I have written this page a few times and come to the realisation that I HATE about me pages. They make me shudder and want to die. But just for you, i will try one more time…
My name is Katie and this is my little family. I started this blog on a whim one night, probably under the influence of gin after a bad day. I will be the first to admit that i have struggled with many aspects of parenting but am firmly of the opinion that if you don’t laugh about the challenges you will cry.
Through ‘Hurrah For Gin’ I try to give a real and humorous account of parenting young children – the happy, the sad, the good and the bad. I hope you enjoy reading :)
All enquiries to hurrahforgin@gmail.com
Please note I do not do promotions or reviews of any kind* on my blog or social media channels.
*Unless you are a company offering 5 star all inclusive holidays to the Maldives… then yes I do.
hi *waves” popped over from the britmums newbie group now following :-)
Pingback: Award Season | Little Button Diaries
I felt the same today when I was editing mine! X
Hi Katie!
Have just found this gem of a blog. I love it. I too am a Katy in the same boat as you. Except I wouldn’t choose gin as my tipple of choice as I would be shit faced in 45 minutes… I’m more of a ‘ pint of Peroni’ kinda gal. I have the beer gut to back it up.
Cheers to the madness of raising little nippers!
Katy x
Have just recently discovered your blog (via Pinterest-I think) and it’s freaking hilarious. Probably more so because my munchkin is now almost 12 and I don’t have to put up with most of the kind of crap you do anymore (yay). Of course now I have to attend One Direction concerts and find myself being told, quite snottily that “THOSE shoes don’t go with your dress mummy-I mean mum” all the while being regaled with the adventures of a variety of SIMS who she talks about like they are real people, resulting in me often crying out “WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Still I’m very glad she has gotten over the creepy sleepwalking thing where she would stand next to my bed staring at me for god-knows how long looking like the kid in The Ring, until I woke up trying not to scream and wake the poor thing up :) In some ways I kind of miss the chaos of having a toddler stalking your every move, but I’m also very glad it’s over. The one bad thing about having a preteen is when they loudly announce in front of their Dad and your ex-husband, that you like to drink wine “Every night”!! Can’t wait to read more of your blog :D
Hi Katie, love your writing. It makes me laugh a lot. I am about to have my third small person and will be using your blog for some light relief when the nightmarish things happen (all my choice but still).
We actually used to work together, years ago at MGOMD (I was Barrett then) Well done on doing something different! Xx
I think I have just increased my girl crush on you a little more knowing you are local to me!
You rock, keep on keeping on.
That is all!
Charlotte
You are fucking awesome! Once I stumbled upon your blog after seeing your cartoons on facebook I can’t stop reading. You hit the nail on the head as far as mothering goes. It’s so nice to know I’m not alone. Your refreshing honesty is much needed for other moms yet the love and adoration for your family comes through. You have guts to put it out there like you do, I admire that. You are also HILARIOUS! Every cartoon makes me laugh out loud, the 4 fun activities to do with children (#4 putting them in front of the tv while you sneak wine in the kitchen) so true. I think people should be more honest, we’re in this together. I wanted and planned for my 3 kids and love them dearly but a few times every day I wonder to myself what the hell was I thinking!
Kristy from Maine, USA.
Mom to boy 12, girl 10 and monster 3!!
Hey Katie!
What a breath of fresh air you are! I hope you don’t mind having a dad-fan here. Being Mother’s Day, I was scouring Facebook for all things mumsy, and a friend shared one of your brilliant stick-man cartoons, which made me happy, because that’s about as well as I can draw! :)
This is the blog I’ve been needing in my life!
I’m belly laughing my way through your posts, which is helping reset for another day running around after the two little lunatics I try to mother….thank you x
Love the stick man cartoons!!
Mother of five, all big and hairy now (except my daughter who is slightly less hairy than the others!) I can so relate to this! Laughed so much a bit of wee came out, which is normal after five kids. Now as a grandmother enjoying watching them being tormented by their kids….MWAHAHAHAHA!
Keep it up!
Thank you so much for your creation:) Mother of a two year boy & 16 year old boy… and despite the difference in ages they behave much like this. I feel so much less alone now.
