Mother | Family Affairs and other matters

TRAVEL BLOGGER?

Saturday, April 21, 2012

What a spectacular disaster. I am up for a travel blogger award BUT am so far removed from anything vaguely resembling a travel blogger it's a joke. Guess what just happened. I've been invited to go to America on a blog trip. ALL EXPENSES PAID!!!! To a gorgeous location. Which would have been perfect because as a travel blogger, it is sort of important to be able to travel. Whilst it's never easy to get away - as a single mother of three children it's even harder. Even with the help of family and friends there is a lot of juggling to be done, but of course I could make it work. I HAD TO. Then. I looked at the dates. Heart sinking moment followed by brain persuading me it was all going to be fine. Talked to as many people as I could find who were going to agree that I should go. Then some others who thought I probably shouldn't but I knew in my heart that I was going to have to decline the invitation. The trip is right in the middle of my daughter's GCSE's. I'm sure she's going to do just as well without me....but what if something went wrong - what if she wasn't fed and watered properly or somebody else forgot to pick her up for school or she was stressy and needed a hug/cup of tea/new mascara/reassuring words/a laugh/a chat/a clean skirt/a sharp pencil/a person to test her/.....that's my job. I can do all those things. Not very well. But nevertheless, you can't underestimate that sort of support when you need it. How grown up is that? I am having a proper grown up mother moment interspersed with angry little tantrum like sparks for the unfairness of life sometimes (picture Rumplestiltskin). However, aside from the blog - which of course shouldn't be dictating the entire focus of my life - my responsibilities as a mother are top of the list - anyway, essentially I'm a family blogger - "FAMILY AFFAIRS AND OTHER MATTERS" - it would be a little inappropriate to ignore the "FAMILY" element at this point. So there we are then. That is probably the last invitation I will ever get. Oh well. Such is life. Right decision made on this occasion.

GETTING OLD

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

3 Comments

My mother is staying with me. Again. Which is completely fine. Obviously. I have always been very close to my mother but inevitably the relationship has changed (more evolved I guess) since my father died just over a year ago. As a result of losing her soulmate of nearly 50 years she has lost her [...]

MUM

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

5 Comments

Aaah. Here is the message going round on my son's BBM at the moment:- "At 3 years we say, ''Mummy I love you." At 14 years we say, ''Mum, whatever." 16 years we say, "My mum is so annoying!" At 18 years we say, "I'm leaving this house." At 21 years we say ''Mum, you were right''. At 30 years we say "'I want to go to Mum's house." At 50 years we say ''I don't want to lose my mum." At 70 years we say "I would give up everything to have my mum here with me." You only have one mum. BC this on if you. appreciate your mum, whether on Earth, or in Heaven. If You Dnt Bc This Your Heartless" How sweet is that? ps - what's BC? pps - daren't ask my son if he 'bc'd' (blind copied? Surely they don't do that at their age?) it to all his mates....

JEMMA KIDD SCHOOL OF MAKE-UP – MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SESSION

Monday, December 12, 2011

2 Comments

Following on from our wonderful Mother and Daughter trip to New York City we were invited to indulge in the most lovely treat on Saturday. A mother & daughter makeup session at Jemma Kidd’s make-up school. Such a luxury and it would make a brilliant Christmas present because the sessions can be catered accordingly to [...]

