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Thanks for having me
At this time of year, I hang around the greetings card section in the supermarket, carefully picking up and reading each Mother’s Day offering. Not because I want a gushing outpouring of sentiment,...
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Dear Dad
To celebrate Father’s Day, I’d like to do a carnival dedicated to Dads. This could be your Dad, the father of your children, or perhaps an important male role model. Send me your posts before Sunday,...
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Five things to know about Blake
This week my youngest turned 5 *blows trumpet in ceremonial fashion*. When he was born, and it hit me like a ton of wet wipes that I was now the proud owner of a brand new baby and a two-year-old, I...
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Ever considered Fostering?
In today’s society, it’s easy for people to be absorbed in their own busy lives and forget or disregard the looming social issues that continue to grow every day. The figures speak for themselves: as...
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Calling Mum
How often do you call your mum? The average woman will spend the equivalent of two months of her life chatting on the telephone to her mother, according to research. The study by Sainsburys Mobile...
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We Are Family: The legal process of adoption
One of the saddest statistics in 2013 was the rising number of children in the care of local authorities, which now exceeds 68,000 children and is set to rise again in 2014. A staggering 24% of...
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Win a #StressFreeHoliday Kit
Are we having fun yet? Do you find yourself asking that question over the Summer holidays? It starts out as hazy, lazy days in the sun. But before you know it, the vacation becomes a frantic, chaotic...
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Captain Bravado and the Quest for Responsibility
If you’ve got kids, then your house will sometimes become inhabited by an invisible force – a ghost perhaps, or a poltergeist. This thing spills juice, or breaks toys. It drops crisp packets on...
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A year in blogging
You can’t help but be a little contemplative on New Year’s Eve, can you? So when Cas over at Mummy Never Sleeps revealed she’d done her favourite posts of 2012, I wondered why I hadn’t thought of...
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Ten Years On
My darling angels, It’s been 10 years this month. Ten years since the hope was first taken from me. The hope of you. A decade since my body let me down. Since I let you down. And you were taken from...
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A Word for 2015
There’s been a lot of talk in the blogosphere about choosing a word for 2015. It’s all part of the Unravelling the Year workbook by Susannah Conway – where she encourages us to set intentions instead...
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Let’s Talk About Sex (but he’s six years old!)
Last week my six-year-old… (hold on, let me stress this. He’s SIX YEARS OLD!) …said to me quite nonchalantly as I was doing the housework: “Mum, my willy tells me when a girl is hot.” Maybe it’s the...
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Real Gone Kid
Dear Blake Yesterday you went striding through the school doors without a backward glance. Your Dad and I hung around, peering into the classroom window to see you were OK. Not that you noticed – you’d...
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Five life lessons I want my children to know
What five big lessons do you want to teach your kids, to take them through their lives? I have been challenged by the lovely Anya to consider this and take part in a blogging link-up started by...
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Where I Come From
Where you come from is important. Where do you come from? I come from Newcastle. That’s the simple answer. But there’s so much more to it than geography. Who you are is a jigsaw puzzle of early...
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You won’t remember
Last month Brodie turned 9. He’s getting to an age where he’s constantly looking ahead, to the next challenge, to a life full of possibilities. And the past? That’s for us oldies to focus on. But when...
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Acceptance: When a marriage is over
When I started 2015 with a word to live by, I chose “acceptance”. What I had in mind was letting go of relationships which weren’t working out. Accepting that they’d never be what I wanted. I was...
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What to expect when you’re becoming a single parent
For months now I’ve been dipping my toe in the water of single motherhood. But this shit is about to get real. The ex has stayed in our spare room four days a week, but he will be moving out...
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To my sons: An apology
My beautiful boys, I’m sorry. Those two words don’t quite seem to cut it. But they’re true. Since your Dad left a few short weeks ago and we became a fractured family, you’ve had a lot of adapting to...
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Goodbye 2015… and thank you
I lost my husband in 2015. Sounds very careless of me, doesn’t it? Like I left him at the bus stop or something. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to belittle my marriage break-up. I guess I just use...
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