What I learned this year about... babies.

I've only been a mum for three months but let me share what I've learned in that short time...

- However they come out, be it through the trapdoor or the sunroof, it's gonna hurt.

- The first four weeks are pretty much awful. Nothing can really prepare you for the exhaustion. Whole days and weeks blur by in hallucinatory four hour cycles of waking, feeding, winding, changing, dozing, waking, feeding... Lots of people gloss over this fact. I would like to thank the handful of people who were brutally honest about this. And everyone else... I reckon you just blocked it all out, like any other trauma - so I forgive ya!

- Whatever joyful moments you can seize upon in these first four weeks - grab them and don't let go. It might be a shower, an uninterrupted meal, someone taking the bean for a walk so you can sleep... Enjoy each and every such moment!

- Babies grow fast. Take lots of photos. The speed at which they change is miraculous. Expect to be mildly broken-hearted when they grow out of the newborn clothes.

- At about five to six weeks they start smiling and interacting. They begin to grin and coo and sing to themselves. They develop a visible personality. At this point, magically, all the sleeplessness and hormones and pain (not to mention nine months of pregnancy) suddenly becomes worthwhile. You realise that by sheer good fortune you have created something truly amazing - a whole new person.

 - Babies take centre-stage. You are no longer the star in your own life.

- Swaddling is your friend. Ditto the angry hiss of static or any other white noise, especially if you have a colicky or overtired screamy baby. I recommend Baby Bliss by Dr Harvey Karp (aka The Happiest Baby on the Block) for tips and tricks. It saved my last remaining marbles.

- People love babies. It is amazing the happiness a baby brings, not just to family and friends but to complete strangers (in supermarkets and cafes to name just two examples). And when a baby bestows a smile on someone - it can make their day.

- Most of all I have learned that your own baby really is different. No matter how unmaternal you feel before your baby arrives (e.g. backing away in terror when a friend / colleague holds out a dribbling, shrieking, writhing newborn) somehow after those first few weeks have passed in a blur you will wake up one day, look at your gummy, grinning new arrival and realise that your life has changed forever - and that's okay.

A triumphant week for the PWA!

I've written before about the fabulous PWA - our online (and occasional in-the-flesh) writing group. And while my NaNoWriMo efforts have been an epic fail (due to proofing I hasten to add, wasn't slacking completely...) two PWA members had awesome success this week!

First up Bernie McGill's novel The Butterfly Cabinet was chosen by Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year! For those of you unfamiliar with Julian Fellowes he's currently best known as the writer of the international hit series Downton Abbey. I love Downton Abbey (and not just because fellow PWA-peep Julie Agnew and I enjoy drooling over the delectable Branson...) and am quite jealous of the US audience who haven't seen the third series yet. Of The Butterfly Cabinet he writes, "McGill has the ability to enter into the brain and heart of her characters and so to make us sympathise with people who commit acts we abhor."

And secondly short story writer Mandy Taggart has won the 2012 Michael McLaverty Short Story Award (run by the Linenhall Library, Belfast) with her story Ways of the North. It will be published in an anthology along with the two runners up. If you want to hear Mandy talking about her win you can listen (for 30 days only!) to her Radio Ulster interview. (Mandy's bit is at the end.)

Congratulations to both lovely ladies! I'm feeling suitably inspired by their success to get the proofs finished and get some writing done!

Currently watching... The 4400

Source

Having worked pretty hard for the last few months on all sorts of things I'm enjoying a rare bit of down time at the minute - the calm before the storm so to speak.

So what better way to pass a few lazy hours than with a box set of The 4400? It's a quirky little series which I'd never heard of until it popped up in a 'recommended for you' list.

The plot essentially revolves around 4,400 people who go missing from earth, from a variety of different countries and times - only to all be returned at the same time with no memory of where they have been and a variety of new 'superhuman' abilities. Rather like Heroes these abilities can be used for good and evil - and at my current viewing stage (half way through season 3) the jury is still out on a couple of the main characters. Are they goodies or baddies?

It's the perfect chill out DVD - near world sci-fi, undemanding, good mix of characters and 40 minute bite-sized episodes. It's also pretty addictive so expect to watch 2 or 3 episodes back to back.

My one concern is the knowledge that like so many American shows it fell victim to 'sudden death' - where a studio for various reasons (usually financial) cancels halfway through the final season and without necessarily tying up all the loose ends. It's lazy, annoying and disrespectful to viewers who have invested time watching hours of content, only to be cheated out of a conclusion (thinking especially of the ill-fated Flash Forward here, not to mention the utterly bizarre, rush-job ending of the really promising Jericho). I haven't seen the last series of The 4400 yet but I'm really hoping it ends with a bang instead of a whimper...

Friday night treat!

So... the other night, for the first time in AGES I watched Dirty Dancing. I had totally forgotten how unbelievably sexy Patrick Swayze was in this film. The Murph was sent out of the living room so me, the cats and a box of chocolates could salivate over 'Johnny Castle' at our leisure.

I couldn't find an embeddable version of this scene (or at least one that hadn't been badly dubbed in French / German / Russian) so if you'd like to admire the scrumptiousness of every girl's favourite dance instructor you can find it here.

Enjoy!