I found your blog today (actually a friend sent me the link) and oh omg you’re me. just with better hair. This is fabulous and I feel so much better about feeling the way I do about my boys (4 and 2). Like I’m glad I have them and love them to bits but I wouldn’t mind it if sleep overs were made mandatory at pre-school. You’re my new superheromummy. xxx Oh and I’m based in India so its the same the world over.
LOVE this! All about “raising ’em real”. I have a 1 yo, 3 yo, and 5 yo…all girls & I teach 4th grade. I tell people 90% of the time it’s amazing, and the 10% it’s not is completely, utterly chaotic horseshit. Loving every minute however you can and you just made it easier. You’re an inspiration! Thanks and keep it up =)
Thank goodness for you! It’s taken me almost 6 years of parenting my two boys to start looking at my short comings as the norm. Something I can laugh about. For too long I thought I was just shit at it. Though from day one I have been highly allergic to the buggy brigades. The comparing, the one-upmanship. Pretending to the world that I’ve got my shit together and my kids always get their five a day. The last time my 4 year old ate 5 in one day, was because I made him sit and eat the 2 pears and 3 apples he had stabbed his fork into and strategically placed back in the fruit bowl the other way around. He shit his pants 2 hours later.
Some days I sail through it. About once a month I actually feel enthusiastic about playing Build-a-Beetle inside a fort. The rest of the time I’m clock watching for 5:30pm when I can go and sit on the toilet staring at the wall for a full 5 minutes. One of my favourite hobbies.
Anyway, your blog is uplifting. The shitty guilt fairy can go f*ck herself.
V x
Amazing work. Gave me the chance to crack a smile about my day. :) keep writing x
I can’t express how much I’ve enjoyed reading your blog. It’s sooo entertaining and gives me a snap shot of what’s to come :-)
Absolutely fabulous and so so true! So glad I found your blog. Must get that book of yours :)
Have just been laughing at Topsy and Tim with my 22yr old daughter. I realised I was laughing in a slightly hysterical – oh my god – I’ve got through it – kind of way! Mind you, if her 13 yr old brother doesn’t turn the volume down on his Big Bang Theory, series 9 or recently discovered Friends dvds (series 20 zillion) I may regress.
Please keep on doing what you do, it’s so refreshingly brilliant!
Kathryn ( 15 miles East of Brighton)
Dear Katie
Thanks for putting into words and expressing so well how life really is when you are trying to raise a family in this seemingly perfect world.
I am a twin and my own mother has occasionally let slip how difficult it was ..like the times when she used to load us up to get to the shops, elder brother on a seat on top of the pram, me and my twin topped and tailed and our labrador puppy (whoever decided to give her a puppy with 3 children under 3 …??) in the basket underneath..no car and no mobile phone.
My two little ones were actually very good when I look back on it but I wasn’t very good at working out what to do and felt that I completely lost my identity, feeling selfish and mean for wanting to put myself first. I threw away all my high heels and bikinis and hated the idea of NCT and baby groups. I just didn’t get it together to even get out of the house let alone anywhere at an alloted time. My husband worked shifts and therefore I had many lonely nights with babies and then having to keep them quiet while he was sleeping. Fair play he has been an excellent Dad and his parents were wonderful at scooping up the kids and taking them off for a few hours. I would fall asleep on the toilet and be an expert on how to remove weetabix from anything, play scratch n sniff to find random poo on carpets and invented “the secret life of mothers” so when the little ones would say “what ya doin?” I would tap my nose and say “ahah its the secret life of mothers” and pour a glass of wine or nip out for a fag. I would balance their food on plates by the window to cool it down and when it fell out of the window I would wash off the grit and serve it anyway. Reading this back I am laughing and shaking my head as I completely get your blog and wish you and your family well and urge you to keep blogging. We are all so different but a sympathetic glance or word of encouragement across a crowded supermarket can really make a difference to your day and lift your spirit when you know you are not alone in your endeavours.
Katie. I read your blog for the first time this weekend, following a fairly traumatic evening – my 2 year had thrown the entire contents of his peppa pig pasta over my dress, peed on my feet, then sneezed in my face. Glamour.com
You made me laugh until it hurt. Thank you.
