Category Archives: Family

Live in the Now: December

December 11, 2012 By in Family, Harpenden Tags: , , , 9 Comments

When my friend Caroline was still blogging as Scribbling Mum (and before she’d started a bid for book-related world domination with the Green Door Bookshop) she ran a monthly post called Live in the Now, where she took time to sit and write a round-up post of all the things going on in her family’s lives, and to appreciate those small happy moments that come from being a parent

I haven’t done one of those posts in a while, but it seems like a nice time of year to pause and take stock of where we are.

As I type, DorkySon is at nursery, having a final run-through of his nativity before we are invited to go and watch. There is a cardboard and tinfoil crown sitting on the dining room table, along with a red velvet cloak that we have borrowed from a friend. I cannot wait to see my little King sing his heart out this afternoon.

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Much to be thankful for

November 28, 2012 By in Family, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 25 Comments

Fripp Island beach

We always say that DorkySon seems to grow up more in the space of a week-long holiday than he does in the other 51 weeks of the year, and our recent break turned out to be no exception.

It was truly one adventure after another, with something new and exciting for him to enjoy every day. We don’t own a car, so even a short taxi ride is something of a novelty – when our holiday began with an hour-long car journey down the motorway, he thought that was the best possible start. We were headed into London for a night in a hotel there. DorkySon had sausage and mash, and then jelly and ice cream for dinner, while looking wide-eyed out the window at the buses and taxis rushing by. The next day we had a long train journey to Edinburgh, then two nights in a hotel and a full day with DorkyGranny.

All that before our holiday had even started for real! Continue reading →

Happy Anniversary!

November 12, 2012 By in Family, Harpenden Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 24 Comments

The Hoxton Hotel London

I’ve just realised that I never got round to writing about our wedding anniversary, which was at the end of September. DorkyDad did say at the time that he was going to write me a guest post about it, but to be quite honest I think he has been working hard to forget it…

It was our fifth anniversary. We haven’t had many any nights out together since we moved house, so when we chatted over the summer about celebrating such a big occasion, we thought we’d do something quite special. But as the date came closer and other commitments were scribbled in both our diaries, we had to scale down our ambitions. Dreams of a long weekend by ourselves in Paris turned into dreams of a weekend somewhere on the Kent coast, and then, eventually to a night in London, chaperoned by DorkySon.

Our anniversary was a Saturday. Friday night was the Mad Blog Awards. Before I left on Friday afternoon, DorkyDad and DorkySon followed a treasure hunt that I had created around the house, at the end of which was an envelope containing a restaurant menu, a hotel booking and a bag of jellybeans. That set the romantic tone of the weekend right there. Continue reading →

Gratitude

October 25, 2012 By in Family Tags: , , , , , , 39 Comments

I’ve wanted to write a post about my Mum – DorkyGranny – for months. I tried to write one for Mother’s Day, but it didn’t quite come together. I have heard it said before that stories become easier to tell the more often you tell them, and I’m realising that to be true. I’ve had to tell the ‘story’ of DorkyDad and me so often that I’m now completely comfortable with it, and it flows very easily. I have a fairly set vocabulary and phrases that I will always use when telling people about my marriage, but I haven’t yet found the language that feels right for talking about Mum. She is staying with us this week though, so it seemed like as good a time as any to try again.

The word that first comes to mind when I think about my Mum is gratitude.
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