My Love My Life 5/12 - I want to Be

I want to be RICH!  How many of us say that.  There's probably hundreds of things I would like to be, but I guess the important ones usually fall into three categories.  Happiness, Health and Wealth

If you and your family had all three your life would be sorted right?  Lets talk about the least important one, money.  Now, some may think hey, wait a minute that’s the most important.  Reality check, if you are a sad Susan and your general health is not great, no amount of money is going to fix that. You may think it would, but deep down you are who you are.

Take a handful of lotto jackpot winners, do any of them still have most of their winnings. How many are still together with their spouse or partner.  How many have totally screwed up and made an arse of it.  Probably quite a few!  They say money doesn't bring you happiness, but what it does bring is choice.  Imagine being able to choose what you do everyday instead of having to get up and go to work.  If you want to have money, the thing you must actually master is good decision making because without that you will likely fail.  

I think you'll find that most people that do have lots of money are very ruthless. Probably the reason they have it in the first instance.  Money is a dangerous commodity; it can change people.  Some it may enhance their lives, other it will ruin theirs.

If you are a person, whose main focus in life is to be rich, you are an equally ruthless character.  Blinded by the pursuit of perceived wealth, they will do whatever they see necessary to get their hands on some cash.  Like, the duplicitous women that bait married men in the hope of getting a cut of the family fortune.  Yes it happens.  We read about it all the time and it’s not just a problem for the rich and famous.  For some, money and success is so important they dismiss the feelings of others.  They forget to be grateful for what they have.  

It would be nice to not have to think about money, but the reality is most people work for years hoping to get to that position.   Sadly, as you earn more, you want more and you'll never get to the point where you don't have to work.  It is easy to say money can't buy happiness.  For some people struggling financially it can seem like that is the missing part of the jigsaw.  I get that.  I think most people believe it’s the answer to their problems.  Most people want to be rich.  Guess what, it's not going happen.  Sorry to be blunt.  

If you take one thing from this blog post it should be this.  Be thankful for the air that you breathe because you know what, some people struggle doing that.  Be thankful we live in a fairly civilised country.  People around the world don’t have enough to eat.  Some are living in war zones, others are drinking sewage water exposing themselves to serious health issues.  Look around you at things you have which money can't buy.  That's what makes you truly rich.  And, as my mother would say “there are people a lot worse off than yourself.”

Please pop over to my good friend Evy's blog, where she talks about her hopes and dreams for her two beautiful girls. Click here

My Love My Life 4/12 - Growing

Daisy often asks me when will she grow bigger.  I think it's a question a lot of parents just don't want to hear because we want to keep them just as they are.  Although, I do like choosing new outfits and shoes when the old ones no longer fit.  Daisy has started to take an interest in clothes lately.  She picked a pair of floral Dr Martin style boots she wanted and recently there's been talk of wanting Lelli Kelly shoes.  It's the first time I've known her to refer to a particular brand.  She really is growing up!

When the growing question comes up, I think back to when she was a baby.  Seems so long ago, I wish I could have those moments back just for a day.  I have a few regrets about back then.  When people came to visit, I found myself in the kitchen cooking, doing washing or loading the dishwasher.  I wish I didn't feel like that's what I was supposed to do.  I missed out on precious moments in time doing housework, things that didn't really matter.  So when she asks me that question I try to block out all those bad feelings.  Instead I smile and say, you know what, you have to eat your vegetables if you want to grow bigger.  Then my little darling looks back at me with those big blue sparkling eyes and a face that could turn milk sour and says, "I don't like vegetables, they're YUK".

The truth is, we grow each day, our children grow physically and mentally.  We grow as people, in our jobs and hobbies; all at our own unique pace.  Some people coast along never really doing anything interesting while others live life in the fast lane.  You don't have to settle for second best in life.  If your college or university course is not what you expected you can change it.  The same goes for your job, house, car or relationship.  You have the power to grow and change the course of your destiny.  No one will do it for you. But proceed with caution; sometimes it's us that need to change, to grow, to grow up even.

I'm hoping in the next few years to grow my hobby as a photographer.  When I look at the pictures I took a few years back, I cringe.  I don't think I'm where I want to be but I'm glad I'm not where I used to be. 

This month I'm linking to Sarah Ferry, who practically lives on my doorstep, well in the same town anyway.  Be sure to check out her blog about growing, which has some lovely pictures taken and edited by her daughter when they were on a Mum and Daughter photojolly.

