I have always loved Christmas. It's a magical time of the year and has meant different things to me at different stages of my life...here are a few of my favourite...what are yours?
The red bike of 1979
It's 1979, I am 5 years old and very, very excited. I have just started school and I can recall walking past the bike shop in the village and seeing a red raleigh "penny" bike. It has a white leather saddle and silver spokes and a silver shiny bell. I can't remember wanting for anything, but I really, really wanted that bike. I can remember feeling so upset when the bike was replaced with a boys bike. I thought that was it, it had gone to a good girl who hadn't pulled her little cousin's pigtails or bitten her brother on the arm, so you can imagine my delight when on Christmas morning, there it was under the tree. I loved that bike so much, it lasted until I was about 12 and I then gave it to my little Cousin whos pigtails I had pulled.
What do you mean there is no such thing as Santa??? - 1986
I got a bright yellow Sony Walkman in 1986. I was on the cusp of becoming a teenager and I can still remember the excitement of opening my present that year and thinking "Santa Rocks". I spent the rest of the holiday walking around the house, listening to my music ("Now that's what I call music 13" no doubt) and I can recall looking really forward to getting on the bus and going back to school.
The day dawned, I had my skirt rolled up, the walkman on show and my socks rolled down. I put on my frosted pink lipstick and green eyeshadow and was epitomising the look of the 80s. Oh yeah, I was so grown up.
I got on the bus, went upstairs to the back and sat just in front of the "cool kids". I was always on the outside looking in, not quite getting the jokes and desperate to be one of "them". If I am being honest, I was trying to impress. There was an older boy, let's call him Steven, he was gorgeous and everyone fancied him. "Nice walkman" he said, "Who got you that?" . I blushed and said "Santa, he is the best isn't he, he always knows what to get". "Do you believe in Santa then?" he enquired. "Of course I do".
I didn't live that one down for years. They ripped it out of me for months, I still cringe now when I think how innocent I was. Incidentally, I went out with Steven a few years later, he wasn't all that.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
8 things I wish I knew.....The Laws of Parenting
This is a blog born out of sleep deprivation, which as any parent knows is something that happens frequently. When I was pregnant with Beansy 7 years ago, I wish I knew the following 8 tips for surviving, forewarned is forearmed and all that....
1) Sleep
Who can remember pre-kids when you used to wallow in your bed at weekends reading the broadsheets, sipping coffee and watching Saturday Kitchen. This will NOT happen for a long, long time (7 years and counting) even if you go away for the weekend, your body clock will naturally wake you up at 7am. It's called Sods Law and is a frequent law of parenting.
2) Head Space
I can just about remember a time when I used to get bored, bored of doing everything and bored of doing nothing. You won't even get the head space to just "be" once you have kids. They will consume pretty much your every thought and try as you might to shake it away, it rarely happens.
3) Routine
I am the Queen of Routine. Prior to having kids I was just going to "go with the flow" but trial and error shows that my kids and me need the boundaries of a routine. They need to know that bedtime is 630pm the same way I need to know that 7pm is wine o'clock.
4) Spontaneity
"Oh darling, let's go to Paris this weekend" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
5) Worrying
I was never, ever a worrier. Now I worry. About a lot of things. Irrational things. Rational things. Things I have no control over are the worst (and being a parent has let me see that I can be a bit of a control freak which in itself has freaked me out)
6) Relationship
Your relationship will change. As you embark on the path of parenthood, it will become apparent that you really need to work at your relationship. Especially when your children are so young, they quite rightly become the centre of both your lives and you find the focus moves from you as a couple, to you are parents. You must make time and effort if your relationship is to flourish.
7) Protective Gene
If anyone *dares* say anything about your kids in the negative (family/close friends aside) you will fume internally. Guaranteed. Even if they are right and you know they are. (or maybe that is just me?!). Equally, if another child hurts your child, you will rage. Again internally because it really wouldn't be cricket to thump the little lout who has just slammed your precious child's fingers in a door intentionally or stamped on them during a rugby scrum. IF you ever have the misfortune of having a child in hospital then this is the when the gene is at it's most powerful. You will also feel helpless.
8)Love
Saving the best to last here...
