An Author's Notebook

It has been a confusing time. In some ways, I've found the last few weeks of relative freedom more challenging than full-on lockdown. ...

Over the past days I've danced to Rita Ora, cheered on the English football team, watched a class of eleven-year olds sing their hearts ...

My life is about to change. As of September, I will have two kids at secondary school. I will no longer be a mum of young children. Yikes! ...

Hermaphrodite Mum   Three kids and a single mum It's a sight to make every mother's heart sink: your child, curled up with her he...

Nothing quite prepares you for a journey into your own past. Last weekend I caught the 08:42 train to Cheltenham and travelled back in time ...

Life has overtaken the blog recently. Which is a good thing, I suppose! Anyway, lots has happened over the last month or so. My main piece o...

It has become fashionable to extol the virtues of failure. O ur children need to flounder; they need to experience the blood-rushing slam ...

My 11-year old daughter was bemoaning the fact that she was too tall the other day. Having just started secondary school, she was embarrasse...

I finally worked out who Bradley Cooper was the other day. Yes, I know - I have been living under a rock. Last Saturday, my husband and I w...

A few months ago I had the pleasure of shepherding a group of excitable seven-year olds around the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The highligh...

Hermaphrodite Mum Three kids and a single mum Quiet One has sex education coming up at school. Hopefully not a demonstration of whips and...

Minutes before the dawn of the new year, I found myself locked in a dispute over gender. As our wineglasses glittered in the dying candlelig...

Which is more important: a mother's love or a life of opportunity? A few weeks ago I went to see the film  Philomena , a true story abou...

It is not every day that you open your front door to find a Maasai teacher on your doorstep. About a month ago my friend Janine brought roun...