Four Little Seymours. Every time I type that it feels less and less relevant. The biggest one is coming up for twenty one, and the smallest one is headed for teenagerdom. As much as I don’t want to admit it, Read more
I introduced Boy Seymour to a TV favourite of mine from the 90s recently – the classic that is Game On. It’s genius, hilarious, nostalgic and brilliant. And also completely non-pc. Surely the 90s weren’t that long ago? Anyway, I Read more
I learned something about my Number Two daughter the other day, upon asking how her day had gone.Fine, she said.So far, so normal. Monosyllables are the way we roll. I got a baguette, she proffered.Nice, I said, secretly delighted about Read more
Recently, I have been craving a round table. We used to have a round table. It was in The Shed. It existed there through necessity, and meant that the whole family, plus occasional guests, could sit around it together, elbow Read more
Like so many people, I have always struggled with January. It is a bit shit, is it not? It is cold and muddy and miserable and there are not enough hours in the day. I recall a few weeks Read more
Two days before Christmas, I decided it was time to have a chat with the Four Little Seymours. All of them were, unusually, together; a captive audience as we were driving back from last minute shopping and hospital appointments. The Read more
I am definitely in my nostalgia era. I know I have said it before but I will say it again: anecdotes keep throwing themselves my way and reminding me of stuff I haven’t thought about for years. It’s weird – Read more
One of my favourite books as a kid was Burglar Bill, a Janet and Allan Ahlberg classic, with colourful, cosy illustrations and very likeable protagonists.The Ahlberg duo made me – an anxious child – less scared of burglars, and even Read more
Full disclosure: I hate the winter! I am a bit of a Grinch, nay a Scrooge, tbh*. But… I am trying to embrace it, and for a while there I was stoic: autumn leaves, golden colours, fresh air, bonfires… Nah. I Read more
Jilly Cooper, woman of the moment, one of my favourite people and all round legend once wrote a book entitled “How to Stay Married”. I must confess, I have not read it. I thought, perhaps naively, that it might Read more