You will be overcome with a love so strong, that it sometimes bowls you over. You can quite literally feel the invisible strings that bind your heart to your children's. They are the creation and being of you. You love everything about them and always will, even though you sometimes might not like them or their behaviour, you will love them eternally. They are the future and the future is as bright and shiny as a new penny. It is a wonderful and splendid thing. It is a life journey that will be tinged with success/failure/happiness/sorrow but once you have taken that first tentative step on the journey of parenthood, you won't be able, nor will you want to, step off.
1) Sleep
Who can remember pre-kids when you used to wallow in your bed at weekends reading the broadsheets, sipping coffee and watching Saturday Kitchen. This will NOT happen for a long, long time (7 years and counting) even if you go away for the weekend, your body clock will naturally wake you up at 7am. It's called Sods Law and is a frequent law of parenting.
2) Head Space
I can just about remember a time when I used to get bored, bored of doing everything and bored of doing nothing. You won't even get the head space to just "be" once you have kids. They will consume pretty much your every thought and try as you might to shake it away, it rarely happens.
3) Routine
I am the Queen of Routine. Prior to having kids I was just going to "go with the flow" but trial and error shows that my kids and me need the boundaries of a routine. They need to know that bedtime is 630pm the same way I need to know that 7pm is wine o'clock.
4) Spontaneity
"Oh darling, let's go to Paris this weekend" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
5) Worrying
I was never, ever a worrier. Now I worry. About a lot of things. Irrational things. Rational things. Things I have no control over are the worst (and being a parent has let me see that I can be a bit of a control freak which in itself has freaked me out)
6) Relationship
Your relationship will change. As you embark on the path of parenthood, it will become apparent that you really need to work at your relationship. Especially when your children are so young, they quite rightly become the centre of both your lives and you find the focus moves from you as a couple, to you are parents. You must make time and effort if your relationship is to flourish.
7) Protective Gene
If anyone *dares* say anything about your kids in the negative (family/close friends aside) you will fume internally. Guaranteed. Even if they are right and you know they are. (or maybe that is just me?!). Equally, if another child hurts your child, you will rage. Again internally because it really wouldn't be cricket to thump the little lout who has just slammed your precious child's fingers in a door intentionally or stamped on them during a rugby scrum. IF you ever have the misfortune of having a child in hospital then this is the when the gene is at it's most powerful. You will also feel helpless.
8)Love
Saving the best to last here...
You will be overcome with a love so strong, that it sometimes bowls you over. You can quite literally feel the invisible strings that bind your heart to your children's. They are the creation and being of you. You love everything about them and always will, even though you sometimes might not like them or their behaviour, you will love them eternally. They are the future and the future is as bright and shiny as a new penny. It is a wonderful and splendid thing. It is a life journey that will be tinged with success/failure/happiness/sorrow but once you have taken that first tentative step on the journey of parenthood, you won't be able, nor will you want to, step off.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens
Or so the song goes...This has been in my head all day since watching the sound of music at the weekend, and it led me to think, what are my favourite things? This is going to be a frivolous, self-indulgent post, but I hope that you join in the spirit of this!
Here are my favourite things (in no particular order but as they appear in my head) or things that make me happy:
The smell of my utterly adorable kids when they first wake up, all sleepy and warm
Being snuggled up in bed reading a good book and listening to the sound of the rain on my attic window.
The smell of my Christmas cake baking (guess what I have been doing)
A crisp Autumn day with a slight chill in the air but with a warm sun
The smell of rain and freshly cut grass
The tradition of Christmas - I am sure every family has their own traditions, some of ours are putting new PJ's on the doorstep on Xmas Eve to wear that night, the kids coming in all excited, shouting "he's been, he's been" and the sitting on our bed to open their stockings, Going to church en famille (usually about 20 of us, even those that don't bother the rest of the year make the effort) followed by champagne in the village pub. The opening of tree presents - taking it in turns.
When my DH comes home from work with a bunch of flowers...just because.
Seeing my parents with my children - the bond is fantastic and makes me realise how lucky we all are
Sitting in a chuch just being with the sun streaming through a stained glass window
Watching my children sleeping, the little baby breaths and sighs make my heart melt
Eating chocolate mousse (nom nom)
When the kids cuddle you for no reason other than to say "I love you"
When all of the children are playing nicely and laughing at each other - I love seeing how their relationships are developing and growing with each other.
