Why Mr Sleep is the most powerful Mr Man
All of these moments are either more pleasurable or more bearable if Mr Sleep has honoured us with his presence.
Life AsPland
How being literal can bring real amusement
We ended up on the hard shoulder so I could let him look down my throat and see for himself that there was no frog down there.
Sometimes just coping is enough
I hadn’t considered that perhaps there was more going on with my child and that they were perhaps just holding their head above water, kicking frantically below the surface to stay above water, but giving the impression that everything was fine.
4 things Animal Crossing New Leaf is helping my son with ASD to understand
My eldest son has autism. He finds the rules of social interaction challenging, to say the least. Animal Crossing is helping us hugely with social interaction, finance, responsibility, dressing, thinking about other people and shopping.
Getting back in the saddle
When I was going on long bike rides with my ex sister-in-law 20 years ago, I was also working out 6 days a week, I was very fit and about four stone lighter. I sort of forgot this bit!
Does failing make you a failure?
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
Me, My Notebook and I
Making the bullet journal wok for me. Me, my notebook and I.
Can you achieve happiness when driving?
Should I have been the bigger person? Probably. Would that have made me feel happy? Not bloody likely!
10 Tips On How To Use Generosity To Help Achieve Happiness
how giving makes people happy. Not just the person receiving the gift but the person offering the gift. We live in a society where “self” is so important; where mottos such as “look after number one because no one else will” are commonly heard. So how do we move from that to looking after someone other than number one?
Kids will be Kids?
“Kids will be kids” translates into “it’s not my fault that my child assaults your child/swears/damages property/bullies your child. I am not responsible in any shape or form for my child’s actions”.
How removing uncertainty helps us to be happier in the world of SEN
As you will have probably guessed by now, I am an avid reader. I love all types of books. General fiction, murder mystery, thriller, romance, adult romance (Yes, I know Mr Grey) and the classics. I am also a huge fan of personal development books. Brene Brown, Gretchen Rubin, Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, Jack Canfield,…
Changing the plan, not the goal
What is normal? There is the thought that normal is just a setting on a washing machine or tumble drier, that no one has a normal life. Most of the time I subscribe to that thought. I can often be heard saying “but this is normal to us”, usually at the little things that really…
Are you gonna spend your day down in the dirt?
As I write this, it is the morning of Friday 8th March, 2015. The day after the General Election. The day we realised that we are highly likely to have a Conservative Government for the next five years. The day Esther McVey lost her seat The day Ed Timpson kept his seat The day Norman…
When Debs met Andy Burnham at Radio 5 Live
Last week, I was invited by Radio 5 Live to be part of their “Your Call” hour. This time it was to be part of a panel of “the public” interviewing Andy Burnham before the big day tomorrow. This was a much more formal set up than the last time I was on the show….
Do you ever just feel tired of it all?
Like many of us, I have children who believe that sleeping through the night is just an urban myth. Oh the joy of having to cope with a full day of paperwork or appointments when you have had a few hours split sleep. Sleep deprivation is torturous, as you know, but I think my body has…
What does Participation look like as a diagram?
As I sat scrolling through Twitter a few weeks ago, I came across a conversation that set me thinking. Kath Evans (Head of Patient Experience at NHS England) was asking if people preferred an image showing “the ladder of participation” or “the circle of involvement”. Circle, Ladder or Venn? Initially I sat and thought “definitely…
Parenting – how do you know you’re getting it right?
When you find out you’re pregnant, you wonder what sort of parent you will be. When your child arrives, you wonder what sort of character they will be. As they grow, you wonder if you are getting this parenting job right. Is your parenting helping your child to be confident in their ability? Is your…
Should motivational speakers make you feel like a failure?
I am a big fan of those books you find in “personal development” sections of a bookstore. Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, Lisa Nichols, Brene Brown, Jack Caulfield. Bring them on. The more, the merrier. My hubby refers to me as his dippy hippy wife but he happily buys more for me to read…
Getting Tough with David Blunkett
When J was young, we suspected that the day would come when he would say “I can’t do that because I am blind.” We knew, as his parents, we could encourage him, we could tell him that anything was possible but we also knew he was very bright and would realise we were his parents and…
Five goals for October
I love October, it is definitely one of my favourite months. It’s that Autumn feel, it’s my wedding anniversary, it’s my twins’ birthday and it is halloween – my kids’ second favourite holiday. October brings dark evenings, leaves crunching under your feet and the countdown to Christmas – my kids’ favourite holiday. The first of…
Divided we fall…
Most of us did not chose to live in this community, we were dropped into it. Dropped in from a great height, very quickly, with no warning and no safety net or soft landing We eventually start to find our feet, although most of us probably fell back down on a number of occasions and, as my son…
Today, I lost a friend
Today I lost a friend. Those five words cannot convey the heartbreak I am feeling. I lost an amazing friend who has been part of my life for over 20 years. He was the type of friend everyone should have. My life was certainly richer for knowing him. Who was Jeremy? A friend who didn’t judge. A…
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of life in the SEN world
Almost ten years ago, I gave birth to my first child. For the first 6 months, we had the usual anxieties that new parents have with no warning of what was to come. Then the world of SEN arrived. Within two years, we had three children and had to learn about hydrocephalus, autism, Aspergers, retinopathy…
Why?
Why is it that when you have read everything you can about your children’s known conditions, another one pops up to knock the wind out of your sails? Why is it that your children’s conditions cause such mayhem and turn your life upside down in a way no one can understand unless they’ve been there?…
Stop the world
Today has been one of those days when I wanted to just say “stop the ride, I want to get off”. Yesterday my gorgeous youngest son started to have unexplained black outs, so as we have an amazing GP, we went along last night. We had to return this morning for bloods. Now, Emla cream,…
Ten things I’ve learned as I’ve grown older.
I’m now in that era where life is supposed to begin. Yes, the dreaded 40’s. When I was in my 20’s, the very number 40 sent a shudder down my spine, but here I am, a third of the way through and probably the happiest I have been. I am now at that “oh I…
Ten reasons why I want to journal
Over the last few weeks, a friend of mine has been posting images of her new leather journal and Mont Blanc fountain pen on her Instagram account. Now, like many ladies, I have a passion for stationery. A visit to any stationery shop makes me a happy lady. Seeing my friend’s beautiful journal inspired me….
Plots and Plans
I love January! Over the last few days, I have had lovely long catch up chats with my partners in crime work colleagues and I am now so motivated but desperately looking for the best Productivity App to utilise. Initially I had a lovely catch up with my counterpart in my new role with Community…
Don’t you forget about me…….
Earlier this year, we had a really rough time as a family. With the death of an aunt and a beloved grandad within 4 weeks of each other, my husband tried to cheer me up by buying tickets for us to see Simple Minds at the O2, supported by Ultravox, on 30 November. For the…
Becoming a happy grown up – how did that happen?
I go through phases with reading material and have often escaped in a good crime thriller- this was based on the premise that no matter how bad things got in my life, at least I wasn’t being hunted by a serial killer (or at least not to my knowledge). However, this year, I have…