Our Blog
The saying goes that the way to a man’s heart is through their stomach, and I literally have no idea how I won over my husband if this is the case. My husband trained at Leith’s food and wine and has a confidence in the kitchen that I envy from afar. And by afar, I mean from the sofa with a large glass of wine. And most importantly he finds it therapeutic. And it is this that truly boggles my mind. I come out in a cold sweat when I have to chop anything – only managing to not slice off a finger by remembering one vital lesson from Home Economics when I was 11, to make a bridge over the veg with your hand and cut inside.
Christmas is my favourite time of the year and this still remains. Whether visiting hospital, or spending our last with our mum by her bedside playing Ker Plunk, as long as I'm with my slightly dysfunctional family it somehow functions and makes sense. I love the mayhem, I love giving presents and watching them be opened (although since kids my buying skills have seriously deteriorated - just ask my brother who received an extremely questionable cardigan last year!) I blame the lack of time to actually buy gifts in shops and making some online errors! I love the game playing and how competitive it gets, I love all the movies and the nostalgia with watching them, I love the food and the drink and the excess that is allowed over this period, I love the closeness surrounded by so many special loved ones and I've even learnt to embrace the sadness that lingers like the smoke from a blown out candle for those not with us in person to share the magic.
It comes as no surprise that traveling with kids is certainly more stressful than taking a leisurely trip with your partner. There are so many variables in play when embarking on a trip with kids, I mean - think how hard it is when you need to go to the shops with 2 screaming children and the amount of planning and effort that even takes.
My Mummy always said that once Halloween and Guy Fawkes night were over then Christmas was well and truly on the agenda. Which means that today marks the day that we are all systems go for my most favourite time of the year by far. And nothing screams Christmas magic than the Christmas adverts that appear on our screens filling us with a spectrum of emotions.
This week we are lucky to have the fantastic nutritional cook Emily Wright share with us a great way to add some superfoods to the classic kid's teatime favourite, chicken nuggets.
This week we were fortunate enough to interview(right in time for half-term I might add) the owner and founder of the wonderful family hotels & resorts, Martinhal - Chitra Stern - who has answered some family travel related questions to help you plan your next holiday with the kids!
Today marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one of the ways we can all help support this important month is by spreading awareness and sharing personal stories. Breast Cancer tore my world apart in November 2004 when my Mum returned from a trip to France looking beautiful, glowing and full of life, only to sit me down with my younger sister to tell us she had found a lump and they had confirmed this was breast cancer.
What with the Summer, a few fantastic guest bloggers and generally life just running away from me I have not found the time to sit down with my laptop and pour out my emotions. I think I’ve also been scared that once I start typing I just might not stop as I find these blogs very therapeutic.
As I type this I am sitting on the sofa having put my son to bed, placed his school uniform out for the morning and kissed him goodnight knowing that tomorrow one of the biggest adventures begins for him.
This week we have partnered with master 'de-clutterer' Nicola Manasseh as she passes on some tips and tricks to help you instill some 'Keep 'Em Tidy' techniques onto your children.
As a declutterer and home organiser, I am often asked to declutter children’s bedrooms, especially children aged seven to twelve years. Typically I meet two problems. One is that the bedroom is a mess and secondly there are often too many toys.
Schools out for summer and holidays are on the horizon for families everywhere. If you have been following our blog for a while you will know that we flew to America back in January with our just turned 1 year old and our 3 and a half year old. With the entertainment for the journey sorted for both with our specially made travel packs and the in-flight entertainment screens on board, I felt prepared for the journey, but the jet lag was brutal for myself and our little one.
As I was growing up I was taught that real beauty lies within. This lesson was taught to me by my mother, who also happened to be the most physically beautiful woman I've ever met. Truly beautiful inside and out. A successful model in the 70s before having children, my mum exuded confidence, warmth, and radiance, especially when a camera was on her. I grew up around such beauty. The house was filled with beautiful women with super bodies, ex-models and best friends of my parents.
I have a confession. I have agreed to take part in something that is so incredibly unme, totally out of my comfort zone and sending me into a state of panic and sweats each time I think about it. But I have agreed because I am so incredibly passionate about the topic. This week I am going to attempt to find my inner warrior woman!
Since I have dipped my toe into the world of blogging for KeepEmQuiet I have discovered a community that goes above and beyond to support each other as parents. It has been an eye-opener discovering super mums talking about everything from how to dress their mum tums, to how to deal with feelings of anxiety and depression with little ones.
My darling boy today you are 4, and how excited are you to be turning another year older. You have been talking about turning 4 for about 6 months and now here we are! Excited to discover all that being 4 has in store for you. What a tremendous year 3 has been. It saw your speech develop so much so that you do not actually stop for breath these days.
With Adele recently opening up about how difficult she found motherhood, to begin with, I thought that a little bit of honesty goes a really long way and so I've decided to write about something with which I battle with daily, and probably have most of my life, but having kids has most definitely heightened it immensely. That topic is guilt - Mum guilt, wife guilt, family guilt, friends guilt, work guilt…the list goes on. Since having my children, and more specifically my 2nd child, this guilt has ramped itself up a notch.
In a few weeks time we will be living with a 4-year-old little boy. I can't even fathom how this is possible as it feels like only yesterday he was born, but what I have come to realise recently is what inquisitive little nuggets 4-year-olds are.
I absolutely love the beach - there is nowhere I would rather be. Yet surprisingly I very rarely have made the trip to the great British seaside. As a child we used to go to Sandbanks for holidays, but as a teenager and adult, other than the odd drunken night out in Brighton visiting friends at uni there, I have not made the most of the fun to be had on our very doorstep.
With the Easter Holidays upon us parents are feeling that curious mix of emotions - excitement to have their little ones to themselves with relaxed mornings, no longer rushing to get ready and out of the house so as not to be late for schools and nurseries, mixed with sheer horror at having the kids all to themselves, to keep them entertained, busy and happy. We frantically fill up the diaries with play dates, outings, activities and try and make the time pass seamlessly.
This blog was going to be very different. I spent all week pouring my heart into writing a letter to my Mummy. She may not be physically with me anymore but I wanted to share with her all she taught me, that really has shown itself to me with such force since becoming a mother myself.
With Mother's Day this Sunday we have compiled a foolproof gift list sure to put a smile on the most exhausted of Mother's faces. Husbands and children you can thank us later. ;)
Are holidays ever that relaxing when you have young kids with you? Being an avid sun worshipper this was one of the major life changes I've had to grapple with over the years. Gone are the days of packing a suitcase full of the bestseller books to devour as I lazed all day on a sun lounger sipping rose wine and dozing off every now and then when it all got too much. I’m lucky now to get on a sun lounger for an hour, let alone the whole day. If I'm to get any sort of tan it is from running around after the kids.
