The Train is Delayed but it’s OK! 

www.fuelledbylatte.com

Today started in the usual way around 7.15, hearing the kids playing upstairs and me wondering what time it was. I got up and wandered downstairs with the kids to get Lily ready for school and the twins ready for a morning at a neighbours before their last afternoon at school. Full time school starts on Monday for them.

It was the usual chaos of swapping children around childcare this morning. Neighbours children at ours whilst the school run is done for the elder ones, my younger ones going to a neighbours for the morning as I’m not around, confirming after school club for them all before making sure hubby collects them at 5.30pm.

I am on the train as I type this; on my way to the MADS awards in London. I’m in the finals for Best Family Travel Blogger this year, a title I was lucky enough to win last year, and I’m also presenting an award to whoever wins Best Video Blog. It’s going to be a fun night and I was hoping to be there for lunch in time to meet some good friends for a catch up, but a train derailment at Watford junction is likely to have put pay to that.

Some days the knowledge that I might not get there and that I might miss out on the fun might have made me angry or annoyed, but today it doesn’t. Today I am pretty reflective that I am where I am, and that life is really pretty good. Yes it’s a tad crazy at times but my family is healthy happy and secure.

A few things have made me appreciate my life today. Strangely the Archers storyline, which I listed to for the first time yesterday about Helen and Rob and the domestic violence. The story itself is obviously not real but the struggle women are having across the world is. It happens every minute of every day and the likelihood is that it is happening to someone you know, to one of your friends or colleagues, you just don’t know it. It’s an issue that’s heartbreaking in its consequences and devastates me to my core. I wish I could be someone who could do something more to bring about change.

It’s also year today since a close friend discovered leukaemia had taken hold of her little girl. I won’t forget picking up a message with the news minutes after I picked up said award last year. It’s been a long long road for them and whilst she is making excellent progress there is still 14 months of treatment ahead.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a time to honor and remember children and families affected by these rare diseases, and help rally support to give kids with cancer better outcomes by supporting our groundbreaking research.

During the month of September 25,000 families around the world will get the horrible news that their child or teen has cancer.

6,667 families will experience the loss of a child. More children are being diagnosed with cancer today than ever before. Let’s change that.

You can donate £3 today to Clic Sargent by texting HELP to 70030. Spread the word on social media with #gogold? #gogold

And finally the book I picked up to read whilst waiting for the train with a coffee in one hand and a bag of snacks from M&S was The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee. The prologue made me stop in my tracks. A husband and father in India in 1966 with no food for his family for days on end, the kids are so thin they cannot move and within an incredibly moving three pages he has killed them all and himself such was their plight.

I’m sorry for the fairly sad nature of this post but for me it really is a day to reflect on what’s going well for you. Yes I’m going to have fun today and will have a really good giggle tonight but the other things on my mind mean that I’m not going to sweat the small stuff today!
Enjoy the weekend, whatever you’re doing and have fun!

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2 Comments

  1. September 16, 2016 / 2:29 pm

    Absolutely! The small stuff is not worth anyone’s head space. Family and friends, love and laughter. That’s what life should be about, however long we all have. Looking forward to catching up tonight!