In the main SEN (special educational needs) classroom in my school, there is a poster which I have upon occasion found myself gazing at and thinking that I would do well to remember its message. I call it the Wiggly Line of Progress, and it is supposed to show that progress is rarely linear and…
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Return of the Troll
Some months ago-no, I tell a lie, it was years, one whole year ago to be precise-I acquired a troll. It was just after I’d announced publicly that I was still breastfeeding my three year old and the haters burst forth to offer their poorly educated and unwanted opinions. Surely that child is in school!…
Very Brief Existential Crisis (now recovered having written it down-DO NOT FEAR FOR MY SANITY!)
The other day I started feeling sorry for myself about my love life (e.g. lack thereof). This is a terrible state of affairs, because it has the ability to depress me like nothing else; well, nothing else apart from those times when I look out of the window, usually at work, and sigh sadly to…
Feeling a bit starved of affection. Might Get Cat.
It is a fact well established that a woman not in possession of a husband must be in want of a baby. Or at the very least a cat, so I was of course not surprised to see (on Twitter. Not in the course of my own literary wanderings. I prefer something a little more…
The One With The Snow Day
It is a fact well established that one spends all winter praying for a snow day and then when one finally arrives, the reality never quite lives up to its powdery promise. “Let’s go to a coffee shop!” I said. “We’ll go to a coffee shop, in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY! And do our…
The Half Term Pressure
I am currently sitting on the sofa. It is Sunday, and there is no work tomorrow. Instead there is a week stretching ahead of me in which I must make up for all the time I didn’t have in term time by making sure I’m up to date with work, fitting in all the life…
Grid Girls: A Philosophical Analysis
As you may know my day job involves, amongst other things, discussing philosophy with teenagers. One of my Year 13 students commented recently that it must be a wonderful job, sitting around having conversations all day about the great mysteries of the universe, and for the most part, it is. We’ll ignore the marking for…
Nine New Year’s Resolutions for Single Parents With No Money
New Year’s Resolutions are a funny thing. For a start, surely it’s better to turn over a new leaf at a time of year when you are not literally etching the days onto a bleak wall like a prisoner waiting to be released, eking out a cold and miserable existence until the crocuses raise their…
#SingleMumCooks:The Easiest Dessert in the World
Anybody else still slowly eating their way through huge mountains of Christmas chocolate, cheese and other festive ingredients that don’t get a look in the rest of the year (chestnut pureé, anyone?) No? Everyone else on a diet of kale, chia seeds and self-hatred? Oh well, perhaps this recipe isn’t for you. The funny thing…
The Chair: Part 2
I recently wrote about my abject feminist outrage when a chair I had purchased was delivered, only for the delivery man to comment that as he couldn’t get it up the stairs, I would need my “husband” to take the legs off for me. I was understandably outraged, but the chair remained lying on its…