Had a fabulous day yesterday. We all went down to Cambridge in some trepidation to meet up with some of my online baby group – people I’ve “met” through Mumsnet. It was a lovely day, the kids all got along beautifully and it was great finally being able to put names to faces with the relief that comes with getting along with people face-to-face as well as online. Such a shame we don’t all live closer together.

On the flip side of the coin, a good friend of ours is moving away to Germany today. She is one of the first people I met in the area and her eldest son and Akra Jr play well together, she had her second son shortly after Li’l Bhaji was born. We’re going to really miss them.

It’s brought home to me just how hard it is to make friends once you have children. While still keeping our pre-children friends, it’s harder to meet up and have as much in common – I don’t expect them to be able to understand the pressures of parenthood and it can be hard to keep up friendships while juggling the cost of babysitters. Then, finding friends with families is tricky as you then have to find someone that you get on with, your kids get on with their kids and finally the two husbands get along. Then hopefully you all live close enough together that you can meet up on a regular basis and share enough interests other than children that the relationship moves beyond a superficial basis. Then you’ve hit the jackpot.

It’s amazing anyone makes any friends at all, really…

Just finished watching Donnie Darko and now half listening to the cast commentary. Wow. What was all that about?! I feel it was really deep and profound and has changed my world view without actually being able to put my finger on anything tangible as to why the film was so great (okay, except maybe the Smurf conversation). I loved the way all the characters were so utterly sympathetic, particularly the mother – it would have been so easy to have portrayed them as a “disfunctional” family. There are so many threads in the film that I just can’t unravel them all. Having had half a bottle of wine during the viewing probably didn’t help.

Need to watch it all again now so I can start to figure it out…!!

P.S. I’m not even going to try to give a synopsis of the film. Every one I read previously to seeing it was woefully inadequate – I’m not kidding myself that I’ll be able to do it any better. If you enjoy films that make you think and doesn’t necessarily fit into a genre box (American Beauty and Vanilla Sky come to mind as films in a similar style) – then rent this, you won’t regret it.

There was a lovely article in the Guardian yesterday (no, I didn’t have time to read a paper – someone forwarded me the article!) called Let Them Eat Sweets – a lovely reminder that sweets aren’t necessarily the demonic influence they are often portrayed as and our a source of much pleasure to those miniature and not-so-miniature people about us…

I have to admit, I have a sweet tooth of my own. Gorge on sweets whenever practically possible. Have three (yes THREE) sugars in my unsullied-by-milk tea and am stick thin and have no fillings whatsoever. You can all hit me now!

I’m sure many of us have fond memories of our favourite sweeties as a child – well, shops like a A Quarter Of wouldn’t do half as well if we didn’t. Most of my primary school memories involve the school tuckshop (oi, Cath – remember saving up our 10 pences for Wham Bars?!) I’d hate to think my children wouldn’t have the opportunity to grow up with similar happy confectionary memories (interspersed with a proper diet and a few gallons of toothpaste, of course). On reflection, I plan to be ever so slightly less strict on their sugar intake in the future.

Now, where did I hide those Jelly Tots?

I interrupt my general apathy with this public service pamplet. Hope it may be of use to other bloggers…

What I want to know is: why does stopping a house cleaning service, which takes 2 people less than 45 mins to do, result in 5 hours more work a week for me?

There’s something wrong there somewhere…