Tuesday Treats: July 2014

Tuesday Treats is an as-and-when roundup of top blog posts which is curated by me, Chris at Thinly Spread, Lizzie at Me and My Shadow, and Becky at A Beautiful Space. I’m going to be spending a couple of weeks offline starting today, so I’m making this an extra long version of Tuesday Treats to keep you all well stocked with reading material.

Right. On with it…

“When my baby was born, he and I became library story time regulars. In a little room with a disfigured Hungry Caterpillar mural and stained carpet, I learned the Portuguese lullaby I still sing my boys at night and at least six ways my knees could be horses.” – How Libraries Shaped My Motherhood on Offbeat Home and Life.

“When you are a young child, you talk about what you would like to be when you grow up. You dream big – astronaut, writer, doctor, fireman, landscape gardener, gymnast, politician, deep-sea diver, rock star, teacher, Queen of your own country; or perhaps even all of the above… *coughs*” – As Good As It Gets on Grenglish.

“As a person with aspirations of one day publishing a book rather than just drafting them, I spend about 60% of my time devising witty* dedications for the title pages of projects I have yet to finish.” – This One Goes Out to The One I Love on 12 Books in 12 Months.

“My first massage was at 19, in Nepal. An ex-pat hippy picked me up on his scooter and took me to his house where he cranked up the heat, whipped off his shirt, and donned a Pat Cash sweat band. “I like to be comfortable,” he explained.” – The awkward relationship with  people we pay to touch us on Daily Life.

“It is not even just five days a month. It is the three days leading up to it, where I crave penises and ice cream and it is the two days right before, where I collapse onto my bed, crying, weeping, because I watched a sad commercial on TV and I can barely control how much my mind connects that commercial with every heartbreak in my entire life. It is powerful.” – What’s the difference between female comedians and period blood? They’re both disgusting on Sofie Hagen’s Blog Extraordinaire.

” I think mothers need a no-bullshit friendship manifesto. That way, we can go into new relationships knowing we’re in agreement on a few critical factors, thereby avoiding the awkward situation in which you realize one person is into drama and the other isn’t. I’m never into the drama. I think I’m too old. Or tired. Or there’s just so many more interesting things to think about.” – The No-bullshit, No-drama friendship manifesto on Renegade Mothering.

“Your daughter laughing, skipping through a sprinkler, her whole spirit is sunshine and sparkling water. Your best friend sitting next to you, the same man you don’t want to wake at 3:00 am, the one who grabs hold of your hand and fearlessly rides the waves with you. His children and their partners, a rainbow of auras and you’ve always loved rainbows. The cats blinking up at you from dappled shade under the hedge.” – Something to Consider Before Becoming a Long Term Expat on The American Resident.

“I’ve been becoming more and more fascinated with education as Tricky has grown. From reading to him every night since he was born to creating laminated writing sheets to now labeling our entire house in that god-awful Victorian Cursive font (what the hell was wrong with the ol’ stick and ball, hey?), it’s developed in to a bit of an obsession.” – The Kindy Mum on Where’s My Glow?

“I’ve lost a lot of weight, seven stone is a lot of weight by anyone’s standards. It has come off gradually, over eighteen or so months. Losing a lot of weight has made a massive difference to my life. I can buy clothes anywhere on the high street (goodbye forever, Evans) and I have boundless energy, but I’ve also noticed other changes, smaller changes.” – The Small Things About A Big Weight Loss on Baby Baby.

“I almost didn’t meet my boyfriend, on account of my mental illness. It was a down day, a blue day, the third day in a swag of no-shower days. I might have worn deodorant. Probably not. My sincere preference that day would have been to eat pizza from the hands of my servant children while watching Top Gear. Those days were all pretty dark, come to think of it.” – How I Told My Boyfriend About My Mental Illness on Anna Spargo-Ryan’s Blog.

“Maybe you’ve long been looking for a party which wants a democratic transformation of the economy; which supports free education and will defend the NHS; wants to cap rents and bring back council housing; fight to keep oil in the ground and stand up to austerity, the banks, corporate power and the frightening growth in inequality; a party which won’t pander to the scapegoating of migrants or people on benefits, and will point the finger of blame firmly where it belongs: at the powerful; a party which brings together ideas from the feminist, anti-racist, environmental, disabled people’s and working class movements, radical democratic movements, the peace movement, the LGBTIQ movement, and so on.” – It’s time to join the Green Party at Bright Green.

“It occurred to me this week, as I watched my toddler watch a video on-demand on a iPad when the programme she really wanted to see wasn’t on one of the huge selection of dedicated kid’s TV channels available, that there’s so much about her childhood that is different. Specifically, so much that’s different from my own childhood.” The lost relics of an end-of-the-century childhood on A Baby on Board.

“I see you on the streets, at school, in a cafe or the shops. You have That Look, the one I’ve sported for several of the last few years. Your hair could do with a brush, you’re still in your maternity clothes even though you really don’t need to be and there’s probably a bit of baby sick on your shoulder. Your face is a little too pink and a little too shiny, and your car keys (or the baby’s toy, or your purse, or whatever it is that you need right now) are always at the very bottom of your bag. You look ready to burst into tears as you hunt.” – Dear Mum with the new(ish) baby on Head in Book.

 “On polling day, we must all decide on which side of the question we fall. In that great moment of choice, we must firmly resolve one way or the other. I know where my own convictions lie. But until we stand in the booth, pencil in hand, let’s not be shy or ashamed of taking a moment to swither. To open up the family album, or run a finger down the spines of books which have not felt a living thumb for five decades, and reflect on the motley, half-contradictory, ambivalent history told by these paper fragments and surviving, stolen snatches of family memory.” – Time’s Wrong Way Telescope on Lallands Peat Worrier –

And finally… The most beautiful and timeless photographs of motherhood. Morph is Back! Incredible Paintings. The topography of tears. Honest letters from kids. If the New Yorker were set in Paris. Miniature Crayon Sculptures.

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I’m very happy to have had writing published in two other places recently – a guest post on the Tusting website about DorkyDad’s lovely leather satchel, and my ‘Story of Home’ on the Scottish Book Trust website. I’d be delighted if you would pop over and show them some love!

I’ll also be publishing some lovely guest posts from some of my favourite bloggers on DorkyMum in the next fortnight, so please be sure to give them plenty of love too.

See you soon!