READJUSTMENTS REQUIRED

Sunday, October 23, 2011

9 Comments

Sometimes it's strange to have a "grown up" child roaming about in the world. These days I find myself having to make constant small readjustments to my perceptions. It is hard not to still see my 18 year old first born as a child and occasionally I get flashbacks to when he was lying in my arms or sitting in a pram being admired by a swarm of young women. I had one of those exact flashbacks last night. I went out for a drink with a couple of girlfriends to the pub where my son is working. "You look much older standing behind the bar" my friend, (who has known him since he was at nursery) told him. I can't quite cope with seeing my child in a normal working environment interacting with people WITHOUT MY HELP. It was quite tempting to leapfrog over the bar to help him unscrew the wine bottles (THANK GOD HE DOESN'T HAVE TO USE A CORKSCREW LIKE WE DID) and get the glasses out because he was probably going to drop them.... Just being on the cusp of total independence now, as a mother I feel a curious mix of immense pride tinged with sadness. How amazing it is to know that your own child is now capable, not only of being left alone on his own without blowing things up but can actually mix successfully with people of all ages and has become a thoroughly likeable and sociable, fully functioning adult in the real world.....but at the same time I long to wrap him up in a duvet and put him back in a cot. I can't quite believe that he will never ask me to help him tie his shoe laces again (although to be fair I did have to spend about an hour untying a huge knot he had created the other day). Anyway, we left him to it so as not to embarrass him and went and sat at a table elsewhere. Several empty wine bottles later, we went back to the bar to say goodbye to him only to be accosted by several glassy eyed women literally sitting on bar stalls staring at him. "OMG - IS THIS YOUR SON????". REALLY??? "He told me his mum was here and I thought you'd have grey hair and a walking stick". She then proceeded to tell me how she'd been flirting with him, but in a good way because she was 39 and married with kids and obviously wouldn't really do anything at all and it was all a bit of fun, but wasn't he beautiful and look...." then she lent across the bar and said to him "go on - make your angry face". So he did. "Now make your happy face". She was laughing and I was taken right back to nursery days again. "Now make your really really sweet puzzled face". Good Grief. I was thinking "I'm his mother, I don't need to see him make stupid faces - he makes them all the time!!". I can't cope with older women fancying him. I'm allowed to fancy young barmen but other women aren't allowed to flirt with my son. NO WAY. So you see? New territory for us. I'm going to have to find another bar to go to now so we don't cramp each others style!

MOTHER & DAUGHTER LONG WEEKEND TO NEW YORK

Thursday, September 15, 2011

4 Comments

We are back from our mother/daughter long weekend in New York. What a great idea for a travel piece. Even the US Vogue office thought so (regarding assistance for covering Fashion Night Out):- “the postings you are proposing sound unique particularly in providing a mother/daughter perspective” I would be happy to help and will contact [...]

GIRLY WEEKEND IN NEW YORK

Friday, September 9, 2011

3 Comments

So. We're here. In NYC. Which is very exciting. We've just spent the first night in a teeny room sharing a teeny double bed. Brings back memories of the previous mother/daughter road trip I was on a few weeks ago - I've now swapped roles. Initially I was the daughter sleeping with strange Romanian refugee style mother and now I have inadvertently become that mother. Flight was easy enough. A yellow taxi from the airport into the city is about $50 and very easy to get. The price is already set which was good because our driver got a bit lost. Our hotel is odd. I've gone for a budget option, but although it's a pretty good location, it seems to be mostly a building site. Barely any lobby and loads of drilling. Consequently grumpy staff and a dodgy lift. Not sure what to do about it - they should really tell you stuff like that when you book in don't you think? Anyway, woken up this am to a scary text from friend "trust you to walk into NYC now on high alert. Looking for 3 men.. bla bla". OH NO. I guess there was always going to be concerns and increased security but I hope no more than that! Last night was great. Having gained 5 hours we were on the streets of NYC by 3pm on our way to our first big appointment. Love it. So vibrant. Every other woman appeared to be wearing Hunter wellies with a skirt. Which I thought was a little odd because a)it wasn't raining and b)it was too hot for wellies. We walked about 35 blocks down Fifth Avenue and got there just in time to get involved with some of the Fashion Night Out stuff. Michael Kors was standing chatting in a shop window:- There were bands in the street and lots of unusual attractions:- Beauties in the street:- This one was weird - a rather gorgeous man just sticking lots of twinkly stickers all over twinkly girl - interesting addition to their CV:- We did meet Grace Coddington in the Prada shop which was brilliant - she didn't have time for a full interview, but gave us some time:- Lots of unusual characters out and about:-