Category Archives: Small Things

Small Things #3

You know something fab about the All The Small Things Linkup on Mummy Never Sleeps?  It’s the fact that although I don’t get to link up every week,  I always, always end up coming up with something I could link up, if I had a bit more blogging time in my life. *stares into the distance wistfully*

Just seeing  #allthesmallthings popping up in my timeline on a Tuesday, reminds me to have a little think about what little pinpricks of light have shone through the general chaos of life in a family of five people, three jobs, a shop, a cat and of course a blog… And you know what, it doesn’t matter how crappy the week has been, there’s always something, and usually more than one something.

This week, I could tell you about the mini-runs I have been on with my eight year old, the reading ‘Ballet Shoes’ with my girl-in-the-middle, or the sleepy ‘lucky us’ that my youngest whispered after I kissed him goodnight. All precious moments, and all too easy to forget and treasure.

So that’s why this week, my Small Thing is actually a  Big Thing – and it’s actually this here linky!

Thanks Cas for coming up with the idea, and for helping me remind myself – and loads of others too – that it’s not all crap out there! x x x

All the Small Things - MummyNeverSleeps
Psst…nominations are still open for ‘best New Blogger’ in the Mad Blog Awards. This time next week they’ll be closed and I’ll be drowning in a pool of disappointment, but for the moment I’m still allowing myself thoughts of a posh night out in London Town…please feel free to humour my delusions of adequacy by clicking on the link below…Thank You!

MAD Blog Awards

Small Things #2

Morning morning from Mrs Chirpy Face here! Time for Small Things #2 🙂

Sorry. I know I shouldn’t be chirpy so early in the day. It’s not right, and it’s just plain inconsiderate. But there it is, and here I am!

I’m feeling all chirpy because this week is the start of my new life/work balance. I’ve blogged before about how working 4 days a week was proving counterproductive for our family. So after the Christmas break I went to see my boss to give my notice in.  The intention was to go back on the payroll at our shop for a couple of days a week, sorting out our neglected website and social media presence, and then  trying to cobble together enough freelance bits and pieces to give me another day, thus getting to the Holy Grail of the three day week, which is what seems to work for us at this stage of the kids’ lives.

It’s taken a few weeks to iron everything out but the upshot is that I have now been given a new one day a week contract at work! This is brilliant as I like my employer, and I like the work I do, and also it takes the pressure off with scrabbling for freelance assignments when I’m not qualified to do anything, at all.

There is one fly in the ointment, which is the skint thing. This reorganisation dramatically and scarily reduces my take home pay. And that kind of brings me on to the Small Thing (since technically reorganising my work life is a Big Thing and so I’m not sure qualifies for the MummyNeverSleeps Small Thing Linky).

So my Small Thing is this: Right after gave my notice in, our car died (permanently) and my son brought home a letter about a school residential trip. Both those things come with bills attached and as yet I haven’t figured out how we are going to pay for either of them. Huh? Where’s the Small Thing in that sentence, I hear you cry….well, reader(s), the small thing is the word AFTER.

Because if these bills had arrived before I gave my notice in, I probably would have been ruled by my head and not done it at all. But my heart and my gut – and my kids reactions – tells me that skint or not skint, bills or no bills, I have done the right thing.

So there you have it. Small Thing #2, brought to you by the word ‘after’.

All the Small Things - MummyNeverSleeps
Thanks for reading – why not pop over to Mummy Never Sleeps and have your day cheered up by reading some more Small Things?

A small thing…

So often life just feels chaotic and impossible, overshadowed by the big problems that seem to always be there, morphing and shapeshifting in the background. The biggies like  kids, mental & physical health, relationships, money – I imagine that most of us, most of the time, are grappling with one or more of these issues.

That’s why I love the idea behind Cas’ new linky, ‘All The Small Things’. Because you can’t escape the big problems – but you can, and should, grab onto the small pleasures and savour them, hold them up, turn them over, enjoy the sparkles dancing in the sunlight, and just for a moment, allow the big badass stuff to be eclipsed.

So I’m going to try and link up as often as  can – which probably won’t be as often as I’d like, being a humble 2 posts a week sort of  blogger. But never mind – here’s my inaugural Small Thing – it’s my first ever email from my biggest boy!

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Don’t forget to share your own Small Thing love on the linky over at Mummy Never Sleeps!

All the Small Things - MummyNeverSleeps