Times article ' Life is a see saw for working mums ' a book written by succesful working mother - comments please

[CaptainUnderpants]

Times article

Anyone read it ? Has this been written by a well known mumsnetter ?

I do like the bit that you and your partner must get away at least twicw a year without children for at least three nights !

Her DH is the one that has given up work !

you have sold Mens Health to me, BoffinMum! If I ever get another of them (men, that is) I'll make sure he comes with a tie rack and a subscription to Mens Health. Or do you think they would throw one in for free if I subscribed to the magazine?

Good Housekeeping, well it just reminds me of reading my mothers copy when I was a child...fantasizing about being a smug, well to do SAHM with enough money and a perfect house...but in a nice sort of way, not nauseating.
Plus I always make their Christmas cake recipe, I have got an old copy from 1996 that gets trotted out every year.

That's a good point MarxandSparks.

Nighbynight, I was pleasantly surprised by MH so bought a subscription for DH (so I could read it too!) No free gift man though, sadly.

Point is Boffin, yuo can get all that on an internet forum and more.
By the time that stuff is in a book it is already dated. let's not forget either that the more you read about how to do stuff, the less you do it.

I can sum it all up in a few sentences.

Marry/live with a nice man
Be organised
Be disciplined
Don't let your kids eat/have too much crap
Do a bit of exercise
Buy a few nice clothes instead of lots of cheap tat

Bob's your uncle

Perhaps you're right.

If you name dropped a bit more, moondog, and married someone wth a wierd name, I am sure you would have a bestseller on your hands.

Could I add Rachel Johnson to your smug woman bonfire, oh and Cassandra Jardine, I think she is called, who has millions of children but I think has shut up a bit of late as oldest are now irritating teenagers and don't make such good copy anymore.

Although it must be said I still like reading on real paper. Seriously though, something like MN has it all for me-talking crap, politics, food, travel,stuff about kids, all (for the most part) written by amusing articulate people.

Ae you new in these here parts BM? Have not seen you before.

"How to make Tesco value basics taste like nnice food" - isn't that very similar to the Delia Cheats cookery .

would have thought it was hard to predict the zeitgeist in enough time to have a book ready to go...... as that always helps with sale.

agree Moondog. I rarely buy mags these days. My pet hate is the PG/baby mags - who seem determined to make out babies needs zillions of pounds worth of equipment - and that you can plan ahead to guarantee the "perfect labour".

Burn baby burn!!

Been posting since November. Really love MN. Can't work out why I didn't find it before.

Feeling a bit discouraged by the book thing now, maybe I got too excited too early. Very good to have people's opinions on what is worth writing/buying to save me from myself.

I think 'How to' guides have had their day since advewnt of tinternet.

Even pregnancy/baby stuff from a few years ago is now hopelessly outdated.

Cassandra Jardine has five children I think - Dido, Cassius, Cressida etc I think. Dido had a horrible accident where she fell over the bannisters of the two stories high stairs in their Victorian house and onto a stone floor. She survived but the article Cassandra wrote (of course) has haunted me for ever - it was such a horrible thing to happen and it happened so easily.

Rachel Johnson should definately be on the smug bonfire - that mummy diaries thing she did in the Telegraph regularly had me foaming at the mouth. Can I add Rowan Pelling - also of the Telegraph please? Don't know much about her but she wrote a piece before Christmas about the difficulty of giving their son an unusual name - they finally settled on Torrin. And Christina Odone too please - she is dreadful.

I quite like Nigella though.

Northeren,I am with you on every one of your comments.

I think that the gap is not in books (although it might be) hopefully most people will have grown out of the if I read a book I'll get it all sorted through reading baby books and realising they generally talk crap, with bit of common sense mixed in. Although the US is full of self help books, so maybe not.

I think the gap is in reasonable interesting (possibly even funny) articles in newspapers or magazines. Trouble is that the trend for this type of stuff to be written by celebs with no insight or relevance so that ordinary people can "aspire" to their lifestyles. I used to enjoy Men's Health too it irritated dh like anything... Now I just read the Economist, but I'd like something more philosophical/personal too I think. Not about ordinary life though.

Agree nooka - there's just not enough in between take a break style stories I had triplets by my granddaughter's 16 year old boyfriend and bunting cupcake type "quality" mag stories about spa days and no-surgery face lifts etc.

I think the idea th at a 'spa' (ie being poked by a bored girl called Shaniece in a cupboard) day is the ultimate in indulgence is a foul and ghastly lie peddled by women's magazines hand in hand with pharmaceutical/cosmetic giants.

Excuse me sounding about 105 but nothing makes you feel as good as a walk in the fresh air which is free (now there's a thought).

I do like a bit of bunting though.

What is bunting anyway? I thought it was the little flags people put out when the boys came back from the War...

Aye it is.
V nice in garden when you have a party.
Fluttering in wind, clink of ice on glasses, kids prancing under sprinkler.

Love it.

I quite like Nigella too, don't put her on the bonfire. You could add Allison Pearson though...

Oooooh Allison Pearson

Have you seen the Christmas issue of Private Eye - it has the year according to AP - very funny!

no no, please put nigella on. I only have to look at a picture of her and I become nearly as barking aS she is.

no, get nigella off again!

She is revoltingly gorgeous and talented, but NOT smug, so you can't hate her!

Rachel Johnson, oooh ... I bought Notting Hell nuff said. Disliked all the characters, including those that you were clearly meant to like.

But I made my Christmas cake according to Nigella and it's bloody fantastic. First time I've dared make one and it's a triumph. Probably the best cake ever actually. When I take the lid of the tine all lesser mortals are blinded by it's glory and it's go so much brandy in it I had a hangover the day after I first sampled it!

Oh! Put Nigella on the Bonfire but I want her kitchen even if it is a stage set. Sorry complete addict to women's magazine. Started as a kid with 'Pink' then 'OK' never Jackie. Then of course 'Cosmo' who completly screwed me up. This is becuase I had foreign parents who didn't let me out of the house and gave me housework to do all the time. Don't like Celeb anything. Northernlurker was it really that good. I do need tips on 'how to study part-time with a family and work?' As I'm an uneducated sad cow.

I'm constantly on the lookout for a magazine that offers the following:

Beauty tips that won't break the bank
A quick and easy craft project
A current affairs article e.g. your guide to Zimbabwe
10 minute work out - different any month
Things to do for free
Top 10 websites of the month
Activities to do with your children, one for each age range
30 minute declutter your life
Spree v steal fashion
Recipes of the month, one healthy, one budget, one for impressing friends

You get the picture. I want a magazine with a little bit of everything!