Going for a run in my favourite park on a cold day,beautifully crisp and clear with the mist rising of the lowland grass
Flying over London into Heathrow at night and seeing London lit up
Standing on the top of a mountain, getting ready to ski down and not quite knowing what to expect.
The hazy lazy summer days of just "being" in the garden, kids playing in the paddling pool, DH and I listening to the Ipod and watching the clouds and listening to the bees and talking nonsense
A clean house with the lingering smell of beeswax
The smell in the air that lingers after fireworks...
What things are special to you and tickle your fancy?
Here are my favourite things (in no particular order but as they appear in my head) or things that make me happy:
The smell of my utterly adorable kids when they first wake up, all sleepy and warm
Being snuggled up in bed reading a good book and listening to the sound of the rain on my attic window.
The smell of my Christmas cake baking (guess what I have been doing)
A crisp Autumn day with a slight chill in the air but with a warm sun
The smell of rain and freshly cut grass
The tradition of Christmas - I am sure every family has their own traditions, some of ours are putting new PJ's on the doorstep on Xmas Eve to wear that night, the kids coming in all excited, shouting "he's been, he's been" and the sitting on our bed to open their stockings, Going to church en famille (usually about 20 of us, even those that don't bother the rest of the year make the effort) followed by champagne in the village pub. The opening of tree presents - taking it in turns.
When my DH comes home from work with a bunch of flowers...just because.
Seeing my parents with my children - the bond is fantastic and makes me realise how lucky we all are
Sitting in a chuch just being with the sun streaming through a stained glass window
Watching my children sleeping, the little baby breaths and sighs make my heart melt
Eating chocolate mousse (nom nom)
When the kids cuddle you for no reason other than to say "I love you"
When all of the children are playing nicely and laughing at each other - I love seeing how their relationships are developing and growing with each other.
Going for a run in my favourite park on a cold day,beautifully crisp and clear with the mist rising of the lowland grass
Flying over London into Heathrow at night and seeing London lit up
Standing on the top of a mountain, getting ready to ski down and not quite knowing what to expect.
The hazy lazy summer days of just "being" in the garden, kids playing in the paddling pool, DH and I listening to the Ipod and watching the clouds and listening to the bees and talking nonsense
A clean house with the lingering smell of beeswax
The smell in the air that lingers after fireworks...
What things are special to you and tickle your fancy?
Friday, 29 October 2010
My wonderful little Pixie.....A tribute to my daughter
This time 2 years ago, I was nervous. I had spent the day in the park with your brothers Beansy and Boo riding bikes and playing in the leaves, just in case anything went wrong with my elective CS that I was having the next day. I wanted to have had the best possible day with my special little men.
The 30th arrived and Daddy and I set off to the hospital in preparation to deliver you. The fact that I was pregnant at all was quite literally a miracle, as I had been told my chances of conceiving naturally were less than 2% due to PCOS, Thyroid issues and a cancer scare.
You came into the World screaming, and weighed 6lbs 14oz. A wee little tidgy pud compared to your brothers who were 8lbs14oz and 10lbs 1oz respectively. The minute you were in my arms, you looked at me with those big baby blue's and my heart melted. Everyone was smitten with you and your brothers were very impressed that you had bought them lightsabers.
That first night, after Daddy and the boys went home, I sat up all night staring at the wonder of you. Your little baby breaths and sighs tied an invisible bond from my heart to yours and I knew that our family was complete.
Since then, you have delighted us all with your quirky ways and your funny little strops and I smile to myself as I see how you have those lovely brothers of yours at your beck and call. Daddy would move heaven and earth for you - the bond you have warms my heart to it's core.
You make me want to be a better woman, a good, strong role model, someone that you are proud to call your mum. You mean so much to me, and as I watch you blossom from a baby to a chatty little toddler, It amuses me as I start to see myself in you. I look forward to a lifetime of being your mother and we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.
