Wednesday writing workshop

The Winds of Change

 in change / first day of school / save the children / school / The minimads / Wednesday writing workshop by

Change, that words sweeps a world of emotion over me at this time. It makes me feel a little scared, a little worried, a little apprehensive for what will be, for you see my world is turning and changing.  My whole family is experiencing the winds of change. I have lost my youngest companion, my wonderful Mini to school this week and it is a huge change in my life. My balance is off, my sense of direction skewed and I am not sure which way I should be facing. For you see, my child, my wonderful confident, happy child has embraced this change in his life with open arms and […]

A Family of Emotions

 in emmotions / MadDad / maximad / me / mini mads / minimad / The Gallery / Wednesday writing workshop by

Mini just can not control them, they are so visual, so transparent.  It is like looking at me. I see burning red and hot orange embers.  The lava flow that just erupts before he has a chance to think about anything else.  He has no hold on them, no way to stop acting on the impulses they give him.  He has no perspective, no patience, no understanding of them. He physically reacts, throwing, hitting, shouting, screaming, banging and crying. He feels them in his heart, head and fists.   To the point of exhaustion. Maxi is comtenplative, a real thinker, he is learning to harness his emotions and to keep them […]

Writing Workshop – Tainted Blood

 in breast cancer / genes / genetics / mini mads / Wednesday writing workshop by

Mini sometimes I look at you and it is like looking at a mini me in the mirror.  My boy, you are going to have to learn to control that temper of mine that you have.  That boiling anger that I can see clearly inside.  You are going to have to grow and learn how to engage the brain, before putting the mouth in gear, learn to count to ten before erupting into the volcano of fury you can be.  It isn’t going to be easy, I have said some hurtful things in my time due to my bad temper, but one thing that being a mother has brought me is […]

Writing Workshop – Hues of Orange

 in childhood / holidays / memories / Summer / Wednesday writing workshop by

We had a caravan when I was growing up.  No, not one of those wonderful static caravans, no we had a box on wheels, so summers were spent setting off in the dead of the night to the English Riviera.  Well before seat belts became compulsory, my parents would pack the cool box, the pillows and the duvets to make the back seat in to a makeshift bed for my younger brother and me and once we were asleep they would gently lift us to the car and start our adventure. Often the we woke to the sound of cars thundering by, as my parents had a cup of tea from […]

Writing Workshop – The best things come to those who wait

 in boys / getting Maxi / maximad / mini mads / minimad / waiting / Wednesday writing workshop by

  The best things come to those who wait, well that’s what they say. I am not good at waiting, no I don’t have a patient bone in my body. If I want something then I want it yesterday.  I want it NOW. I have been known to stamp my feet and bat my eyelashes to try and get what I want. But what about when not one can give you that thing? What then? For me I hid my need, I pretended that I was happy. I even managed to convince myself that life was good. And it was.  I was happy. I lived a good life, a great life […]

Writing Workshop – My Spring and Summer Manifesto

 in fun / Manifesto / Spring / Summer / Wednesday writing workshop by

Dear Voters (well my boys in this one) We will make life fun, we will focus on laughter and giggles and grasp what we can get out of the day. We shall enjoy the seaside and I will ensure that we have the wet suits in the car at all time. We shall endeavor to make the most of the sunshine and of the environment around us. We shall picnic in our secret place and run free on the moors. We shall barbecue in the garden on a Saturday evening focusing on good food and great company. We shall enjoy the harvest from our garden. We will make, bake and create […]

Writing Workshop – Untill the next night

 in pain / Wednesday writing workshop / worry by

I am anxious, trying not to think about what might be wrong I am trying hard to banish any worrying thoughts from my mind To compartmentalise my health worries Separating them from our everyday life But I am tired, oh so tired, exhausted beyond belief Trying hard to keep up with my boys which I do manage most day’s But my nights suffer for it The thoughts they run free in the dark No longer masked by the bright sunshine of the day They invade my sleeping hours Leaving me no where to hide So how do I verbalise my worries? Will talking about them make them feel more real? I […]

I will come back to haunt you – Writing Workshop

 in breast cancer / hospital / mastectomy / sepsis / Wednesday writing workshop by

I was hot, yes I know I was in a hospital and they are always hot, but normally the dressings clinic is OK.  Yes the window is open, but I know that I am a little off, just not right, I can not put my finger in it and it is about to get worse. The nurse has returned with all the things she needs to remove these stitches and I will be so glad to see them go.  No blue thread making  my chest look like a zip, no more pulling and pressure as the skin tightens around them.  I am so happy to see them go, the boys less […]

Writing Workshop – Do not be defined by what you can be, rather who you can be

 in boys / children / link love / mini mads / Wednesday writing workshop by

What can I say about a mothers love, the love I feel for my two boys The need to give them happiness throughout their lives To see joy in their faces To be privileged to experience with them so many firsts. First Steps First Smile First tooth The first feel of sand in their toes To be able to pick them up after their first fall. To be able to give unconditional love. To love their faults. To instill in them the morals of their father. To teach them to be righteous men, with big hearts and a strong comprehension of good and bad and the sense to make the best […]

