An End to the Blogging Hiatus

At the end of last summer I made the decision to stop blogging for a little while.  Well life took over, things got busy and that little while became several months.  To begin with I didn't miss popping in here to share my thoughts, as quite frankly I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about anymore.  Time was limited and the plan was to make time for other creative outlets.  Then in recent weeks I started reading other peoples blogs again and I knew I needed to return to writing.  Whether I return once a week, or more or less often, I am going to make time for this little corner of my life.  In the past I would create a plan to create a certain type of blog, make big plans, but this time I am just going to with the flow....well a little bit!  Of course I will continue to write about being a parent, any parent of teens will know it's good to vent somewhere, but I promise not too many moany mum posts.  Also I hope to share some recipes, my adventures into growing a cutting garden filled with vibrant floral sights and scents and of course health and wellbeing will feature.  So there we have it, a new outlook for an old seasoned blogger.  

Now I am off to facetime my eldest as it his nineteenth birthday, but sadly he is not here to eat endless cake as end of year exams are keeping him at uni for a couple more weeks.  But don't worry we will still be eating cake, just in different parts of the country!

Until next time take care, 

Zoe

xo

Saying Goodbye to School.

image source

Well it has been a busy few weeks in our house.  Exams a plenty with Connor taking his A levels, Jack having some AS level exams as well as Lucy and Amber having end of year exams. Thankfully this summer Kitty has escaped the rigourous testing our children are put through far too often, although we are still having to practice for the weekly spellings and times table tests.  Whilst there has been worrying and stress levels did increase I have been incredibly impressed with how my children have coped.  Maybe being constantly tested every year at school has paid off, they can all cope with exam stress.  However they all have different approaches to revision and I will be ensuring Amber is more organised and will be helping Lucy feel less panicky about the actual exams with practice papers before next summers GCSE exams.

With exams over this week has seen us reach some milestones.  Yesterday we all donned wedding worthy outfits and headed to the Leavers Day at Woodbridge School to celebrate Connor and his friends leaving school.  After a truly lovely and inspirational service in the school chapel we briskly ran through a short sharp shower across to the dining hall for pre-lunch drinks.  Over lunch we looked at the yearbook, reflected on Connors time at Woodbridge and contemplated the next part of his adventure.  As a mother you watch eagerly as your children grow into well mannered, funny, intelligent and beautiful people, sometimes wishing that they would hurry up and get to the next stage.  Those days when toddler tantrums are too much for your exhausted self to cope with, that another day of arguing with a confident, expressive teen is just too much.  But right now I just want to take some time, to stop the merry go round for a little while to enjoy moments with my children before I blink and they have all grown up and headed off on adventures when they no longer need me to wash their dirty sports kit or kiss grazed knees.  

So we made it through exam time, no mean feat and closed the chapter on Connor's schooldays but we have reached the best part of summer. Time for fun, festivals, days on the beach...well that is if the rain ever stops!  

Until next time, take care.
Zoe
xo

It's Time to Hang Up The Guilt of Motherhood

It seems guilt should be in the job description when you fist visit your midwife.  Your new role automatically means you are guilt ridden, from day one, there is that sinking feeling that whatever you do will be wrong.  That little glass of wine when pregnant, that catnap you had whilst feeding your baby, that first day back at work.  Motherhood seems to now mean guilt ridden days.  Whether we work or stay at home we are judged by other mothers never mind politicians, journalists and anyone who thinks they have something to say on the subject.  Yesterday I sat with friends at uni and we talked about feeling guilty for studying at weekends.  All feeling that we are not doing the best as we are studying or on placement all week so our weekends should be spent entertaining our children. Yet here we are trying our hardest to retrain and give our children a better life.  They will reap the rewards of a second income, yet we feel guilty for being away from them to study.  

Well quite frankly I've had enough of feeling guilty and being made to feel it.  Yes I was a stay at home mother, I chose to do this, it was the most perfect time of my life but also the hardest years of my life.  But I do not ever feel guilty for not trying to further my career when my babies were small.  I high five any woman who can juggle a career and a baby or toddler. Sleepless nights, teething and a job, you are amazing.  Staying at home reaps rewards but can be the stuff of nightmares so I applaud anyone who has chosen to take a career break.  As for juggling children and working from home, running a business.  I have done this and it is a miracle I kept those balls in the air for so long. No job is easy, but the hardest is being a mother, no matter how many children you have.

