This past weekend may have been one of my favourites from the whole of 2023. It was full to the brim of people that I love. 100% soul food.
I headed back to Newbury on Saturday, and straight out for brunch with my lovely friends Lily and Becka, as well as B’s daughter and my 2 girls. I love our friendship. It has seen us through a number of different stages in life.
Becka and I met in year 4 when she joined my Primary School, and I was asked to look after her. Despite losing contact for a few years during her time at uni and our early twenties, we were reunited, via Lily – at her hen do. It didn’t seem to matter that we had spent those years apart, and we almost picked straight back up again. In fact, it was better than ‘picking back up’ as we had both grown and matured into young adults by this point. It was clear that we both shared the same morals and values, and we have been on a similar timeline in terms of being pregnant and having children. We both had similar experiences when trying to conceive and it was so reassuring to know that I had such a good friend going through the same thing. Now, as our children grow, we are going through similar stages at the same time with her oldest being just younger than Aurora, and her youngest being just older than Luna.
Lily and I met when we both worked for Oasis, I remember her coming in for her interview and after a short while returning down to the counter with blood pouring down her leg because she had tripped up the stairs. We hit it off straight away and thoroughly enjoyed going out into town every weekend to help build the friendship! Again, we lost contact for a few years once we stopped working together, it wasn’t as easy as it is now to keep in touch then. There weren’t as many apps or different platforms to reach people on. A few years later, on a typical Newbury night out, we bumped back into each other and rekindled our beautiful relationship. Again, I have experienced so much with her by my side, and she really has seen me at my highest and lowest. I know that I could go to her with absolutely anything and she would do everything in her power to help me. I am godmother to her two daughters, and I love them as much as I do my own. Her whole family is beautiful inside and out and it has been a privilege to witness it grow.
So, as you can imagine, meeting up with these two makes my heart happy. There are no barriers, no facades, no filters. I can be my true authentic self in font of them, I can get frustrated at my children in front of them, I can cry in front of them, and I know that there will be absolutely no judgement whatsoever.
Brunch was nowhere near long enough and I could have stayed talking to them all day. But all the more reason to get the next one in the diary!
From Bills I exited into the Market Place, where the weekly market was taking place. The girls started running around by all the stalls and I had a real smack of nostalgia and felt such a pull to bring them up in this town. I almost wanted to walk them down the high street so I could emotionally tell them that this is my home. But there is plenty of time for that, fingers crossed it will be their home too and the cogs do now seem to be starting to move regarding us returning.
After a quick pit stop at my mums, we then all headed up to the rugby club to watch my brothers play. I was extra excited as I knew I was going to get to see my wonderful friends Grace and Dean and meet their beautiful new baby! She is already 10 weeks old, and I was gutted it had taken me so long. She is perfect. Still has that incredible new baby smell and was so content for me to hold her for as long as my arms could manage!
My friends Lucy and Dan were also there with their son, so Aurora and he were running off playing together, rolling down the bank and generally enjoying each other’s company. My grandad was there, as he usually is, as well as Toby’s girlfriend Hannah and their daughter Isla.
It felt like SUCH a tribe! They all go to most of the home games, whereas I probably make 4 or 5 in a whole year. I would love to be able to go to more of them, but travelling back from Somerset is quite a slog, and I do then need to build an entire weekend around it. It’s a tiring drive, that has to be timed well otherwise the girls potentially fall asleep too close to bedtime, or don’t sleep at all which could at times be worse.
Hopefully my brothers won’t retire from the game before I have a chance to come back and become a regular supporter.
That evening I went for dinner with my lifelong friend Lucy. 33+ years of friendship and counting. We went to the pub that we had both previously worked in, as we thought it would be nostalgic, familiar, and great to see how the team were. It was such a wonderful evening. Firstly, to catch up properly, just the two of us, after so long was magical. I can’t remember the last time we did something just the two of us but I’m pretty sure it was before we had children. Secondly, because we were out without the aforementioned children! (You can always spot a mum on the loose, and we looked like that!) Prosecco the second we walked through the door and then as much other wine and espresso martinis that we could fit in to our bodies after that! But lastly, and most importantly, was the pure amounts of love that were pouring out of us. Talking about our childhoods, our families, our mutual friends, our careers, our partners, our children, all of it was so full of love and I think it is because we love each other so much, that we therefore love everything that is in the other one’s life. I realised how much of a cheerleader she is for me, and she gave me some invaluable advice, teamed with buckets of compliments that had me feeling so worthy, if a little emotional, by the end. It was perfect, and again I could have stayed there all night, but Nige was taking us home so we couldn’t leave him waiting!