My Love My Life 1/12 - Shady Characters

The "Letter's to my Daughter" blogging circle calmed down for a bit because the girls were busy with various things, but it seems with a little persuasion from Evy we have a few more girls on board and are starting a new project for 2014 called My Love My Life. I'm not a professional photographer but like them, I understand how life can just pass you by. It's important for me to take photo's of Daisy, not just for future generations to enjoy but for me to look back on with her.  I get warm fuzzy feelings from looking back on photos from the past.  It brings you back to that time in history all over again.  This month I will be linking to my good friend Evy, with her blog My Love My Life, without her I know I wouldn't be blogging like I am now.

My Miracle Flower,

It’s hard writing about trust from an adult perspective because by the time you get to adulthood you’ll probably have witnessed a lot of examples of people you thought you could trust but it turned out they were no good.  All you have to do is watch the news to see that even the most trusted looking people can turn out to be very shady characters indeed.  I must say that I take pride in the fact I am a, what you see is what you get type of person.  I used to think that because I was open and truthful, albeit causing offence at times, that everyone else was too; but that’s not the case.  It’s horrible to say but you need to be on your guard growing up, because some people are not what they seem, even if they make you feel like you could tell them anything.  I guess I’ve learnt the hard way, nothing bad has happened to me but I wished at times I listened to gut instincts with silly little things.  In life we are constantly learning and evolving.  

I was speaking to one of my old school friends on Facebook back in 2012 about someone coming to my house to try on something that I’d advertised for sale on ebay.  We were just casually talking about nothing in particular and I told him about this man that was coming to see the item I was selling, because he worked in the area and wanted to avoid postage costs.  Straight away my friend was warning me saying, what are you thinking having a strange man coming to the house when you are at home on your own.  It struck me that there I was, trusting this person that I’d never met to come into my home.  What if he was dangerous?  We joked, I said I’m sure it will be fine and he said, he could be Buffalo Bill!  It was at that point I started to panic and was catapulted into reality.  Just the thought of the film, The Silence of the Lambs brought chills to my spine.  The guy I went to school with had a theory of his own about trust and it was this, trust no one, think everyone is bad, (although he used a naughtier word) and that they have to prove themselves otherwise that they are not a “insert your own naughty word”, then you won’t be disappointed.  Seemed fairly straightforward.

I think growing up I always thought that if you were going to come to any harm it would be from someone grabbing you from the street and throwing you into a car.  Sometimes the kids in class would talk of a stranger hanging around the school gates offering sweets or it would be a man in a van asking you to go with them on the promise of seeing puppies.  Not a week went by when I was a youngster that I didn’t see the Charley say's advert on TV, which was a scary reminder of the crazy people that were out there.  When you are young it’s hard to analyse people for yourself and not all bad people are dressed in baddie clothes or look like baddies that you see in movies or on kids TV shows.  I recently watched this chilling experiment on daytime TV as a reminder of how normal these people can look.  In order to gain the trust of a child, you would really have to be nice and charming a give a good impression for them to feel like they could go with you.

It’s important not to scare our children about strangers because not all strangers are bad people.  In situations where our children are out and about in public I think it’s a good idea to let them know that they can always approach people in uniform like Police Officers and Community Wardens or staff in public buildings.  If we go to a community event I’m always telling Daisy that if we get separated, she should ask for help from event organisers, usually wearing fluorescent overalls or another Mummy.  In really busy places like airports and places we don't know very well, I just don't take the risk and still use her baby reins which were originally mine! Prevention is better that cure as they say.

I guess the thing to make them understand is don’t go away with anyone without first asking, even if you know them.

One from the archives since I haven't been out photographing recently.

Letter to Daisy - The Wonders of the World

I almost forgot it was the last Sunday of the month!  This is just a quick blog I've pulled out of nowhere.  

My Miracle Flower,

I got chatting to one of the guys from one of my photography classes a few weeks ago when we all went out for dinner.  He’s a really interesting man with loads of stories about places he’s been over the years, I guess he travels a lot with work.

