The boys did a colour run at school. The teachers chucked water at them in a manner I’m sure was cathartic, and then threw paint powder at them, too. My husband and I socialised while they took part – our toddler saying, in an exasperated tone, “eugh, here AGAIN?” when seeing we were back on the school field, having only been there a few days prior for sports day. Taking a shine to one of our friends, she excused herself from the family unit to drag him around by the hand while we cheered for her brothers. We were fine with it.
JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE PART OF A SCHOOL COMMUNITY THAT CARES ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN LIKE YOU DO!
On the way home from nursery on Wednesday, Peach (who is 2, btw, and the aforementioned toddler) informed me that cats don’t have noses. I told her they do. She got very angry with me and told me that “they DON’T, MUMMY.” I told her our cat has a nose. “NO SHE DOESN’T!” she said. And then our cat walked past, and I pointed at her nose, and my daughter burst into tears.
JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR TODDLER IS CRYING AT SOMETHING SO BONKERS YOU CAN’T HELP BUT LAUGH!
Peach and I spent a morning at a giant sandpit with my friend and her little boy, who is Peach’s friend. My friend and I watched them play for three hours as they chuckled together and toddled around and ate ice cream. We barely moved from our chairs.
JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE WATCHING YOUR CHILD GIGGLE WITH THEIR FRIENDS WHILE YOU HAVE A CHAT WITH YOURS!
And then, of course, Peach fell toward me on the sofa and yelled “BE CAREFUL I’VE GOT A HOT DRINK” as she did so, which was absolutely hilarious because a) she did not have a hot drink, she didn’t even have a cold one and b) she was obviously shouting this after hearing me yell the same thing when jumped at by her brothers. I now wonder if she just thinks it’s a general warning?
JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR CHILD MIMICS YOU AND THE RESULT IS A HILARIOUS MISUNDERSTANDING!
Just you wait, just you wait, just you wait…
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Pancakes & Epiphanies (2025)
I took Poppet for pancakes this morning. It won’t actually have been this morning by the time that I get around to posting this but as it stands it was this morning, and we were on holiday, and we went for pancakes.
I didn’t write Baby Brain when Poppet was small, though I did keep a diary that was just for him and also had a blog called Milk Drunk, in which I documented small parts of who he was. As an overview rather than delving into those right now (because I don’t have access to those things whilst on holiday, you understand) I shall tell you that Poppet was an easy baby and a very lively toddler, with so much energy I had to avoid things like library rhyme time because instead of sitting still like the other children he would run around the stacks laughing his head off and making a scene while I begged him to stop. He used to literally go over to children and roar like a dinosaur in greeting because he was really into T-Rex’s, and I’d trail around behind him apologising for fear that people thought I’d taught him this was how to say ‘hey.’ He could spend six hours in a high energy children’s centre throwing himself at a wall, and never tire.
He was lovely.
He was a lot.
This morning, on our way to pancakes, Poppet and I were chatting when he stopped to point out the birdsong. “Sometimes I think I hear owls in the daytime,” he told me, “should we listen out for them?” I asked him if he wanted to chat at the same time and he pointed out that that would drown out the sound of the birds, which was fair enough. So we walked quietly to The Pancake House, where we sat across from one another and shared a meal and had a chat, and all around me parents were fighting to keep toddlers under control and people were walking around with babies in prams and for the first time ever I really believed what I was saying when I caught their eye and – in my head, for they wouldn’t want to hear it – I said “it gets easier.”
“It gets easier, but you’ll miss this,” I said.
“It gets easier but you’ll miss this and, my god, can you believe he was ever that small?”
That’s me for today! Happy holidays to all who are celebrating/staring down the barrel of the six week break, wondering how on earth they’ll survive. Any plans?
Until next time 🥞
JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT NEWSLETTER LANDS IN YOUR INBOX!
Psst. Polite reminder that Baby Brain is now home to a series on infant sleep, in which I use my qualifications, self guided study and field experience to help parents feel less alone in their quest for better nights. The series includes factoids about sleep, and proven strategies for improvement. You can find the whole series here, with an example post here:
If you don’t want to upgrade to paid but would still like to say thanks/ help support my work/ what have you, you can buy me a cup of tea, here. Thank you for your support.
Can’t wait for calm pancake dates!
A much better take on JUST YOU WAIT!
Still giggling at the cat nose shock. 🫶🏼