We Have To Stop Telling Parents To Enjoy Every Moment

parenting I am over thirteen months into being a mother of two and there are no words for how hard it is. Since using words is my entire job description that is serious indeed. In those thirteen months I have not had one good nights sleep and my bones feel like they are eighty. Yet I am constantly told by people to ‘enjoy every moment’. As if I am some kind of monster if every moment with my children is not complete joy. Now I love my children more than anything else in this world, (Well, tied with my husband), but pretending parenting is nothing but sweetness and light does no one any favours.

At the moment my daughter is making it hard to write this post because she is doing an adorable peek a boo game and smiling at me, but earlier today she screamed for hours and I could do nothing to comfort her. She is teething and it is one of the hardest things ever. In truth, an unbelievable amount of pressure is put on parents, and on mothers in particular. The standard to be a good mother is one so high you would need a seat on a spacecraft just to reach it. So I write this piece in defiance of the standards that are impossible high, and for all of the people who tell me to ‘just enjoy it’ when I am having a bad day. I mean, when they are doing something they hate, going to the dentist for example, do I tell them to enjoy it because life is short? No, I don’t. Telling sleep-deprived, exhausted parents that they are lucky and to just be happy does no one any favours. Especially as some of them might have post-natal depression. Putting pressure on people to be happy, instead of acknowledging how hard parenting is, just creates unhappiness and pressure for people who are already under a huge amount of pressure.

To be fair I do remind myself that my childrens littleness will go in a flash and I should enjoy it as much as I can. But I am a human being for FFS. Not a robot that can take every crappy moment with a smile. I do not enjoy it when my children are in pain and I cannot comfort them. I do not enjoy the endless sleepless nights and the SAS-like torture of it. I do to like it when my children squabble. I also do not love wiping bottoms, cleaning, tidying or all of the accidental head-butts and scratches. Nor do I enjoy dealing with tantrums, or even a myriad of other domestic crap. And that is okay. It really is.

Leverage in Death By J.D Robb | Recommended Reads

J. D Robb Leverage in death

The latest book in the series.

What would you do to protect your family?

When Paul Rogan sets off a bomb at his office, killing eleven people, no one can understand why. He was a loving husband and father, with everything to live for. Then his wife and daughter are found chained up in the family home, and everything becomes clear. Rogan had been given a horrifying choice – set off the bomb, or see his loved ones suffer and die.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows the violence won’t end here. The men behind the attack are determined, organised and utterly ruthless. In this shocking and challenging case, both Eve and husband Roarke are heading into serious danger.

Available here.

The Christmas Stocking And Other Stories By Katie Fforde

It may be November but no matter how much we try and avoid it, Christmas is well and truly here. I have heard my first Christmas song and seen my first Christmas advert. In that spirit let me recommend this wonderful book of festive short stories. Perfect escapist fun. Sit down with this book when your relatives get too much. You will finish it in no time. 

 

A wonderfully festive Christmas collection of short stories from the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of A Summer at Sea and A Secret Garden 

The perfect gift for Christmas, escape to the countryside with Katie Fforde. 

Stories include:

Christmas in Disguise
When Jo’s friend Andi asks if she’ll stand in to cook Christmas lunch for her employer. Jo reluctantly agrees, wanting to help out her friend. If the girls get away with it, it will be the perfect Christmas disguise.

Candlelight at Christmas 
Fenella and Rupert are organising the perfect Christmas, surrounded by friends in their beautiful Somerby house. But when a power cut suddenly plunges the house into darkness, Fenella knows she has her work cut out to keep everyone happy.

About the Author:

 Katie Fforde lives in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with her family, and is a true country girl at heart. Each of her books explores a different profession or background and her research has helped her bring these to life. She’s been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and she’s even been on a Ray Mears survival course. She loves being a writer; to her there isn’t a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. She particularly enjoys writing love stories. She believes falling in love is the best thing in the world, and she wants all her characters to experience it, and her readers to share their stories. To find out more about Katie Fforde step into her world at www.katiefforde.com, visit her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @KatieFforde.

Frost Loves Mod Shoes

Mod shoes, red shoes, shoes,

Of all of the things that make you feel great in life; a good pair of shoes is certainly one of them. These glamorous, yet comfortable, shoes from Mod are a show stopper. In look-at-me red, and with a cute buckle; they are the perfect Autumn shoe. Check Mod Shoes out here. Their shoes look great and are well made. We have our eyes on a pair of brogues.

