Ursula Tavender

Three, it turns out, is not the magic number. On the eve of Xav’s third birthday Mr T and I were pretty smug. We’d got through the not-so-terrible-twos pretty much unscathed and were practically high-fiving ourselves for signing out of the phase that everyone warns you to dread with not

This is a little bolt-on to the first vlog in this new series of Mum Life Hacks I posted a few weeks ago. I’ve been on a bit of a quest to replace the toxic chemical-laden products we use at home for cleaning (the house and ourselves) and stumbled across

When you meet someone and it starts to get all serious, the relentless quizzing begins: “Are you going to put a ring on her finger, then?” Two nanoseconds after the engagement announcement everyone wants to know when the wedding is. On the wedding day the question shifts to when the

A couple of weekends ago I went on a friend’s hen do up in London. You know the drill – lovely plans with a brilliant gaggle of girls and tonnes of fun. It was a really great day. (And not just because my wonderful Dad picked up the toddler at

So here’s the first in my new series of ‘Mum Life Hacks’. In this part of the Mumbelievable site I want to share with you things that I find which might just make our lives that bit easier or better in some small way. (Read: more time for responsible drinking.)

In a couple of days Xav turns three. Everyone tells you that time somehow fast-forwards when kids are growing up. I think I’m really lucky because I had some experience of this before he was born. My youngest brother was born when I was 15 and we bought him his

Xav turns three next Thursday. And he still drinks milk in the morning and at night from a bottle. We’ve tried on numerous determined occasions to introduce a different vestibule for his beloved white stuff, and each time the score ends up: Xav – 1, Parents – 0. He’s nowhere

Dear 2012 Ursula, I know you’re bricking it. I know you’re not 100% convinced you’ll be up to this parenthood gig. You don’t think you’ve got a maternal bone in your body, and joke that you’re ‘made of stone’ because you just don’t get gooey over babies. You love your

When I was expecting my baby, I was naïve. How could I not have been? I was about to get the job of my life with zero training or preparation. So I prepped as much as I could. I was religious in my research of all things parenthood and filled

Last year started in an epic way. We sold our house, went travelling with our toddler through France and Italy for a few months and then moved into a gorgeous new home. We felt unstoppable. Then everything crashed in a spectacular fashion. We knew my husband, Tim’s kidneys were slowly