Well I’m finally finished celebrating this monumental birthday, and what a month of celebrations it has been! And to top it all off nicely, I get yet another month of celebrations for Christmas! This people, is why I love this time of year!  So much has happened that I want to tell you about, but this post is all about my flying visit to The Big Apple.

I absolutely cannot recommend New York enough, this city has something for everyone, and the weather was kind to us too, we even managed to go out one evening without a jacket, yes in November!! There is so much to do, it really is the city that never sleeps, we crammed in so much over the four days that we were there, the lovely friend that came with me, worked out that we walked 30 miles over the course of our visit, and still we barely scratched the surface of places to see.

Friday we divided up into pairs, myself and my wonderful friend went off to the Empire State building. This building is phenomenal, we walked around the 2nd, 79th and 86th floors. The 2nd floor is full of the most wonderful artefacts, art and the most amazing King Kong display. Then we made our way up to the 79th floor, the elevator ride was an experience in itself and then up to the 86th floor where we could stand outside and witness the most fantastic views I’ve seen. We followed this by having a wonderful mooch around all of the well-known shops, the highlight being Macy’s department store, their Christmas window displays were just amazing, then we had a good look around Times Square, the pictures genuinely do no do this justice. To round the day off nicely, the four of us went out for the yummiest burger I have ever eaten! 

Saturday we divided up again, two of us went off to the natural history of America museum, yes the one from ‘The Night at the museum’. We walked through Central Park to get there, although on looking at a map afterwards, we realised we had not even seen a third of Central Park, so when I eventually go back, I definitely want to see the rest of it. The museum was fantastic, we did both agree though that it didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor we had hoped it would be. You should absolutely go and visit if you’re there and have the time, as some of the artefacts are truly truly brilliant. Following this and a quick look around some more shops, we all met back up and went to watch Chicago, on actual real life Broadway, and we couldn’t have asked for better seats, we were only seven rows from the front! This was everything I hoped for and more, I have always wanted to watch a play on Broadway, and I could not have seen a better performance! After this, we met up with one of my mum’s oldest friends and her husband, and one of my aunties and her friends, as by absolute pure fluke, they were all in New York for the same weekend we were, so a few drinks and a bit of food was a given. After goodbyes, myself and my beautiful friend got a bit dolled up and went and had some cocktails, after all, when in New York and all that!

Sunday brought something a bit more hard-hitting and emotional. The four of us together visited The 9/11 memorial and museum. We knew it was going to be tough, but we couldn’t have prepared for how grave it really was. It really took us back to that fateful day, I know I will always remember the moment the news broke of the dreadful events that happened back in 2001, but how this has affected America as a nation, well this museum and the memorial gave me a deep understanding of how people are still living with the outcome of the day. It really is a very fitting tribute to those people who lost their lives or were affected by the tragedies of that awful day. After quite a heavy day, we chose to visit a couple of little markets and then end the day with a classic american meal at TGI Fridays. 

Monday we only had a few hours before heading back to the airport to head back to Blighty. So we rushed around to try and see the last few bits we wanted to cram in, and yes, more shops! To top the trip off on a high, my amazing mum managed to swindle us better seats on our flight home, and we all managed to sleep! To round it up in a nutshell, well I couldn’t, and it wouldn’t be fair to this beautiful city, only seeing it can do it the justice that it truly deserves. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been blessed with a visit here, and if you’re ever given the opportunity to visit, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Much love. xx

As some of you will know if you follow me on social media, this week I turned the big 40. Now I’m not big on numbers and that is exactly what age is, just a number, but that said, my 30th was a bit of a wash out so I was hell-bent on making this birthday memorable!  And well, I haven’t been disappointed, I can honestly say I am one of the luckiest, most blessed person alive. I mean, the celebrations are quite literally running all month, who gets to continue their celebrations for an entire month!

It started with some of my dearest and bestest friends coming for night of fun, chatter, laughter and gifts. These beautiful women not only brought a spread of yummy food, a delicious cake and plenty of wine with them, but they also marked this event with 40 (yes, one for every year) gifts, each was personal to me, and yes there were tears! Each present was numbered and the very last one was the most special, these amazing humans have paid for and arranged everything, including childcare) for a weekend away yurting next year, and I honestly can’t think of any other group of beautiful souls I would rather be with! Ladies, I won’t name you in here, but I cannot thank you enough for being the most amazing angels, I love you all millions. 