He spoke about trips to New York, watching baseball games in the rain and drinking in the old under ground bars like in the film the Great Gatsby.  There was also a story about him getting in trouble for reading his paper in the hotel bar because BB King was about to perform and how he realised near the end of the show that he was the only white guy in the room.  He got up and said in his Welsh accent, well that was bloody brilliant that.  Best show I’ve ever been too!  Then this old guy said, "you think that was good, I could take you somewhere better".  So, the guy left the hotel with this man, his wife and two grown up daughters and just got in their car to be taken to somewhere that was better than BB King.  I was sitting beside one of the guys from my class last year and I think we were like two little sponges sucking up all these tales of adventure.  We said, did you not worry about getting into some random persons car that you didn’t know.  He said I’m hardly gonna get murdered by a sixty year old man that’s out with his wife and two grow-up daughters for the evening.  He said it was the best night out he'd ever had, yes better than BB King.  He was out with that family until 3am and the old man dropped him back off at his hotel as he said he would.

It got me thinking about travelling.  I’ve not really been to any “wonders of the world” type holidays but after that chance meeting with the man from Wales.  I think this is something I need to start doing and soon!  The Spanish holidays have been done so many times and I’m not knocking them, but wouldn’t it be nice to really travel.  To go to places and be amazed at how different they are to where you stay.  I’d love go back to Paris, it’s been a long time since I was there and I would love to take you to New York when you're a bit older.

If I can’t go myself, Daisy I hope you will travel to all these interesting places and think of me and the man from Wales.

Some old photos from 2011

Letter to Daisy - Happy Birthday

It’s your birthday in the next few days and instead of my usual advice for the future, I thought I’d record what you are like just now.  Hopefully so that you can look back on this time and laugh that your craziness started early and that as well as behaviour being learnt, it can also be genetic.

My Miracle Flower,

Well my baby, you are about to turn FOUR and it feels like a lifetime ago that you were that, a baby.  I wish I could have some of those precious moments back because they pass so quick and it seems that in the blink of an eye, life can change forever.  I am so glad I have videos of you as a baby that I can look back on; those early videos are even more precious to me than the photos I have taken and collected over the past four years.  Although at times you can be hard work, I love the strength of your personality and I find it really funny how similar we are.  I still dress you, yes I know some people will think it’s bad and that I should be encouraging independence.  I always feel a little awkward when mums at nursery are instructing their children to change into their indoor shoes all by themselves and I am doing yours as you sit nattering about what you’ve been doing that morning, but I don’t care.  I grew up being very independent but you know what, it’s nice to get things done for you and I want to do it.  Recently we watched some home movies of me when I was your age and we’re like two peas in a pod.  Like me you are a creature of habit and do not like change.  There are times when I think you’re verging on having OCD and an example of this would be on how I prepare bread and butter for you.  You eat a lot of bread and butter and would probably be quite happy if that’s all you had to eat ever again.  That’s why I always buy a healthy Low GI bread from our local baker JG Ross, at a cost of just over £2.  Two pounds for a loaf of bread I hear you say, yes I know it’s rather expensive but I promise you it’s the best bread ever!  Anyway, I must spread the butter evenly and to the edge of each crust.  I then ask if you would like the bread folded, you reply yes.  Then I mark the butter with my knife, down the middle of the slice and hold the knife in the bread as I fold over with the other hand.  If I do this in any other order or if I go to fast without asking the question “do you want it folded” or heaven forbid I cut the bread in half, all hell will break loose!  Other foods you like just now are sausages, pasta and anything chocolate.  You like to drink hot chocolate all the time AND you like it in a baby bottle!

You have a few key dislikes, one of which is getting your hair washed.  Every time a bath is suggested you ask the question “are you going to wash my hair” and it’s clear you are relieved when I say no.  You are also equally upset with the prospect of getting your hair brushed or teeth cleaned.  I’ve taken note and bought a special Tangle Teaser brush for the hair and I have resorted to making the teeth brushing a race.  With your competitive spirit, it rarely fails and I tell you that your teeth are so shiny that I need my sunglasses on; works wonders.  You hate having long sleeves and insist on all sleeves on all long tops, to be rolled up.  Completely ridiculous at times, but that's you.  I know people wont believe it but it really is a struggle to get photos with my very own model, you don’t have a lot of patience in front of the camera and you were only keen on the birthday photos with the promise of a new toy afterwards!  The last one, you don’t do early breakfast but I can understand that as I too rarely eat breakfast.