Love you so much little Pixie xxxxxxxx
The 30th arrived and Daddy and I set off to the hospital in preparation to deliver you. The fact that I was pregnant at all was quite literally a miracle, as I had been told my chances of conceiving naturally were less than 2% due to PCOS, Thyroid issues and a cancer scare.
You came into the World screaming, and weighed 6lbs 14oz. A wee little tidgy pud compared to your brothers who were 8lbs14oz and 10lbs 1oz respectively. The minute you were in my arms, you looked at me with those big baby blue's and my heart melted. Everyone was smitten with you and your brothers were very impressed that you had bought them lightsabers.
That first night, after Daddy and the boys went home, I sat up all night staring at the wonder of you. Your little baby breaths and sighs tied an invisible bond from my heart to yours and I knew that our family was complete.
Since then, you have delighted us all with your quirky ways and your funny little strops and I smile to myself as I see how you have those lovely brothers of yours at your beck and call. Daddy would move heaven and earth for you - the bond you have warms my heart to it's core.
You make me want to be a better woman, a good, strong role model, someone that you are proud to call your mum. You mean so much to me, and as I watch you blossom from a baby to a chatty little toddler, It amuses me as I start to see myself in you. I look forward to a lifetime of being your mother and we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.
Love you so much little Pixie xxxxxxxx
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Why I now LOVE half term!!!!
A few years ago, I had 3 children under the age of 5. Not one of my better planned ideas, but then our little Pixie wasn't planned and was a real blessing from God as we had been told I wouldn't have any more children due to my having an underactive thyroid and PCOS, the fact I had 2 gorgeous boys was an absolute blessing. Around this time, I had a cancer scare and on being given the all clear, we decided to book a once in a lifetime holiday to celebrate life, love and family. We went to the Maldives and had the most amazing time - the fact it had an excellent kids club meant that DH and I had a bit too much time on our hands, and well, little Pixie was conceived.
We were thrilled, she really is a blessing and a delight to all who meet her. However, going back to my original point, having 3 so close in age can be really hard going at times. Before the boys were at school, I used to dread half term - it meant that the routine I had so carefully planned (toddler group/activity lead) went to pot as these places closed for the holidays. (Summer was even worse, but that's another blog!) So, I quite literally was run ragged for the duration of the holiday, trying to keep all of them amused, dealing with petty scraps yada yada.
Then something changed - DS1 went to school full time, followed by DS2 the year after and I then realised that my little men were growing up. Not only that, they were growing up fast and that this time next year all 3 of my little terrors will be at school. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I really, really miss the boys when they are at school so now that the holidays are here I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my little men - we have lots of lovely things planned, most of them free and I can't wait to delight in the joy of all of my children.
So, to all of you parents who have pre school age children, I just want to say make the most of this special time, because before you know it, they will be at school and you will be wondering whatever happened to those special baby years.
Here's my little Superheroes in action
We were thrilled, she really is a blessing and a delight to all who meet her. However, going back to my original point, having 3 so close in age can be really hard going at times. Before the boys were at school, I used to dread half term - it meant that the routine I had so carefully planned (toddler group/activity lead) went to pot as these places closed for the holidays. (Summer was even worse, but that's another blog!) So, I quite literally was run ragged for the duration of the holiday, trying to keep all of them amused, dealing with petty scraps yada yada.
Then something changed - DS1 went to school full time, followed by DS2 the year after and I then realised that my little men were growing up. Not only that, they were growing up fast and that this time next year all 3 of my little terrors will be at school. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I really, really miss the boys when they are at school so now that the holidays are here I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my little men - we have lots of lovely things planned, most of them free and I can't wait to delight in the joy of all of my children.
So, to all of you parents who have pre school age children, I just want to say make the most of this special time, because before you know it, they will be at school and you will be wondering whatever happened to those special baby years.
Here's my little Superheroes in action
Friday, 22 October 2010
What happened to my drinking boots??
Many a moon ago, I used to work in TV advertising. It was a career I fell into after telling the careers advisor I "wanted to be in TV". This was at a time when the Dani Behr fronted programme "The Word" was the epitome of cool and I wanted Dani Behr's job. They somehow wangled me an interview at a Pan-European TV sports station and despite not knowing how to turn a computer on, I managed to blag my way into the job. It was quite simply, the best move I could have done.