 

My next treat was a lovely lunch date with my lovely auntie, we went to a beautiful little local cafe/shop called Aston Pottery. The food never disappoints there and they have their own decorated pottery products amongst so many other beautiful items including local food, jewellery, scarves, bags, and the most gorgeous Christmas decorations. Along with a scrummy lunch I was treated to a very beautiful tree decoration. Thank you so much to my auntie too, I love you loads.

And then came my actual birthday, I was made to feel super special at work, there was balloons and cards and even a rendition of happy birthday. I was so very spoilt by all of my family, so much love and happiness, plus I got to celebrate with my niece too as we share a birthday and she has always been one of my greatest most wonderful gifts. Talking of gifts, man alive, I received some of the most amazing gifts, everyone has been so generous and I’m truly grateful, i have keepsakes that will always remind me just how loved I am and also some amazing things that will help me create some life lasting memories! To my mum, children, brother,  both my grans, sister-in-law to be and beautiful nieces and nieces to be, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you all so much.

Today I was treated by another of my beautiful best friends to a really special treat of decorating a piece of pottery at another little pottery place we have local to us and then a really scrummy lunch date at a little pub close to town. This gorgeous soul has shown me so much love today and I love her millions.

And the celebrations are set to continue, this week coming I am off to New York for a long weekend with my mum and two gorgeous friends, one being one of my longest standing best friends, to make some more life time memories. To say I am excited is an understatement, New York has always been a dream destination for me, and as an added bonus, it’s a child free break! If you follow me on social media, there will be plenty of photos uploaded on all three of my accounts, so do have a gander. And to end the birthday month celebrations with a bang, I have another night out in a local city to us planned with yet more amazing friends and family in such an awesome venue with plenty of interesting cocktails and yummy food.

I cannot thank my loved ones enough for making feel like the most loved person alive, thank you just doesn’t seem to cover it, you’re all amazing and thank you for being such a huge part of my life, I love you all massively. And with that I only have one last thing to add, can I turn 40 every year please?!

Much love. xx

Evening folks, So with an especially large birthday only days away, thoughts about where my life is headed have been thoroughly at the forefront of my mind over the last few weeks. Over the last few months I have been looking at how my mindset dictates how my life is panning out, and if I change how I approach all aspects with a more determined and positive attitude then the things I want to happen are starting to manifest into actualities. I am going to do a whole post dedicated to this process, but it’s still a work in progress right now, and somethings are still manifesting.

One of the many factors that I have given a great deal of thought to is being single, relationships and dating. Now this is something I will be careful of the content over, as I know my children will read this, as well as other young and impressionable young readers. I consider myself to be the clichéd strong, independent and happy single person that you probably roll your eyes at, and I appreciate that so many people say that they are all of the above, but then in the next breath are saying that they’re lonely and missing that something special in their life. Well I’m here to tell you that I really am all of the above but yes at times, I can be lonely (yeah I know, even with four children and a pooch), sometimes I do pine for that ridiculously unrealistic happy ever after, and then the following day I wake up and I’m back to being independent again, and hell-bent on making it through life on my own. But since retraining my mindset, I have come to realise that actually, our the whole make-up of our physical being is changeable dependent on our emotional state of mind at any given time, and that actually, it’s ok to feel like you can conquer the world on your own, and then the following day hope for nothing more than to find your soul mate and be able to start that ‘happy ever after’ that you read about in books or see in all of the films. 

My point being, is that our chemical balance changes every day, and in doing so brings a whole host of feels with it. But what you truly truly want will pan out eventually, you just have to, not even just believe in it, but actually see it happening, and it will manifest, trust me. I know what I envisage, and I know it will happen, because if you can really see it, life has a way of making it happen. So whether you are going to live a life of solo adventures or dreams with your soul mate, it will happen, because you get out what you put in, put out those thoughts into the world, they may surprise you with the response.

Much love. xx

Hey guys,

I can only apologise for the gap in time since my last post, life has been a little bit crazy over the last week or so. The week-long half term breaks are always a little bit fraught in our home, anyone who lives with any kind of ‘hidden’ condition will understand why, and whilst I am usually quite private about our struggle with autism, I actually think it is quite important that people are made more aware of just how tough life can be sometimes, for all involved. I have put off posting about this subject, as it is a really sensitive topic and I want to make sure that I can do it justice for all those living with these conditions.

