A letter from an absent blogger

Guess who's back, back again... 

I have no right to call myself a blogger, not even a part time blogger.  Truth be told I haven't written since August and I have really missed it.  It is probably quite clear what excuse I am going to give... life has just been really busy. 

If you have read my blog before or follow me over on instagram (mamabrookes) then you will know we currently live the Middle East.  My husband and I both work in the same school and we have been away from the UK for just over a year now.  The meant our summer was spent driving up and down the M6, visiting family and friends in England.  This didn't leave much time for blogging.  

Then our return to Abu Dhabi saw our youngest join us at school in FS1 as well as Sam and I both being promoted into middle leadership.  Basically what I am trying to say is that life has been hectic! I am constantly tired #mumlife #teacherlife 

Because I have taken on this role at school I feel guilty for thinking about spending time writing for myself when I could probably be doing school work.  There is always something else you could be getting on with in teaching, your job is just never done.  That coupled with my new role and with the endless list of jobs a mother has meant that my blog has fallen to the bottom of the priorities pile.  

I almost forgot about my little space on the internet.  I pushed it to the back of my mind and believed that because I haven't written there was no point in starting again.  Then I remembered the point of this blog.  It is for me and it is for my children.  I am a sentimental, overly emotional fool who loves to collect memories.  It really doesn't matter why I stopped writing what matters is that I want to start again. 

I want to keep sharing our families little adventure, I want to continue rambling about motherhood and married life.  I may not be the most stylish woman in the world but I like to write about the outfits to throw on and I love to shout about small brands that I like to dress my children in.  I would also like to write more about our expat family life and add a little more lifestyle posts here and there. 

This isn't my job, this is my little hobby, my little escape from my day job.

What I am trying to say is that I am back.  And I can't wait to get stuck in, if you'll still have me? 

Hello, again. x 

Getting fruity with Kibsons.

Before I get started with this post, I feel inclined to say hello! I haven't written in a while and wanted to say hi to the few lovely people that take the time to read my blog.  How are you? What have you been up to? I would love if you left a comment to say hello on this post!

Right back to the post.

A little while back, we were very kindly invited to a little event with https://kibsons.com over in Dubai.  Kibsons is a fresh food delivery service in the UAE.  We love the company and have been using the service for a few months so were delighted when they invited to spend the morning with them.   The company was established over 30 years ago and prides itself on its relationship with customers and the quality of the produce it delivers.


Posey and Lochlann thoroughly enjoyed the event as they got to paint on canvasses using a variety of different fruits and vegetables.  You can see their creations in some of the shots below.  It was a really lovely way to spend the morning with the children and has encouraged us to get the paints out with children more often.

After the masterpieces were complete, the children were treated to a complimentary box of healthy Kibsons treats whilst myself and Sam were interviewed on camera (eekkk!) giving our reasons for using and enjoying the service.

We love to use Kibsons because we know we can trust their produce.  The children get really excited when the blue box arrives at the door and it has such a positive effect on our eating.  The best thing about Kibsons for me has to be the price of the fruit and vegetables.  If you are someone living in the UAE, I would highly recommend using Kibsons.  The quality is great, the price is reasonable and the fruit lasts longer than it seems to from the supermarkets.

Thanks Kibsons! I look forward to ordering from you when we get back to Abu Dhabi!

* This post is in no way sponsored and the opinions included are my own.

Confessions of a regular mama

It seems to have happened... the one thing I promised myself I would never turn into when I had children.  I am a shouty mum! Sometimes even a yelling one and quite frankly it makes me feel like crap.

I am not sure when it happened... don't get me wrong I was never a perfect mama by any means and occasionally I did shout but as my children grow out of their toddler years I seem to be doing it much more often.

Since moving out to Abu Dhabi our lives have been filled with emotional highs and lows and sometimes these are pretty extreme.  I think this has had an impact on my parenting.  It has taken time to adjust to the earlier get up times, a new job, a new home, the fact that we are constantly together and of course the heat.  We still use 'time out' as our main form of discipline and yet I seem to be raising my voice more and more.  The truth is the more I yell, the less I am heard and the more both Posey and Lochlann seem to push the boundaries.  But then of course they do, who wants to be shouted at by their mama.  I need to remember they are still my babies, they are only 3 and 4.  Shouting is not the answer not matter how tired or emotional I am and no matter how much they are testing my patience.

Lochlann has hit three and although he is still such a sweet and gentle soul he now has fits of anger and frustration.  This frustration sometimes causes him to act out by hitting his sister or yelling, 'no' at Sam and I when we ask him to do something.  I think that I know the reasons behind his behaviour though.  Not only has he gone through all the changes that we have as a family, he has also been toilet trained and is being weaned off his dummy.  I know he is finding the latter of these very difficult so I need to bloody well remember this when he is acting out.

The thing with Posey is that she is a bright young lady and she is testing her limits and ours.  She has learned that she can tell lies (by lies I mean little fibs) and this is something we are tackling.  She also has a cheeky attitude and now stamps her feet at me if she doesn't get her own way.  It absolutely infuriates me when she does this.  I then shout and plonk her in time out when really it probably just needs a cuddle and a discussion about the right ways to show her frustration.  She is only four after all.

This isn't a, 'oh woe is me, I am such a terrible mother' post.  Instead it is me recognising something in my own behaviour and vowing to change it.  I am going to talk to my little family and let them know that this is something I am going to work on.  I need to speak more softly and hope that I am heard better.  I need to go to bed earlier and get more sleep whilst we are off and replenish my energy.  I also think making healthier eating choices and taking some time to exercise (aka have some time to myself without feeling mega guilty) will help me be a calmer, happier mama. 

I love my babies, I am in love with my little family and I need to make sure they know how much they are loved.  Shouting is not my parenting style and it stops here.

Thanks for taking the time to read.  If you are a parent reading this, I hope you can understand.