Box set love
Apparently, 25% of co-habiting couples spend three evenings each week in separate rooms watching different programs.
I’m not a keen Daily Mail reader but this article made me think about my own relationship and telly watching habits.
❤Throb will not sit through an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show – fact! I on the other hand won’t sit through an episode of The Keiser Report on Russia Today and this is also fact. Mr Keiser loudly slagging of financial ideologies of Ben Bernanke (chair of the US federal reserve) and George Osborne just does nothing for me from
an entertainment perspective.
We do like different things when it comes to telly. As such, one way round us sitting in different rooms with me catching up on the Voice while he watching Russia Today is through our love of watching box sets together.
❤Throb and I are crazy about shows that involve violence layered with multidimensional characters so that’s why we are obsessed with The Kadarshians.
I got you there, didn’t I!
On a serious note – we do love the Kadarshians but that’s not what I was on about.
Our love for certain shows has taken us from the crazy streets of Baltimore with The Wire through to the exhilarating shores of Atlantic City watching Boardwalk Empire.
After watching an episode of these types of shows you’ll usually find us dissecting the entire plot.
Even without the mafia and drugs, we are into the 1960s complicated New York lives of Don Draper, Pete Campbell, Peggy Olson of Mad Men.
I’ve heard it said that credible award-winning tv shows of nowadays can’t be watched with you multitasking. They are selfish in the sense that they require your 100% undivided attention with your brain well and truly in gear.
The characters are both heroes and villains and so quite tough to pigeon hole and this to me shows the complex and multifaceted nature of the human condition.
At the moment our ultimate show is Breaking Bad and I believe that this is the kind of show that brings couples together in a way that only other box set lovers will relate to.
Watching Walter White and Jesse Pinkman cooking methamphetamine on Breaking Bad saw us through those early months when Gem was younger and we were just plain exhausted.
To end this post, I thought I’d set out our five favourite box sets of all time, in no particular order:
1) The Sopranos
2) The Wire
3) Breaking Bad
4) Mad Men
5) Boardwalk Empire
xxx
ps. Writing this post has started to give me a brief understanding of why some of my friends call me a telly addict. It really wasn’t obvious until now. Oh well!!
This is a blog hop.
Magic moment – 13 May 2013
An excerpt from a conversation ❤Throb and I had yesterday.
Me: It’s time for bed my darling Gem. Say goodnight to Daddy.
[❤Throb waves]
❤Throb: Goodnight Gem.
[A few seconds later]
❤Throb: OMG she’s waving back at me.
Me: Oh don’t be silly she’s not waving hon.
❤Throb: She definitely is waving.
❤Throb runs towards us to kiss her goodnight and waves again.
This time my darling daughter moves her hand up and down.
At this point, I’m still thinking she’s just moving her hand up and down but not really in response to her Dad waving to her.
Then I take her to give her a change and wave to her whilst she’s on the changing mat and right before my very eyes my daughter, raises her hand and waves right back in response to me.
It is pretty unbelievable.
I have done it again a few times since then and she has done the same thing and raised her hand and waved right back.
Pretty awesome, pretty amazing and definitely pretty magical!
This a blog hop from Jaime Oliver of The Oliver’s Madhouse
xxx
Magic Moment – 6 May 2013
This week my Magic Moment happened yesterday evening and involved the following three elements – My Family, Funky Dancing and Daft Punk.
Hearing a child belly laugh is magic in itself.
Hearing my Gem belly laugh makes my heart sing and there’s no such thing as a bad moment when she’s in full laugh mode with her two teeth on show. It’s more than amazing.
Yesterday, as I was listening to the singles charts in the kitchen – I’m a huge top 40 listener on a Sunday afternoon / evening – I heard Gem laughing. I walked into her bedroom to find her standing, holding on to the sides of her cot laughing at her Dad as he danced, quite frankly like a dad.
What was magical about it was the fact that I joined in jumping around in an extremely silly fashion, which resulted in Gem completely belly laughing.
