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We’ve had a makeover!

Today I’m coming to you from our brand new sparkling website! After almost two and a half years we’ve waved [...]

Taking out a pension and making a will: eeek eeek eeek…

Getting a pension and making a will. Those are top on my list of life admin which I’ve been vowing [...]

By |May 8th, 2015|Baby, Family life, Health, Money, News, Parenting, Reviews, Work life|0 Comments

Why you should vote tomorrow according to my 13-year-old cousin

Statistics say young people don’t care about politics. I say: watch this. This is my 13-year-old cousin, who has not [...]

By |May 6th, 2015|Competitions, Family life, News, Parenting|0 Comments

There was absolutely no sign of the necessary big pants: where was Kate’s VPL?

Didn’t Kate look amazing when she left hospital less than 10 hours after giving birth? I too left hospital around 10 hours [...]

I’m officially a Huggies ‘mumbassador’!

It's official: I'm a Huggies brand ambassador! And Little B is delighted, as you can see (pictured). Yesterday Little B [...]

By |May 1st, 2015|Baby, Beauty, Breast feeding, Family life, Health, News|0 Comments

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story

Apparently two thirds of parents don’t have enough time to read to their kids, and a third say they suffer [...]

By |April 17th, 2015|Baby, Books, Family days out, Family life, News, Parenting, Reading|7 Comments

Purifyne Cleanse review: an internal makeover for your body

Cold pressed, ready to drink fresh detox juice delivered straight to your door. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? There’s never been [...]

Is getting your baby’s stem cells frozen as an ‘insurance policy’ a good idea?

As a journalist I meet all sorts of people from all walks of life. This week I met a mum, [...]

By |March 4th, 2015|Baby, Family life, Health, Newborn, News, Parenting, Pregnancy|0 Comments

Why don’t pregnant women use wheelchairs?

That’s among the questions three ‘pregnant’ dads have posed just days into their mission to wear pregnancy suits for a whole month. I left BB and Little B in the capable hands of Misery Guts on Sunday to go and write about their story, among others, and it really is an interesting one. There’s no doubt the world would be a different place if it were men who gave birth. The three dads are wearing 15kg ‘empathy bellies’ – the average weight of a full term pregnancy – day and night in the run up to Mother’s Day to see what it’s like for all us mums out there. […]

My bum is a depot for building my baby’s brain

Excellent news: curvier girls produce brainier children. I’m not joking. Scientists have this week said that the fat found in our bums helps to build our babies brains because fat cells in our derrieres are ‘routed’ directly towards them. Apparently these ‘fat banks’ are depots for building a baby’s brain via breast feeding, and women with larger stores of fat are likely to produce brainer children. And there was me turning my back on a rather lovely looking slice of blueberry frangipane in the coffee shop yesterday, which really did have my name on it. […]

If my blog were a concert at the Sydney Opera House it would have sold out 5 times

I don’t know where on earth the time has gone, but this week I have been blogging for two years. Two whole years! It all started in January 2013 as I prepared to stop breast feeding 17 month old BB, and now, two years on, I’m breast feeding again. According to the nice people at WordPress, in 2014 Confessions of a Crummy Mummy was viewed 14,000 times by people in 102 different countries. Apparently, if it were a concert at the Sydney Opera House, it would take five sold out performances for that many people to see it. Which I think is pretty amazing. […]

By |January 21st, 2015|Breast feeding, Family life, Newborn, News, Parenting|4 Comments

Paddington: there’s going to be a run on marmalade, duffle coats and Cornishware

There’s much excitement in the crummy mummy household: Paddington the movie has finally been released and we can’t wait to go and see it. Admittedly most of this excitement is from me: even though I’ve promised BB there are no Scary Bits she’s slightly dubious after our last trip to the cinema, when I took her to see Book of Life without researching the plot (ghosts + lost souls + Land of the Forgotten = lots of Scary Bits) Mostly I’m excited because there’s nothing like a good old British film at Christmas – acting greats including Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters, famous London landmarks such as Paddington Station and icons of Britishness like stripy Cornishware pottery (pictured) all brought together – what more could you want? Of course there’s no doubt there’s going to be a run on marmalade, duffle coats, Cornishware and everything else Paddington-related as a result, and good on them: I like it when everyday, honest things nobody usually notices get their 15 minutes of fame. […]

Robbie’s welcome to sing & gyrate in my delivery room any day

So there’s been a great hoo-hah about Robbie Williams ‘live’ blogging and tweeting updates during his wife Ayda’s labour this week. I have to say if Robbie fancies coming to my delivery room and gyrating around the bed while singing Candy he’s most welcome – what better diversion? – but if Misery Guts tries it he’s likely to get a punch in the face. In case you’ve been on another planet for the last few days, you can watch one of Williams’ offerings here. You’ve got to hand it to Mrs Williams, who appears resigned to her husband’s behaviour throughout. She’s probably used to it. But what fascinates me is who is it behind the camera? Robbie hasn’t balanced the thing on top of a ventilator: there’s clearly someone filming proceedings. […]

What IS it about David Beckham?

I’ve been pondering this since writing a story about Haig Club whisky, the result of a collaboration between Diageo (Smirnoff, Baileys) and Becks, before starting maternity leave this week (I’m not sure how much input the man himself actually had, or whether Diageo just threw money at him to front the brand). I don’t mean 1990s matching-leather-Gucci-and-hair-gelled-curtains David Beckham, I mean 2014 suited and booted designer-stubble-with-creases-around-the-eyes Beckham, who you’ll soon see supersized on ads promoting the whisky if you haven’t already (pictured). There’s no escaping it, he certainly looks better with age. Which got me thinking, can the same be said for the fairer sex? […]

By |October 22nd, 2014|Beauty, Family life, Fashion, Health, News, Parenting, Work life|0 Comments

‘Everything I learnt about the First World War came from the pages of dog-eared history books’

As we followed BBC2’s coverage and took part in ‘Lights Out’ to mark 100 years since the start of the First World War on Monday (pictured) I couldn’t help but think what a legacy the commemorations will leave for BB and children of her generation. When I was little everything I learnt about the first and second world wars came from the pages of dog-eared history books or a teacher’s scribblings on a black board, but with the advent of the internet and social media a whole new world has opened up, quite literally. My dad has spent the last few months uploading photos and information about his grandfathers – BB’s great-great grandfathers – to the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War ‘real lives’ database, meaning that at the click of a mouse she will be able to learn all about the roles her ancestors played. […]

By |August 6th, 2014|Books, Family life, News, Parenting|0 Comments