Now whilst I love nothing more than talking about my children, sharing stories with you all about the comical and loving side of my parenting journey, I try my utmost to protect my children from this hobby that I have, I keep their identities hidden as I feel that they have the right to anonymity until they are of an age to maturely make the decision for otherwise. That said, it is not a secret to you all that one of my boys lives with autism, he also lives with several other conditions that are not necessarily visible to the untrained eye, and of course when I say he lives with these conditions, I mean we all do within our home. Obviously he is the most affected by his conditions, but let me tell you, that we all are at the hands of these ‘invisible’ conditions.

Over the years I have heard many theories/opinions/’facts’/pieces of advice and quite frankly downright rude comments about Autism, ADHD, ADD, Aspergers, and well a whole host of other conditions. In the main, I keep my opinions to myself, as I find that most incorrect perceptions are down to lack of education, and well I often find that unless you have or are living with such conditions, it is unlikely that you will really truly understand just how tough life can be with them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all doom and gloom and there are so many positives, so much so that I will do another post to emphasise this. But the point of this post to promote that these conditions are not made up, they genuinely do exist, and actually life is bloody tough for all involved, it’s just most of the time you won’t see the struggles, as unless you witness a fully fledged ‘meltdown’ most other ‘symptoms’ will be kept to the persons ‘safe place’, which is of course mostly at home. These ‘symptoms’ can include many different behaviours, our experience, which I have to point out now, is different from everyone elses, because here’s a shock revelation, every autistic person is their own person and has their very own struggles, but ours varies on which point in the school year we are at, so for example, these week-long breaks lead to arguments with siblings (yes, I know this is normal behaviour, but these are no normal disagreements, trust me!), destructiveness, we have suffered many a broken controller or tv (dependent on the meltdown level), not being able to leave the house, trying to stay out of the house as long as possible, siblings not being able to have friends around to the house, son, not being able to cope with friends around, all this down to the fact that there is such a rapid change in his daily routine.

I guess my point is, please please, before you poo poo any ‘hidden’ condition, think carefully about the people who are living with these conditions. Yes, I am fully aware that there are many people that are fraudulently ‘living’ with these conditions within their households. Sadly there will always be families that see pound signs before a diagnosis, and believe me when I say, that as someone who is genuinely living and managing a child with these diagnosis’, I share your frustrations, I have said for many a year that those who are fraudulently claiming that either they or their child has these conditions, should actually spend one week in the same household as someone who genuinely suffers, as most days it truly is a sufferance for these people, and I say this with a low functioning autistic child, for those living with high functioning autism within their household, I salute you. 

To those who think these conditions are made up to excuse ‘naughtiness’, you couldn’t be more wrong, to those that say ‘these conditions didn’t exist when I was young’, yes they did, but we are all more educated now, and fortunately for those suffering, there is more understanding in the world, and more available treatments than the local ‘nut house’. So please, next time you see a meltdown in action, think very carefully about tarring that child as naughty, and please please don’t stare, nothing is more heartbreaking for a parent in the midst of their child becoming over stimulated, than strangers staring and judging. And to all parents that are coming out of the October half term, I hope it has been a happy one and you’ve managed to celebrate Halloween as it should be. 

Much love. xx

Well I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t tell you where this half term has gone, it only feels like five minutes ago we were packing up those brand new school bags and lining out shiny clean uniform and shoes and now half term and Halloween are upon us. If you follow my blogs regularly, you’ll know that this past term has been quite a big one for myself and my little crew. I’m now a half term into my new job, and the children are fully settled into their current year groups at school and college, and dare I say it, everyone seems quite happy, myself especially, to say I love my new job is a massive understatement, and combine that with pursuing my blog and social media accounts, I have to say I am super super happy with how this term has panned out.

What’s everyone’s plans for this half term, for us this is the first Halloween half term where we haven’t completely devoted the week to making decorations, Halloween snacks, decorating the house up and carving pumpkins. Nope I have been suitably informed by my children that they are too old for Halloween this year, even though the boys (including the 17-year-old) are all currently wrestling upstairs! So this year we will be spending the week chilling, well the children will be, I will be decorating as much as I can before the busy Christmas term kicks in and I’m back to just evenings and weekends. Isn’t it funny, you don’t see what needs doing until you start the mammoth task of decorating/DIY, and then all of a sudden, everything starts to look run down and grubby. Oh well, it keeps me busy and fingers crossed, everything will be looking all fresh and beautiful by Christmas. 

