#Single Mum Reviews: Mathmos Lava Lamp

Many months ago, I embarked on the tedious process of buying a house. My stipulations were basic: The property needed to be in or around the Bristol area, and it needed to have more than one bedroom.  The purpose of the latter was clear; Piglet and I had been roomies since his birth.  There was…

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…

Poor Mummy

I never used to be ill. I was one of those people for whom making it through a school year without taking a day off was both a source of pride, and a regular occurrence. Then I had a baby.

What I Have Learned in One Week of House Hunting

As the old adage goes, it’s better to have the worst house in a good street, than the best house in a bad street. Your garden might be full of what the council terms “bulky waste,” and your doors may be falling off their hinges, but you’ll have the best schools, the best parks, the best…

Why I Am Happy To Be A Single Mother

What do you think of when you hear the words “single mother”? A harassed, overworked and underpaid divorced woman trying to raise her kids with negligible support from her ex-partner? A young woman barely existing on welfare, shunned by society as a drain on resources? Or a contented and fulfilled professional woman? “I CHOOSE my…

Five Pertinent Pieces of Advice From My Mother

I love my mother. And not just because she made me roll around laughing for 20 minutes today after claiming that Prince must have died because his body was “too small to fight off infections.”* She has also come out with some brilliant pieces of parenting wisdom. 1.) About breastfeeding: “You’re doing it because you…

When I Had Mummy Friends

This weekend Piglet and I went to the park. Basic, I know.  Everyone goes to the park.  I am basic.  Don’t hate me. The park is both fascinating and terrifying in equal measure.  Mainly terrifying.  How much helicopter parenting is acceptable in the face of the overwhelming fear that one’s child will be attacked by…

Giving Myself a Mummy Makeover

It’s Mother’s Day!  Yay!  The one day of the year when we are allowed to lie in bed all day being fanned with giant feathery fans by our children, while they behave perfectly, bring us an endless selection of dainty morsels on silver trays and present us with giant homemade cards Pinterest would be jealous of. Or…

Five Reasons Why I Am Living My Teenage Years All Over Again

This weekend I was a bit depressed.  Piglet was ill, we couldn’t go swimming, and although I was briefly delighted about this as it meant I wouldn’t have to get up at 7am and sit on some godforsaken bus for half an hour, my dreams of a cosy lie-in remained just that, as Piglet was…