Jack Junior

We've added to our family. Not in that way, gosh, when will people stop asking?, that ship has sailed for goodness sake. No, with a much less effort (albeit less rewarding) addition: a small black cat.

Meet Jack Junior. So called because he looks a lot like Jack Senior (RIP), only rather slimmer. For now, anyway.

I'd like to say that welcoming Jack into our home was the fruition of many months of planning and the fulfillment of a long-held dream of P's. But no. We decided to get him as we were driving home from lunch and talking about the bad night's sleep we'd had - hearing what we suspected was a rodent in the walls of our house.

I'd like to say that I carefully researched cat adoption facilities to find the best one. But no, we just went to the one that was still open as we got back into Hermosa after 3pm on a Sunday afternoon.

I'd like to say that we chose Jack carefully from a large cast of options, or that he 'chose' us with some sweet friendly gesture. But no. The choices we were faced with, 20 minutes before the cat adoption place closed, were either Jack, or a pair of cats that had to be adopted together because they were siblings and one of them was going to go blind so needed the other one to take care of it. I know. Don't forget, we were looking for an emergency mouse catcher - not a special needs burden. Sorry. But also not sorry.

I'd also like to say that he hunted or scared away the suspected rodents. But no, we got the pest control people in for that. In fact Jack has proved entirely useless in that regard.

But he is very very good at other important things. P absolutely loves him, and he tolerates her petting him very nicely. He snuggles with us while we're watching Netflix. And at night he curls up in a ball at the end of the bed.

So, it may have been a whim but it might just be the best whim we've ever acted on. And we may not have had a second child but as a family we are replete with contentment.

Winter sports

I didn't want to be the kind of woman - certainly, the kind of mother - who goes to the ski resort and just hits the spa. But then again, I never wanted to go to the ski resort at all. Always in search of sunshine and beaches, I never saw the appeal of snow-based holidays. I only tried it to please TLOML. And it makes more sense when you live by a sunny beach, then a snowy mountain is a bit more appealing. So I snowboarded - between tumbles and sprawls - slowly down a few green runs a handful of times during our pre-parenthood days. I quite enjoyed it, as it happened.

But I've never done it since. The last couple of times we've taken P up to Big Bear I've had the excuse of work, or it being handy to have someone to carry the clobber, so I've been able to avoid putting myself out there. Or rather, down there falling on my ass in the snow again.

Well, now I've run out of excuses. P officially likes skiing. This year she did a full day of ski school, and liked it. She was ready to tackle a few runs with TLOML, going up in the chair lift, snow ploughing her way down the nursery slope effectively independently (with reins on her boots, she's not a prodigy or anything). And now I have to decide - am I going with them? Or am I the mother carrying the bag and holding the camera at the bottom of the slope?

I signed up for a 2 hour snowboarding lesson as much as anything to prove that I don't have it in me, I am the kind of mother who goes to the mountain and doesn't go on the piste. But at least I could say that I tried. Unfortunately I was just capable enough to stay upright, link a few turns, and get to the bottom without incident. Albeit extremely slowly. Honestly the video clip of me looks at times like a still: except for my flailing arms I'm barely moving. Still, I made it.

The next day, off we went for the family mountainside fun. It was raining - and I hoped that would put TLOML and P off.

No chance. She's got the bug. Up we went. And down we came... P and TLOML moving easily three times as fast as me.

Now I have a new choice to ponder. Is it worse to be the mum who goes to the ski resort and just hits the spa? Or the mum who goes to the ski resort and keeps her 5 year old daughter waiting at the bottom while she moves extremely slowly down the nursery slope? I guess I'll either have to raise my game, or start exploring those spa options.

Transatlantic Mother's Day

Four years after I first suggested it, TLOML is finally taking the bait. He's celebrating Mothering Sunday - aka the British Mother's Day, which moves according to the Church calendar. I have just been given some flowers and am about to be taken out for brunch.

This is great for a couple of reasons. It's very nice to be taken out for brunch and made a fuss of - and much nicer when the restaurant isn't full of other mums who are also being taken out for brunch and made a fuss of. It also creates some space between Mother's Day (the American version, in May, according to the Hallmark calendar) and my birthday. This means we can avoid a repeat of last year's incident when TLOML referred to a gift as 'for your birthday... or Mother's Day... whichever'.

And of course, because America will be marking the American Mother's Day, with a bit of luck I'll get cards and flowers again in May. But not brunch in an overcrowded restaurant. Winning!

Or is it? True Mother's Day also involves a lie in and not doing any housework. Those components are missing from this Mothering Sunday. But if I try to score a lie in and a day of rest on American Mother's Day will I be told we already celebrated back in March?  And will TLOML demand two Father's Days? I may have made a tactical error here. Still, probably worth it to avoid the oversubscribed brunch.