So whether you are working, staying at home, studying, retraining or running your own business stop feeling guilty.  As long as our children have clean clothes, three meals a day, are at school on time, have practised their spellings, flute or Spanish we can smile.  Yes that's right, smile because we are doing it, juggling and actually not doing a half bad job.  Motherhood should be more like a sisterhood, less bitching about who has the hardest day or life but applauding our successes, which may just be making it through another day. Hang up that guilt and start reminding yourself that you are achieving something every day, no matter how small that thing is.  And I am sure one day our children will appreciate what we have done and not even resent us for feeding them spaghetti hoops every so often!

Until next time, take care 

Zoe

x

Encouraging Creativity - Writing Prompts for Children

I thought today I would share a fun little exercise I am trying out with my own children.  My daughters love to write little stories and of course are entering the 500 Words competition on Chris Evans Breakfast Show. But were suffering a little from my writers block so I thought of a way I could help them get those creative juices flowing.  This is when I remembered a little exercise we used at uni many moons ago when I did my first degree, as part of the creative writing module.  We would be given a person, a place and a thing and then had to write a short piece of prose including these things.  They can be the most bizarre of combinations, sometimes these are the ones that work best.  So whether your children are writing for the 500 Words competition or they have uttered 'I'm Bored' this can be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

To get you started this weeks words are :
An Alien
A School
A tin of beans

I will try and share Lucy, Amber and Kitty's stories, if they let me, in the next couple of weeks. I would love to hear from you if you have used this idea for your children or your own writing.

Until next time, take care.
Zoe
x

"I'm bored!" - Why Children Should Be Allowed to Say This

"I'm bored!" Oh how any parent hates to hear this cry, when it's pouring with rain and you've got a million and one things to do.  But I actually truly believe that being bored is good for children.  When else do they get the time to ponder, to think, to just be?  Ever demanding homework schedules, after school club commitments, music practice and more mean that they rarely get the time to be bored.  Only in the school holidays do I hear this short sentence uttered.  Yet I relish it, I offer suggestions but allow them to find something to do.  Roller skating, going for a run, digging out the old box of Lego, watching a film they had forgotten they had, drawing, writing a story, making a board game, playing hairdressers, making up a dance show, bake a cake. The list could go on but it is all good for them, to not have a constant stream of organised activities.  

Yesterday Parentdish tweeted a link to an article that suggested we are failing our children by being too pushy.  Of course I replied that we are, that children should be allowed to be bored, to just be.  I have always been of the school of thought that I do not have to ensure my children have a club everyday after school or a constant flurry of events and clubs at the weekend.  They certainly have not suffered from this, they just do the clubs they really want to do, play the sports and instruments that they want to do.  Their extra curricular education has not suffered and I acutally think they enjoy moments to be bored, as it usually doesn't take them to long to find something to do after that "I'm bored" cry.

As for me, I don't have time to be bored!

Until next time, take care.

Zoe

x

Celebrations and Cake

The past few days in our house have been full of celebrations and cake.  Last Thursday my eldest headed to school with my husband to collect his little handful of GCSE results.  He had taken three subjects a year early and we all hoped this had been the right decision.  However I guessed the safety net of retakes was always there in our subconscious.  Anyway he excitedly phoned me from school to share the news of an A*, A and a B.  The gamble had paid off.  I am so incredibly proud of him, he worked hard and the results highlighted this further.  We now head into unknown territory of Y11 and sixth form open evenings and applications. I fear the next few years will be a roller coaster ride of an adventure.

With the celebrations over from this exciting news birthday preparations commenced for yesterday and  Monday.  We celebrated my husbands birthday on the beach in gorgeous sunshine on Monday.  We are blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the UK and with the beach just a twenty minute drive away it is our favourite place to escape to.  Yesterday was our younger sons fourteenth birthday.  I really cannot believe that he is this old already! Although he is much taller than me and looks older than his fourteen years.  Having been sent vouchers from family I whisked him off on a shopping trip before we celebrated at home, with more yummy cake and a cider.

Now the realisation has set in that my summer break is almost over as I head back to lectures on Monday. But for now I think I will just enjoy one more day of holiday before the madness and mayhem the words 'back to school' bring with them.

Until next time take care,

Zoe

x