Honourable

E believes he is an honourable man. Don’t laugh. He really does. In the meantime, the rest of us are still struggling to reconcile the person we thought E was, with the person that the evidence is beginning to prove he actually is. There was the E I thought I was with for 25 years. […]

Ten Minutes

As I’ve already mentioned on here, I still struggle a bit on the days that E sees the boys. It has got easier as the months have gone on.  But I still find myself feeling the contrast between what ‘was’ and what ‘is’ on Saturdays. When E first left, Saturday mornings were incredibly hard.  Everyone […]

Stubborn

I found out I was pregnant with Youngest Daughter on 10th September 2001.  The next day, as I watched those planes slam into the twin towers, and consoled Oldest Daughter who was just staring at the TV saying ‘Mummy, a Bad Thing, has happened’, I wondered what kind of a world I was bringing a […]

Bud – life lessons from a cat

A flippant exchange with Youngest Son this summer, over who was responsible for making lunch – where I suggested that he was perfectly capable of making himself a sandwich, and he replied, with a florid wink, and an ever-cautious readiness to run, that that, as his Mum, that was my job – made me ponder […]

End of Term Report

Last Friday marked the end of the first whole school year that the kids and I have done on our own. Looking back, I’m incredibly proud of my little gang.  This time last year we were still struggling in the wake of E’s leaving and trying to get used to being a family of five […]

Fictions

Back in April, there was an interesting moment on twitter.   A female user challenged women to describe themselves in the way they thought a male writer would portray them. There were some brilliant tweets.  Here are a couple of my favourites: “Her breasts entered the room before her far less interesting face, decidedly maternal […]

Bad Romance

From the abduction of Helen of Troy to the betrayal of Dr Foster, the tales told by our culture – in our literature, television, theatre and film industries – have thrived on affairs since the day we started telling each other stories about ourselves. Of course, not all of these stories suggest that affairs are […]

The Secret Diary of E, aged 37 3/4 (according to J). The Early Years: Part Two

It’s been a while since we heard from E. Let’s go back to 2008 and see what he’s up to… January 2008 Meetings where I was v important: 20 (v v v good) Students who fancy me – lost count (am Love God after all) 3rd Back to work. Back to K.  Have missed being […]

Work

Working full time, after 18 years out of the workplace, has been a brilliant but, at times, slightly strange experience. I know lots of women can find being at home with their children very stressful, whilst others can find it very boring and not challenging enough – but I absolutely loved it. I loved being […]