Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there! And especially to mine (who is an avid reader of the blog). I don’t know about you, but now I’m a mum, I can’t help but crave some sort of recognition of this (mostly commercial) occasion – in spite of my better instincts. Happily, this year, I’ve already received a hand-made bookmark from Oscar, via his nursery, so he is in the clear (and by extension, so is Juan). I’m still secretly hoping for a massage, though…
Recently, Juan and I have had more social life than we’ve known what to do with, which is a very unusual situation for us these days. With the onset of the spring-like weather, my big coat has been replaced by my fun-times leather jacket, which I’ve worn to gigs, friends’ houses, lunches, dinners and exhibitions and events in The Big Smoke. Long may it continue.
In other news…
1. Oscar finally started properly walking! After weeks of us settling him on his feet and encouraging him to take some steps, he suddenly set off on his own and padded across the room while we weren’t looking. What a guy. The week he started walking also coincided with his first haircut – and yes, I requested to keep a lock of his hair. It was then that I realised that unless my son achieves a Beatles-esque level of fame, I will have amassed the world’s largest collection of Oscar memorabilia by the time he is an adult.
2. My picture showed up in Nottingham’s local rag. Here I am with my five best friends on our last day of school in the year 2000, stopping traffic for all the wrong reasons. I love this picture, but I wish I hadn’t decided to wear a fleece on that particular day. Or indeed any day. The mystery of why boys kept their distance has become all too clear with hindsight.
3. Our household ran out of the delicious rum we brought back from our long-ago trip to St Lucia (gasp!) So no more rum cocktails for a while – boo 🙁 However: we have just booked a summer holiday to Turkey. I’m not sure what booze we’ll be able to bring back, but I’m still excited – mostly about the food and the chance to spend some quality time in the sun with my two favourite people, just the three of us. Roll on June.
4. As mentioned above, I was getting all excited about the beginning of the British spring and summer – until Giles Coren reminded me that our neighbours would be, too… Hosting your own summer barbecue is fun and any noise that ensues is totally legitimate, right? But if your neighbours decide to do the same and spend all night playing their favourite music and trotting out the same clichéd conversations that I remember having 10 years ago… somehow, that’s no longer OK.
5. Next weekend we’re going to my brother’s wedding – I’m really looking forward to it, and to seeing Oscar debut this stunner of a suit (the grey waistcoat and trousers). And just to prove my brother is a catch, here’s an article about why redheads could be genetically superior to the rest of us. Congratulations Rich!
6. With every day that passes, I see more and more young people voluntarily and unironically wearing 90s’ clothes. Does anyone else feel as horrified as me about this development? White jeans, dinky leather rucksacks, John Lennon sunglasses and gaudily patterned A-line skirts have absolutely no right to make a comeback, as far as I’m concerned. Check out this list of 25 possible answers to the fear-filled question, ‘What next?!’. Numbers 12 and 18 were probably my most ill-advised fashion moments from that decade.
7. Oh, and because it’s Mother’s Day, let me just tell this particular mum how much her story made me laugh. Can’t decide how I feel about her choice of costume, but I look forward to experiencing similar tear-your-hair-out moments in the future, when inspiration fails to strike in the run-up to some sort of nursery- or school-mandated costumed activity…
On the blog this week, Rose got us all optimistic about our skin with this cheap and effective hot-cloth technique, Rachel gave a beginners’ masterclass in PicMonkey, and I wondered why I can’t help going ga-ga over my baby.
With lots of love to all mums this week, wherever you are! Tell me how your kids spoiled you below!
No Comments