Being a single mum is brilliant. I wanted to just let that sentence have its own line because usually it is caveated. ‘Being a single mum is brilliant, but…’. ‘Being a single mum isn’t all bad but it’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do.’ It’s not that the statement doesn’t […]
Parenting
4 Lockdown Activities That Aren’t Terrible
Are there really at-home activities that four-year-olds and adults can both enjoy?
Dear Single Mums, In Case You Need to Read This Right Now
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a pretty shit day. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, a lot of you will have had a worse one. These are strange and unprecedented times. Dark, scary and unsettling times. As a single mum, the thought of further isolation […]
The Single Mother Project: Marriage Story
It has been almost two years since I last posted a single mother project film analysis* here. What can I say? Single mothers are flaky, unreliable and very, very busy. *Yes, analysis is perhaps an overstatement. But I watched a film last night that moved me to the extent of […]
Free (& Very Cheap) Summer Holidays Activities for Families
Free (& very cheap) summer holidays activities for kids & families National Play Days From street parties to group woodland explorations, National Play Days happen on Wednesday 7 August, with a host of free family activities to join in with across the country. Check out www.playday.org.uk for your nearest event […]
A Single Mum’s Guide to (Not) Dating
‘How do you date as a single mum?’ This is a question I not only get asked quite a lot, but also hear being discussed in online-single-mum-world. (Side note, online-single-mum-world deserves a much less tragic moniker because it’s actually a great place to hang out.) I’ve been listening to Alright […]
Surviving the School Holidays as a Single Parent
Today I received an email titled: ‘Single parents buckle under half-term pressure’. Something negative happening to single parents, you say? Shocking. The Equifax release detailed how the financial strain on single parent households is exacerbated during the school holidays with 1 in 5 single parents reportedly calling in sick to […]
My Letter to Single Mums
ICYMI, at the end of last year I wrote this letter to single mums for Harper’s Bazaar, with things to remember when times get hard. Right now I’m recovering from a 24 hour bug, I’ve had a frozen neck, been sick, had the chills, a pounding headache and aches and […]
Forgive my rudeness, I’m trying not to have a breakdown
(Why single mums need a little extra wiggle room) There are things in all of our lives that keep us awake at night. The flu jab we keep forgetting to book. The vet appointment for Boris the cat that’s months overdue. The council tax bill that may or not be […]
Q: Can a Woman ‘Have it All?’
A: Some of them don’t have a choice. Earlier this week I went on Eddie Nestor’s BBC Radio London call-in show to talk about ‘supermums’ and whether women were under too much pressure to ‘have it all’. The image of a ‘supermum’ who has a successful career, a marriage, and […]