Although we are all extremely looking forward to not having to rush about in the mornings and able to enjoy staying up late, what I am really, really excited for is next term, it is always my most favourite term of the entire month, and this year I have even more to look forward to. The evenings have properly started to draw in now, hot chocolate has become a regular bed time drink again, the wooly jumpers are out, we’ve started to properly think about Christmas (well at least we have in our home), and I have lots of very exciting plans to celebrate my big birthday next month, including a rather extravagant trip to New York! So tell me, are you a winter baby like me? Are you silly excited for half term and the christmas term too? Tell me what this time of year means to you?

Much love. xx 

So this is sort of a follow on from my last post. This past week I’ve started redecorating again, it’s not my favourite thing to do but it is a case of needs must, and quite frankly, no one else is going to do it for me, and actually it’s dawned on me this week, I wouldn’t have that any other way. I get to choose how I want everything, I can get it done as quickly or as slowly as I want, which is just as well with my budget this side of Christmas! Now my boys will moan that our house is too pretty and girly, and I always say the same thing to them, “When you own your own home, you can decorate exactly as you please, until then, suck it up”. And this is such a valid point, for many years I had to listen to how we should do things, how we should have the house decorated it, when we should do it, etc etc, and now I finally have the freedom to do what I want to my house, and I really am making the very most of this, my living room is hot pink and white (I must add though, not in a garish way), my wallpaper even has sparkles in it, my bedroom looks a bit like a cosy log cabin, and well it is an understatement to say that my whole house has the shabby chic yet elegant look. 

My latest house project is recovering the units and work surfaces and changing up the colour scheme within my kitchen. A few years ago I would have been told I wasn’t up to the challenge of attempting this myself, and I would have believed it, however fast forward a few years of being single, and I will genuinely turn my hand to anything, of course everyone has their limits, but I am always willing to have a bash at a project by myself. I should probably mention that a friend is giving me a helping hand with this as she has already done it to her own kitchen, but we were making a statement to the children this morning that everyone is capable of having a go and achieving things that they didn’t think possible. One of the things that fills my heart the most, is the pride my children have in me as I have shown them just how strong I am now, and my determination is unlimited, and in turn this is rubbing off on them, and they will try even when they’re not feeling confident about whatever they’re attempting. 

I guess my point of this blog is to make you see that you’re capable of anything, you’re strong enough to deal with what life throws at you, it doesn’t matter what people tell you, not everyone see the amazing person that you are. Please please believe in yourself, you are strong, you are capable and you are an independent individual who can kick butt. So go out there and do that thing that you’ve always wanted to do, get that paintbrush and make your haven exactly as you want it, I absolutely promise you, you will shine from within. 

Much love. xx

This week I have been quite reflective on where I am with my life at the moment, and I came to realise that I am super proud of who I am and where life is headed for me and my little crew right now. And what makes me appreciate it all the more is that everything I achieve, every adventure I take and every new corner I turn, is all down to my own hard work and determination. Now I have been a single mum for over ten years now, obviously when I had my children, I didn’t for one minute dream I would end up travelling this crazy parenting journey as a single parent, but life happens and events take place and so here I am now running this road with my four amigos as a one parent family, and do you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have discovered so much about myself  since becoming a parent, but more so in the last ten years, some not so great traits, but mostly just what I am capable when I put my mind to it and let my determination shine through.

One thing that has really stood out to me is that I am the maker of my own happiness, I mean obviously my children, friends and family are huge contributors, but what I mean is that despite many believing that being in a relationship makes your life whole, that it makes you stronger and more resilient as you’re facing life as a team, being single does not make you any less happy, it doesn’t mean you’re less likely to be able to deal that stressful situation or that life just isn’t as good. I am genuinely loving y life right now, I have a fantastic job, my children, in the main, are happy, healthy and in a good place, I have a beautiful home, and whilst I know I don’t see my friends and family half as much as I would love to, I am truly blessed to have the people in my life that I do. A couple of people over the years have asked why I am not actively looking for a partner, do I not miss having another adult within the home to share all the highs and lows with, and in all honesty, it’s because I am absolutely the happiest I have been in a very very long time.  Nothing is ever perfect no matter what social media tells us, but I am truly grateful for the here and now, I am a huge believer of everything happens when the time is right and everything happens for a reason, and on this basis, I know that my life is exactly as it is supposed to be right now.

