Photos from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

June 27, 2011 By in Photography, Poetry, Scotland Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

offering

I am getting mighty excited about this year’s Edinburgh Festival. Before going on hols I spent a busy couple of weeks writing some articles on kids shows for Fest, and during August DorkySon and I will be squeezing in as many reviews as we can. Meantime DorkyDad will be doing his debut solo show – What I Know About Women So Far – at the PBH Free Fringe, so we have been getting ready for that, and will be sending the flyers off to print soon. You may just get a sneaky preview on here in a week or two…

Anyway, in the spirit of all that, I thought I’d share some of my favourite pictures from last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Some of them made it onto the Flickr slideshows over at Guardian Edinburgh, and I think that site will be very much missed over the summer; not just by performers, promoters, photographers and the like, but by ordinary folk seeking out the best information about what’s going on. Continue reading →

Confessions of an Interrupted Baker

June 23, 2011 By in Guest Posts Tags: , , , , , , , 4 Comments

This is a guest post from my friend Nuala Fahey. Nuala is (in her own words) a geeky feminist Irish woman living in Scotland. She has two daughters, and a lot of yarn. She really likes hummus. 

I never intended to be an always there mum.  Before I had kids I planned to work at least part time and after having my first that was indeed what happened.  But when I was pregnant with number 2, the after effects of a certain Scottish bank nearly going bust made its way down to my corner of IT and I got the chance to leave.  Much to my surprise, I took them up on the offer and there I was.  At home with 2 kids.  But still in a very privileged position as the kids’ dad worked part time and we still had childcare so I was rarely alone in the house with both kids for long.

But then he got another job and as I wasn’t looking for work, it became harder to justify sending older kid to her childminder. And I missed her. So I became an always there mother of a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Which was great and exciting, but suddenly there was never any uninterrupted time.  I never got to finish the page of my book, the row of my knitting and I especially never got to do the sort of cooking I have always enjoyed.  The fiddly sort which involves lots of chopping and making of sauces and is totally incompatible with the wailing toddler on the other side of the kitchen safety gate – our tiny galley kitchen is too small to let her in safely. Continue reading →

On Being an Uncle

June 21, 2011 By in Guest Posts Tags: , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

green toy dinosaur on a white stair banister

This is a guest blog from one of my favourite people, Adam Ramsay. When he’s not being an uncle, you can find him tweeting as @AdamRamsay 

There can be few things on earth better than being an uncle.

It’s only happened to me once, so far. My nephew is, like me, called Adam. He’s so named for a lost best friend of his father, for generations of paternal ancestors, and because ‘Adam’ is both Arabic and Scots. Like him.

Like me, he was born in Ninewells hospital, Dundee. I sat up all night with my mother and my sister. We played Scrabble. I lost. I always do with my sister. It was dreich late January, and the labour lasted for hours. But then, eventually, there he was: my blissful brother. And there he was, his tiny son. I remember losing my breath slightly at his beauty, my heart slowing to appreciate the moment. Continue reading →

In Praise of Barbie

June 19, 2011 By in Guest Posts Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

Close up image of a female doll wearing a pink dress

This is a guest post from Mairi Campbell-Jack; a poet who lives in Edinburgh with her daughter. Mairi tweets as @lumpinthethroat

Being a good “feminist”, when my daughter was born three and a half years ago I was determined to bring her up in the feminist mould. Her father and I tried our hardest not to gender her. She was dressed in blues, greens and oranges. We made sure she had toys that were appropriate to both genders, and a range of books that weren’t just about glittery princess ballerina bunnies.

Then comes nursery, and contact with other girls. She explodes into a deep and long love affair with all things pink. She tells me she is not pretty unless her hair is in a bobble. Last month she asked me why I wasn’t beautiful, and on further questioning explained to me that I wasn’t wearing a skirt. Then two weeks ago I finally gave in. At her nursery fair she was very keen to get a hideous “singing lady” which turned out to be some kind of Bratz doll and, believe me, compared to that doll five second hand Barbies or Barbie-likes for £1 was much more acceptable. Continue reading →

Mummies Who Multitask

June 18, 2011 By in Family Tags: , , , , , 5 Comments

Black and white photo a family walking along the pavement, with the dad carryong a scooter and the mum pushing a pram containing two children

Another previously published post I’m afraid – life keeps getting in the way of new writing this week! This originally featured on another fab parenting site – The Blog Up North. 

Back when DorkySon was just a few months old, I had a moment. I was walking down the street, and for the first time I felt like I’d really made it as a parent. Why? Because for the first time I was managing to push a pram and drink coffee out of a cardboard cup at the same time.

I must have been watching too many Richard Curtis films, or reading too many chick lit novels, because in my hormone-addled head the definition of a Mummy Who Had Got Her Shit Together was exactly that – someone who could steer her baby while simultaneously sipping a hot beverage.

On reflection though, my pride doesn’t seem so misplaced. The two years since then have taught me that multitasking is one of the most essential parenting skills. “Stop running around” DorkyDad often says to me. But if I wasn’t running around – unloading the dishwasher, while also spooning mouthfuls of cereal into DorkySon’s mouth and squeezing the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I wait for someone at the doctor’s office to pick up – I wouldn’t get everything done. There are only so many hours in the day, and in order to get every item ticked off the to-do list, I often have to do three of them at once. Continue reading →