Pizzagirl Releases New Single ‘Body Part’

pizzamumPhoto credit: PizzaMum.

Pizzagirl – ‘body part’

Following latest singles highschool and gymnasium, Pizzagirl remains within the blurry borders of his misremembered 80s, filmic universe for the spacious body part.

Perhaps the clearest embodiment of his vision, and the space he’s occupying between 80s teen-film nostalgia, 90s dial-up internet culture and the modern meme age, the tracks owes as much to Phil Collins and Janet Jackson as it does to fellow purveyors of wide-eyed bedroom-pop, Clairo, Boy Pablo, Gus Dapperton.

The experience, as Pizzagirl, AKA Liam Brown, puts it, is as follows:

“You’re scrolling on the World Wide Web and you reach mypizzagirl.com, but you click the wrong link and you’re virtually sucked into a dark, smoky, glitchy chatroom, where a badly rendered waitress serves you a beat pie by mistake, now your new CGI ears have accidentally downloaded my freshest tune, BODY PART!”

From the confines of his bedroom studio (AKA The Beatzzeria) in Liverpool, Pizzagirl’s musical mind wanders through the decades and over the Atlantic. Capturing the wistful, romantic nostalgia and coming-of-age sentiment in classic Brat Pack era film it’s as though Pizzagirl has planted himself as a character in a John Hughes screenplay. And body part is the latest set-piece scene, a darker, sadder element to his sound, a plot twist before a triumphant return.

Sophomore EP season 2 is the follow up to acclaimed debut EP An Extended Play, released at the top of the year. This earned Pizzagirl numerous not-so-secret admirers. Champions came in the form of Huw Stephens, Annie Mac, Lauren Laverne and more across the airwaves, as well as Noisey, DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland plus dozens of others in the blogosphere. With a tour supporting Her’s up and down the land to boot, there are multiple levels to the ever-growing platform from which Pizzagirl can now dive further into the cosmos.

He maintains his flair for channelling through his music and visuals the extroversion of 80s electronica, late 90s internet culture and US East Coast sad-indie introversion, calling to mind the likes of Porches, Frankie Cosmos both in esoteric sound and DIY work ethic.

Overall it’s a small operation. With the help of a thrown together flatpack mini studio, Pizzagirlwrites, records and produces all of his music and visuals from the comfort of his home. His best mate shoots his videos and his mum takes his press shots.

Through December Pizzagirl will be taking his show on the road with a series of UK tour dates, standing solo on stage, accompanied only by his trusty laptop, guitar and sequencer, displaying the lonesome idiosyncrasies of an introvert married with the larger than life extroverted nature implied by his eccentric, zany and often pensive pop tunes.

body part is being released by Heist or Hit on October 23rd, and is taken from Pizzagirl’s season 2 EP, out November 30th.

 

Live Dates
1st Dec – Sound Basement, Liverpool
3rd Dec – The Louisiana, Bristol
4th Dec – The Chameleon Arts Café, Nottingham
5th Dec – The Hope and Ruin, Brighton

 

 

Who Wants to be a Millionaire – The Quiz Book

Who Wants to be a Millionaire - The Quiz Book

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since Who Wants to be a Millionaire last aired. When the Who Wants to be a Millionaire quiz book landed in our mailbox there was a touch of nostalgia in the air. Followed by furious questioning. The book is a lot of fun, and gives the same options as the actual quiz show. An ideal Christmas present.

Twenty years after it last aired, Who Wants to be a Millionaire burst back onto our screens for a week of shows this spring. A record 6 million viewers were shouting at the TV as contestants took on the new host, lifelines and questions. A second mini-series will air in November to celebrate the show’s anniversary and this is the ultimate quiz-book for readers to take on the challenge at home.

The perfect stocking filler for this Christmas, this interactive book is packed with a thousand questions that everyone can have a go at, from £100 answers that everyone should know, to the formidable £1,000,000 question. But it’s a game of skill, too: should you save your lifelines? who do you ask on phone a friend? when do you set your safety line?

The real question is, can anyone play a perfect game and make it to the top?

Available here.

