Last week, my nine-year-old son came home from the park sporting a huge shiner. Pushed over by another child, he’d let it go (the other boy was younger, the “grown-ups in charge” hadn’t seen) but I was outraged. “If I’d seen that kid,” I blustered, “I’d have…” Done what exactly? Truth is, we’ve all moved a long way from the days when children played in … Continue reading Is it OK to discipline someone else’s child?
Everyone in a long-term relationship knows there’s a price to be paid for security. All-night sex sessions are traded for a good night’s sleep, and “lovey-dovey” chats cede to logistical briefings. (When did you last have a conversation that didn’t end with: “You forgot to buy BIN BAGS?!”) As the years pass, it’s too easy for partners to take each other for granted – and … Continue reading The 20 questions that will save your relationship
Your marriage may be a meeting of minds – but that counts for nothing if you’re not fiscally compatible. Last month, a YouGov survey revealed the biggest root of relationship rows was money. For a whopping 26 per cent of couples it’s the key source of tension – above issues of compatibility, child-rearing or even cheating. These days it’s financial infidelity we seem to fear: … Continue reading Help, my husband and I are financially incompatible
Mum loves a country walk. Her iPad-obsessed offspring are less keen. How would they cope with four days on the trail? The Easter holidays were approaching. After a busy term at school, our children were worn out, wan-faced and slumped over the iPad. “The sun’s shining,” I moaned to their dad. “Why aren’t we out there?” Mat and I love hiking. Well, loved hiking. We’ve … Continue reading 3 kids and 34 miles of travel
The other night, I was roused from sleep, not by an amorous husband, but my six-year-old daughter weeing on me. It wasn’t her fault – she was under the weather – more pertinently, I was in her bed again. Driven from the marital bed by my husband’s snoring – and my own fitful insomnia – I frequently shack up in the spare room, and when … Continue reading Is it time to stop sleeping with your partner?
What is wrong with me? Why am I so excited by the Brangelina split? They don’t seem bad people – Brad has freely shared his chest with the world for thirty years, while Angelina’s campaigned tirelessly for wronged women (and even got William Hague off the streets for a bit). Together, they seemed so happy with their French chateau and 200 children. Now it’s all … Continue reading Brangelina – que pasa?
Every month, we scan our bank statement; every year we scrabble to file our tax returns – but isn’t there a far more important audit we’re missing? In any long-term relationship, there is an unspoken list of checks and balances. If too many grievances start to land in the debit column, a marriage can start to go under. Why not mine? On paper, granted, things … Continue reading Is it time you gave yourself a marriage audit?
Feminism, you’ve got to love it, don’t you? The voice it’s given us girls: “Take me as I am! No? OK then, just take me from behind.” Because that’s where we at now, isn’t it? The feminist movement has been reduced to a tilt of the toosh. ‘Women’ has become a collective noun for buttocks. So when did we stop smiling at the camera and … Continue reading Bottoms – let’s boycott the butt shot
Once a month I wake up with booze on my breath, guacamole in my hair and an ill-defined sense of shame. If I were 21, this might indicate a cracking night out. As I’m 43, it means I got drunk again discussing Jodi Picoult on a near-stranger’s couch. Because like 99.9 per cent of middle-class, middle-aged women, I belong to a book club – and … Continue reading The truth about Book Clubs
Two weeks ago, my two mates and I did something we’d never tried before. No, not ratatouille or Trance, but a Spa Break. What’s more, we did it at a place called The Hampshire Four Seasons, which sounds like a pizza but is actually a posh hotel (the kind that doesn’t sell Tampax from a vending machine out. Or toothpaste by the squirt). Scary stuff. … Continue reading A trip to the Hampshire Four Seasons Spa
Tash Bell 