mothers on the verge

I love shopping. I've always loved shopping and probably always will. And if there's one thing that makes shopping even more exciting, it's bagging a bargain. Ooh, the thrill of it! The lure of a 75% off sticker... the promise of something glorious for the fraction of the original price! Alpha says I'm a sucker, but if that's the case then I'm a happy sucker, so hurray and celebrations all round. In the old days I got my discount fix twice a year in the sales. Sometimes I would be lucky enough to go to one of those shopping outlets malls where they sell last year's lurex pants in tiny or super-extra-large. Then TK Maxx came along, oh happy day (but sadly there is not even one tiny store in Dubai - sort it out guys, we're not all super-blingtastic here y'know). And then,  the ultimate dream of any bargain-hunter, I discovered the wondrous phenomenon of the social group discount site!! Ahhhh.... it's almost too much. Deep discounts and seri

When Firstborn and the Smaller One first came along all those years ago the baby stuff on offer was fine. But now? Wow! It's a smorgasbord of consumer joy. Here's my top three baby essentials: Aden + Anais  is my new favorite. Gorgeous baby swaddles, sleep sacks and blankets made from light muslin in beautiful patterns and colours. Me likey. UK and US customers can buy direct from the website or from Amazon . Amazon coupons are always available. In Dubai you can get a more limited selection from BabySouk  or if you prefer to shop offline, there's a baby shop called ZaaZeeZou in the Jumeirah Centre on Beach Road which stocks the brand and loads of other great stuff. I've always liked  Zoggs  for their ace goggles. Now that it's warming up in Dubai we'll be hitting the pool again soon after our winter hiatus, and we're all a bit excited about turning the Belly into a water baby. I'll be getting a swim nappy  and a swim hat , plus Zogg's new

My school discos were way back in the Golden Age of the Eighties. They were fab. Chomping down Smith's Square Crisps and chugging back Fanta whilst wearing satin pedal pushers and a scratchy nylon batwing candy-pink top from Chelsea Girl. There we all were, 10 years old or so, dancing around our plastic handbags to Duran Duran and (swoon)  WHAM! while the spotty boys from our class tried to do head spins without splitting their tight grey shine-effect slacks or mussing their piano ties. Sadly, my terminally fusty Olds wouldn't let me have a Lady Di hairdo, making my fuzzy ponytail look hugely dorky next to the cool kids with their heavily hairsprayed flicks and... oh envy ...super-long rat tails. Firstborn went to a school disco recently. She's only eight years old, so the overprotective mama in me was thinking what's wrong with a good ol' fashioned party, you know, with games and prizes and cute stuff like that? But apparently these days even young kids turn t

Blog, I've missed you. Hello again. I woke up this morning, feeling groggy after the usual teething-baby late-evening-early morning chain of disturbances. I looked in the mirror and sucked my teeth in shock - where did my eyes go? Is that grey hair? How come the creases on my pillow have transferred to my face? How the heck did I get so old? But after the initial shock fades, a new shock surfaces - the astounding fact that I kind of don't care all that much. I'm no spring chicken but I actually think I'm ok with that. The world isn't going to stop turning because I'm not smooth of brow and unbagged of eye. I'm a mother of three, after all. I'm supposed to look a bit haggard. This doesn't mean I'm going to give up and start scarfing gigantic donuts for breakfast, but maybe I am going to give myself a break. At the age of 37, it is ok to have wrinkles and crinkles, rogue wiry hairs and a bit of a wobbly rear. Why beat myself up about it? Va