I am pretty sure that my 9.5 month old was laughing at us as opposed to with us – the dancing was beyond ridiculous, I tell you.
It did make me think though.
It’s funny how before you have a child, doing silly dancing with your partner, making silly faces, jumping around on one leg are not the kinds of things that one would engage in too often. Life just gets so busy, resulting in no time for pure and silly fun.
With a child however, it’s perfectly ok to be silly and to be fine about this.
Children are amazing at just bringing out that part of you that’s been lying dormant for a while. It’s one of the reasons I believe people “forget” the tough sleepless nights, colic crying, pain of labour etc because a child just awakens those fun parts of ourselves that aren’t in use much.
Gem loved her parents dancing wildly to Daft Punk and it was pure magic to see her so happy. Since our wedding last year, I also can’t remember the last time ❤Throb and I had a bit of a boogie together so I’m thinking we had a double dose of magic yesterday, thanks Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
This a blog hop from Jaime Oliver of The Oliver’s Madhouse
xxx
The death of my career?!
I’ve lost count of how many times people have said to me “I’m really surprised you are taking a year off work to look after Gem. You seemed so career-focused way back then.”
Let me start off by saying that most of the people who say this are friends so not only do I love the people saying this to bits, I know it is coming from a good place.
However.
I’m never sure if I should be taking this as a compliment or not.
On one hand, it means people do not see me as a lazy so-and-so likely to be a benefit scrounger, which I guess is great.
On the other hand, it could mean people think I’ve given up on my career because I’ve had a baby – letting the feminist, working woman side down etc etc.
Either way, the comment always leaves me a little baffled that’s for sure.
I am hoping that choosing to spend time with my daughter isn’t equivalent to a choice to destroy my career. However, in this male-dominated world that we live in, it could well be. Time will surely tell.
As women, we’ve been sold this do-it-all-have-it-all mentality and one I definitely signed up to.
We are expected to buy nice shoes, work hard, play hard, get partner, procreate then go back to work asap, ensure your home is spotless, you make homemade organic purees for your baby whilst hosting amazing dinner parties and then swinging from the chandelier with your partner after the day is done.
I am exhausted just typing that last paragraph up.
This relentless notion that we consciously or unconsciously imbibe is one that drains me and I’m not sure those 1960 feminists knew the intricacies of what they were fighting for back in those bra-burning days.
Ten years ago as a single girl my only focus was career-building, having fun and then meeting someone to settle down with.
Now, with a husband and a child, my priorities are somewhat different. They are not better or worse than my earlier priorities. They are just different.
Should my career be over because of a shift in perspective?
With getting married and having Gem in 2012, I’m just trying to use this time to breathe and to understand mentally (without daily work pressures) what it’s like to be a wife and a mum.
The pressures of trying to be amazing at everything, whilst doing tonnes at once are draining and quite frankly a part of me is sure that they’ve succeeded in sapping me of key joys as I stay at home to look after Gem.
❤Throb said to me recently – “because you’re conditioned to want to be this glam working woman, you end up undervaluing what you do for Gem. As such, you might not realise that this is one of the best times of your life until it’s too late and you’re back to work.”
Scary stuff, right?
This week I started discussing options with my boss and when the time comes, I’m hoping I can carry on with my career albeit at a different pace compared to before I had Gem.
In the meantime, I don’t want societal expectations or people’s perceptions of me to rob me of the joy of hanging out with my Gem-of-a-daughter.
I’m sure that the 1960s bra-burners would be proud that their fight gave me the freedom to choose to do just that – hang out with my daughter.
xx
This is a blog hop.
Over 365 days of ticking the married box
We’ve been away on holiday and so between getting stressed out about (oops sorry, preparing) for our first trip as a family I’ve not blogged for a while – definitely my longest blogging break.
We were away celebrating our wedding anniversary and the day was wonderful with tonnes of nice surprises.
