Andrea Leadsom’s ambitions of being the next Prime Minister are in ashes: whatever your feelings about her, you could see, as she bowed out of the Conservative leadership contest yesterday, that she was giving up on a dream. But before the whole saga becomes yesterday’s hooha, it’s worth reflecting on what impact her comments about motherhood have had. Leadsom’s assertion…
From fairy tales to films, to epic novels there is always a hero, a victim and a villain. Although it may not be clear at the beginning of the story, we all know by the end of it who the heroes, the victims and the villains are, it’s pretty obvious. A good villain makes you angry, even scared at times,…
I didn’t go to church on Mother’s Day for many, many years because it hurt too much. I didn’t realise for a long time that I wasn’t alone. The day is hard for so many. Those grieving the loss of their own mother. The mother who has no physical child to hold. Those who are estranged from their mothers. Those…
The other night Dave and I pulled out one of our favourite DVD’s from our ever growing film collection to watch. Laid out on the sofa under a blanket with Betsy, our cavapoo snuggling next to us – she’s an excellent snuggler – we watched Moneyball. For someone who’s never really considered themselves as ‘sporty’, I never expected to enjoy…
There is something that pulls me in about a new year. My stationery fetish may be one reason. Who can resist the lure of a brand new diary? Its crisp pages just waiting to be filled up with coffee dates, holidays, days out and the general busyness of life. And don’t get me started on a new calendar. Oh boy,…
It’s new year and with it come new year’s resolutions, plans to live a more meaningful life, lose weight, get fitter and look down right sexy whilst at the same time still being really down to earth. For one of my many new year’s resolutions I’ve decided to try to read the Bible in a year, I have started this…
Christmas is about babies. Not just any babies either. Miraculous babies. Christmas is about ancient barren couples and unmarried virgins rejoicing in their pregnancy news, and, of course churches filled with hyperactive kids holding flaming oranges speared with sweets. Christmas is not an easy time for the childless. It’s not an easy time for me. I’d love a miraculous baby…
There’s a mug that’s spent years at the back of my kitchen cupboard, we’ve moved house four times since we’ve had it and every time we’ve unpacked I’ve placed it right at the back of my cupboard again, hidden by the other mugs. There are a lot of people who have a mug exactly like the one I’m talking about,…
So we had a baby. Why does it feel like an apology should follow? An explanation perhaps? A sheepish shrug of the shoulders and whispered tones. I had a baby but it wasn’t straightforward. The statement sounds so simple. It doesn’t detail the years of hoping and ‘trying’, the tests, the numerous doctor’s waiting rooms, consultants, nurses, more tests, the…
When I was eight I fell in love with a fairy tale, a happily ever after. A story etched on the hearts of young girls and women around the world. A simple story of falling in love, getting married and having a family. This fairy tale was more than my first love: it was my first dream and my first…