March has been an unusual month in every respect.  I spent eleven days solo parenting whilst the husband was on holiday in Barbados, watching cricket with friends and living his best life by the pool.  We’re still trying to get some support for Lola, who now hasn’t physically attended school for seven weeks due to ever-increasing sensory struggles and an unresolved bullying issue.  I’ve had my busiest ever month in fifteen years of running my therapy business.  And the weather has been all over the place!

Here are all the little things I’ve been loving lately throughout March…

READ

Caraval:  by Stephanie Garber.  I finished ‘Caraval’ in the first half of the month and immediately went out to purchase books two and three from the trilogy – ‘Legendary’ and ‘Finale’ – because I need to know how the story ends.  I hadn’t even known it was a trilogy until I reached the last chapter and realised it wasn’t going to reach a conclusion.  Caraval was exactly what I’d been needing to read during the challenges that February and March brought – it’s light-hearted and fun whilst simultaneously being intriguing and full of twists.  It’s also incredibly descriptive, which, for someone as visual as I am, is wonderful for helping me escape into a different world.  I can see it being turned into a movie one day, I think it would be brilliant.

‘Caraval’ by Stephanie Garber

WATCHED

The Batman:  Before he left for his Caribbean adventure, Neil and I managed to squeeze in a date-night to the cinema to see ‘The Batman’.  I didn’t really know what to expect – I honestly thought that Robert Pattinson could never be anything other than Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter or a sparkly vampire from Twilight to me – but actually I thought he did very well in the main roles as Batman and a dishevelled Bruce Wayne.  The film was action-packed, the soundtrack was excellent and the cinematography was fantastic – I loved the way it was shot (the Media Studies student in me can’t help but analyse it!).  I’d watch it again, for sure.

Snowpiercer:  We loved the first two seasons of Snowpiercer and have been eagerly anticipating Season 3 on Netflix.  It has absolutely lived up to expectations so far – I’m enjoying the direction that the storyline has gone in and getting under the skin of each of the characters a little more.  It’s pretty intense though so I can only cope with watching one episode a night, I get too caught up in it.  I think we’re about halfway through the season now and I have no idea how it’s going to end.

Sunrises and sunsets:  There have been some spectacular skies this month.  I love watching sunrises and sunsets, there’s something really special about them.  It’s hard to explain how they make me feel – I’ve tried lots of times before and I can never seem to find the right words.

A stunning sunset from midway through March

HEARD

Villains:  by Luca Fogale.  I find a lot of new music via Instagram, whether it’s from watching people’s stories and reels, or online friends recommending songs and artists they like to me.  This is one such new discovery – I love this song and another one of his that I came across called ‘What I Came Here For’.

MADE

Cookies:  Lola made some shortbread cookies from a leftover kit that we never got around to making at Christmas time.  She’s been begging to make them for ages and was absolutely thrilled when I finally said yes.  It really is the little things sometimes.  She did everything by herself – the measuring and mixing, the kneading and rolling, even putting them in the oven and setting the timer.

Of course decorating them was her favourite part and whilst she was a little frustrated that they hadn’t quite turned out as the shapes she wanted them to be, I heard her whispering to herself “cookies don’t have to look perfect, they just have to taste good” and my heart nearly burst with a feeling that maybe I have actually managed to get something right in my parenting journey thus far.  She smothered them in icing and sprinkles and declared them delicious, as did the rest of the household.

Decorating the cookies was her favourite part of the process

Ta-da! The finished cookies.

WORE

No coat:  We’ve had such weird weather this month.  There was a week or so of absolutely beautiful warm sunshine with temperatures reaching 19 degrees Celcius (warm enough to not have to wear a coat!)… and then the following week it was minus 1 degree, I was scraping ice off the car windscreen before the morning school run and it even snowed!  I’m very much hoping it’s getting it all out of it’s system so we have good weather for the Easter holidays in a couple of weeks time.

AND FINALLY…

Seeing friends:  I somehow managed to have two coffee dates in the space of two days with friends I haven’t seen for absolutely ages.  One is a mum-friend from the girls’ primary school – we talked and laughed the afternoon away and it was wonderful to see her.  The other is one of my best friends – she lives in Croydon (175 miles away from where I live) so I don’t get to see her very often.  Throw in a pandemic and it had probably been at least three years, if not longer, since we last met up.  She, her husband and their daughter were up here for a wedding so we arranged to catch up.  Their daughter was born in lockdown and it was so lovely to be able to meet her for the first time, even though she’s already 18 months old.

Barbados:  Did I mention that my husband got to go on a trip of a lifetime to Barbados for 11 whole days?  I’m not jealous at all.  Honestly 😉  He went out there to watch the England vs West Indies cricket test match with a friend.  I’m really glad he got to go – he’d had trips to New York and Madrid cancelled because of the pandemic so this felt a little bit like third time lucky.  Solo parenting for such a long time wasn’t easy (although I’ve done it before when he went to Las Vegas for his 40th birthday) but we survived.  He had a good time, especially as he had a few days to relax and chill out by the pool after the cricket was finished.  It looked amazing – he sent me photos from the beach and of the sunset he watched one evening.

The clear turquoise waters of a beach in Barbados

Sunset in Barbados

Shugborough:  I didn’t want to waste the glorious sunshine we were having, so I managed to convince the girls to actually leave the house one sunny Sunday and we spent a couple of hours at Shugborough, our local National Trust.  All the daffodils were out, looking pretty along the riverbank, and we had our first ice cream of the year as well.

Amongst the daffodils at Shugborough National Trust

The third chapter of the year is already at a close and we’re now, inexplicably, a quarter of the way through 2022.  I’m eagerly anticipating next month – we have some fun adventures planned for the Easter holidays that we’re all really looking forward to.

I hope that you found plenty of little things to love throughout March and that April is full of sunshine and moments to remember.

Stay well x