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Its always nice to open an email that says :

"Hi there, Happy New Year! We have chosen your wonderful website to be featured on this months 'Websites We Love' page" 

I remember a time when I couldn't wait for my daughter to reach the next milestone, whether it be sitting, walking, talking and ultimately learning! So you would think that I would welcome her going to school? Right?

Wrong!

I love having her at home, I love not having the mad panic in the morning over what she is wearing, whether it is a tights or socks day, whether she wants to wear a dress or a skirt and obviously how she wants her hair! We generally put uniform out each evening (I say generally as lets be honest, I am not always that organised) but I believe children should be given choices as this definately enables them to make decisions and develop their own personalities and style, unfortunately for me, my eldest seems to have developed a sense of style that escapes me and a stubborn personality to boot!

Getting dressed with a toddler is a challenge, getting a "wannabe" teenager dressed seems to border on being a japanese endurance test.

I remember "debates" (I use this term lightly) with my own mum over what I was wearing but I was most definately a teenager or is that my fanciful memory of my childhood? I knew as a teenager that there was no way my mum would let me out of the house in certain outfits, so I didn't even try and push it. I am not sure if that comes down to the respect I had for my parents or the fact that I am quite placid and not particularly confrontational. 

Anyone that meets my eldest instantly says that she looks like me and in lots of ways we are so similar and I always thought our characteristics were similar too. I am obviously going to say that it "can't" be my genes to blame!

So all in all, I am not particularly looking forward to the school run this week and once the outfit debate has been settled, don't get me started on being stuck behind a tractor on the way!!

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You know when you spend money on the "must-have" Christmas gift, the one your child has mentioned to everyone and anyone that will listen? You kind of hope that they will love it, don't you? But what happens if they love it a bit too much?

What happens when they tell you that they love it more than some of their family members?

What happens when you don't get any conversation for over an hour?

What happens when the only time they look up is to ask for the charger?

What happens when "facetiming" is the only time you hear their voice?

And what happens when we have tears at bedtime because she wants to play games rather than read a book?

Over the years there have been presents that I have bought, which I thougt she would love but have only been played with a handful of times and now we have this amazing gift that she truly loves.

So what happens?

I confiscate it!  *insert mummy guilt right about here*

 

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Inspired by Mummy Never Sleeps  who created her top ten posts from the year, I thought it was a fantastic chance to go through some old posts and show some love again to my favourites.

I know this is a little self indulgent but in the absence of chocolate, this is my guilty pleasure this evening! So here we go ....

One of my most honest and intimate posts was The End of an Era and ironically it ended up being one of the most popular. Maybe I should always speak direct from my heart?

I loved the Olympics and this is what inspired this post. When sharing it on social media, it also caused a real conflict of opinion, so What makes Britain Great?

I am very proud that both of my girls love the water and this is the start of their story : Learning a Life Skill

I was horrified and astounded when my youngest bit me and this post poked at my smug mummy conscience! What do you do when your child bites you?

Am I a pushy parent? I never thought I was "that" parent but I think we all have a little bit of it inside us.

I have really enjoyed going through my old posts and whilst it has been extremely gratuitous, reminding myself of our journey this year has made me smile. Hope you did too?

Goodbye 2012, its been a blast!