The holiday itself was lovely and I had nothing to be anxious about in terms of how Gem would cope on the plane, packing enough nappies etc etc.
It was also an opportunity for me to reflect on how things have been over the last year.
The list below was born.
Ten things I wish someone told me before I became a wife and mother:
1) A new normal – A new baby won’t just fit snugly into your old life like a pair of new Louboutins.
There is a new ‘normal’ from the day they arrive. The earlier you know and accept this, the ‘easier’ life would be.
2) Mind-reading lover – obviously we all want one of these – finishes our sentences etc etc.
The reality however is that your partner will never be able to read your mind. Therefore you need to clearly articulate how you feel and not expect him/her to “just know”.
3) Loneliness – Being a new mum can be a lonely place.
4) The reality – Despite what the bridal magazines say – there’s life after the wedding day. In addition, despite the amazement and splendour of the wedding day itself, the life after is your day to day reality and needs focus and attention.
5) Don’t worry be happy – Live in the moment and enjoy your single life even more than you think is possible. Don’t waste time anxiously pining for a change in marital status from “single” to “married” – live in the now.
6) Unselfish – Being a wife and a mum require selflessness beyond one’s imagination.
7) Talking helps – Talk, talk, talk and then talk some more to your partner – bottling things up makes them a million times worse.
8) Dating whilst married – Date nights, cinema trips, holding hands etc with your partner whilst being married is fundamental.
9) Make love not war – With a new baby, this won’t be high on the priority list. With the hormones and the sleep deprivation, pulling teeth might seem like more fun than a bit of how’s your father.
In addition to 7 and 8 above, this point is crucial however to staying connected to your partner. Hopefully, if you’re lucky and get loads of opportunity to engage in number 8 above, number 9 should be a byproduct obviously.
10) Fight fairly – when you’re not swinging from the chandelier engaging in number 9 above, if you’re in disagreement about something, try to ensure (if possible) that you speak to your partner in a way that honours and respects him or her even through the argument. Not an easy task and one I try to work on daily.
I’m not sure I would have listened if someone told me all this say ten years ago. However, as you’re reading my blog, you’re obviously a smart, wise and knowledgeable person so you’ll definitely do what I say.
With over 365 days as an experienced married person, I obviously know what I’m doing, right??
LMAO!
xxx
This is a blog hop.
Magic Moment – 15 April 2013
My magic moment this week is about our trip last week to the V&A to see the David Bowie exhibition.
By the time we had made our way with the buggy from North London to the museum to meet my Mum, I was shattered.
As buggy-friendly as London is supposed to be, I did not feel it at all.
In Kings Cross, to go from the Northern Line to the Piccadilly line was torture as we made our way from one lift at one end of the station to the other end.
I normally wear my baby – to the non-hippy amongst you – I’m a sling kind of mummy. However, with gem now fully in the double digits in terms of her weight, even my Ergo carrier is proving to be a tad bit uncomfortable.
Anyway – I digress – my magic moment involved enjoying the Bowie exhibition tonnes more than I expected to. This is despite not being a Bowie fan at all and being absolutely shattered by the time we got there.
It was magic taking Gem round the exhibition and seeing her eyes grab every light or her ears try to pick up every sound as we made our way round the exhibition.
My highlights from the exhibition:
1) The fashion – the man had an amazing array of costumes going back decades, including designs by Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood to name a few
2) The pictures – David Bowie has been successful in reinventing himself over and over through the decades
3) The concert clips – The man is one of the original superstars, with his massive concerts, performance style and overall showmanship being truly amazing.
4) The causes – He stood up for the underdog when it wasn’t fashionable.
5) The confidence – He continues to re-invent himself and is almost impossible to pigeon-hole him. The picture above shows how androgynous he is and how confident he is to be this way.
It was magic for me because I went in flustered and exhausted and came out exhilarated and excited about life. If this isn’t a magic moment, then I don’t know what is.
This a blog hop from Jaime Oliver of The Oliver’s Madhouse
