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.
Love it or hate it valentine’s day is just around the corner. What immediately springs to mind when you think of valentine’s day gifts? Flowers, of course. The Flower Shop is a business local to me in the Southampton area and they kindly sent me the biggest bouquet of flowers I have ever received in […] Read more…
In the next few years we have a few 70th birthdays coming up in our family, including my Dad and my Mother-in-law. What do you buy someone for a 70th birthday gift? Especially someone who is hard to buy for, and you want it to be a significant and thoughtful gift. Fortunately Historic Newspapers asked […] Read more…
I love my walls filled with artwork and photographs of the kids. I love the idea of creating a picture from a photo as a piece of artwork for your home. But it’s easier said than done. Professional photo shoots with kids are not for the feint hearted. I know from experience. There’s a lot […] 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…
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…
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…
Nothing in my life has made me feel more of a grown up than when we had a new kitchen fitted. The process itself was painful. There was a lot of dust. A broken boiler (in the middle of winter). Oh, and a severe case of D&V at the exact time when we had no […] Read more…
Let me tell you a story about a horse. Growing up, I lived in the New Forest. The New Forest is famous for the New Forest ponies. Horses roaming the forest are a common sight. Many a traffic jam has been caused by a stubborn horse in the middle of the road! And a fair […] Read more…
The older I have got the more I have stopped following fashion trends, and realised I like to wear what I feel good in, as apposed to what the latest styles are. So when JD Williams contacted me and offered to gift me anything from their range I was spoilt for choice. I’ve also not […] Read more…
109. That’s the average number of admin tasks an adult in the UK performs in a year[1]. As a couple that’s over 200 things to do. That’s over 200 times (yes, that’s four times a week) that one of you likely says to the other “have you done this?” or “please could you do this”, […] Read more…
I love subscription boxes, much like many of the self-care boxes on this comprehensive list. It’s a little treat each month delivered right to your door. They make fantastic gifts and there are so many choices available so you can find something for even the really difficult to buy for. This is my rundown of just […] Read more…
I don’t write a huge amount of reviews on this blog. But now and again I get offered something to review that I just can’t say no to. And let’s face it who is going to say no to a vacuum cleaner that does the job for you? In the thirty seconds it took me […] Read more…
I have to admit I am really strict about my kids using devices. Big has only just got his own tablet for his eighth birthday. My dislike for them playing on devises has mainly been because of the games. I find so many inappropriate because they seem too violent, or they are full of ads, […] Read more…
My first pregnancy began just over eight and a half years ago. One of the first things I did after peeing on a stick was buy a book. I would read what was happening to me and the baby each week and hang off every word. Of course it did nothing to prepare me for […] Read more…
I’m not someone who is into designer clothes and brand names. My experience is normally that they are very expensive and that the quality doesn’t always justify the price tag. I’m more of the mentality of buying three items for the price of that one. These thoughts particularly apply to buying clothes for my […] Read more…
I have never been embarrassed to talk about periods. Growing up, they were never a taboo subject in my house. My Dad would quite happily pick me up sanitary towels from the supermarket, as would my husband now. I’m not ashamed of my period… I started my periods at eleven, and was regular as clockwork […] Read more…
We have just survived over two weeks of captivity as the boys got back to back Chickenpox. You can read my funny post about life in The Chickenpox House to see how we survived. Before chickenpox invaded and took over my house, I knew very little about it. So here are my 9 crucial things you […] Read more…
Kids need to pee at the most inconvenient times. Times when there’s not a toilet in sight. Times when you are stuck in the car. Or even when they should be walking down the aisle. Read The inconvenient times your kid needs to pee, about those times you really don’t need to hear “I need a […] Read more…
If there is one thing that has always been consistent in our house, it’s the bedtime story. From when they were tiny, every night without fail, we read to our boys. Like most parents I’ve lost track of the number of children’s stories I have read to my small people. The favourites I know […] Read more…
I am always slightly suspicious of parents who say their kids eat organic healthy meals 100% of the time. I mean we all strive to feed our kids healthy meals, to make sure they eat their fruit and veg, and to limit their sugar intake. But some days I resort to chucking something ‘beige’ in […] Read more…