Kids TV: Then and Now

A while back I happened to notice that the closing credits to CBeebies at 7pm as the time comes to say goodnight have changed.  Suddenly, Topsy and Tim, Sarah and Duck and Chuggington have popped up, and are going to bed (or in Chuggington’s case, the train equivalent) alongside Rastamouse, the Clangers and those talking vegetables…

Parenting Judgement: I’m All Over It

As a parent, there are many things to fear. Potential abduction, getting lost at the beach and disappearing forever, the dawn of World War III, threadworms…. And those are just the things that you worry about happening to your child. There are also things that you worry are going to happen to YOU, and I don’t…

Ode to the Summer Holidays

Each year, there is a day which simply cannot be beaten.  A day when you wake up, and feel as though the world is quite literally your oyster.  The sun is shining (sometimes), the birds (usually seagulls) are singing, and the promise of weeks of blissful relaxation, of days spent lounging by a pool drinking…

Single Mum Cooks: Cheesy courgette pasta

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Single Mum Cooks. I need to stop saying that.  I sound like The Two Ronnies doing a sketch where they wear matching glasses and say goodnight from each other. Anyway, today I am talking about courgettes. Now I like a courgette; however, clearly so do the other…

Top Ten Cafes to Visit With Kids in Bristol

As any reader of this blog, or person that knows me in real life (I know, can you believe real life people still exist?) will be aware, I love to go to cafes with Piglet.  There’s nothing better than sitting back, relaxing and enjoying a warm latte and a slice of cake while Piglet wrecks…

Extended Breastfeeding and Parenting Judgement

Before I had a child, there were many things that I thought I would never do.  Bribing my child with biscuits to get them to sit in a pushchair, for one (clearly any child of mine was going to come running from the swings and willingly climb into the pushchair with nothing more than a…

#Inspire and Flourish

It seems like only five minutes since I wrote a post giving a shout out to my top three favourite new bloggers, but I find myself doing so again, for this month’s #InspireandFlourish with the Less Refined Mind. This time, instead of blogs in general, I wanted to mention some posts which have, um, inspired…

Single Mum Cooks: Coconut Vegetable Curry

Well hello folks, and welcome to the latest edition of Single Mum Cooks.  This one is that good old classic, Coconut Vegetable Curry, also known as something I just knocked up with whatever ingredients were lying around in the kitchen and needed to be used up. It is a well known fact that I am…

What’s it like to be a Single Mother by Choice?

The simple answer is, not much different to being any other mother. We all spam our Facebook feed with pictures of adorable newborns, food-covered weaning babies and exuberant toddlers.  We all tell tales of sleepless nights and bodies that are never the same again.  We all scan the parks and baby groups for the sight…

To Date or Not to Date?

That is the question. It’s a question that I have so far been answering with a resounding “no.”  The thought of going online and putting myself forward to be scrutinised by strangers, and not making the grade.  The thought of having to sit opposite someone and make small talk, thinking all the while about how…