When I was contacted and asked if I'd be happy to be sent a review copy of A Meditative Parent: The Making Of A Triplet Dad*, I accepted because I was interested in reading S.C. Wood's journey. Self-destructive alcoholic to book-writing, peaceful and meditative Dad of triplets is a giant leap over a period of time. It's a life turned right around and very much a person saved.

It's not something my own brother ever achieved, and I think that's why I took the review.

*Si has changed the title of his book since I was sent my copy, it's now known as 'Triples To Triplets' - which I agree is a better description.


This is a book for adults, unlike most of my book reviews, and it does deal with the heavy stuff. There is a little swearing which is totally contextual. Alcoholism isn't pretty, nor is depression, and there are very frank mentions of suicide, domestic violence, child abuse and drug use, but they are not dwelt on. Mostly though, there is positivity, and a great read which regularly defies belief.

Newly released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is Hotel Mumbai, a full length feature inspired by the stories of survivors of the real life November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, and we've been sent a copy for review.

This is a powerful film which has adult themes, horrific violence, peril and loss of life, and it is rated suitable for a mature audience only. Not one for the kids, but older teenagers can learn from the mistakes of the past.


Hotel Mumbai has a great cast who will be familiar to movie fans, including Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Lion), Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name, The Social Network), Jason Isaacs (The Death Of Stalin, Harry Potter), Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart, Homeland) and Anupam Kher (Silver Linings Playbook, The Big Sick).

It may not seem possible, but I honestly have NEVER seen a single episode of Downton Abbey, so when Universal Pictures sent us a copy of Downton Abbey The Movie, we were reviewing just the same as we would any standalone film.

Written by series creator Julian Fellowes and starring the original cast, this is a full length movie version of the very popular TV series about life upstairs and below stairs in Downton Abbey, a large house and estate owned by the Crawley family in the early 20th century.


All of the characters are introduced really clearly, and we immediately see the differences between the wealthy Crawley's and their massive staff. This is a somewhat idealised view and everyone is surprisingly polite and respectful, except when the plotline demands.

Breastfeeding is as natural as mud. It's the supplied way of feeding our infants and we grow special appendages purely for this purpose. I did 8 years of it all together and I'm really quite lazy, so it must be easy. Of course I wouldn't have managed more than a single day if I hadn't been ridiculously stubborn, and I'm mostly remembering the experience of someone who had 8 years practice, but I can practically do it standing on my head...

I was 22 when I had my first child and I was some sort of rebellious amateur hippy. I was that person who hooked my plastic bottles over the handlebars of my pushbike and cycled to the single town recycling centre to drop it all off. I read all the pregnancy books and wanted everything as natural as possible. My partner was asthmatic and I was determined to try and protect my kids from that. I was also paying a 15% mortgage rate on a council worker's wages and very broke. A tenner a week on baby milk was an expense I didn't want. Of course I was going to breastfeed.


I had a long labour, but no need for sympathy. We played Rummy for 22 hours of 5 minute contractions and I won every hand. I'm pretty good with pain, so when I started to say I'd had enough, given up and wanted Pethidine, the midwives didn't realise my increased discomfort was due everything getting suddenly exciting and the baby wanting immediate exit. I had my injection less than half an hour before delivery.

Mat Waugh has sent me his latest children's book for review, and it's a big, bold picture book suitable for reading together with younger children. Daddies And Baddies is the story of 5 daddies, 5 baddies and one crazy day....


I reviewed Cheeky Charlie for Matt a few years ago, and that was more of a children's storybook, so teaming up with an illustrator to release a picture book is very different. Graham Evans' style is very modern and cartoon-like, with the people always the focus of the image, even in a street scene.

Here's my Spring round up of what is happening in and around Manchester and the North West UK for families of all ages, including students and young people. Theatre, exhibitions, days out, shopping and more...


If you have anything suitable you wish me to add, please send short copy over with a photo to thebrickcastle@gmail.com. The next round up will cover Easter onwards...

3rd Monday of the year. January is 217 days in and still no sign of payday. It's cold and damp, with no exciting snow or pretty Winter sun. This is officially the most depressing day of the year, which is especially harsh if it's your birthday.

Our day started on form. Before 7am the doorbell went, and surprisingly it was my partner, who had only just left for work. I say 'left', because he'd made it as far as the drive. where the van wouldn't start because of a flat battery. I was just mainly relieved that I hadn't run downstairs in my dressing gown to open the door to a really early postman.


He put the van on charge and made a cup of tea. While he was drinking it he got a call from work to say they'd had a break in - specifically his office.

I should probably start by saying that Natalie is a friend, and excellent at PR with 20 years experience. I wasn't going to turn down a review copy of her recently published book, PR School: Your Time To Shine.

Created to appeal to those of us who don't have a degree in Social Media or Business Promotion, Natalie's book is 'A Masterclass in Publicity for You and Your Business', and it's written in language we can all understand, with tips that will help anyone get their product, brand or story out there to the masses.


Throughout the book Natalie includes tips and how-to segments from other people who are successful and confident publicists. There are real life stories and explanations of promotions and activities which worked well, and you see immediately that quality of work and honesty are key.

This week we had my oldest child's 26th birthday, and the very first place I went to buy him anything was Mothercare. His paternal Grandparents gave us the money to get his pram, and I chose a beautiful blue and grey patterned system, which was the poshest thing I owned at the time by far. It would look ridiculously dated now, so I'm almost glad I don't have a photo.

I was a superstitious pregnant lady and I never bought any of my children anything until I was past 28 weeks, but when my pregnancy was making me tired, sore, sick or just down in the dumps, I'd go and browse Mothercare to get my happy hormones back on track and become excited about my new arrival.


When we bought our car seats, Mothercare employees showed us how to fit them correctly, and when my boobs inflated to twice their non-pregnant size, I had my first ever fitting at a Mothercare store.

That might have been over 26 years ago, but my earliest memories of Mothercare are a long way before then. I was the eldest of 3 children, and my parents were foster carers for babies when I was growing up. A trip to Mothercare meant we were about to get a new arrival, and my mother would carefully choose everything she would need ready for when she brought them home from the hospital.

Goodbye to 2019 and Hello 2020! Happy New Year to everyone - I hope it brings you the things you wish upon yourself. It's the 15th already, although January always seems to last a lot longer than most months. No snow yet, which is disappointing me and means it's just cold and windy, so most of your photos, and ours, have been indoors the last few weeks.


Christmas is fun but hard work, the return to 'normality' is much harder, and the short days mean leaving the house in the dark and not arriving home until it's dark, which is demoralising at best and can seem to last forever.

As I said in a post about making mistakes the other day, we'd all be in bed far earlier and get up later if we hadn't ever invented the light bulb, so allow yourself some comfort. If you aren't going out and want to stay in your PJ's, do it. You need a few extra calories to keep going, to keep warm and fight off colds, so don't fret about the couple of pounds you put on at Christmas.