A Modern Mother

Thoughts on long haul flights with children

I used to dread long haul flights with children.

It started when I was single and dating future Scottish hubby. Due to our geographical locations, seeing each other always involved sitting for long periods in an airplane. Though I've never liked flying, the trip did offer 10 hours of reading time, or perhaps an opportunity to catch up on sleep.

On one of these trips, I realised that flying with children was not desirable. After picking up a skinny cappuccino and the latest "Hello" and settling down at the gate, I spotted a family with three small children -- two of the kids were running around unsupervised, and the parents looked like they were trying to covertly change the baby's nappy in the pushchair. I pretended not to notice, looked down at my magazine and hoped, PRAYED I wouldn't be seated next to them.

Not to toot my own horn, but...

This little blog has made it into the top 10 UK British Parent Blogs!

Sally Whittle over at Getting Ink and Toty's Place created a weighted list of The Top 100 British Parent Blogs and A Modern Mother came in 8th. They used all kinds of criteria including  "currency", "influence" and "popularity" for scoring, and more than 250 blogs were analysed and ranked.

Wooo - hoooo!

Maybe now hubby won't give me dirty looks when I sit down at my laptop to whinge publicly...

Am I the only one who struggles with a shopping trolley?

After lazing around with friends this morning downing frothy skinny cappuccinos and discussing the spring-like weather, I stopped by Waitrose to pick up a few essentials. I like shopping there, despite the fact I spend on average £20 more each visit than Tesco. It's an experience.

It all started out nicely. Ooohhhh, what's that? Patatas bravas? And a quesadilla? My mind started to wander to summer holidays in Spain, free flowing tapas, children content in the sand, sunshine on tap...

Attention PR: How to engage a mummy blogger

Mummy blogging is on the rise in the UK and it's no surprise that I've been on the receiving end of quite a few pitches from PR people lately. My background is in marketing, so I tend to be fairly friendly. But I'm loosing my patience. Consider this:

"Please see below for a great new baby product from XXX. Please let me know if you need any info, samples or images. Thanks"

I don't have any babies (sob) my youngest is school age.

"I thought you'd be interested in our Mother's Day competition. We'd like you or your readers to nominate their mum..."

I don't think my readers are children, but maybe I'm wrong...

Goodbyes. I hate them.

Some friends stay with you forever. They become so entwined in the fabric of your life that it never needs to be mended. Others flit in and out like a butterfly, stopping only briefly to rest their wings.

A butterfly in of my circle of friends left today. A job in Dubai was the lure. Constant sunshine also had something to do with it I suspect.

As an expat this happens often and though you think you are used to it, you really aren't.

It's easy for the one that leaves ... an adventure awaits. Those left at home just go on ... with one less coffee to make and wine glass to fill.

Photo credit: Ewan Rayment

Best of the mommy bloggers carnival...

It's carnival time and I'm indulging in my "mommy" side.

Is there a difference between mums and moms? I'm both. Apart from the accents and a preference for Cadbury's over Hershey's -- I'm happy to report there are more similarities than differences.

The "best of" mommy carnival highlights is up over at Expat Mums Blog. It contains the best posts from the mommy blogger community from the past month.

So grab a coffee, sit back and have a read... it's better than the telly, I swear.

The fleeting moment ... or just mummy rot?

This morning an idea popped into my head. It was a fabulous, marvelous, ingenious idea.

I thought about it all the way home from school drop off. I started to get excited. Really excited. This idea would change my life.

It rolled round and round in my head. Then it started bouncing of the pavement, the houses, the trees, the lamposts and then went back into my head, crystallising, getting clearer, bigger, grander.

Yes, this was it. It would change my life, this idea. Why hadn't I thought of it before? My pace quickened. I couldn't wait to put my idea into action.