How to Sleep Well Book Review

From the outside agreeing to review this book may seem masochistic. I have a baby and I do not sleep. Not through choice, you see, but because my baby daughter just doesn’t seem to be a fan of sleeping at night. She is, however,  a pint sized fan of long lie ins. Every morning, Which just feels like an extra kick in the face. But this book has a section on how to get your child to sleep so I said yes. The dream of all parents. While the book does give some good, no-nonsense, advice on getting children to sleep, it also tells you everything you need to know about sleeping. impressive and full of facts, this book is as enlightening as it is easy to read. I highly recommend it. 

 

It has never been more important to sleep well. Stop sabotaging your own sleep and finally wake up energised and refreshed How to Sleep Well is a guidebook that can change your sleep and help you live your life more fully. Whether you struggle to fall asleep, sleep too lightly, wake too often or simply cannot wake up, this book can help you get on track to sleeping well and living better. It all starts with the science of sleep: how much you really need, what your body does during sleep and the causes behind many common sleep problems. Next, you’ll identify the things in your life that are disrupting your sleep cycle and learn how to mitigate the impact; whether the pressure of workplace or you simply cannot quiet your own mind, these expert tips and tricks will help you get the sleep you need. Finally, you’ll learn how to support healthy sleep during the waking hours — what works with or against your sleep — and you’ll learn when the problem might be best dealt with by your GP. Don’t spend another restless night waiting for a bleary, groggy morning and sleepy day. Take control of your sleep tonight! Learn how sleep — or a lack thereof — affects every aspect of your life Identify the root causes of your sleep issues and cut them off at the source Discover the sleep advice that works, and the tips that are just plain daft. Create a healthy, calming bedtime routine that will help you get the rest you need Sleep affects everything. Work and school performance, relationships, emotional outlook, your appearance and even your health. Sleeping poorly or not sleeping enough can dramatically impact your quality of life, but most sleep problems can be solved with a bit of self-adjustment. How to Sleep Well puts a sleep expert with over 36 years’ experience at your disposal to help you finally get the restful, restorative sleep you need to live better and be productive.

 

STOP SABOTAGING YOUR OWN SLEEP.

Sleep affects everything; your work or school performance, relationships, emotional wellbeing, appearance and even your health. So how can we change our sleep to help us live our lives more fully?

DON’T SPEND ANOTHER RESTLESS NIGHT. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SLEEP – TONIGHT.

Sleeping poorly or not sleeping enough can dramatically impact your quality of life, but most sleep problems can be solved with a bit of self- adjustment. How to Sleep Well puts a sleep expert with over 36 years’ experience at your disposal to help you finally get the restful, restorative sleep you need to live better and be more productive.

  • Learn how sleep — or a lack thereof — affects every aspect of your life.
  • Identify the root causes of your sleep issues and cut them off at the source.
  • Discover the sleep advice that works, and the tips that are just plain daft.
  • Create a healthy, calming bedtime routine that will help you get the rest you need.

Whether you struggle to fall asleep, sleep too lightly, wake too often or simply cannot wake up, this book can help you get on track to sleeping well and living better.

How to sleep well is available here,

She is Fierce: Brave, Bold and Beautiful Poems by Women

poetry, women's poetry, poems, books

Poetry is having a resurgence, and rightly so. A good poem can make such a difference. It can comfort, console, or make us happy. This book of poetry is stunning. It is impossible to not be inspired. This book is the perfect book to leave you feeling fierce. An essential book for every women and girl. I will keep this for my daughter.

A stunning book containing 150 bold, brave and beautiful poems by women – from classic, well loved poets to innovative and bold modern voices. From suffragettes to school girls, from spoken word superstars to civil rights activists, from aristocratic ladies to kitchen maids, these are voices that deserve to be heard.

Collected by anthologist Ana Sampson She is Fierce: Brave, Bold and Beautiful Poems by Womencontains an inclusive array of voices, from modern and contemporary poets. Immerse yourself in poems from Maya Angelou, Nikita Gill, Wendy Cope, Ysra Daley-Ward, Emily Bronte, Carol Ann Duffy, Fleur Adcock, Liz Berry, Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish, Imtiaz Dharker, Helen Dunmore, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Christina Rossetti, Margaret Atwood and Dorothy Parker, to name but a few!

Featuring short biographies of each poet, She is Fierce is a stunning collection and an essential addition to any bookshelf.

The anthology is divided into the following sections:
Roots and Growing Up
Friendship
Love
Nature
Freedom, Mindfulness and Joy
Fashion, society and body image
Protest, courage and resistance
Endings

 

This excellent book is available here.