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The idea for this blog came from conversations with one of my best friends. Everytime we call each other we start the conversations with “Did I A:/ Did he A: etc” For example, “I spent 2 hours cooking a delicious, nutritious stew for the children this afternoon including all the vital food groups and made sure to serve it up to them in the right coloured bowls. Did they A: say “Mummy, this looks both delicious and nutritious and we are so lucky to have a mummy that provides and cooks those kind of meals for us” Did they B: say “Mummy, I am actually quite full after eating every last mouthful of the school dinner that you so kindly pay for us to have so would you mind most awfully if I didn’t finish it all but of course I am going to at least try it and appreciate what I do eat. Or did they C: push the bowl away from them with violent force while performing gagging and choking actions and shouting that it looked and smelt so gross and why was I so mean that I was trying to starve them by giving them inedible POO!!!! You probably get the idea and if not, here’s a hint-It’s always C!!!

After several months of running through these A, B or C scenarios covering a wide range of subjects such as relationships, parenting, parents, work, money, fashion fails and incontinence and finding ourselves funny enough to turn a shit situation around I was encouraged to believe that other people might also find it a bit funny or in the least supportive and helpful. So here goes.

So… I set up this blog 3 years ago with all the best intentions. To be honest that intention was to start writing again and try to make it as a successful blogger. I wrote my first post just as we were heading off on what has now become our annual month long road trip and that sadly was also my last (blog post that is, not trip). There are several reasons why-confidence, disorganisation, time management, being involved in other projects, running two businesses, looking after 2 children full time, being a carer for my mum, more travelling and basically fannying about on my laptop when I get it out to write instead of doing what I intended. Well NO MORE!!! The reason I called this blog ALittleLessALittleMore was because the things I wanted to change all those years ago, I still want to change now. It comes from the Elvis song and it is about time I did just that, A Little(Lot)Less Conversation and A Little(Lot) More Action. I can’t keep making excuses or finding other things to fill up my time when I am not giving myself the time to do something I really want to do. It was just knowing where to start and writing that first post which was holding me back. I give other people advice like “Don’t look at the whole staircase, just look at the first step” and “Every journey starts with a single step” but I can’t adhere to that advice myself.  But I’m writing it now and it feels ok. It’s the start of a new year, following on from the worst of my life so it feels like now is as good a time as any. I guess this blog is going to be a little bit about the things I like and do but it’s going to be a lot about doing certain things less to be able to do other things more. Starting with a little less procrastinating and a little more doing. ALittleLessALittleMore is back on.

So the feet have started itching and the inevitable date of doom (Isla’s first day of school) is rapidly approaching so, even though it is actually school holidays, we are making the most of feeling free to do what we want, when we want with our babies and are hitting the road again. We are not going anywhere near as far as Australia and we are not doing it in a comfortable 4-berth motorhome but like last time we don’t have a set plan beyond the first week and we are completely disorganised-although fairy lights and waterproof trousers have been purchased! So our first week is going to involve two different festivals-Whitstable Oyster Festival and Camp Bestival with a visit to wonderful friends by the seaside in between. We are also going to try to spend a night camping in the New Forest so that Jasper can see the wild ponies (OR-EEES!) After that we are aiming on hugging the coast towards Cornwall seeing if there are any other quintessentially British festivals of food, music and quirkiness along the way. So I guess we do have more of a plan than we think, although if the rain stays as torrential as it has been over the past couple of days this may have to rapidly change.

The festival trolley is assembled and ready to go-not sure how everything is going to fit in the van though!