Five Things I Learned This Week
Hello!
Welcome to my ‘Five Things I Learned This Week’ page. This series of weekly blog posts was initially dreamed up after a glass, or 3 of prosecco with my sidekick, Stu Chandler. It was during one of our ‘end of the week, let’s pretend we’re discussing work’ drinks evenings where I was whinging that I missed blogging but wasn’t committed enough to do anything about it. Stu suggested that rather than write about techie stuff or digital marketing (don’t worry, I still do that too), I should write about my crazy life as apparently people find the trials and tribulations of my household amusing.
So this part of the site is all about my crazy family. I’m in my *ahem* mid 30s and am a single mum to 2 boys (who are 8 & 4), I have a long suffering partner who comes complete with a beautiful daughter so I’m not too outnumbered at home, and a crazy dog, Stitch who, due to a misunderstanding in a pub playground, spent a short time in police custody this year. I live and work from my not-as-tidy-as-I’d-like-it house in south west London. Life is a combination of parenting, work and trying to avoid being signed up to school bake sales.
I publish 5 Things every Friday so grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine and enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations of my week. If you’d like my blog posts dropped into your inbox please sign up to my mailing list. I promise not to pass your details onto anyone, even if they offered me huge sums of money for it.
Best wishes,
Holly
Me and the long suffering partner after surviving a trip to Ikea.
With the mastermind, Stu Chandler.
Five Things I Learned This Week – Sports Day is not my favourite
Sports Day is not my favourite I was never a sporty kid. Still not a sporty adult so there’s a bit of a theme here. As well as hating school trips, another ‘most hated’ day of the school year has always been Sports Day. First of all, why is there [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – It’s very easy to speak too soon
Shopping for a 5 year old is nearly impossible My little one turns 5 in a couple of weeks and it’s time to turn my attention to birthday presents. There are the usual dilemmas of how much to spend, not having enough money and what the hell do you buy a 5 year [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – You can learn anything via Google
Camping with girls is very different to camping with boys A few weeks ago, at a loose end and with the boys home for the weekend, my partner decided it was the perfect weather and timing to go camping for a night. He was totally right and even though it could seem a [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – Ed Sheeran is Amazing
Ed Sheeran is amazing I couldn’t not start with this one as last Friday, 11 months after buying the tickets, we went to see Ed Sheeran at Wembley. I knew it was going to be good after all: I love him. I’ve seen some of his live gigs on tv and they [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – Moving rooms is hard work
No matter what time of day one of my neighbours will be using a power tool I know the title of this post sounds really whiney but it’s so true. As the weather’s been nice for the last week my partner and I have spent a lot of time in the garden [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – There are no short queues at Legoland
Shopping for camping after finding him - butter wouldn't melt with this one Being a parent is a heart stopping career There are many moments during my nearly 9 years of parenting that have been absolutely heart stopping. My eldest son thoroughly tested this when at 28 weeks gestation he stopped moving [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – Do not book outdoor performances
Do not leave car windows open after you’ve left the car I know we all know this but last week was a rush, I had the kids and the dog in the car, it was hot, we had the windows open and when it was time to get out, we were busy [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – Being from a large family confuses people
Being from a large family confuses people Having a large family is just something that I’m used to. Two of my (four) siblings and I are from Dad’s second marriage and we grew up in relative harmony with two (half sisters) who had their Mum, the three of us who have our [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – Manners cost nothing
Love this t-shirt from Smith & Webb - every T-shirt sold makes a donation to MIND charity. Anxiety is awful It’s mental health awareness week - something that a few years ago, either didn’t exist or we weren’t aware of. Shows how far we have come in just a short few years, [...]
Five Things I Learned This Week – Light always shines through the darkness
Old friendships are priceless Last year I wrote a lot on my personal blog about the different friendships I had once my ex-husband and I split up. That the people who I had expected to hang around, didn’t and I made new friends who I previously knew but had never thought of [...]
Five Things I Learned this Week – Sometimes you need to throw the balls in the air and see where they land
photo I sent the plumber this week - lucky him Life isn’t all about romance The other night, before going to sleep the last words I said to my partner were: ‘I messaged the plumber and he’s hoping to come and fix the loo on Wednesday.’ Not the most romantic thing but [...]
5 Things I Learned this Week – There is no polite way to use the F word in an email
If you leave your partner alone to do the gardening your flowers will be murdered Tomorrow we’re having a party at the house to celebrate my partner’s birthday. We’re kinda ready, in a ‘I’ll just nip to the shops for everything we’ve forgotten 10 mins before the guests arrive’ way. What isn’t [...]
