Pop Will Eat Himself

At 5.30 the alarm goes off and I haul myself out of the deep pool of sleep in which I have been wallowing. I lie staring at the dark ceiling, stunned and then, before my eyes close again I get ...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-universe-or-at-least-radio-4-hates.html

Sorrel, who's only 5, has not been well. She's had a hacking cough and a cold for most of the half term holiday. Yesterday however she climbed Arthur's Seat. For those of you unfamiliar with Ed...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-bad-start.html

In what is possibly his most famous poem, Philip Larkin wrote... They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had  And add some extr...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/11/temper-temper.html

On Sunday, when Helen was at work, Lulu, Sorrel, and I were hanging about the house. I was reading in a desultory manner and they were playing one of those elaborate games that kids play that see...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/05/20-rules-important-stuff-i-want-my-kids.html

All the books and articles you read about parenthood tell you that you should treasure every moment because it will pass so quickly. Or they describe with glum pleasure the horrors of sleep dep...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/05/bathtimes-of-despair.html

Here's the news: two weeks ago Lulu learnt to ride a bike. It's a milestone in any child's life and ranks alongside first words, first steps and learning to read as one of the key achievements of...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-got-bike-you-can-ride-it-if-you-like.html

It's the first birthday of this blog and I've astonished myself by still being here. A year ago today I felt compelled to write a warning to myself and others about the risks of holding your ch...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/03/party-party-party.html

Parenthood provides many challenges and many surprises, not least of which is what your kids will - and will not  - put up with. I am taken aback therefore to find that Sorrel, having noisily r...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/03/haircut-to-remember.html

Last August, just before Lulu went into P2, Helen took her to John Lewis to buy new school shoes. The pair they chose were Clarks and very sensible: black Mary-Janes with a wee black bow on the f...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/02/fairy-strife.html

It is a sad truth of modern fatherhood that, once your first child arrives, your partner's social circle expands massively. Yours, however, contracts down to the one or two close friends who are ...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/02/boys-night-out.html

About a year after she was born Lulu started to get a series of nasty ear infections involving evil-smelling goop the consistency of melted fudge flowing from her left ear. This went on until the...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2012/01/operation.html

I'm currently reading Apsley Cherry-Garrard's account of Scott's doomed Antarctic expedition of 1909. The slow unfolding of the tragedy and the beautiful writing make it a compelling read. Wha...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/12/worst-journey-in-world.html

We took the girls camping to Brittany this summer. Despite driving through England on the two hottest days of the year in a car with broken air conditioning we had a wonderful time. I live in m...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/08/sinister-developments.html

The swimming pool is one of our favourite places. Both girls love to swim even though neither is particularly good at it. Possibly it's best feature of the pool though is that it is an excellen...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/06/tattoo-soup_18.html

Dear Girls Now that S has turned 18 and my legal ability to influence anything you do has lapsed there are some things you need to know. I lied. I lied about loads of things but here are the...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/06/do-not-read-until-august-2025.html

In an ideal world I would have been bitten by a radioactive babywipe as a teenager - suddenly finding myself imbued with awesome, superhuman arse-cleaning Dad abilities. Sadly thats not how I bec...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/05/pop-will-eat-himself-origins.html

The recent Scottish Parliamentary elections have figured large in our house. In part because the result was fascinating but mostly because H, as a journalist, was working on it with exceptional f...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/05/democratic-process.html

School holidays are a new thing to us. We are accustomed to having unfettered access to year round childcare in the shape of the excellent nursery both our girls attended. School however seems to...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/04/when-they-werent-here.html

One of the things you don't expect when cycling with your three year old daughter in the bike seat behind you is that a police man will attempt to squash you with a van. However, once the squas...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/04/leith-police-dismisseth-us.html

One of the curses of having children is that the process by which you come to remind yourself of one, other or both of your parents is accelerated. It's all to do with context. Kids constantly in...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/04/proud-moment.html

Food is a nightmare. There are two approaches: either you take a hard line and insist that everyone eats what's been put in front of them; or you prepare individual meals for everyone, taking int...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/03/food.html

This is what we did wrong in holding L's 6th birthday party at our house: 1. We had it at our house. 2. It went on for two hours. Next time it'll be an hour and a half shorter. 3. We only in...

http://popwilleathimself.blogspot.com/2011/03/birthday-party.html