A note on the title of my blog. By training I'm a Classicist, but by day I mostly teach (and let's be honest, read) English - so these...

I know my kids like the woods. I understand the theory of why the woods are good for them and why forest school has become such a popular...

I read a lot - this is news to no-one. Or if it is, then you perhaps don’t think you know me very well. This year’s author has...

I went into a bookshop today. This didn’t use to be a notable thing, but then the world isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Pop asked...

Two - already last weekend. I did try and bake her a cake, but unlike a certain friend I have Scotland who seems to be able to construct...

It’s 11 o’clock on Monday morning and half term is already looking like an endurance feat. Normally half term is a breath - hopefully a...

It is finally time for this delightful object to quit residence of my kitchen. It has made brief forays into the attic on a couple of...

Hundreds of green shoots are pushing their way up in the garden; little clusters of crocuses sprinkle the front lawn. It’s hard not to...

That could also read: I didn’t realise I was being poisoned until it stopped. Melodramatic? Possibly, but not much. About 18 months ago,...

Two years ago, I was expecting a baby in February and my New Year’s resolutions read something like. Would be nice to do some fun things,...

Finding a way to celebrate at the moment is a little tricky - and it’s just got a whole lot trickier. But this little person turned four...

It seems weirdly normal this time. In March we were all sent into the unsettling and unfamiliar, we watched the news in Italy and...

Pip’s Great Grandfather is incredible, literally. Our little man is a chatterbox at the best of times, his things to talk about list is...

Summer is slipping away. I can feel the days spinning out from between my fingers like grains of sand. It's something I feel on the...

Until recently I had been quite anti, and I’m not quite sure why. When I first had Sally, I had no idea about how to parent, and why...

Today was a being thankful for other parents day. Thank you other parents and grandparents at the adventure playground. It was lovely to...

I didn’t expect to find my beach chill on the Isle of Wight. But I did, at 5.45 at Sandown, to be precise. I find the beach stressful...

I don't have a baby any more. When does a baby stop being one? It is when they first start crawling or later? Somewhere between the...

Look at the bookshelves I try to do the right thing as an adult and a parent. And I genuinely don't think I do too badly. But...

It's easy to smile in the woods. Lockdown certainly has its moments. Moments of frustration, moments of joy; moments of anger and tears....