And it's goodbye from Humdrum

Today I had a breakthrough in the shower! No, I didn't kick in the shower door, I had a brainwave. For ages now, I'd been going through this cycle - annoyance that I hadn't blogged; guilt that I hadn't read anyone else's blog and understanding of the sense of reciprocity and community in the blogging world. I'd been feeling that I couldn't really write what I wanted to write. This is partly because I'm not an anonymous blogger, my family and friends all know who I am; partly because I have to be careful not to write too much about life as a teaching assistant; and partly because I've been looking for a different way to write. I have found more satisfaction with the debate on Facebook than just writing a blog post.

So my brainwave was a plan to put the Humdrum Mum blog on hold for 6 months to see how I feel and how things have changed in that time, and in the meantime I will be using my Facebook page, A Humdrum Mum, to continue noticing and commenting on the small things in life. Friend me if you like, if not, maybe I will see you around sometime. I raise my glass (of iced water) to you!

Thank you to everyone who's ever read my blog and commented on it. At the risk of sounding like an Oscar speech - THANK YOU (in no particular order) to:

Shazzer (my former manager) who came up with the Humdrum idea
The Diary of a Frugal Family (www.frugalfamily.co.uk) whose ideas and reports I have loved
Donkey Trousers (www.donkeytrousers.com) I hope you get the outcome you deserve, I have enjoyed reading your heartfelt posts
London City Mum (www.londoncitymum.com) whose blog was so inspirational when I started out. I love that way you write, you are so smart and funny it hurts
Ladybird World Mother (http://ladybirdworld.blogspot.co.uk) in a world of your own in terms of how funny things happen to you and the way you write
Metropolitan Mum (www.metropolitanmum.co.uk) but duh you are my friend on FB so I will continue to read!
The Life and Times of a Househusband (http://goonerjamie.blogspot.co.uk) whose hilarious posts are so well written
My friends and family members who have read and commented frequently, and anyone who knows me.

Would I Lie To You board family game review

Would I Lie To You? "The game of believable lies and unbelievable lies ", linked into the TV show of the same name. Purchased: December 2017 in Waterstones, for around £20 In a nutshell: These TV show-affiliated games usually show themselves up (Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Top Gear) but this game is fun and easy to play (if a little modified) as a family. You don't really need specialist knowledge to play, just the ability to lie! Every year for Christmas, I like to buy a board game to play, even though no games better either Ludo (in which my dad is the reigning cheater-champion, and argues to high heaven over the rules about doubling up or how to place your counters in "Home") or Rummikub (which we can now play with two packs of cards lest we forget the game). This year, Would I Lie To You caught my eye in Waterstones (other emporiums - emporia? - for book lovers are [locally] unavailable). It's a game, it says, for 2-8 players; however we dec...

A walk from Portchester Castle to Salt Cafe

Well we just had to choose the worst day of the year to walk. The date had been set weeks before - who knew there would be the worst winds of the decade almost on this very day? But we didn't want to be beaten. We will walk to the cafe. At least it wasn't raining! Parking is free next the castle and obviously, it wasn't busy this day! We set off around the outside of this medieval monument. The sea wall affords views across to Portsmouth and Gosport, and Portsdown Hill if you look behind. You can see the Spinnaker Tower in my photos, but you'd have to zoom in. The sea wall leads to a walk along a path, switching between grass (a much more sheltered area) beside a playpark, and the beach. It is an easy, flat walk, made slightly harder in the wind. After 1.75 miles, you reach the Salt Cafe (@saltcafe66). This took us one hour - that wind did slow us down! I've had a breakfast bap there before and remember it being delicious, but slightly expensive. But today, we...

That's not my Elf, he's too rude and noisy

At nursery drop-off this morning, I was handed part of Elf's transfer to school pack, you know, the bit that the pre-school teacher had completed and also that Elf had drawn in (looking worryingly like a blaze that Fireman Sam ought to be putting out instead of rescuing Norman's head from a saucepan with the "jaws of life"). Reading it, I had a sense of "That's not my child" in the way that the above tractor book is written. Surely, the little angel you've so kindly described here doesn't really exist, and certainly doesn't pretend to be my little Elf? So here is "This is not my child" book, by A Humdrum Mum. That's not my child He's too rude and noisy That's not my child He's uncaring and unkind (to me sometimes) That's not my child He wants to sit in front of the TV not run around in the garden That's not my child He won't help me take in the washing This is my child ...

A Humdrum Mum

Search This Blog