You have quite an active social life, Ballet class is once a week and you love getting dressed up and playing with the girls in your class.  The teacher is so lovely and you often hold her hand wanting her to be your partner during class.  You started Kinder gym when you were 18-months old and now you are in the next class up called Gym Joey,  these classes are specifically designed as a  stepping-stone into the world of Gymnastics.  Nursery takes up a lot of your week and it’s hard for you to adapt because you still go to two different ones.  “Normal nursery” is very relaxed, you cuddle the staff, go out for walks and play with friends.  Your best friend is called Ewan, a loving little boy who is eagerly waiting your arrival on the only day of the week where you are both in together.  The staff without a doubt will report back that you two were inseparable all afternoon.   I really hope you don't lose contact with him when you go to school next year.  School nursery is fairly strict and you find it hard to understand why the school nursery teachers are not so keen to give hugs.  You tell me at least once a week that your friend here is Lily and that she often makes a picture for you.  You both held each other’s hands when you performed nursery rhymes in front of the parents earlier this month as part of a challenge for Children in Need.

You don’t ask for many things, in fact your favourite toy is a supermarket Nativity set that cost five pounds.  You love a bit of role-play and so Mary and Joseph are more commonly known as the Mummy and Daddy.  I don’t tend to buy lots of toys throughout the year so Christmas and birthday’s is the times where we stock up.  We haven’t talked much about what you would like to get for your birthday.  When mummy asks what you’d like, you say, a Fairy fly and a scooter (ones with two wheels at the front).  You like a good story and this is where Daddy comes in, he’s full of stories!  I think you get your imagination from him.  You go through phases with books, we have a whole bookcase full of them and your chaise longue is right beside it, it’s like our own little library corner!  Your favourite song is "what does the fox say" and you also like Miley Cyrus's song "wrecking ball", completely inappropriate!

Daisy you are a fun loving child and people wont forget you easily.  You’re a real character and a great sense of humour is yet to fully develop, but it’s coming.  We were falling about laughing “Peppa Pig style” when you tried to introduce my Mum and Dad to each other; like they’ve never met.  You said “nanny, this is my Granda, have you met him before”?

Happy Birthday,

Mummy

xx

Video from the archives

Letter to Daisy - Girl's Got Guts

We went on a bit of a road trip for a few days over the holidays and it got me thinking about Gut Instincts, because I didn't seem to have any when it came to navigation!  I left the sat nav at home, I knew it was wrong but I ignored the voice in my head saying go back in the house and get it. Struggling with the crappy signal and google maps on my phone we got to where we needed to be in the end, but life could've been so much easier.

My Miracle Flower,

Gut instinct is a thing you should never ignore and it’s helped me out on countless occasions.  It’s called gut instinct because of the feeling you get at the pit of your stomach that makes you feel a little queasy, like you could be sick.  I’ve been told that some of my voiced instincts are like a sixth sense, almost likened with Witch Craft! Of course, that is a piece of nonsense.  I actually struggle with gut instincts and think at times they are non-existent in me or maybe it’s that I am unable to read them correctly.  Although it’s helped me in many situations, it’s equally caused me trouble.  If I had managed to read the signs correctly in tricky situations, it may have saved me a considerable amount of time and energy with people who were frankly not worth bothering about.  What I’m saying is, it’s easy to ignore that feelings that we all have when something seems a bit odd.  The consequence of not listening to your gut may be that you end up experiencing another feeling, called Regret!

Gut instinct can be used in many areas of your life, e.g. health, wealth, travel, work and relationships.  Some people may experience bad health, however the signs are maybe not there to justify a trip to the doctor, but there are certain types of people out there that would just know something is wrong and will take themselves to the doctors anyway.   I bet if those people who ended up in their doctors surgery listening to some bad news looked back, would they manage to pin point the actual time they maybe should have acted; who knows.  Did their gut tell them something was wrong and did they perhaps ignore it.  I believe that there are always clues around us to support gut instinct and this is why you should face problems head on and not stick your head in the sand.  Just because you ignore a problem, it won't make it go away. 

I’ve experienced similar feelings with relationships and know I’ve disregarded important gut feelings and acted on wrong ones because I’ve let emotion cloud my judgement.  The hardest decision you will ever make is whether to walk away or try harder.  Everyone has to make their own mistakes in life, I agree, this is how we learn.  Remember this though; nothing you do will ever be so bad that it can’t be fixed.  There is always a way and yes it might be hard but I will help you.  As you get older the mistakes you make can sometimes have catastrophic consequences, so listen to your Mother, sometimes you just have to trust us old people because we’ve been there before and have made similar mistakes.

