Middleagedmatron

LATEST ARTICLES ( 102 )

• Blind Faith

  I had assembled a rattle, a teddy, a pencil sharpener and a Duracell battery to flourish at a circle of three-year-olds in Sunday school. With these I hoped,... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2016 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Driving Parents Round the Bend

  

  'Bucker!' cursed my then two-year old when she got behind the wheel of her Little Tike car. 'Bucker, bucker, bucker!' I admonished her for swearing. 'I have to,... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2016 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• When Your Child Goes Missing...

  

  It was 8am when the 13-year-old left for school. As usual I had forgotten to pack the 11-year-old's lunch, so as usual I was distracted by Hovis crusts when... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• The Change

  

  They say it happens to all of us sooner or later. It's just that you can never quite believe it will really happen to you.You try to ignore the early signs. Read more

  Posted on 24 September 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Wild Life

  

  Lately I've been counting the days till Tuesdays. Tuesday is usually the only night in the week that I get to go out. To put the bins out. Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Summer Style

  

  I am not a great fan of summer. I prefer to remain resolutely in my thermal vest, hoping that the weather will take a turn for the worse. Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• A Life Sentence

  

  This was my mother two years ago:This was the newspaper where she had been features editor for 40 years:This was the zebra she crossed on her way home from... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• A Life of Decorum

  

  The Church, I always thought, is a bastion of dignity and decorum. It was logical to assume, therefore, that when I married in to it, some of these qualities... Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Revelation

  

  It was 10am on Sunday. I had done the laundry, served the breakfast, baked a cake, washed up, prepared a stew, riddled the fire and laid out squash and... Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Mothering

  In a remote part of the cemetery is a small stone urn, dwarfed by the tombstones around it. Inscribed on the sides is simply 'Mum' and 'Dad' and the year of... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• I Love You

  I am not always affirming with my children. I assume my love shows in my painstaking plucking of burnt bits off the suppers I cook them and in the hours I... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Work-out

  

  I like to keep my intellect in good repair. Whenever the Vicar finishes a chick-lit novel I bag it for my bedside table. I'm serious about my looks. Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Dirty Linen

  

  I am not the most vigilant of housewives. I can't boil the kettle without setting fire to the tea towel. I didn't realise that my new dressing gown has a polar... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Second Flowering

  Years I have waited for my Second Flowering to commence. Once I had shed the scent of Napisan, I thought, I would rise resplendent from the mire of motherhood... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• School-gate Fashionista

  

  Nearly three years have passed since, inspired by a new generation of mummy bloggers, I shared my tips on how to conquer the school-gate catwalk. Things change... Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Not for Publication

  

  The 10-year-old is sagging over his homework book. He has, he explains, to write about Something Funny that has happened in the family. Read more

  Posted on 21 January 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• A Day Off

  

  9.15am Return from the muddy two-mile hike to and from school drop-off.9.40am Arrive in church No I to set out forty chairs and six tables for the community... Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Sunday School

  It's 8.53am. In seven minutes my Sunday school is due to start a mile up the road, unless, by divine providence, the Vicar has forgotten his sermon notes again... Read more

  Posted on 11 January 2015 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• Round Robin

  Dear (note to Vicar: can you check your address book and fill in any dear friends I've forgotten)Well, here we are again at the end of another year! Who would... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2014 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION

• The Price of Carelessness

  A year ago this month my mother was run over on a zebra crossing while on her way home from work. She was not expected to survive her injuries and her family wa... Read more

  Posted on 14 November 2014 DIARIES, SELF EXPRESSION