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If you need to ask ‘what is a third culture kid’ then there’s every chance you neither have one nor are one. Third culture kids are essentially those who have...

Unfortunately over the last year, I’ve become experienced in supporting my child when a pet dies. Having rescued four cats within the same year of us moving...

I once lied about my children. Completely lied. All to save someone’s feelings.

Today I was taught a lesson by my kids. It’s a lesson I already know but one that I really need to remember.

I’m writing this blog in the dark with three kids snoring in the background having pushed me out of the bed they insisted we all shared – despite my road trip skills today!

I was feeling very smug earlier as I had finished the last few bits of birthday and party shopping with a whole couple of days to spare!! My car was in the garage after an earlier ‘prang’ so I ordered a taxi and got a coffee while I waited.

One night a few years ago, Chas was at a conference in Bangkok and I found myself alone with two young children. Ella was no older than about 2½ and Ariya about 6 months. It was fairly late, the girls were asleep and I was enjoying a bit of a chill. There I was sat on the sofa when I felt something fall on me. I jumped up in horror as I saw these two feet sticking out on the ledge at the back of the chair.

It was the last day of term and time for the long-awaited school nativity before the Christmas break and I was horribly hungover after enjoying a few too many wines at a friend’s leaving party the night before. I’d woken up late, so literally only had time to throw some clothes on, brush my teeth and wipe the mascara away from under my eyes. No time to shower away the smell of stale wine!

It seems my grasp of the Thai language still leaves much to be desired despite living here for 14 years!

Sometimes in a world full of parenting blogs teaching us how to be simply delightful and how to perfect parenting we need to take a stand!  We need to turn around and say ‘I’m a Pinterest fail!’ I’ve tried your way and it doesn’t work.

There’s a stray cat that’s been dumped in our mooban (village), it has a collar but the collar’s stuck round its paw and neck. I’ve taken it upon myself to...

Having a baby is expensive – and that’s before all the gizmos and gadgets that are advertised as being vital to your child’s well-being!
So here it is… a detailed list of newborn essentials – what you actually need and what is really optional.

There I was, once again flying with a newborn baby. This time it was Ariya.  She was a month old and I needed to renew my visa so off we flew. I was taking...

If I thought the first flight to the UK on my own with Ella was hard, the one back to Thailand was unbelievably worse!

My first long haul flight (on my own) with Ella should have been pretty straightforward. Despite being a little over a year old, this was already her third long haul flight. However it (unsurprisingly) got off to the worst start possible as I managed to leave my purse with all my money in it at the pharmacy in Chiang Mai Airport. 

Being a new mum is hard. No matter how maternal we are or aren’t, nothing can prepare us for the shock of having our own baby. A little person who is completely and utterly reliant on us.

This is literally my life right now summed up in one little school run.

Having kids is not easy. Knowing what to do at times is not easy. First time mothers need more support than most – just a bit of reassurance that they’re doing it right will help more than you could ever know and never forget to just be kind!

With less than a week to go before the big 4-0 I find myself in somewhat of a dilemma. My grand plan aged 39 was to be this fitness Goddess and completely fabulous at 40, but unfortunately, I’m running slightly behind schedule – 11 months and three weeks behind to be precise. Oops!

A friend, who also happens to be a super successful blogger, told me not to let my job as an editor get in the way of my blogging. I nodded and smiled, clearly not fully understanding until now!

During the course of many (most) days, I can be heard telling someone Facebook a little story that usually starts… ‘So today I tried/forgot/lost/fell etc. I always seem to find myself in situations that I really didn’t need to be in. They undoubtedly include something I’ve done by accident and almost always make me look stupid.

Once upon a time there was a little boy called Connor. One night when Connor was eating his dinner he thought it would be a good idea to put a pea up his nose.

If anyone happens to be reading this blog who doesn’t know me (which is doubtful) I guess the sensible place to start would be with an introduction. I’ll try to keep it brief, although I am known for speaking 30 words when 3 would suffice!

My name’s Rachel and I’m a wife to Chas and a mummy to Ella, Ariya and Connor. We’re an expat family in Thailand