I’m not sure who was more excited about Piglet’s school disco, him or me. In fact, it might be time to accept that Piglet, aged four, now has a better social life than me; one including friends, getting sugar-high on Parma Violets and dancing to Baby Shark. In other words, the kind of social life…
Category: the Public Badge of Good Motherhood
When Parenting Drives You To Distraction
The other day, a woman on the bus stop complained about my child. She said he was too loud, too boisterous, why didn’t I “control” him? She then flounced off in a huff, saying she could take no more of my son and his appalling behaviour. Another parent at the bus stop turned to me,…
Welcome to the World of Mothers
“Welcome to the World of Mothers,” said no one, ever. But yet I was a newcomer in the World of Mothers, and the other Mothers knew it. With tales of breastfeeding woes and terrible births, of reassuring smiles and messages in the dead of night to tell me I was doing OK, the World of…
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…
Piglet’s Birthday Party: A Review
OK, so I am not actually reviewing Piglet’s birthday, but rest assured that if I did, it would be a 10/10 from me. It felt as though Piglet had already been two years old for several months, since I have been telling people that he is “almost two” for ages. I have also been fretting…
I Am Not A Strict Parent.
Before having my son, I didn’t give much thought to what kind of parent I wanted to be. However, there was one thing I knew for certain. I was going to be Strict. Nine years of being a secondary school teacher, and observing countless children-and therefore the long-term consequences of the actions of countless parents-and I…
Motherhood: The Best Job in the World
“I’m not interested in other people’s boring lives!” my mother exclaims, as she turns from the computer screen where she has just been comparing interest rates on MoneySupermarket.com. It is Saturday afternoon, and Mother is making her feelings clear on the small matter of blogging, which she considers to be marginally less interesting than comparing…
The Public Badge of Good Motherhood: What’s so great about it anyway?
Picture the scene. You are in a cafe. Your toddler, having just had a floor-hugging, rigid back arching, high-decibel screaming meltdown over not being able to push his own buggy into the centre of the cafe and then spend the next twenty minutes using it to bash tables, and the legs of anyone who happens…
Thomas and his Friends, the Patriarchy
Today Piglet and I went to the library. The reason for this was that I had a book on helping child language development which was due back (having been barely touched. I have resigned myself to the fact that Piglet’s vocabulary is likely to consist of no more than “ball” and “A-DA” for some time…
Partying it Up In Wembers
I will miss Wembley. Where else, with the possible exception of One Direction’s house (do they all live in the same house? I sort of imagine they do, except the one who left, obvs.) can you walk out of your flat, take the baby for a walk and find yourself in the middle of a…