Sunday morning, the reason I had planned the entire weekend trip back, we had all the family (minus Luke who was obviously working, and my uncle and aunt who were on holiday) over to my mums for coffee, cake, and bacon sandwiches. My mum even invited my dad which was strange and funny at first, but as soon as he was there it made perfect sense. We have been doing more and more altogether, especially with our (two) weddings last year and now more and more grandchildren entering the family. So it is definitely more normal than it once was. Plus, as my mum made a valid point, otherwise he rarely gets to see all the grandchildren playing together, he mainly sees them all separately.
It was lovely to all catch up, and Daniel brought his new girlfriend as well, which other than Luke’s birthday BBQ, was the first family occasion she has come to. I felt as though she fitted in really well. I’m looking forward to getting to know her more and maybe planning another ‘Siblings Meet’ with partners (and no kids!)
I travelled back to Somerset on a little happy cloud. Usually, the weekends are the toughest part of my week as I don’t see friends, as I know they are most likely seeing their husbands/families, and Luke is at work. So, it was really nice to be able to have all of those plans, see so many of the people that I love, and then be home in time for an evening with Luke.
I’m so keen to get more plans in the diary, more regularly as it seems to be more possible now.
On Monday I did something that I have never done before. I was working all day, so after kissing the girls goodbye at 7am, I knew that I wasn’t going to see them until the morning (well, wishful thinking, I would see Luna when she woke in the night for a feed, and Aurora actually had developed a 24 hour sickness bug that morning, so I did actually see her in the night when she vomited everywhere… but still)
After work I drove straight to my friend Kyle’s house, he cooked me dinner and we had the mother of all catch ups. I have only managed to see him a few times this year, and despite both working at the same place, we do completely opposite days, so never get to cross over there. We talked for hours and I’m sure we still only covered a tiny percentage of what we needed to.
I feel as though our paths have crossed for a reason, especially as we barely even work together, yet seem to have got closer since then. I think we have similar views on life, energy, morals, outlooks, and everything in between. Despite having completely different lives, priorities, and responsibilities, we still seem to sync up where it’s important. It was yet another wonderful evening that left my soul feeling full.
On the other side of the coin though, Luke had a massively busy weekend at work so was exhausted, then being up with Aurora for two nights (she wanted him to sleep in her room with her once she woke each night) as well as then solo parenting for the whole day and evening, he was pretty battered by Tuesday. We had a fairly relaxed day, Aurora seemed to be back to her crazy self again, proving that it had in fact been a 24-hour bug. She hasn’t had many of them, but I always find it fascinating how they can be so poorly one day, and then literally the next morning they are running around like a loon again!
Tuesday evening, I cooked our Hello Fresh dinner, which has become the tradition over the past month, which we then eat at the kitchen table like a date night at home. It definitely encourages more conversation, less distraction from the TV and phones, a chance to reconnect and catch up. Especially this week when I had not been home at the weekend and then out one of ‘our’ evenings as well.
Tonight, I have been incredibly lucky with the girls going to bed. I almost can’t believe it! I read their 2 books, said goodnight to Aurora and told her I’d be back in when Luna was asleep. I then gave Luna her milk and put her in her cot and left the room. Aurora called out to me that she loved me and would see me in the morning. I chanced it and came downstairs. Luna had a couple of whinges, but stayed laying down, and they really were just noises, no real upset there. Aurora called me up to look at an airplane out of her window, but again told me that she would see me in the morning, and they both then fell asleep on their own. Aurora took a little longer than Luna, who drifted off almost immediately. But no hassle, no demands, no stress. I know it could be a one-off, but I am taking it and manifesting that this is how easy they are going to be from now on. It’s a game changer. I’ve been writing for well over an hour and it’s still only 8.30pm!
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