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I like to think of books like meals. There is the ‘McDonald’s book’. It looks so enticing and you devour it in seconds, only to wonder if you’ve read anything of actual substance. There’s your ‘meat and two veg book’. It does the job. It fills you up without…

Jelly Telly is a Children’s Christian media streaming provider. You might have to read that sentence a few times to understand what it means. Still not there? Let me explain. There is an app/website thingy where your children can go to watch high quality Christian shows with helpful, encouragi…

Last September was the first time in four years that I haven’t had a child starting in Reception class – I did, however, go and stand by the door a couple of times!! Four children starting Reception has seen me cover every possible emotion, from tears and trembling to joy, celebration an…

We are in Switzerland. First impressions? We have a few. Cows are disappointingly not purple. In fact, if you were to give me a bovine identity parade I would struggle to pick out the Swiss ones from a home reared Hereford, though the neck bells really are a thing, so audibly they’re instantly…

What links ham that’s been kept hanging in a dank cellar for years, sawdust on pasta and Italy’s second oldest University? Parma. In Italy. I remember a day trip there. City breaks with children feel like juggling with grenades in a crowded space. At any moment there will be an explosion…

I didn’t see it coming. We were driving past cows. I told the children that, as a boy, my family kept two cows. I said that each year they had calves. Then the question came from the back seat, “Where did the calves come from?” Silence. I realised what I had done. Mary and I kept o…

Do you know how eagles teach their young to fly? It’s a complicated process because flying isn’t a straightforward pastime! Eagles first demonstrate how to fly by hovering above their nest. Next they push their young out of the nest to experience free fall, only to rescue them before dea…

Diary of a disciple: Luke’s Story has been a huge hit with families. It is a retelling of Luke’s Gospel even more from Luke’s perspective than his Gospel, if that makes sense. It follows the well worn format of Tom Gates and Diary of a Wimpy Kid with every page full of pictures, qu…

For most parents, the daily grind of coping means that we rarely get the chance to step back from the mundane to think critically about our decisions, our routines and our habits. What fills my minimal ‘spare’ time? Did I make those decisions or did they get made for me? What shapes my d…

Our first and second children were born “naturally” (if you can call it that, given all the gas, needles and hands involved). Our third was born by Caesarean section. Coming out “the other way” was more different than I expected. Although, as I saw so little of it, I’m …