Spring had just begun When they pressed pause and the world stopped. No school, no clubs, no to-ing and fro-ing. Instead – Board games, bike rides, bare feet, Dandelion and daisy chains. Every thing slow ed down. Not knowing for how long this would go on. Rainbows on windows Friends and family on screens (oh, […]
motherhood
Behind the Squares
It’s a funny thing, social media. I work in social media and I love Instagram in particular – I love the community of mums and the inspiration I get on a daily basis (everything from clothes and books to mindfulness prompts to places to visit). I also love playing around with photography and words, and […]
Snapshots and Scenes from October
October was the month my baby turned 5. Each year when the trees are at their most glorious and we kick through piles of leaves, I remember driving home from hospital with my newborn. Those first walks as a family of three in countryside lit in shades of yellows and reds. Finding my feet as […]
Metamorphosis
A poem about becoming a mother In the moment you arrived and your cry echoed through my heart I became someone new. A different version of myself as if I’d stepped from a cocoon. Still the same but changed. So deep deep in love, exhausted, transformed, in awe and terrified. A mother. Still […]
Lucky
Parenthood poetry I woke tired and grumpy today after a night with an unsettled little and a lie-in that was broken up by prodding fingers and shouts and shrieks. I went outside to the garden, cradling a cup of tea drank in some sunshine, picked the last of the sweetpeas, took a few moments […]
A Big Step
When they placed you on my chest and I smiled and said, “Oh, it’s you”, as if I already knew the corners of your face, this day felt so very far away. Baby days spent in a bubble with toddler days stretched out ahead – fort-building, slow toddler-paced walks outdoors, and afternoons curled up in […]
Now You’re Two
You’re two. I look at you and wonder when you changed and how you grew so much before my eyes. I didn’t notice the small changes day by day – it took me by surprise. Suddenly – overnight, or so it seems – you are a little girl with a personality so big and a […]
My Lap is Always Your Chair
The walls will change And the rooms and the doors, Yes, things may look different But it will be as before. Walls are just walls. A house isn’t a home when you take it apart When it’s empty of everything It’s missing its heart. When we pack up the books, the hand prints and frames […]
Do Dolphins Sleep…?
Dear Isaac and Flora You are 4 and 1 (Flora, you will be 21 months old tomorrow). I have a window today where the worlds of nap time and nursery have collided, and instead of having a doze myself, or catching up on emails, or reading, I am writing this. I was sitting here […]
My Night Owl
She calls out for me with a shriek that yanks me from sleep, scattering my forty winks. She’s sitting up in her cot, arms outstretched. Hold me please. Hair sticking up in tufts on the top of her head, big eyes blinking. I pick her up and cuddle her, but she flaps around in my […]