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The Pain Of Emptying The Nest
Tonight I will be gawping at Matt’s hideous trousers on Masterchef all the way from Byron Bay. Found on Etsy.com. I am Kurt’s chaperone for two days, sent to deposit our wayward son to the first destination of his ‘finding himself’ tour, before I leave him to start making his own indelible mark on the…
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Why Does Technology Hate Me So Much?
I’ve been biting down on my lip a lot this week. Not in the sense of getting Christian Grey’s undies in a sexual twist, but biting my lip in angry frustration, over what I see as the limitations of technology. I know you’ll agree with me when I say that we become much less tolerant…
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One Of The Most Surprising Realities About Ageing Is That It Isn’t All That Bad
I’m confronted by the realities of getting older every day now. Take today as the perfect example. While the old man was off playing golf (*snigger*)and the kids had deserted the nest in search of their own fun lives, I was left to think about what to do with myself. Originally found on Etsy.com Could…
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When Hormones Get In The Way Of Your Work/Life, Family Balance
Ever feel like God was having some kind of sick joke when he coordinated the onset of menopause with the metamorphosis of happy children into entitled, grunting teenagers? We all strive for the perfect work/life, family balance but it’s not easy to get that balance right when there are effectively four adults living in one…
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Why Do Kids With Special Needs Still Fall Through The Education Cracks?
So…education and how it deals with those frustrating square pegs that outrightly refuse to fit into the system provided my the mainstream education of round holes. Photo by August USW at http://www.flickr.com You know the ones I’m talking about. Those kids with those newly-invented diseases created by the middle-classes that the media like to patronise,…
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Paris Fashion, Darlinks…
This might turn the old man’s head. It is with great excitement that I am able report that I finally discovered the magic of Uniqlo this weekend. A huge contender to Gap – which at one time was my all-time fave store in the UK for couch-surfing gear – Uniqlo offers great quality clothing at…
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Menopause, Schmenopause
So this whole menopause thing is not as much fun as I thought it would be. View image | gettyimages.com Aside from the tiredness and ANGER, the weight is creeping on, taunting me menacingly, especially because I’ve tried everything in my dietary power to keep it off. It’s not like I’m so vain to really care about…
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Super Foods Or Super-Bitch Foods
As I smugly lathered my toast in perfectly-ripe avocado the other morning, I found myself smiling to myself reassuringly, safe in the knowledge that what I was about to put in my mouth was a super-food. Or was it? It’s amazing how these days I get my kicks out of eating virtuously rather than being…
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Family Life Is Not All Cookies And Cream, Sometimes It Is Salad Cream
Heinz_Salad_Cream_285_gram by suetheslowknitta at http://www.flickr.com Out of all the schmaltz, sad stories, perfect gifts and cheesy quotes to fill my FB homepage on Mothers Day, this article by Rosie Waterland stood out for me. Thirty Seconds It’s not pretty because it’s about real family life. Because Mothers Day isn’t a cookies and cream day for…
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The 8 Best Mother’s Day Gifts
As the excitement builds up in the commercial world for Mother’s Day, the suspense of how well my progeny will repay me for another year of self-sacrifice and doormat behaviour is almost killing me. Actually…not so much. Because the thing about Mother’s Day, if you have normal kids, is there’s only the tiniest glimmer of…
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The True Meaning of Charlotte: We Can Get Back To Our Lives Now
Princess 1 Taken by Chrissy and found on http://www.flickr.com Forgive my withering cynicism, for believe it or not, I am as clucky as the next person at the sight and smell of a cute newborn, but do we really have to dissect the origins of the name Charlotte from every historical angle for the next…
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A Mother’s Pride
Too many faces of grief-stricken mothers have haunted us in the media this week. It’s hard to remember another time when we’ve borne witness to such rawness of despair from so many mothers in the face of tragedy, as vividly as we have this week. We’ve watched the pain of loss etched visibly on the…
LOUISA SIMMONDS 