The winning blog will be posted on Monday. Until then, happy reading.
Louise of LouLouLoves KNEW she was a witch when this happened, and it's quite lovely. Read about it in her post The day I knew I was a witch.
The strangest thing about our surprise baby, is that I knew it would happen. Call it women’s intuition or call me a witch, but I knew. We weren’t planning anymore children that’s for sure, we had definitely put the cork on the old IVF needle and were delighted with our 2 girls.
Even when trying to get pregnant with The Flash I had called it quits with just one round of IVF. We had initially bought a 3 pack of IVF/ICSI rounds for 56,000SEK but halfway through the cycle I just couldn’t take it anymore...
Read the rest of Louise's post here.
Kathryn Boyde of Katzrambles tells a terrifying tale of a toddler tantrum, an intervention and a subsequent tumble down the stairs in her post I've Regressed 36 Years...And It Ain't Pretty.
After 36 years of feeling the earth beneath my feet, I am now back to getting around the place on all fours – and believe me it’s not nearly as cute as when I was crawling at 9 months old!
You see, yesterday was panning out to be a very relaxing Sunday. Swimming lessons were completed, Christmas lights were hung on the exterior of the house, grocery shopping was attended to and I even managed to slip over to the neighbour’s house for a coffee and a good old chin-wag...
Read the rest of Kathryn's post here.
Joanna Lamb of Joanna Writes Here jumps on the sugar detox bandwagon, sort of, in her post I'm quitting sugar (well, some of it).
I grew up in a home where sweets were reserved for birthday parties, and home baking was what we got when we wanted a treat. As soon as I developed any sort of autonomy, I used it to buy all of those goodies I had supposedly been deprived of. Soft drinks, lollies, chocolate, any of it, all of it. You name it, I wanted it. Throughout my twenties, I would tell people between mouthfuls of sour snakes that I could eat whatever I wanted and never put on weight. And it was true. Until I hit my thirties...
Read the rest of Joanna's post here.
Melanie Dimmitt of Mel-o-Drama is sucked into an awkward weighty situation in her post A weighty question.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that one of the most awkward topics to raise in discussion is the number on the scales. Be they friend or acquaintance, there is just no easy way to respond when somebody says "I need to lose weight." This statement was thrown at me from the other side of my reception desk today, delivered by a woman who usually says no more than "enjoy your weekend" while rushing back to work. Today however was different. She came in, tugging at her clothes and looking uncomfortable.
I internally panic...
Read the rest of Melanie's post here.
Gauri Maini of GAURIMAINI writes a confronting post about a project she became involved in and the challenges she faced in her post The Toilets.
There are plenty of good intentions. It has been a fascinating journey and yet I find myself not surprised by what I am learning. My mum called her friend who has built a temple on her street. They have also built 6 toilets. We weren’t able to talk much and I am unsure whether this is open for people who have made the streets of Vadodara their home because this is where there is opportunity for livelihood, more so than in the villages they lived in. There certainly was no evidence of the toilets being used in the morning as we walked past.
Then, I got a call from a very dear friend of ours who is based in Mumbai and does a lot of work in Kutch...
Read the rest of Gauri's post here.
Susan Taylor of One Woman Circus found herself in a dilemma when it came to choosing godparents for her children in her post A godparents relevant anymore?
Traditionally, the role of a godparent was a religious one. Faith abiding adults were assigned to children to be their religious guides in life and help them gain a greater understanding of God and his ways (hence the title). These days? It's simply about choosing friends or family members you want to be involved in your child's life. Something didn't sit right with either option for my husband and I, and as a result both of my boys still don't have godparents yet.
We did get them baptised (being Anglican myself I was very keen on this and luckily my non-religious husband didn't object), however unlike Catholic ceremonies, we didn't have to choose godparents straight away (or at all for that matter). So after much deliberation, we decided...
Read the rest of Susan's post here.
Caylie Jeffery of Distractions of a Busy Mother explains how terrible career advice given to her has help her realise what kind of guidance her children need in her post Career Guidance for Parents 101.
My six-year-old son loves to draw and paint and gets many honest compliments about his work. He therefore considers himself an artist and often declares that this is what he will be when he grows up. Recently, I told him he did a good job cleaning his room, so he decided at that point he was going to become a cleaner when he finished school. I suggested that perhaps he could do both- be a clean artist or maybe even an artistic cleaner…
Read the rest of Caylie's post here.
Are you are mummy blogger? We want to meet you. Send us your favourite post each week by midday on Thursday at info@ivillage.com. We’ll showcase your work and you could even win publication and a fab prize.
Good luck!