I got my first job when I was 13. It was a paper round and it didn’t last very long but I soon got another job working in a cafe thanks to my Great Aunt. There haven’t been many times where I haven’t had a job between 13 and 33 and a lot of the times I have worked in customer service in some way. Jobs like that mean being around people all of the time and there’s generally always someone to talk to. I loved chatting to customers and I had some real favourites
When you first tell people you’re pregnant you get all kinds of advice about pregnancy, birth and the first few weeks afterwards. You then get people throwing all kinds of advice at you when it comes to weaning, toilet training etc. but what no one really ever prepares you for is how hard some aspects of parenting can be. I think up until now I was fearing the terrible twos after hearing so many horror stories but I needn’t have bothered. Erin wasn’t that bad at all. Unfortunately, she’s now 3 and an absolute nightmare.
A couple of weeks ago John and I were having a bit of an argument about something. I don’t even really remember what the argument was about now but there was one thing that really stuck with me. John had a bit of a dig at me for saying that I didn’t enjoy or like going out for meals with Erin. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I hate eating out with my 3 year old. It’s just not fun so I don’t see why I should have to like it. I wish
It’s not and it’s never been a secret that I used to be the manager of a soft place centre. When I first moved to Norfolk I took on the job as general staff but it wasn’t long before I was promoted. Honestly, even working there as general staff really wasn’t my idea of fun. Back in 2013 when I took the job I didn’t have Erin and I didn’t even particularly like other people’s children. But, I needed a job to pay for our wedding in Orlando so I did what I had to.
I think it was just after Christmas when I saw that a cinema in Norwich would be showing The Gruffalo on their child friendly morning in February. Having been to see Zog at the same cinema before Christmas I thought Erin would love it, especially as we’d be watching/ reading other Julia Donaldson stories. We’d had the date written on the board for weeks and I’d been getting Erin excited about us having a day out together as we haven’t had one for ages. The weekend before our cinema trip Erin hadn’t been herself and
John and I have always had quite varied interests. When we first met John was a very keen runner and loved his exercise. Don’t get me wrong, he still does but over the years the time able to be spent training for marathons has become less and less. John works 6 days a lot of the time so if he does get some free time and a day off, he doesn’t want to spend it away from Erin. Now, our different interests mean that we approach parenting in very different ways. For as long as
I’ll be the first to admit that I regularly lose my shit when it comes to Erin. I would say that I have a bit of a meltdown on at least a monthly basis, if not more often. If we hadn’t decided to put Erin into nursery as soon as she turned 2 last January I think you would find me rocking in a corner somewhere crying my eyes out every single day. Being a parent has never come easily or naturally to me but I have found the last 6 months to a year
Looking back to 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Erin, I feel like I probably should have done more reading. Not in a read for pleasure sense but more of pregnancy and parenting books. I know that some people think that these kinds of books put the fear of God into you and can be like Googling something when you’re ill but I think they would have prepared me so much more. You see, as a first time parent especially, there are so many things I didn’t know and hadn’t even heard of.
