Why Single Motherhood Wasn’t For Me

I met Lisa when I was three months pregnant with Master C. He was to be my final child: the one I intended on raising completely on my own. Years of co-parenting my older three kids had worn me down emotionally, and I was determined not to have to share this little one with anyone. … Continue reading Why Single Motherhood Wasn’t For Me

One Hit Wonder

There are those who go about life with care and caution: considering all the options, weighing up the pros and cons, and making careful, rational decisions. So organised, considered and correct. Like the main character, Macon, from Anne Tyler’s An Accidental Tourist, these folk plan out every inch of their existence, and usually even possess … Continue reading One Hit Wonder

The Pink Sofa

What I wanted, as a young twentysomething girl, was to fall in love. I wanted romance, I wanted fun - I wanted adventure. I wanted to share these things with someone who was as 'into' me as I was into them. Like anyone my age, I wanted to experience the intense feelings so characteristic of the romantic comedies … Continue reading The Pink Sofa

Down time

This is going to sound terribly strange. I have a week’s holiday soon – my honeymoon actually – CHILDFREE – and I’m petrified. It’s been so very long since I have had time without the kids, that I have no clue how I’m going to go with so much…FREE TIME. Lis and I have had … Continue reading Down time

Tough Gig

She stood out, not just for the time of day it was, but for the location we were in. She was a young, attractive mum, probably late twenties, dressed in a dark blue sundress, matching summer hat and white Converse sneakers. The bark-covered ground was wet and boggy which I thought mustn’t have been great … Continue reading Tough Gig

Drug of Choice

Parenting is a drug. The highs are amazing, euphoric even. The lows: the worst come down ever. Nothing makes you confront your own feelings of inadequacy and fractures your sense of self-worth like a teenager with a bee in his (or her) bonnet. That same being you held to your breast and nurtured, that you … Continue reading Drug of Choice

Modern Family

Not everyone who wants to be a mother wants to carry a baby. For some women, that urge to physically grow another human never arrives; however the desire to be a mother does. The ‘maternal instinct’ comes in many forms, and is different for everyone. It is a spectrum – with those like me, who … Continue reading Modern Family