Happy Summer Holidays everyone! Last week’s Sharing the Blog Love linky had a very ‘end of school year’ / ‘beginning of school holidays’ feel to it that has really got me in the mood for summer! We were really chuffed to have so many fab posts to read again and here are my favourites from last week for your reading pleasure.

 

Lucy at Home

My little boy is only two, so the whole starting school stage seems so far away at the moment. But I loved Reception: Is it Really Over?, a beautifully written post from Lucy, looking back over the first year of school - from drawing love hearts on their hands together on the first day to remind each other that they were thinking of them, to now - the end of an era, and the realisation that your child is growing up before your eyes, into a person that you’re proud of. Reading Lucy’s post made me so emotional and I especially loved the closing paragraph:

So I shall come and collect you with head held high. I will grin from ear to ear as you run out of the door and fling yourself into my arms. I will enjoy these precious moments while you are in my custody. And I will choke back my tears as I set you on that one-way track away from my arms and into the kind, confident, delightful grown up that you are already cultivating.

 

Over Heavens Hill

I’ve always felt that the detail of a c-section can often be skimmed over for expectant mothers. C-sections were covered in our NCT class, and we were told vaguely what to expect, but we didn’t get the emotional detail that really brings it to life. I love a birth story, and Geraldine’s C-section birth story is a great read - emotional, dramatic in places - and with some essential tips for anyone facing a c-section.

 

Right Royal Mother

I loved this tale from one of my favourite writers - Bringing America’s Cup Home is a tale of a sunny summers day out to watch the sailing, laced with a comedy of errors including overpriced Pimms, an exploding nappy, some tipsy clean-up improvisation, and a bizarre barter over a sippy cup. To say any more would spoil it, so if you’ve not caught it yet, go have a read!

 

Five Little Doves

I’ve been a huge fan of Laura’s blog for a while now - her writing is always beautiful, emotional, and she is just a lovely and completely awe-inspiring woman. For Joseph, on your 10th birthday is a beautiful letter to her son, Joseph, who was sadly stillborn 10 years ago. Like all parents, losing your child is the most unthinkable thing that can happen in your life, and I think we all imagine that we just couldn’t cope. I’m in total admiration for Laura, who not only manages to write so beautifully about her son, but has moved on in such a positive way. As a celebration of Joseph’s 10th birthday, she decided to arrange an event, raising money for SANDS, the stillbirth and neonatal death society. I think that the work that SANDS do is amazing and I’m really pleased that Laura managed to raise so much money for them. It’s not an easy read, but an important one and a lovely and touching tribute to Joseph.

You, Joseph Emmerson, made me the person I am today. Not just a different person, but a better person. You gave me strength I never knew I was capable of, you gave me the understanding to be more forgiving, more allowing of others behaviour, the knowledge that every single one of us is fighting a battle that others know nothing about. You made me want to be the very best that I could be, gave me the ambition and motivation to make you proud, the desire to live my life to the fullest, to embrace a life that you never got the chance to live. You made me a better wife, a better daughter, a better friend, and yet most importantly you gave me the greatest of gifts in making me a better Mother.

 

Please do go have a read of some of these wonderful posts and leave them a lovely comment.