So please please, if I can make you see anything this week, let it be that you are right where you need to be at the moment, so look for the little things and you will find happiness. Be happy with who you are.

Much love. xx

Ok, so this is a heads up, this may be my first real controversial post, and it may rub some people up the wrong way, hit a nerve, or maybe, you might just agree with me, either way please remember that this is just my opinion, not based on facts, only on my observations as a mum myself. 

There is no hiding from the fact that there is an epidemic of this culture of gangs of kids hounding the places we live now, and dependent on where abouts you live determines the severity of their crimes and hindrance. Obviously and very sadly the closer to London you live, the more likely that you will be affected by knife incidents, clearly it is not solely in London, but according to the press, that is where it is most prevalent. Even in the sleepy little town that I live in, this gang mentality is a growing problem. In recent months we’ve had a spate of people attacked, some needing ongoing hospital treatment. Sadly due to budget cuts, resources and red tape, there is usually little the police can do to bring these burdens on our society to justice, leaving most of them thinking that they’re above the law. Now clearly, without a massive overhaul within the government and some very much-needed re-budgeting, the chances of this changing is highly unlikely to change any time soon. But this carries me on nicely to my point of this post, at what point to parents start taking responsibility for the actions of their offspring.

Now it would be really easy for me to sit here and tar all parents with unruly kids with the same brush, however I am not naive enough to think that this is the case, I know there are some parents who are genuinely at their wit’s end as their children have sadly fallen in with the wrong crowd, these parents are desperately trying to make their sons/daughters see that their current friendship circle aren’t thinking about their best interests, that as their mum/dad they just want to protect their baby from the path that they’re headed on. However even more sadly, there is a growing number of kids that are being almost abandoned by their parents for one reason or another. Whether it be because they cannot cope, they have health issues of their own, or quite plainly, they just don’t care, whatever the reason, I’m sorry but these precious little pain in the backsides are their parents responsibility! It is not the polices job to educate your children on the rights and wrongs of the world, neither does it fall on the schools to be responsible for your children’s actions outside of school hours! No, I’m sorry but if you’ve given birth/adopted/been granted carer status to these children, you have a duty to them to show them the right path. Again, I realise that it is easy for me to say this when all of my children are safely in the walls of my home and I know where they are and what they’re doing, but I have worked hard to teach my children the right path, especially with autism thrown into the mix. 

With all this said, one of the things I feel most passionate about is that not all teenagers are tarred with the same brush. I see so much in the press and on social media, implying that all teenagers are bad, we have made a generation of lazy, troublesome, criminals, this is most definitely not the case! I am fed up with defending my own teenagers and those of friends because of the actions of a minority of idiots, and the narrow mindedness of a social society that won’t take the time to see individual young people as the good-natured characters that they are. I know even just within the small area I live in, there are frequent posts about teenagers causing trouble within the community but it is implied by some to be the case with most teenagers, and what’s really upsetting is that a lot of these posts are coming from other parents, usually who have not yet been through the teenage years with their own children. So for anyone that feels that all teenagers are the same, that they’re all going out carrying knives or tins of spray paint, they really are not, please think carefully about your posts, one day your own children will be teenagers, or maybe they have already been through and come out the other side of their teenage years, but one way or another you will be experiencing teens at some point, and you yourself will see that most of these young people are genuinely good citizens like you and I. So please please take the time to be polite to our young people, after all, what better way to teach them than by example.

Much love. xx

Hi folks, I’m sorry I haven’t posted for over a week but lots of life things have needed my attention this past fortnight and in all honesty I have been so shattered by the time I’ve sat down to write a post, I just knew anything I wrote would not be to the standard that I like to achieve, and it’s not fair to any regular readers that I am fortunate enough to have, to give you anything but my best, so I took a week off of all things ‘Just Jasmine xx’ and concentrated on all of the homey sort of gumph that I needed to get sorted. Well I say sorted, what I have actually done is created more work for myself by making a pile of lists, lists of diy that needs doing around the house, lists of little jobs that I have been putting off, lists of exciting things coming up, Christmas lists and probably a list about my lists too, after all, who doesn’t love a good list! 

