It was my son’s 27 month health check with you – the health visitor. I arrived late, huffing and puffing because I’d had to run home having realised, half-way there, that I’d forgotten the all important ‘red book’. I dashed upstairs to the clinic when I arrived, panicking that you’d tell me I’d missed my…
Missing in Action: Mental Health and My Son’s First Years
Trigger warning – this post talks quite openly about mental health and thoughts of self-harming, if you are yourself struggling with similar issues there are links to support groups at the bottom. The first two years of my son’s life have been incredibly hard. It’s not been the parenting parts per se (though they have…
Co-Sleeping With My Toddler
I was co-sleeping with my son until he was about 13 months old, then, out of sheer desperation for a decent night’s sleep following my return to work, I reluctantly put him in his own room. To my surprise he bloody loved it. He loved the independence and instantly started to sleep (slightly) better. It was…
5 Ways Blogging Saved My Life
Blogging save my life. It sounds dramatic right, but it’s true. I always dabbled in writing but a cruel twist of fate meant that my treasured writings and journals that I had hand written from the age of nine were destroyed around the same time as I ‘lost’ my husband and became a single mum. Those…
Human Connection: That Moment in the Swimming Pool
No matter how long this* goes on for, I am still struck by those moments where I crave human connection more than all else. Those moments when I’m so amazed and astounded by something my son has done that my yearning to share it boils out of me. I turn, scanning the vicinity for another face,…
Single Mums on Tour: Episode One
We had exchanged a few emails and met once in the park at a single mums meet up. At that one meet up, after chatting for about half an hour, she invited me to join her and her toddler son for a few days in a caravan by the beach. Although I ummed and arrhhed a bit,…
Single Mum to an Only Child: Just The Two Of Us
I got overwhelmed on my way home from work today. It happens sometimes. That drowning feeling. That moment when I realise this is my life and, for the moment at least, it‘s impossible to imagine an alternative version. Growing up I believed I’d have a large family, a supportive husband and a lovely home. This…
Why My Toddler Won’t Sleep
I have a son who won’t sleep. I mean he will sleep, eventually, but everyday it’s a nightmare. It’s been like this for about four months, there has been the odd OK couple of days, but on the whole it’s been getting gradually worse. I’ve heard all the advice (and pretty much tried it all,…
Blogging Awards: Vote for Me (Pretty Please)
So most of you on here don’t know who the hell I am in real life. You may well walk past me on the way to work/school everyday (but let’s be honest probably not). But really, I’m not a shout about my *brilliance* from the rooftop type person (oh, well apart from THAT post) but…
10 Reasons Why I Have a Genius Toddler
I read a blog the other day by someone whose baby is a genius. Like, no shit, their baby is a real live genius and they decided to tell the whole world about it. So it got me thinking, perhaps I’m overlooking my child’s geniusness (is that a word??). And sure enough I was right.…