15 years ago my body let me down 5

 in Eyes / link love / MadDad / marriage / Wednesday writing workshop by

I could go down the I have a genetic spelling mistake and my body is my biggest enemy, route,  but been there done that and there is something more apt, something more perfect for today.  As today is my 15th Wedding Anniversary. Picture this I was 21 years old and we had set the date, MadDad and I.  March the 18th 1995.  The dress was bought, the hair was planned.  I had the tiara and the veil. We had been together a year, yes not long in the scheme of things, but we knew that it was the right thing to do, in fact I had knew that MadDad was the […]

Under Pressure

 in carer / hospital / mum / under pressure / Wednesday writing workshop by

I usually thrive on pressure, at least I did BC (Before Children), but now I am not so sure.  I think maybe I was being optimistic about looking for a part time job, as it seems that mum is not going to get back on her feet so easily this time and it looks as though I am going to have to spend more time looking after her as well as the children. What the Consultant has said is that she has permanent lung damage due to smoking and also the latest chest infection and reduced her respiratory ability too.  They officially  call it Type 2 respiratory failure or COPD.  In […]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor or what I wish I known when choosing a career

 in career / jelly babys / jobs / maternity / Wednesday writing workshop by

When I was growing up I always wanted to be an accountant, well I gave it a try and did pretty well, but it wasn’t for me.  The only interaction I got was with numbers, so I took an opportunity and became an Office Manager for a small company who were on the up. I used my skills to help relocate the company to Berkshire and went on to become a Facilities Manager for a large software company.  I loved my job, but….. It just wasn’t flexible enough when in came down to spending time with my children.   It was kind of an all or nothing position, where if the office […]

Marching to the beat of my Drum

 in band / poem / Wednesday writing workshop by

  I used to be in a marching band I used to play the kazoo yep that awful, awful gold thing that no one knew what to do I used to wear a uniform with frilly knickers underneath I used to wear a big white hat with a chain that hit my teeth Green and white or Red and blue The uniform depended on what you do I had gold epaulets and a sash with medals on My mum and dad were very proud and used to cheer me on I had a feather in my hat knee high socks that just wernt cool This was the secret that I kept […]

Pen pals for Children Required and Secret Post Club

 in childrens penpal / february / letters / Secret Post Club / Wednesday writing workshop by

We all love receiving mail and Heather at Notes from Lapland has started the secret post club to satisfy  the need to send and receive little parcels in the mail. I received my wonderful parcel this week and it was  lovely to receive something in the mail.  I was paired with Silent Beauty, American Mom in England and I received some wonderful yarn and two special boxes of yummy treats. Now this got me thinking and I would love to start something similar for the children in our life, but rather than sending a present, it becomes a letter swap.  Old fashioned pen pals. Image Creedit D Sharon Pruitt   I […]

A letter to my children in case I do not wake…..

 in brca1 / breast cancer / hospital / mastectomy / mini mads / Wednesday writing workshop by

It is nearly one year since my first breast surgery.  I was frantically trying to fit everything in that I needed to. I had booked 6 weeks of Tesco Deliveries, a book of all the things the boys liked, ate, did and schedules. But specifically the one thing I was doing a year ago was writing letters.I wrote 4 letters and 3, I will share with you, the one I wrote to MadDad is not and never will be for public consumption, but I wrote one each to the boys and one explaining why i was doing what I was. Writing those letters was the hardest thing I had ever had […]

Please don’t call me brave.

 in bah to cancer / brave / breast cancer / mastectomy / Wednesday writing workshop by

Please don’t call me brave, please don’t tell me I have done the brave thing.  What I have done was the easy option, the only option I felt open to me.  It was Hobson’s choice.  How could I live knowing the risk I had and not worry with every passing moment that a cancer was growing inside me.  No I took the easy way out. Please don’t call me brave.  I have never had to tell my children, my husband, my mother or my friends that I have cancer.  I have never had to make them feel that everything is going to be OK, when actually I want them to be […]

Writing Workshop 14

 in Wednesday writing workshop by

You know what, none of the writing prompts fill me with the need to write this week. I could be a million and one cartoon characters, but not one is me.  I am unique and can not be categorised, so this is about me. Me, a mass of contradictions A loving mother with two children I would lay down my life for, do they define me, to a point they do.  I am Mini and Maxi mads mum, to their friends, to the teachers and to some of the other parents at school and preschool. I love my husband even more than my children, if that is at all possible.  He […]

Writing Workshop 9

 in out my window / poem / Wednesday writing workshop by

The Yellow top of a ride on car A red plastic tractor that hasn’t gone far The sandpit lid sits all forlorn For no children are out this morn A whirligig, not spins or holds Any gently drying clothes The children’s slide, swing and balls Still hiding under previous icy snow falls But there is signs of life and hope In my garden with its slope A robin red breast pecks away On a bird feeder filled today The Brussels sprouts stand proud and tall Some leeks too survived the snow fall Inside, all warm I scheme and plan for spring to come and lend a hand For this winter has […]