Dear E I’m not sure why I’m writing this. I don’t think it will achieve anything. In fact, if anything, it will feed into whatever narrative you’ve created to justify your behaviour and make you the hero of your story (or the victim of mine). I spent 25 years listening to you describe the people […]
Category: Teenagers
Sister
I was pondering (I have an tendency to ponder, often too deeply, some might call it over thinking) the other day about the relationships my children have with each other and how much I hope that they have a similar relationship to my sister and I. I have four children, which means a complex web […]
Leaving
Pretty much from the moment Youngest Daughter found out she was expecting a baby, she began thinking about creating a home for her, her baby and her partner. Obviously, as they are so young, we knew this would be difficult, and I offered them my home for as long as they needed it. This all […]
Brain
Sometimes, being the Human Passenger piloted by my brain can be an exhausting experience. It’s a bit like being ruled by a hyperactive toddler who’s been fed sugar, caffeine and been given a kitten. When I was visiting Oldest Daughter in Durham, my train journey, that I’d hoped would be a quiet, peaceful few hours, was […]
Tired
Apologies, in advance, for this post. I usually try to keep my posts upbeat, but I must admit I have been struggling recently. Most days I can pick myself up and get on with things (my daily mantra is ‘just keep going’), but recently there have been more and more days when I just want […]
Different
I was thinking the other day about how different and how very much harder my children’s experience of E leaving has been to mine. In the almost three years since E left, I have spent so much time reassuring the kids that he’ll always be their Dad, that’s it’s me he’s left, not them, and […]
Anger
As I’ve watched E deliberately plunge me into an increasingly unmanageable financial situation over the last year or so my feelings have ranged from an initial stunned shock, through helplessness, bewilderment, disbelief, incredulity, hurt, irritation and, I guess inevitably, finally, anger. I’m angry with myself for my stupidity in thinking that E was a decent […]
Betrayal
I have thought long and hard about sharing this publicly, but I decided to post it because it was something that I found deeply upsetting and I guess, if nothing else, it serves as a cautionary tale re what we say on social media. I have never posted anything about E, or what’s happened with […]
Plate
It’s funny how metaphorical cups overflowing are seen as good, yet metaphorical plates being overloaded are undoubtedly bad. Until recently, perhaps thinking more in terms of barbecues than metaphors, I’d rather have risked trying to balance an overloaded plate (potential to make it to my destination without dropping anything and then lots of nice stuff […]
Reggie
I’ve never really been a dog person, I don’t mind them (although I do find dogs that jump up a bit overwhelming), and, unlike cats, who pretty much just need feeding and somewhere to sleep, they need so much personal care – they need training to behave well, daily or twice daily walking, grooming and […]
He-total: Life without Ex 