All the things you didn’t know you needed to know about me

For a little bit of lighthearted fun, this week I’m sharing a post I’ve been tagged to take part to. The way it works is that a blogger tags you, you write your post on the specific topic you’ve been asked to cover, and then you nominate other bloggers to do the same. This one is 26 things you didn’t know that you needed to know about me, one for each letter of the alphabet. And I see this as a way for you to get to know me a little bit better. So here it goes with some random things you didn’t know you would find out about me today!

A for addicted to coffee. Ok, maybe ‘addicted’ is a strong word for it, but I do love my coffee. I have 2 a day – one in the morning and one after lunch, and I see it as my only daily ‘treat’, really! It wasn’t always this way though – there was a time I didn’t like or drink coffee at all. And the fact I only like it very sweet tells me one day I’ll give it up again. Once it gets me through the sleep-deprived years of being a mum of young children, it’ll have served its purpose!

B for broken bones. If you know me personally or have been reading my blog, you definitely know about this one! I broke my right leg in quite a bad way in September 2016, and I’ve written quite a bit about it too. I’ve done it because it helped me during the recovery period, of course, but also because I hope to be able to help others going through a similar experience. Anyway, that wasn’t the first time breaking a bone (or two) either – I broke my left arm when I was a child 5 or 6 years old, and my left leg (3 bones in one go) when I was 13.

C for cooking. In that I’m not very good at it, as it’s not something I really enjoy. Of course, I have to feed my children, and often myself and my husband too, but he’s MUCH better in the kitchen than I am, so you won’t find me making food for others very often, if ever.

D for my middle son, whose name starts with D. He’s 5 years old at the moment, and he’s so unique and different to his brothers. He’s the boy who won’t stay still – he’s mad about sports and especially those where you get to hit a ball with something. With his own funky and quirky dressing style and funny faces, he’s a bit of a skater boy at the moment!

E for eczema. Two out of my 3 children have suffered from eczema, and it has been a big part of our parenting journey. Anyone who has eczema or has children who suffer from eczema will know about how you can never have a shower without covering yourself / the child in emollients afterwards! So that’s a big part of our daily routines with the children.

G for giraffe. My favourite animal. Ok, together with penguins and sea turtles.

H for the letter I cannot pronounce. See point below – I just struggle to pronounce my H in words that start with it. So hotel, Hong Kong etc.

I for Italian. I’m Italian and moved to London when I was 23. I studied English in secondary school and then at university, but I guess I didn’t learn English when I was young enough, so I do have an accent. Not an Italian one, mind you. People can’t really place me when they hear me speak. But you’ll know I’m not a native English speaker.

J for juicing. A few years ago, it took me ages to convince my husband that we needed a juicer despite not having the space for it in our kitchen. Of course I said we’d be using it all the time, and it’d be great! Until I realised how much work it involves, especially the cleaning afterwards. It lives in its box. In the garage.

K for kitchen. In that we need a new kitchen. We’ve been saying this since we moved into our house over 8 years ago. And we still haven’t changed the existing one. Maybe we don’t need it that badly then?

L for late. I’m always late for everything. Always. Not massively. I’m not one of those people who’s meant to get to yours for lunch at 1pm and turns up at 3pm. But I’ll be late. It may be just a couple of minutes (or even 15-20 sometimes), but I’m always late.

M for Mamma. I don’t have to think about this one for a second. I’m Mamma. The Italian spelling and the Italian way. I even call myself Mamma when I’m talking to myself. Yes, because I do talk to myself. Don’t you? That’s not weird at all, by the way.

N for nappies, cloth nappies, to be exact. I used cloth nappies on and off with all my children, and having kept track of how many rolls of liners I bought, I think I spared the environment from approximately 5,600 disposable nappies. I feel quite proud of that.

O for Oxford. I went to university in Italy, but in my second year I took part to an exchange programme and was lucky enough to spend 6 months studying at Oxford Brookes University.

P for pressure. I put myself under an enormous amount of pressure. All the time. I used to do this in my job, I do this as a mum, I’ve been doing it whilst recovering from my injury, and I do it with my blog. I do it with everything I do. For some reason, I set very high standards for myself, and I won’t rest until I meet them.

Q for quest. At this moment in my life, I definitely feel like I’m searching for something and moving towards it. A way to keep life at a pace that’s comfortable for me, a better way to care for myself, a better way to eat etc.

R for running. Something I never liked or wanted to do. In fact, growing up, I suffered with back pain and was told that running wasn’t great for me and my back – swimming was my go-to form of exercise. But now that I’m recovering from my leg fracture and know that I’m yet not able to run, I want to! And being able to run (jog at least) has become one of the goals I’m determined to achieve!

S for my eldest son, whose name starts with S. The boy who made me a mum over 8 years ago. My clever cookie, who’s sporty and so so competitive in everything he does. He’s been very patient with me while I’ve been taking care of his two younger brothers, but I’m looking forward to his littlest brother growing up a bit more, so we can spend some more time together like we used to do when it was just me and him.

T for Thailand. Where we spent out impromptu honeymoon. Impromptu because we had spent ages planning the perfect trip to Los Angeles and then Hawaii, but we never made it there. To cut a long story short, the Italian embassy in London had given me the wrong paperwork to allow me into the States. So we were rejected at check-in. And went home from the airport in silence approximately 10 metres away from each other. Thankfully, we got enough money back when cancelling all our hotel bookings to be able to plan a random 3-week trip to Thailand. It was great!

U for United States. A place I still haven’t been able to go to (see point above). And if anyone wants a Lonely Planet guide to Los Angeles or Hawaii, just let me know. I have them at home. They’re brand new.

V for volcano. The volcano we got to visit in Reunion Island in our recent holiday there. It was an amazing trip through the Reunion National Park. Just beautiful and a once-in-a-lifetime type trip!

W for waiting. I don’t like waiting. It must be why I’m never ever on time and always late? It feels like a waste of time to me. Maybe I should consider doing more waiting and less running around like a lunatic though?

X for eXcuse. I’m using the eXcuse that I can’t think of a relevant word that starts with X to give you a fact about me! Unless you count that I’m not particularly good with a xylophone as one???

Y for my youngest son, whose name starts with Y. Coming up to 3, this boy doesn’t cease to amaze us with his sweetness and cheekiness. With his 2 fingers almost always in his mouth or often playing with his own hair with the other hand if he can’t get to mine, we just wonder where this amazing boy comes from sometimes!

Z for Zzz. Ok Z is another hard letter. But talking about sleep isn’t. I love my sleep. I literally can’t function when I haven’t had enough. And there’s nothing I like more than a lie in in the morning. What a dream!

Thank you to Jen from Just Average Jen, who tagged me into this post.

• Rachel from Coffee, Cake, Kids
• Jo from from Pickle & Poppet
• Lauren from Mummy is a Gadget Geek
• Afrosa from Mum2Sons

Fellow bloggers – what you need to do…

1. Read through my post.
2. Write your own blog post – fill your alphabet in with things that describe you. Or just random thoughts that start with that letter if your brain decides it doesn’t feel like cooperating.
3. Tag the person who sent this to you and at least two other bloggers that you’d like to know more about.
4. Copy and paste these directions so people know what to do.
5. Use the photo in this blog post to jazz up your post!