We have a framed quotation in our kitchen, hidden amongst the past projects, unidentifiable clay models and paintbrushes. We even made and decorated it ourselves, for good measure. I love it and almost certainly ascribe to the message. Lately, however, I have also found myself thinking that, whilst every child is an artist, some are…
Tag: kids
Our Latest House Guest
I never thought we’d be an “Alexa!” kind of family. In fact, after hearing our previous neighbours’ children repeatedly squawk her name from the garden, I had sworn that Alexa would never set her submissive digital foot inside our home. Still. As is often the case with early parental swears, here we are. A previous…
Magical Covid
After blogging weekly throughout both lockdowns, it seems only right to document my experience of the beast itself… albeit 4 months later. It’s been a busy time! Let me set the scene (before the scene, before the scene)…. It is December 2021 and we have a big birthday party planned for the Eldest the week…
A Brief History of Summer
Dear regulars, I’m sorry it’s been so long. Truth is, there’s been far too much to say and far too little time in which to process and then say it. Which is a bit of a novelty now, post lockdown, isn’t it? Anyway, rather than just reappear after a few months and dump the heavy…
The Sweet Spot
A couple of years ago I was at a church community meal that Husband was unable to attend. Breastfeeding a young baby in one arm, cutting up food for my two year old with the other and keeping half an eye on my four year old from across the room, I noticed another lone mother…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #9
Saturday It’s our last Bubble Saturday for the foreseeable and the kids are making it very clear how fed up they are of this arrangement. Times are tough. They can’t see their own friends and no matter how I try to explain it, the unfairness factor is still a huge source of contention. Still. They…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #8
Saturday Husband is still off work and thankfully manages to sleep well today. It always takes him a while to switch off. We don’t do much to be honest. I think there’s a walk and a game and a movie – but I didn’t take any photographs and so I have no markers to jog…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: Week 7
Thursday On Thursday morning I published a now-deleted post about the first 5 days of this half term week. It was a post I desperately needed to write, for those five days had been a fairly intense emotional and spiritual journey in themselves: raising questions about both ministry and marriage within ministry, as well as…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #6
Saturday 5.30am and the poor Lodger is still fussing with her case. Turns out it is all packed, but is 5kg heavier than the airline allows and she cannot figure out why. Husband is busy loading everybody into the car when she finally accepts the probability of paying for the extra weight and allows him…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown #5
Saturday Today is a very happy birthday to me! After a lovely long lie in, (sleeping off last night’s “raucous” Zoom party), I am invited downstairs for American pancakes and a treasure hunt; finding gifts which include a baseball cap, Greedy Granny and a year’s subscription to the National Theatre at Home. Hippy happy Mummy!…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #4
Saturday The Eldest has a Zoom birthday party in the morning, which is a strange experience. She is happy enough to see some of her friends but really doesn’t like the concept of seeing them all at once. “Why are they all staring at me?” It takes a while to convince her that everyone is…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #3
Saturday The first fake family travel day of the new lockdown and we are off to… Germany! Obviously, we selected this particular destination in order to learn more about the homeland of our Lodger- and with the expectation that she would have a great deal of input. In true teenage fashion, however, it turns out…
starsinclayjars 