Gratitude

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.
Continue reading

An Alternative View

I’ve got a guest post on the blog today – the first ever one I have agreed to publish anonymously – from a father who won’t be able to spend this Sunday with his children. I know he would appreciate your comments.

Father’s Day. A day when children give their fathers hand-made cards, cuddles and another round of unwanted gifts. They do this to let their fathers know how much they are loved and appreciated. Alternatively, it is just a cynical marketing ploy to find another way to guilt consumers into spending money on various assorted tat masquerading as presents.

For some of us though, it is a yearly source of pain or, at best, a reminder of the most precious part of our lives that is missing most of the week. I fall into this camp as I only see my two children one day a week. Their mother asked me for a separation four years ago, we sadly went our different ways and started to think about the future. While I am happy for my ex to have custody during the week since their primary school is a five-minute walk from the matrimonial home, the weekends are still a battleground. Despite my best efforts and appealing to her via mediation, I still only have a limited time with my babies.
Continue reading

Dad

practicing wedding speech

Whenever the lovely Donna at Mummy Central asks me to do something, I find it hard to say no… so I’ve been walking around all week trying to compose a post about Fathers Day. I’m bending the rules slightly – it doesn’t feel right to write it in the style of a letter – perhaps because I’m actually going to be seeing my Dad this weekend for the first time in about eight months, so I want to keep all my news for then! But it has given me an excuse to revisit some lovely memories, and look back at some old photos.
Continue reading

Remembering

grey stone

I have a wedding to go to this weekend.

It’s just a small one, but there will be a handsome groom and a beautiful bride, standing together in a wee room in Scotland that is just busting with love.

There is a reasonable chance I will be the only one there with a camera, and I want to try and capture some of that love. So tonight I am reminding myself that I have more than one lens for my camera.

This shot has reminded me to focus on the details.

A Love Story: Part Two

Just over a year ago, I set myself a challenge. I decided to write about my marriage with DorkyDad publicly, for the first time. We were dealing with some nonsense in other areas of our life, and I felt the need to stand up and tell people how much I love my husband, and how proud of him I am.

So I wrote a short piece about us, which was first published on Offbeat Mama. Then a good friend at the Guardian suggested that their Family section might be interested in a longer piece. That was published right about this time last year.

It was my first attempt at getting us pinned down on paper. This is my second.
Continue reading