Life, Love and Dirty Dishes delivers award winning funny tales from the parenting front line delivered with humour and heart. We're all in this together.
I think it’s fair to say the Corona virus pandemic has taken us all on an emotional roller coaster. But what I find utterly exhausting is the conflict. It’s everywhere. In the government, in the news, on social media, and in my head. And it’s the Corona conflict that is causing the overwhelm. The knot […] Read more…
As the nights draw in and the days get cooler, you will most likely be considering the best time to turn on your heating. After a relatively warm summer, the chances are you will not have touched your heating system for a few months. That is all about to change and very shortly you will […] Read more…
My two boys are chalk and cheese. Big has always been a book worm. He loves reading, it came very easily to him, and he has never really needed any encouragement to pick up a book. Little however, is not so keen. He loves a bedtime story, but when it comes to reading himself he […] Read more…
I don’t believe those couples who say they never argue. I mean we all do from time to time. And when you become parents the rows change, not just the hushed tones and muttering under your breath, but the things we row over. A parental row. Sometimes over big stuff, sometimes over silly things. Sleep […] Read more…
Becoming a parent is the best thing. But it’s also the most terrifying thing. Nothing will make you love more, or worry more. It’s amazing and it’s infuriating. It comes with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But that’s what makes it so beautiful. And being so many of us have been […] Read more…
I’m an organised person. But there’s something about the kids going back to school after the Summer holidays that always puts me in a spin. Even when I start preparing by buying the t-shirts in July, at the end of August I start having the same panicked thoughts… Back to school thoughts… Where did I […] Read more…
Now that the heatwave is over and the kids are no longer living in the paddling pool, I’ve been digging into the rainy day activities to keep them amused. I’m a huge fan of Baker Ross for craft stuff. Mainly because when it comes to crafts I have no idea what I am doing. I’ve […] Read more…
I have a lot to be proud of with my little corner of the internet. I’ve built a business from scratch that allows me to work flexibly around the kids. I make good money from it. I’ve won awards. I’ve learnt huge amounts about websites, social media and search engine optimisation to name a few. […] Read more…
This strawberry daquari mocktail is perfect for a heatwave. Freezing cold and full of fruity flavour. It’s a lot like a slushie drink, and being it’s non-alcoholic, it’s perfect to make for the kids too. And unlike normal slushie drinks, it won’t cost a small fortune! As well as tasting great, it’s so quick and […] Read more…
I’m not in a hurry to venture into the city centre now the shops are open again. I’ve been to a few local shops, some of which I am now actively avoiding because the social distancing was awful. However my local Wilko have been handling things really well. They keep the number of customers in […] Read more…
I don’t think anything has made me question the English language and weird sayings we have, more than having kids. Especially when it comes to them learning to read and write… “The ‘e’ sound darling” now would that be ‘ea’ ‘ee’ ‘e’ or ‘y’. Not to mention trying to explain why house isn’t spelt ‘howse’ […] Read more…
The moment you announce you are expecting a child people start to give you little warnings about the things you can’t do when you are a parent. “Get some sleep now because you won’t have any for the next 18 years” Said with a hearty gafaw. But most of the warnings revolve around sleep and […] Read more…
Oops I did it again! I got more prints for the walls. This time some photo tiles from My-Picture.co.uk. Regular readers will know I am a little obsessed with prints for my home. I have some pictures of the boys in the dining room from a photo shoot, that to be honest just brings back […] Read more…
This post may offend some people. But I have been upset, hurt and offended by people not following the guidelines or interpreting them for their own means, so if this post does offend, so be it. I was really upset at the announcements yesterday. We haven’t been to my parents house for three months now. […] Read more…
Over the last six months Little is getting more and more into Lego, so along with his Big brother we now have an insane amount of Lego in our house. And if you have Lego, you need storage! So here are a few Lego storage ideas I have put together to help with playing and […] Read more…
I love walls full of pictures. I have a collection of prints that vary from pictures that have been passed down the generations, special pieces we bought to commemorate special occasions, pictures I just fell in love with, and pictures we have collected from our travels. There are however two problems with having a picture […] Read more…
Rookie Mistakes is a series all about parenting fails. The ones we look back on and laugh about, but prove that we are all winging it when it comes to knowing what we are doing with this parenting gig. And even the tiniest decision, like deciding you are only going out for half an hour […] Read more…
Although we are all facing the same restrictions in this lock-down situation. The reality is that actually lock-down looks quite different for all of us. Some of us may be key workers under enormous amounts of strain doing their daily jobs. Some of us are working from home. Some of us are juggling working from […] Read more…
I know I am not alone in saying that my emotions are all over the place during this pandemic. How I am feeling can change every hour, and the range of emotions is exhaustive! From Negative feelings to feelings of contentment and everything in between. But what I do know is that no one has […] Read more…
I’ve been working from home for nearly 6 years now. In the early days I found it really hard to leave work behind, switch off, and have some down time. There are still days like that now, if I have lots of deadlines, or I am waiting on an important email. But on the whole […] Read more…