51. The pleasure and the pain [Elbow, The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester]

The day doesn’t begin well. It’s 9am and I am lying on the floor of Manchester Art Gallery, wrestling Milo into a bear suit.
‘Can’t you bribe him?’ says a rather unimpressed photographer. ‘I have some sweets in my bag.’
I try to explain that Milo doesn’t do bribes and doesn’t yet know what sweets are (I’m [...]

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48. Heads, shoulders, knees and toes [Quarry Bank Mill, Wilmslow]

‘Aren’t your legs cold?’ says my Mum.
We’re at Quarry Bank Mill and it is very, very cold. I am togged up in duffle coat and fleece, thermal vest, two pairs of tights and long boots with extra socks. But I also have a mini skirt on.
‘Nope.’
We’ve arrived late and everything bar the shop is shut. [...]

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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. 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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