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 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…
When I was a kid we used to pretend the shed in the garden was our clubhouse. Inspired by our love of the Secret Seven books, my friend and I declared the shed as the base for the Red Indian Club. You could only come in if you knew the password. Only the shed was […] Read more…
I have never been particularly green fingered. In fact any plant I have ever owned, even ones specifically labelled “low maintenance and hardy”, have not survived under my care. But as I get older I find myself being drawn to plants. I have filled my house with those of the artificial, or if you are […] Read more…
I love organising a party. Everything from the invite to the party bags. The first big ‘party’ I arranged was probably my wedding. That was way before sweet tables were a thing, and printing invitations was incredibly expensive. That’s why I hand made my invitations. It took me hours and hours to write them all. […] Read more…
As things stand Little, being indeed little, is due to go back to school on the first of June (if the government deems it safe to do so). But should I send my child back to school? My answer to that question can change at any point of the day. I feel trapped in a […] Read more…
Businesses big and small are struggling due to Covid-19. I think it’s so important to support small businesses where you can. This is a small selection of great products for lock down that make great gifts, things to do, or treats, for either yourself or a loved one. Cotton Clara Embroidery made easy with some […] Read more…
When lock down first started I found myself suffering with lock down envy. There was lots of talk of people being able to do all the things they never have time for normally. Individuals starting new hobbies and realising ambitions from their own four walls. All amazing lock down achievements. Between taking care of the […] Read more…
Since becoming a parent I have spent a lot of time becoming acquainted with the floors of my house. Prior to kids, I very rarely found myself on the floor. Maybe one or two times, when over indulging in alcohol led me to believe that the wood floor was the most comfortable of places to […] Read more…
As we enter the third week of lock down and working from home, chances are you have taken part in some kind of video conference call. And chances are if you are a parent, a small person has interrupted that conference call with something of vital importance to say. Conference calls with kids around require […] Read more…
Schools are closed to try and contain the Coronavirus. Parents are suddenyl juggling keeping the kids entertained, doing home school work and trying to work from home. And these small people need feeding at regular intervals. It’s a lot. My enthusiasm at the beginning of the week was high. Now I find myself purging the […] Read more…
It all seemed so far away when it first started. I hung onto posts about more people dying from cancer than corona. But things changed. They changed fast. Everyones life has been effected. Everyone. It’s scary and everything is uncertain. The day they announced the schools would close I cried so much. Even now anthing […] Read more…
To my darling O, Six! How did that happen?! It makes me as sad as it does happy. I’m sad because my little baby is long gone, and how I would love to go back and cuddle you in your sleeping bag as you nuzzle into my neck. It makes me sad for the time […] Read more…
Over the last few years politics, the huge divide in our country, growing racism, and the general state of the world, have meant that somewhere along the line I have lost my faith in humanity. If anything good comes from the Coronavirus outbreak I hope it is that my faith is restored. Rather than an […] Read more…
My son’s Primary school is an old Victorian building, very similar to the primary school I went to. My eldest came home the other day with a very detailed story about the toilets and how they were haunted. It made me smile because the toilets at my old school were haunted too! But whilst some […] Read more…
I would have never considered ditching the scales until I read a book that changed my life. My hatred of my body started at 8 years old. It started with a comment from a friends Dad that made me compare my body to other people’s for the first time. Over the years it was fuelled […] Read more…
I am not a crafty parent. When the kids come home from school with a letter telling me they require a costume I am far more likely to turn to Amazon than I am the sewing machine. Who am kidding, I don’t even own a sewing machine. But sometimes I begrudge forking out for a […] Read more…
My eldest child is hardly ever ill. My youngest however gets everything going, and always gets it to the extreme. However at the end of last year we had a really bad run with the two of them. Tonsillitis, sickness bugs, ear infections and raging temperatures for no apparent reason. For a good two months […] Read more…
A Spa break is something I enjoyed before I became a parent. But now I am a parent I think I appreciate them on a whole new level. Why Mums Love a spa break… 1. We can recharge from the chaos Sometimes my life feels like a whirlwind of after school clubs, homework, birthday parties, […] Read more…
I had my last alcoholic drink 226 days ago. That’s over 7 months sober. I’m not sure if I’m expecting a fanfare for that announcement, or for you to all think I’m crazy! I had made the decision to be sober a few months before that, I just hadn’t done the actual follow through bit! […] Read more…