I also sell gin for a living. So feel free to contact for all gin related needs.
Thank you so much for your book. I read it in one sitting (far, far too late into the night) and basically thought you had described my life (apart from the pre-kid Jaeger bomb nights – grew up too far out in the sticks for that)! I am also the mother two boys, 3 and 6, and your meaningless threat and school chapters were brilliant – we need those house rules for our 6 year old!
Katie
Just stumbled across your blog in a desperate search for a light hearted take on parenting. I’m in the early stages with a 4 mth old bub and already suspect that your humourous tales will keep me smiling through the rough patches. And I guess I’ll also get a heads up on what to expect over the next few years.
Great work and the stick figures are hilarious…will search for your book in Oz!
Cheers Tanya (Melbourne, Australia)
Hi Katie – I would love to interview you about your book on my Lifestyles show?
Hi Katie. I’m halfway through your book and I am enjoying it SO much! I received it after the birth of my first child and it it has been the best present I’ve received. Please keep writing books on all stages of parenthood – babies to toddlers to kids to teenagers! I’d love to read your account of parenting as your kids grow up. Jacky (Sydney, Australia)
I wanted to thank you for writing your book. My best friend gave it to me for Christmas and since then I haven’t stopped laughing. She lives in the UK and I live in Spain. My 4 year old keeps asking me why I am laughing so much and now she takes another book and pretends she is reading and then she starts to laugh hysterically and says she is reading like mommy. Thank you so much.
Love your blog.
I have teens now so things are a little different in the old house but I’m still reaching for the gin! Although not when in taxi duty……
Just saw a link to the 11 stages of eating. Been sat here ever since crying with laughter and nodding like a loon! My husband even had a read and I had to prise my phone off him!! You my darling, are spot on and have made my day! I’m so buying the book! Kids are 18, 14, 10 & 4…. I’ve never read anything that hits the nail on the head so aptly and well written! Your eloquence is going down in the history of Lou advice! I’m bloody sharing this with every parent i know! Even the sweet potato daily mail readers with kids called Tarquin!!
Katie, your book is incredible. I think it was secretly written about my life!! Thank you for making it ok to say all that stuff out loud at long last! I laughed from start to finish (and even cried at the end). Just genius! Xx
Hi Katie! Another one on the same board here ;. I absolutely love HFGin (although I personally prefer Pimms or/and Rum) and I must say, from an illustrator perspective that…I love the drawings! They are the perfect match on style and give you the crude expressiveness that you need in such a simple way. I LOVE the rollerskating unicorn ;)
Please keep making us laughing!
Hi Katie, just got your book as a present, read it straight through twice and still chuckling at my favourite parts, thanks for putting on paper how we all really feel. My favourite line was about how all your hope for the day lies in nespresso capsules, that’s how I feel about diet coke!!! I was going to try to give it up for lent (spot the Irish person ) but my husband wouldn’t let me on the grounds that I am already teetering on the brink of insanity!!!! I also loved the chapter on empty threats, a few years ago I came up with the word ‘penultimatum’ to describe all those times I issued a thousand threats before eventually ( sometimes) carrying the threat out. It seems to resonate with parents in particular! Please keep doing what you are doing, I will be telling everyone I know about your book and blog. Hurrah for gin (and wine, and beer, and diet coke, and chocolate…)!!!
Never have I laughed, agreed and sympathised with a book more!! Everything you have written is so on point with my life. Thank you for being so honest and letting us all know we all go through the same.
Just met you Katie at the hairdressers, outside the toilets. It’s important for me to let you know that even though I did know you were in there, I did genuinely want a wee!
Hope I didn’t appear a bit twatty, it’s just that everything about your blog is so where I am right now. Thank you for the belly laughs but also for the emotional crutch you are providing to mums like me who can find it all a bit loony tunes at times!
I used to dream about meeting rock stars but today I semi stalked a fabulous mummy blogger outside a toilet .
Hope to bump into you again! x
A-frickin-mazin!!!
LOVE your honesty. Brilliant. \
Thanks you for making me laugh out loud.
It’s like, “Tell me about yourself.” on a job interview. Ahhg! I hate it, too. LOL