Blog List

I find myself compelled to jump on the breastfeeding debate bandwagon. According to the NHS website “more than 73% of women in the UK start breastfeeding and 17% of babies are still being breastfed at 3 months.” The question shouldn’t be why do 27% of women choose not to breastfeed their babies in the first place, it should be why do 56% of women stop breastfeeding within 3 months? Noah was...

If you woke up on Monday morning with a head that felt like you had downed multiple tequila shots on Sunday night, don't worry because you're not alone. Having struggled through the 40 days and nights of Lent without a morsel of chocolate crossing my lips, I fell upon my Easter morning goodies with a glee normally reserved for an empty house and a hot bath. But within 45 minutes of tucking...

I'm a realist. As an exhausted mother-of-four, I don't really have any say in the matter. Romantic notions of the perfect family life officially disappeared when I found myself pregnant in my earlies forties with my fourth child. Already the mother of a sullen teenage boy, a hyper pre-teen daughter and a seven-year-old son who I once found eating dog biscuits under the stairs, I knew my...

As a busy and incredibly forgetful mum-of-two I am notorious for scrawling hurried reminders on my hand – something which never fails to irritate my mother. A firm believer in the importance of good stationary, she decided to invest in a stunning moleskin notebook which she presented to me on Mother's Day this year. Immediately enthused, I vowed to make clear and coherent notes while keeping...

In the run-up to my son's birth almost sixteen years ago, I collected so many baby books and parenting manuals I could have opened my own store. A rote learner, I sat with a highlighter in my hand most nights and carefully marked anything I thought was of supreme importance , but which I feared I might forget once the baby actually arrived. Books, post-its, pamphlets, leaflets, pre-natal...

As a teen and young woman, my relationship with my mother was incredibly complex. We were unbelievably close which, while reassuring in many ways, also meant we often rubbed each other up the wrong way. I marvelled at the fact some of my friends never argued with their mothers – something they put down to the fact they simply weren't close enough to have blazing rows. For a long time, I...

Between Mother's Day and International Women's Day, it's been a massive week for us and the fellow ladies in our lives. Unsurprisingly, like many others I'm sure, those two particular days got me thinking about the women who have helped me navigate the highs and lows of my story thus far. And while there are dozens who have helped to shape me into the woman and mother I am today...

Tarring all mothers with the same brush is a fool's game because just like fathers, brothers,sisters, aunts and uncles, we all have a dfferent approach to our role. Some mums are hands-on, some are helicopter mothers and some are much more reserved, but I think it's fair to say the vast majority of us in a relationship stand firm on the following and abhor being asked a certain question on...

Following a planned Caesarean and two nights in the hospital. we were all very happy to finally be at home with our brand new baby. I was super excited to start our lives as a family of four and Little Man was super excited to have a new baby brother. So far all was going really well. When Bubs was five-days-old, we took him for his heel prick test and, in all honesty, I had no idea what they...

When I was growing up, I remember constantly being sent to the neighbours to borrow a jug of milk or return a cup of sugar – errands I would never even consider asking my children to do these days. Things were different back then; neighbourhoods were more close-knit and residents were much more involved in each other's lives. It was nothing to spend half the day in a neighbour's house...