his perfection.
I cried today. When the loneliness of being a new mum became my reality. When my everyday became a monotonous turnover of feeds, sleeps and nappies. When the incessant and inconsolable cries of my baby became my new normality.
Read moreAfter a particularly hard morning I managed to get Ben off to school, and decided to get some much needed coffee therapy at our local shopping centre. I parked up, got Fin into his pushchair and as I walked past the little play area in the car park I noticed a crying child sat on the bench. There were three other mums with their children in that park who were clearly not with him, but acting like they hadn't even seen him. After looking round to see if any of the countless adults walking past that park could be his parents I went in to him to see what the problem was. He must have been around 4 years old and he was sobbing his little heart out.
Read moreNow I am not saying for a second that I think that wherever I go people will love me. But there is a great deal to be said for learning this one single social skill of assuming that whoever you will meet and speak to, you will naturally get on. I think the technically correct terminology for this is 'assume rapport' and it is a really powerful tool for going into new situations such as meetings or interviews or even parent/toddler groups with confidence. I always struggle with the advice that you should try and picture people naked when you have to give a talk or do an interview - I mean what the heck is that about? Why would I want to have that image in my head? So so much easier just to assume that the situation will be easy and relaxed; you will be a success and that you are an instantly likable person. I find that when you truly start acting like you believe this, it will actually start to become a reality.
Read moreFrom the moment you were conceived you were my baby, my perfect God-given child. With every day that passed I loved you more. I held you that first day in wonder at your perfection, your tiny fingers, your fuzzy back, your dark blue eyes so alert as you suckled contentedly.
Today you constantly amaze me with your facts about planets, your love of knowledge, your capacity for new information. You make me smile with your witty comments and your blunt honesty about every day life. I love the way you view life - uncoloured by expectation, opinion or the unwritten rules of society.
Read moreI can feel my patience ebbing away. I'm trying hard to find my supermum smile but failing miserably. I just want to curl up in a hole somewhere with a duvet and a hot chocolate and get lost in romantic novels.
As I drive along the A57 at 2 miles an hour, regretting the second cuppa that is now sat heavily in my bladder; the rain hammering down, the screams from my toddler hammering on my ear drum and the incessant chat of my 4 year old. "Mummy did you see that sign? Read more
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