Without My Mum

Eight Do Japan

February 5, 2017 Written by Helen - 1 Comment

Well, we survived it. We travelled around Japan with 4 adults and 4 children under four. I realise that some people would not look upon a holiday with their own children as a thing to be survived, but this required the sort of mental and physical stamina even the Brownlee brothers would have been proud...

15 Good Reasons to Go Back to Work

October 29, 2016 Written by Helen - 1 Comment

As I approach the final week of my second maternity leave I have decided to stop crying and look on the bright side. There are loads of reasons that Going Back to Work is going to be a Good Thing. Here they are. Chairs. Unless something has gone badly wrong since I left and the...

Our Story

September 11, 2016 Written by Helen - No Comments

I was recently asked to write the story of my mum’s illness for the brilliant Keepingmum.co. So for the first time I wrote it down, the truth of those awful months before she died. It’s not an easy read, I know. But it happened, and it’s recorded here. It was a Thursday night in the...

The Harmless Horror

May 11, 2016 Written by Helen - 3 Comments

This one I have found it hard to write. I don’t much want to think about what happened, though in truth I’ve thought about little else these last couple of weeks. But to recall it and record it is painful. We were staying with our dear friends and their little daughters in the Warwickshire countryside...

A letter to my Mum

March 5, 2016 Written by Helen - 3 Comments

My mum never cared much for Mother’s Day. She felt really, really lucky to be a mum, and she just wasn’t bothered about the hearts and flowers bit. She thought it must be a hard day for women who had wanted to be mothers and weren’t, or people whose mums weren’t around. Turns out she...

Questions I Wish I Could Ask My Mum

January 16, 2016 Written by Helen - 11 Comments

It’s four years next week since my mum was diagnosed with metastatic tumours in her lungs and bones, and she and my dad called us to tell us to come home. I remember what I was cooking for dinner that night and I remember what was on the telly. There was the time before that...

On Our Holidays

October 27, 2015 Written by Helen - 2 Comments

We have just returned from the magical world of Center Parcs where we spent our first family holiday by ourselves. We usually go away with family or unsuspecting friends, but this was just us on our own. Interesting. If your children were your friends you’d come home and vow never to holiday with them again....

The Big Sister

August 12, 2015 Written by Helen - 4 Comments

People ask me how it’s going with two (fine, I think; though read on, you may disagree) and if Eve is enjoying being a big sister (jury’s out). She definitely loves him. Possibly too much. There is a lot of kissing (open-mouthed) and she likes to lie on top of him, with her big, heavy...

The Newborn Days

July 10, 2015 Written by Helen - 4 Comments

And so he came. Eventually. The Tummy Baby is a he. Born by C-Section almost two weeks after his due date. We can only conclude that my uterus must be like sitting on a really comfy sofa, or a cloud, wearing your warmest jumper, eating apple crumble and wearing cashmere socks. They like it in...

The Waiting Game

May 18, 2015 Written by Helen - 5 Comments

And so it begins again: The Great Baby Wait. As I type, bouncing on my ball (harder than it looks), I am currently 10 days overdue with zero sign of any movement. Ben says anyone who can eat Jammy Dodgers through their Braxton Hicks as comfortably as I can is not having meaningful contractions. We...

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