Crovie

Letter to Daisy - Life Lemons

I’ve been super busy this weekend helping organise my brother’s surprise birthday party with team M&M; that’s his best boyfriend and the GF of course! Daisy is not too keen on Uncle D having a girlfriend and recently she has been horrified at the fact.  She tells me SHE is Uncle D’s girlfriend!  It’s been busy busy busy over the past 48hrs and I must say we did a great job, Uncle D was a very happy boy.  Just a short letter this month as I think I’m still in need of some sleep!

My Miracle Flower,

You are going to be 4 soon! I can’t quite believe it.  It took so long to get you and now you are almost FOUR.  My regrets for the past year would have to be not taking as much pictures of you as I would have liked.  My hopes and dreams for the coming year is to change this.  Maybe I’m just trying to give you a break as I can have my camera out like I’m part of the paparazzi chasing a super star.  You’re my wee super star and I guess I just want to have lots of memories of the fun stuff, because we have lots of fun together and when we do, we do it in style!  High tea in five star hotels is good, but travelling on Thomas the Tank engine is a bit of an adventure right?  

You see life is precious. Your life is precious to me, partly because of the way in which you were brought into the world and the struggles faced to get you.  My life is precious because of the struggles I have to stay in the world with you.  We have a lot in common you and me.  I loved you from the moment I saw you and you are my favourite girl.  I do wish I could have more patience at times.  You are a bright little girl and you know what you want but because you are young you get frustrated quite easily.  I know exactly how you feel because I am that person too.  I want everything done yesterday.  When I was at school I was told I needed to work on my tolerance of others and I’m still working on it. 

We’ve had to deal with some more changes this year and sometimes I’m not so sure how you’ve coped and I hope there’s no long term damage, but our new life is definitely better.  Many years ago a colleague made comment that, no matter what happens I will always come up smelling of roses.  He was right you know, I think he was trying to make a derogatory comment but I laughed with the knowledge that he was a fool. 

The moral of the story - When life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade!

Goofing about when Mummy is trying to take a serious picture!

Boarding the train with GG

Looking at Thomas close up

Letter to Daisy - My Girl

In my previous blog There's no place like Home, I wrote about our recent holiday together.  While writing that blog, it got me thinking about something I read a few years ago, so I asked one of my university lecturer friends if she could find the piece for me. I've put it at the bottom of the page, it's really interesting how our behaviour can impact on our children and it is food for thought. Our blogging circle is back on track this month.  Zoë was without internet for three weeks while moving house.  We welcome an old friend Diane, of Diane Whyte Photography this month.  She has been planning on joining us but has been busy with her boys during the school holidays.  This month I am linking to her blog: You never get two the Same.  Diane has years of experience and I'm looking forward to reading her letter.

My Darling Daisy,

I wanted to let you know that I was really proud of how well you behaved being away from home, considering we were in really busy unknown places.  To be absolutely sure I was not going to lose you, Nanny suggested I use my old reigns, the very ones that were purchased for me when I was a toddler and are over thirty years old.  I put them on you, unclipped the back loop and attached it to the belt loop on my jeans.  You weren’t all that keen on being tied up like a dog at first but you soon realised that it was for your own good.  That, or you accepted the fact I wasn’t going to cave in and remove them.  You’ve been on a train before but this was the first time on the Caledonian sleeper and it was very exciting.  As soon as you saw the berth you immediately wanted to be on the top bunk.  I was a little concerned that you might fall out but I didn’t want to disappoint you and I told myself that you would be fine.  There are two safety belts that act as a barrier at the head end of the top bunk so I felt a little better about it, however I woke up every hour of the journey with worry. I was constantly in and out of my bed checking that you were ok but you slept like a log the entire way.

You know that when we go anywhere different I usually take my camera; you never know when there will be a photo opportunity.  Being in the south of England, we were pretty assured that the weather was going to be nice so there’s more chances to get photos of you in your summer dresses.  You were extremely patient with me this trip and only moaned about the camera a few times.   Your new way to show your annoyance at the camera is to pull funny faces or do the complete opposite of what I'm directing you to do.  When we were at Blenheim Palace I wanted a photo on the stairs and knew I only had a small window of opportunity before you would get grouchy.  I was saying, left a bit, right a bit, up a step, down a step and was making you wait until the steps had cleared and I couldn’t believe you were actually doing as you were told.

You are getting older and much more grown up.  I can't believe you are starting pre-school nursery next month.  We've had a great summer holiday together and we've done some really exciting things.  I'm just a little sad that this will be the last summer before we are bound by school holidays and can't just disappear when we feel like it. Next week is officially our final week of the holidays.

