49. Probably the best service station in the world [Tebay Services, Westmorland, J39 of the M6]

People in Manchester tend to make certain assumptions about those who live in the People’s Republic of Chorlton. Like, they’re all middle class, Guardian reading, veggie-munching, yogurt-weaving hippies. Oh yes, and the mothers have those massive prams with massive wheels, and when you ask them to move, they open their massive mouths and argue the [...]

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46. Keep on keeping on [Gabriel's Kitchen, Upper Brook Street, Manchester]

Everyone is entitled to an off day, right? Even Milo, usually the star of the show thanks to his tendency to make like a giddy kipper. And the day starts well: we throw ourselves around a bouncy castle for a bit before Milo slips into a blissful snooze.
He wakes to find himself being trundled along [...]

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45. Keep calm and carry on [Dough, Northern Quarter, Manchester]

I like to talk about Milo. I can’t help it; I have become one of those dreadfully dull parents, the ones who, in a former life, would make me want to sandpaper my eyeballs just to relieve the boredom.
Here’s Alyson and I in her restaurant. It’s just before Christmas. Outside, the rain pelts down. The [...]

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44. Something fishy [Bolton Museum, Art Gallery & Aquarium]

‘If you say one more word I’m going to turn the car around, and then me and Milo will spend the day without you.’
We’re on the motorway, heading to Bolton. A red mist hangs low over the dashboard.
‘I’d like to see you do a u-turn on the motorway,’ I say, not a little petulantly.
‘Susie, I [...]

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43. Sand in my eye [Formby beach]

‘I’m at the station,’ reads the text message, ‘Where are you?’
I stab a reply. ‘At the station, too. Where are you?’
Simon and I have driven to Formby beach. It’s minus 5 outside but here in the car it’s as steamy as an afternoon in the Malaysian rainforest. The heating has been cranked up [...]

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43. Hermit for hire [Manchester Museum]

I’ve timed things perfectly. As we arrived at Manchester Museum, Milo dropped off, taking full advantage of his swanky new pushchair to drift into a long sleep. I peer down at him and smile: his nap means I have a precious hour or so to have a coffee, read and eat. Heck, I might even [...]

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42. It ain’t half hot mum [Manchester Art Gallery]

What to do on a wet, wintry day with a toddling babe and a getting bored-out-of-her-tiny-mind mother? There’s only one option: Manchester Art Gallery. I packed up the pram and braved the bus into town, me a bit twitchy lest I get heckled again, Milo a bit grumpy for no reason other than he’s a [...]

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40. The kindness of strangers, part 1 [The No. 86]

Sometimes I don’t feel like writing. For weeks now I’ve been waiting for inspiration to strike, but so far nothing has happened. I told Simon about it; he told me to just get on with it. He’s playing Sisters of Mercy as I type. It’s not really helping.
The problem is, as problems tend to be, [...]

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39. Thinking long term [Grosvenor Park, Manchester]

Milo and I are standing on Oxford Road. Actually, to be more specific, we’re standing in Grosvenor Park, just by All Saints, and I’m pointing at the trees.
‘And the leaves in the breeze go shush, shush, shush,’ I say to Milo, and he giggles.
‘And the dog on the street goes bark, bark, bark.’
Milo looks round [...]

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38. Milo, the red nosed baby [Chorlton Waterpark]

It’s freezing but we’ve decided to brave the chill air for a walk. Milo is tottering along at top speed, giddy with joy at being let loose amongst so much wide, open space. He stops to point at a leaf (‘dat’). He totters for a bit, then stops to point at a tree (‘dat’). And [...]

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