A Little Visit From The Parenting Police
M’am, We dropped in to see you earlier, but it appears that you weren’t in. Probably out working, I imagine. Shouldn’t you be at home like a proper mother? Oh no of course, we forgot, you are a...
View ArticleFive Things I Swore I Would Never Do When I Had a Child
There were many things I swore I would never do before I had a baby. Most of them were things that other people did that unintentionally annoyed me, as someone who was desperate for a baby, and as a...
View ArticleHaving a Baby: What’s The Right Time?
Another day, another brief trawl through the news; another headline flashing a great big red warning light decrying the trend for women (note I said “women” and not “people” here, as if women alone are...
View ArticleExtended Breastfeeding and Parenting Judgement
Before I had a child, there were many things that I thought I would never do. Bribing my child with biscuits to get them to sit in a pushchair, for one (clearly any child of mine was going to come...
View ArticleParenting Judgement: I’m All Over It
As a parent, there are many things to fear. Potential abduction, getting lost at the beach and disappearing forever, the dawn of World War III, threadworms…. And those are just the things that you...
View ArticleWelcome to the World of Mothers
“Welcome to the World of Mothers,” said no one, ever. But yet I was a newcomer in the World of Mothers, and the other Mothers knew it. With tales of breastfeeding woes and terrible births, of...
View ArticleSorry Not Sorry: A Never-Ending Story of Guilt
This week, my A level students and I have been discussing guilt. As we debate over whether or not using someone else’s mug in the common room is a matter for a guilty conscience, my own mind keeps...
View ArticleParenting: The Olden Days vs Now
Is it normal to have some sort of imposter syndrome about being a parent? Sometimes I’m not sure I can even say I engage in any actual parenting, since I seem to spend most of my time either at work...
View ArticleWhy I Am Still Breastfeeding My Three Year Old
It is now almost three years since I first latched Piglet to my breast that surreal morning in the hospital. Technically, he is not yet three, but unless he suddenly weans in the next few weeks, it...
View ArticleWhen Is The Right Time To Teach Appropriate Topics For Public Conversation?
The toilet has always been a popular subject in our house. We talk about it constantly, and I have lost count of the number of songs I have made up about it, usually to the lyrics of classic tunes such...
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