MEscovery

This one's for the mums to be out there. Especially the ones expecting twins. And even more so for those expecting twins when they weren't expecting to be expecting twins. Sorry, got carried away there. As I was sat at the dinner table tonight, watching my children eat, I had a little flashback to when I first found out I was expecting twins. That first week was one hell of a ride. Let me set the scene for you. We had planned our second pregnancy when our firstborn was around 1 years old so when we found out I was pregnant, a few months later, we were over the moon. I started to think about the different combinations of sibling relationships with our firstborn this baby could have and tried to guess what would be my gender preference in relation to my eldest - a girl. Two girls? Lovely sisterly bond, easy to pass on clothes and toys, play together well (or fight once teenagers...) but two of a kind, less likely to like football and beer once older (kidding) and no litt...

Nothing as bright and ready-for-Spring than an Easter parade of yellow shoulder bags. I'm over the red bags. I never found one that was quite right and so after many attempts I've moved on to the next season already. Shelve the wintery hues, bring me Spring.  I can't say for certain, but the fact that my holiday plans are taking shape may have put me in the mood for some brighter accessories. For me the ideal bag has to have a shoulder strap, allowing hands free child wrangling and also be small enough to be comfortable for wearing out for a walk (think stroll to coffee shop rather than wild rambling) and big enough to house my wallet, keys, phone and sunglasses.  I've rounded up my absolute favourites from the bargainous, via the slightly more on the naughty side to the remortgage-your-house-and-eat-rice-for-months zone.  Leave a comment with your favourite.  1  Chloe - Hudson Small  | 2 Chloe - Marcie Mini  | 3 Parentesi - Acros...

Only vain, young people would consider living their life broadcasted on various social media platforms. And no one would watch anyone older than the age of 25 blog, vlog or snapchat about their life as surely, someone that old couldn't possibly have anything interesting to talk about. Scanning places like Instagram, youtube and snapchat, it would certainly seem that way. Short of some "yummy mummy does the school run in style" type accounts these places seem largely populated by young, child-free fashion and beauty bloggers/vloggers. Where are the women in their thirties, forties and fifties to follow? Granted, it's not too hard to find some stylish people on Instagram, but a picture isn't the same as a blog or a vlog. I am quite enjoying the youtube vlogs of the youngsters, but would love to see some people my age on there too. It seems they are hard to find. Are we just too busy to consider publishing content on a media platform that requires more than...

Is it running away or looking for something new that makes people move? I am sure most people are familiar with a scenario like this: you are on holiday, enjoying the sunshine and the thought crosses your mind that maybe this is what life should be like all the time. In my mind, this thought is then quickly followed with a daydream of giving up the jobs we've had for the last few years, selling up and moving countries to settle into a new life of sunshine and fun, with the minor details of a job and other boring practicalities a small side note or afterthought. Very realistic, it's not. Nevertheless, it does make me think about how easy it is to tick along in our day to day life without questioning whether this is how we would choose to live if we had a clean slate. I currently quite like my life. It's easy, comfortable and familiar. If someone could guarantee it will stay like this then I would sign up for that. I could do with more sun, as where we live a few sunny ...

I'm on a mission. A few months ago I went on a work course which required me to write a mission statement for my life. So far, so American. I was sent to sit by myself for 2 hours(!) to come up with it and all I ended up with was three words. Somehow all things I want were reduced to the following simple statements. True Not in a "Don't lie, Pinocchio" sense. I want to be true to myself. To have the courage to speak up, write what I really think, share photographs and allow myself to show people my weird little quirks and contradicting personality traits. To self-censor less and be vulnerable and 'open'. I'm pretty sure I'm an (undiagnosed) introvert, so this doesn't always come easy. In the past it has proven to be worth it though, so my aim is to "do me" more. Focus On the here and now, live in the moment. To appreciate what I have and don't skip ahead. All those things. I want to make sure that whatever I do, I give...

The news. It should be renamed. It's not just informing you about what is going on in the world. It takes the latest occurrences, filters out the uplifting (unimportant?) stuff and slaps the rest of it in your face. Day. Ruined. I've limited myself to the news app on my phone in the morning and evening. And the radio news in the car. That's as much as I can take. Does that make me ignorant? Probably. Do I not care about what goes on in the world? Very much so. Too much probably. It haunts me. Little news snippets. 10 years on. I can still visualise certain news reports. Pictures shown. I don't just watch it and consider myself informed. It soaks into me and goes with me for the day, for life. I should probably learn to separate emotion from the news, but how can you not be devastated and disheartened by so much of the stuff that makes the headlines? It's a trade off between feeling well-informed and depressed. The older I get, the more I have gone into self p...

It's what all parents are thinking about and talking about. Some have even been dreaming about it since the start of the summer. The kids are starting school again this week.  With it comes the exhilaration at your new found freedom or the sad feeling that the summer together has gone all too soon. And that we will miss not only the sun but the time spent together.  Kids will be lining up to join their old friends again or standing around looking for a familiar friendly face in an overwhelming sea of people. As a parent you always hope that your child will be equipped with the strength and self confidence to deal with any feelings of loneliness or fear. There is no greater gut wrenching moment than when you fear your child is the one feeling like the odd one out or "Billy no mates".  My child is lucky to have had many friends in her class in the last few years.  This year she will be starting a new class, with barely a close friend in it. Not as bad as starting afres...