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Showing posts from May, 2016

6 things I thought I'd do on maternity leave (and didn't)

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    Photo: Getty Images I always knew that maternity leave wasn't going to be a "holiday", and that having a baby would be a major shock to the system. Having said that, there were still a number of things I thought I was going to achieve during my months at home on mat leave. As it happens, the reality was rather different. Here are the top six things I had planned.

10 things nobody told me about raising a kid

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    Photo: Getty Images Plenty of people will give you unsolicited parenting advice (I didn't ask whether my baby should be wearing a hat, thank you), but rarely will they tell you what you really need to know. That is ... 1. Things take way longer When you take a young child anywhere, you'll pack as though you were called upon to settle a barren new world, without handy Targets everywhere. The other day, I saw my harried neighbour loading four squirming kids, car seats, bags, etc, into the back of his van while still wearing pyjama bottoms. He looked up at me and said, helplessly, "I'm just going to get milk!" 2. You will say things you never thought you'd have to say Besides the I-can't-believe-I-just-said-that remarks such as, "Hey! No shenanigans" there's a whole other category of things you never dreamed you'd need to say, because who would do such a ridiculous thing as, oh, lick the cat food. Your kid would, tha