Blogs

What a week. Covid hit the Howells household hard. One by one we’ve gone down like flies and I can safely say this has been the most challenging week of my life. With a husband who’s been admitted to hospital, I’ve been flying solo in self-isolation with the two boys for five days now – five days whichContinue reading “Surviving”

Parenting is one big juggling act. It’s striking a balance of trying to be in the moment whilst also trying to get organised – something that’s much easier said than done. Sometimes you’re needed in two places at once, and sometimes the meaning of multi-tasking is taken to a whole new level. Over the years, I’ve found myselfContinue reading “The juggle”

Is anyone else in the 5am club? That’s the time here as I’ve begun writing this. Wilf is very much awake, rolling around his cot and calling ‘Aaaandy’ (but Andy is fast asleep next to me). It’s just not an acceptable hour to start to the day yet.  I’m used to these early wakes now. At this age,Continue reading “The 5am club”

With kids, there’s never a dull moment. Without a doubt, this is the most tired I have ever felt, the most plates I’ve spun at any one time. But it’s also the most I have ever laughed. Yesterday whilst giving the boys their tea, I had one of those moments of suddenly feeling like I was oozing withContinue reading “Never a dull moment”

One whole year. The days might seem long sometimes, but it’s hard to believe nearly a whole year has now gone by. A whole year with our two boys, a whole year since Wilf joined our family. It only feels like yesterday that I was packing our hospital bag at the last minute. Theo was getting ready forContinue reading “ONE”

Parenting is madness. Complete and utter madness. There are so many occasions where I hear myself and think, did I really just say that? Did that really just happen? It’s a mad, mad world. I regularly tell Wilf at the moment to stop trying to climb in the dishwasher or tip the dog’s water bowl over. He quiteContinue reading “It’s a mad world”

What next? I ask myself this a lot at the moment. It’s hard to believe we are coming up to a year of living under restrictions – a whole year of trying to find new normals. But in the coming months, as things begin to ease, does this mean that life will get easier too? How will weContinue reading “What next?”

I’ve been a mum for four years now. That’s four years of stumbling and learning along the way.  Four years of making things up as I go along, being uncertain or going with my instinct. I’m only four years in but already there are so many things I wish I’d have known. I wish I’d known the truthContinue reading “The things I wish I’d known”

I’m just a mum. Is it bad that sometimes this doesn’t feel good enough though? Perhaps it’s because maternity leave really doesn’t feel like maternity leave without the baby groups, playdates or the simple freedom of being out and about. I forget that technically this is ‘time off’. Or perhaps it’s because at the time of writing this,Continue reading “Just a mum”

Lockdown take three. Here we go again. It’s hard to believe that we are back here amidst the restrictions, the worry and the feeling that this is all just never-ending. What an absolute mess. How is it that as a country we have got things so wrong? My brother lives in Vietnam and tells us that life isContinue reading “Here we go again”