Trigger warning: traumatic birth and baby bonding. It’s rare that I write an advice peace, I’m no expert after all. However, there’s a few experiences I’ve gone through which, when I’ve turned to google or others, I’ve found the advice severely lacking, or unhelpful. Experts who haven’t experienced the challenges they write about, often don’t…
Motherhood
My Writing In Review: 2018
2018 hasn’t been quite as busy writing wise as 2017 was; thirty posts, not including this one. I did make a baby though, so it’s not too bad going. The year started with a post about new years resolutions – a promise to myself to be a little more selfish when it came to who…
A Family of Three: Six Months On
Somehow, my baby is six months already. Six months. Six months of parenting two and I’m not sure what to say. I read other posts about such milestones. They focus on the ups and downs of the baby and child bonding, of the conflicts of loving two littles, and of the exhaustion of doing it…
Adjusting to life with two children
Adjusting to two children as a one parent family is like fighting to reach the end of one of those bungee jump runs; with the tension running both ways. I could analyse the whys and wherefores of my struggle to bond with the baby. How thinking my baby was taken at birth placed a barrier between…
Birth – the untold story
Content warning. This post talks openly about a traumatic birth and some readers may find this triggering. There are some support links at the end of the post. I want to talk about birth. Not the airbrushed, publicised, perfect birth. The un-sanitised, unspoken, unseen. I want to unleash the truth of my son’s birth; expel it…
When Your Child Needs Glasses
It was the third time of asking that the optician managed to get a sense of my son’s prescription. The first time he’d hated having an eye patch on and barely responded to the questions. I had suggested he might not be able to see the shapes but the optician insisted he could (it being the…
A Message From Single Mums To Shaun Bailey
If you’re a single mum worth her salt then you will have seen the comments from the Tory London Mayor candidate – Shaun Bailey – and be suitably incensed. For those not in the know, he’s churning out the tired old stereotypes most people have bored of. The ones about single mothers being after the…
Holidaying in Wales with Baby, Child and Grandparents
I’ve just spent a week in North Wales with my four year old (A) and two month old (Z), plus nanny and grandpa (and one aunty and her boyfriend for a couple of nights). North Wales – the place renowned for stunning scenery, beautiful beaches and wonderful weather. Well OK, maybe not the latter. As…
Annoying Things Single Mums Hear
I’ve been a single mum for over four years now and I’ve just about heard it all. So, on behalf of all single mums out there, here is a little PSA on what we hate to hear. I’m like a single mum, my husband travels/ studies at the weekend/ is a lazy bum (delete as…
Bonding with my newborn: A story backwards
When you see that new mum rocking it – multitasking and then some – fulfilling every need of their newborn and other children to boot, don’t be fooled. Going through the motions says nothing about what’s going on inside our hearts and heads. Here’s a small snapshot into the bonding process of me and my…