Why home learning topics ina pandemic are an emotional minefield
The titanic in a pandemic
2018 time capsule
Comparing the trivial passing of a day with three small children in 2018 to its equivalent in 2020.
Things we can do with money, and things we can do with time
At the end of last year, back in a life that seemed full of now obsolete concerns like train delays, I was thinking about giving up work. It has been some time since I found work fulfilling, and the sense of purpose I used to derive from it has been eroded by three sets of... Continue Reading →
Stuff on climbing risk
I am not a 1980s climber; I am merely a soft, middle-class, comfortable climber with aspirations to go sport climbing in the Spanish sunshine more often. The climbers of legend were all dropouts of various degrees, who were disillusioned with the system, rendered unemployed by a combination of Conservative policy in the UK, and by... Continue Reading →
Dud baby groups
Making new "mum friends" is something I find incredibly hard. Over the last five years, I've gone to every toddler playgroup in a 10-mile vicinity, and generally failed to get past the acquaintances stage with anyone. Even when I snag a phone number, I don't quite know what to do with it, and worry that... Continue Reading →
Elusive freedom
I am 40. It is raining. I have no car keys (long story), and I am too pregnant to walk more than half a mile each way. The shops I want to go and hang out in, like some bored teenager, are 1.5 miles away. So I'm listening to Smooth Radio, which right now features... Continue Reading →
Hello 2018
I have abandoned writing; I would say in favour of living, but really, only in favour of thinking about what I might write, right after I've finished binge watching some more junk on Netflix. This year's longest running series I watched was Grimm, which was great escapism. I am glad to have waved goodbye to... Continue Reading →
Vulnerability
I was reading about the St Petersburg metro bombings, and the woman that died shielding her daughter from the blast, and it made me so sad. It's what absolutely every parent would do, and I don't have any doubt in my mind at all that I would gladly die to save my children. Most people... Continue Reading →
Playgroup funnies
When I was looking after my kids at home (as opposed to paying someone else to look after them at home), I went to any and every event designed for children. Most days, I could find two things to do with them quite locally. The format of these are usually 90 minutes of "play" in... Continue Reading →
Party like it’s 1999
Time hasn't so much stood still as gone backwards, rejoining the endless loop of stupid choices and the inescapable barbarity of human nature. For a little while, things branched off, developed a parallel reality in which differences were accepted, the greater good was a tangible ideal and not every favour was granted on a purely... Continue Reading →
The resting writer 