I feel like we learned a lot on our mini break holiday.  You have been more tolerant of my photo taking and I have persevered until I got what I needed without an argument.  I have been more laid back like Nanny since coming home and realised that getting all worked up about small things is totally pointless.  You learn from your surroundings and I think I if I can be calm you will grow up to be calm too, although there’s that teeny weenie bit of genetic personality that I’m glad you’ve got.

Mummy
xx

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Letter to Daisy - Thank Goodness for Grannies

My Darling Daisy

I was lying down having a rest one day and I wondered, when you are older how will you remember me?  As I was drifting in and out of sleep I was thinking about this letter to you and what I would write.  I could hear you running about in the garden and being told by nanny that you needed to go upstairs and have a bath.  I felt all happy listening to you playing and then singing Old McDonald as you climbed the stairs, with your usual lyric change at the chorus.  Instead of singing E-I E-I- O, you sing E-I-O, stretching out the sound of the E until the timing is right for the I-O

You’re a funny little creature and a doctor told me recently that you are very advanced for your age.  Nanny has been saying that for a few years but I always thought she was just saying it because you are her only grand daughter and to her you will always be super smart.  It amazes me at times the things you say and I’m forever getting compliments about how polite you are.  Recently, at the local supermarket you chatted to the checkout lady and started the conversations with “excuse me”.  I just knew the lady was not used to hearing that very often.  Walking out the shop you said to me, "that lady was beautiful" and I wished you had told her because I bet it would have made her day.

I haven’t been very well this month and I seem to have had an epiphany as a result of being exposed to some reality in the past few weeks, you could say a wake up call.  When you are older you will also experience little wake up calls of your own and it’s important that you act on them.  It’s also been one of those months where I have reflected on what is in your best interests and I have had to make some decisions for you. 

At times, I feel like a bit of a spectator in your life but what I’m actually doing is pacing myself.  I don’t have a lot of energy, but I’m watching what you are doing, listening to what you are saying and I’m enjoying the show. It’s tough at times and if it wasn’t for the help of Nanny (my mum) I’m not sure how we would manage on our own.  Being so young you are not fully aware of my illness and I guess you think the sleepovers at Nanny’s house are great fun.   Nanny is a very relaxed grandma, she brought up your Uncle and I on her own and she is a strong woman.  I have no doubt this is where my strength comes from.  We are extremely lucky that Nanny is in a position where she can help us as much as she does and it’s like she is the person co-parenting, the one who makes sacrifices to help out whenever we need.  Actually, all of our family is just a phone call away if we ever need help, even my Grandma who is 81 years old does the occasional sleepover.  We are truly blessed to have such a close family.  When you grow up and have children of your own you will realise how precious the bond between mother and child is and it doesn’t matter how tired or ill you are, you pick yourself up for the sake of your child.  One day you will start to understand that when Mummy is ill, it’s a little more serious than the usual coughs and colds people get.  I hope it doesn’t get you down.  You have to adopt the attitude that it’s a fact of life, something that can’t be changed but can be controlled and monitored.  Sometimes things happen in life that we don’t like, we wish they never existed but how we deal with these little problems makes all the difference.

I joined a new Facebook group that I stumbled on by complete chance and it is a group for Mothers with the same health condition as me.  I always thought I was a minority but it seems not and it’s comforting to know there’s a whole community out there of women like me, warrior women that battle constantly and bring up children and for some it’s not just one.  I was shocked to read one lady is 61 years old, yes you read that right SIXTY FREAKING ONE YEARS OLD and another saying her daughter is 20yrs old, yes TWENTY years old!  It gives me hope that I could still be here when you are 20, but up until now I’ve never thought that could be a reality.

This was me trying to re-create the photo at the top of the page.  This is four generations of my family, Daisy (centre), Me (back), my Mother (right) and my Grandma (left).

The photo at the top of the blog is the four generations before.  The little girl is my Grandma's Mother, then her Mother (back) and so on just like the layout in the photo I did recently.

First four generations picture.
 Taken on 1st January 2010 by my auntie, during new year celebrations with family.
Happy times.



Below, the modern versions of our FOUR Generations with a cheeky outtake.  These photos were set up by me and with the help of the 10 second timer, no additional photographer required!

I hope you will also take time to read the blog of one of my friends in our "Letter's to my Daughter" blogging circle.

http://byevy-photography.blogspot.no/2013/07/letters-to-my-daughters-bond-of-sisters.html

Donna 

xx