Whilst my friends were getting largered up at Uni's across the Country, I was swanning business class across Europe and dining in London's finest restaurants on never ending expense accounts. I had a good thing going, I was earning a decent salary doing a job I loved and it seemed to love me as I progressed up the career ladder like a ferret up a pair of trousers - quickly.
We became known as the IPG's and several of us would stay out drinking to 4am - champagne, cocktails, shots, you name it, we would drink it. We would then crash at someone's pad and get up and go to work the next day on nothing but a bacon sarnie and a builders cup of tea, feeling slightly jaded but ready to go out again in a few hours time. I quite literally lived on champagne and canapes for a decade.
Since having the kids I have had to become more focussed on nutrition which I have embraced and the girl who lived on canapes is now not bad in the kitchen - I LOVE cooking from scratch and am self taught. As anyone with children knows, hangovers and kids are not a good combination and so, for the last 7 years, I have gotten to the stage where I rarely drink.
We probably share a bottle of wine a few times a week and I am usually tucked up in bed by 11pm (oh so rock and roll). The thing I have noticed though is my tolerance to alcphol is absolutely pants. I quite literally have 1 glass of wine and it goes to my head. 3 and I am legless....so, what I want to know is, do we all lose our drinking boots as we get older???
Please vote for an ex IPG here!
Whilst my friends were getting largered up at Uni's across the Country, I was swanning business class across Europe and dining in London's finest restaurants on never ending expense accounts. I had a good thing going, I was earning a decent salary doing a job I loved and it seemed to love me as I progressed up the career ladder like a ferret up a pair of trousers - quickly.
We became known as the IPG's and several of us would stay out drinking to 4am - champagne, cocktails, shots, you name it, we would drink it. We would then crash at someone's pad and get up and go to work the next day on nothing but a bacon sarnie and a builders cup of tea, feeling slightly jaded but ready to go out again in a few hours time. I quite literally lived on champagne and canapes for a decade.
Since having the kids I have had to become more focussed on nutrition which I have embraced and the girl who lived on canapes is now not bad in the kitchen - I LOVE cooking from scratch and am self taught. As anyone with children knows, hangovers and kids are not a good combination and so, for the last 7 years, I have gotten to the stage where I rarely drink.
We probably share a bottle of wine a few times a week and I am usually tucked up in bed by 11pm (oh so rock and roll). The thing I have noticed though is my tolerance to alcphol is absolutely pants. I quite literally have 1 glass of wine and it goes to my head. 3 and I am legless....so, what I want to know is, do we all lose our drinking boots as we get older???
Please vote for an ex IPG here!
Saturday, 16 October 2010
What ever happened to MY weekends?!
Ok, this is going to sound incredibly selfish but what on earth happened to my weekends? You know the sort, a long lazy lie-in with the one you love, followed by a jaunt through the more eclectic areas of London, stopping for a long, alcoholic, lazy lunch whilst poring over Time Out trying to decide what to do or who to see?
Then a nice supper in front of a roaring fire before having a long, luxurious bath and maybe popping out to the cinema. Or deciding on a Friday morning to go away for the weekend and that hurried scramble to find somewhere (I always loved Bath)
I tell you what happened - The Kids came along!!
Now, don't get me wrong, I adore my kids, they have made me such a better person and I wouldn't change anything, but by heck what I wouldn't give to have a time travel machine to be able to go back and appreciate what I had before my weekends were spent watching football, driving around here there and everywhere, the whole "routine" of being a parent. I guess what I am trying to say is, will I ever get that spontaneity back in my life???
Then a nice supper in front of a roaring fire before having a long, luxurious bath and maybe popping out to the cinema. Or deciding on a Friday morning to go away for the weekend and that hurried scramble to find somewhere (I always loved Bath)
I tell you what happened - The Kids came along!!
Now, don't get me wrong, I adore my kids, they have made me such a better person and I wouldn't change anything, but by heck what I wouldn't give to have a time travel machine to be able to go back and appreciate what I had before my weekends were spent watching football, driving around here there and everywhere, the whole "routine" of being a parent. I guess what I am trying to say is, will I ever get that spontaneity back in my life???
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