Elle Steer 
When I was pregnant with R I worried alot about the age gap, about the fact that at just turned 4 years old E was already an old soul, very grown up and that maybe due to a loss in between I had left it too late for them really to bond. That they would be into different things, at a different time in their life and that it would be like parenting only children – twice over!
Early in the morning as the sun comes up, peaks through the black out blinds and fights its way around the curtains little eyes begin to open, call out for us and we hear small feet clamber out of bed and across the landing. It’s Sunday, the day that pre-children means lazy mornings, lie ins, breakfast in bed and hot coffee and with small children can mean early mornings trying to catch just one more minute in bed, food planning, organizing the week ahead, ironing and homework. Last Sunday however was the kind that E and her daddy had looked forward to for weeks. The kind of day that breeds infectious excitement I want to bottle up and keep forever – or perhaps use on those dark winter mornings where no one wants to go to work or school!
The school holidays to me are like gold. I miss E so much that I truly count down to the days when she hasn’t got to be up and out and where we can live a little freely, more relaxed and just spend time together. I also really want to make it special, to make the time we have together more than just the every day, to run through the wild flowers and jump onto a train for a big adventure at the drop of a hat.