I have now created enough work for myself to keep me going right up to Christmas, which is just as well as all of the hard work is in preparation for the festive period. There is something about the change of the season that truly inspires me to just get stuff done, come Spring and Autumn that just motivates me and sends my Pinterest page into meltdown. I am so excited for the end result, and I know once I get started, I will enjoy the process as well, although I can tell you what I’m not enjoying, shredding paperwork, it is quite possibly one of the most mundane jobs known to man, I know it’s essential but man alive! But I have to admit, having made a start on the massive declutter, I can honestly say, it is one of the most satisfying feelings, coming home from work to a clean, tidy and organised house! I am however still trying to get the children on board with this concept mind, apparently putting your school bag and shoes away is just not that important to a ten-year old, oh well it’s a work in progress! So for the forseeable you can find me probably with a paintbrush in one hand and a list in the other with great excitement at the thought of a fresh looking house and the thoughts of all the christmas things I want to attempt from Pinterest, and if you’re all interested I will update on here with all the pretty things I have achieved. Until then, rest assured mu blog posts are back as normal.

Much love. xx

I have tried to steer clear of writing a blog along these lines as I find it a bit clichéd and to be honest, as I’m only human, my mindset changes quite frequently on this subject, however my basic feeling on it remains solidly the same. Weight and body image, love it or hate it this is a topic that always sparks heated debates and everyone tends to have an opinion on it. But over the past few months I have gained a few pounds, and a few more and I don’t know if it’s down to the change of mindset I’ve been working on throughout the last few months, or just because as I’m getting older I’m just less bothered by what others think of me, but either way I’m far happier in my skin than I have been for a good few years. Back in 2017 I spent pretty much the entire year losing weight, initially it started off healthily, but the more I lost the more I felt I needed to lose and I wasn’t losing it quick enough, it got to the point where I was so desperate to hit my target weight by my birthday that what I was eating was getting less and less, and the more people who told me I looked really tiny only fuelled my obsession to get to that target further. I hit my ‘target’ weight on my actual birthday and when I stood on those scales and realised that I had, I was absolutely elated, I had done it, and for the couple of days that followed I was proud of myself and loved the compliments that were given to me, but in the weeks to come and the build up to christmas, I tried desperately to maintain the tiny weight I had shrunk down to, and then it started to hit me, even though I was a tiny size 6 almost edging down to a size 4, I was still unhappy with the way my body looked.

With all the delicious christmas foods now in the shop and the festivities happening I started to relax my ridiculous eating pattern and allow myself the chocolates and snacks that I love so much at the most wonderful time of the year, I allowed myself to have wine and Bailey’s on Christmas day. Then January hit and I tried really hard to get back into the restricted eating pattern again as I had gained at least half a stone and I thought temporarily that if I could get my weight back down again then I would find the happiness with the way I saw myself. Now hindsight is a beautiful thing and now as I sit here with my glass of Prosecco and my salted caramel m&m’s, I can see with clarity that I was chasing a body image that I was never going to achieve, I mean I had had four children, one of which came out the sunroof, I wasn’t a fan of the type of exercise that is required to tone muscle up and well, and probably the hardest fact to accept, I had so much excess skin that nothing short of surgery was going to see that gone. Of course I can also see now, that how i saw myself was largely down to the toxic marriage I had been in years early and the message that had been driven home to me when I was at my biggest, but how on earth was it possible to stop seeing myself in the light that was so detrimental to my self-confidence, make myself realise that I’m single because I have chosen to be, not because nobody wants me.  I can’t pretend it has been an easy road, but after almost two years I no longer give a crap what people think of how I look, if people stare at what I’m wearing, well I finally see that this is more a sign of their own insecurity, and so I am finally embracing the clothes that I love, and have accepted the fact that I am no longer that ridiculously small size I was two years ago, and on top of that, I am eating the foods I love, I am joining in the meals out with my children instead of frantically chewing on gum envying the them eating that cheesy pizza. But by far and away the most important factor in all of this, I am sending a strong message to my children about enjoying life, showing them that it’s ok to eat the foods you want to and savour the tastes that you love, obviously everything in moderation, but also screw what everyone else thinks, we only get one life and I for one am sick and tired of wasting it on worrying about how other people perceive me. Enjoy every day and don’t ever ever give a second thought to those who criticize you. 

Much love. xx