11 Things I've Loved in July
Sharing my Substack, TV, podcast and book recommendations
I’m writing this on the second week of the summer holidays, it’s another rainy day and my two eldest are playing an elaborate game of ‘Teachers’ with all their cuddly toys as the pupils - my middle son keeps talking about time-out and I’ll have to ‘call your mum’ to the toys - a bit strict if you ask me! My youngest just toddles in and out of their game and they include him when he comes in.
I need to add here that it is very unusual that they play together nicely like this, it’s usually arguments about whose turn it is on Netflix!
So, I’m taking advantage of the fact that they are occupied so I can write this - I’ve got to take my moments when they come up in the summer holidays!
I wanted to share with you 11 things I’ve really enjoyed this month, so here goes.
Some Substack posts I’ve loved this month are:
“But if you never challenge these rules with your creativity you can never create to your fullest potential.”
“To whoever needs this right now: Keep pressing forward. Your stories matter more than you know. You will have people doubt you, and still, you must choose to believe in yourself..Your dreams are not for everyone to understand. They are yours for a reason.”
I enjoyed both of these posts on The Haven - Summer Of…? (turning comparison on its head and creating an intentional summer for you instead) & You From 10 Years Ago (reflecting and celebrating how far you’ve come).
I related so much to this post on Mothers and Daughters from 'Midlifing it,' with Anniki Sommerville - just sums up the really tough parts of not being listened to as a mum, the anger, the guilt, all of it.
“I feel, in the summer, that the membrane between moment and memory is paper-thin: I am living now, but also in all my summers that have gone before.”
TV shows:
Survival of The Thickest on Netflix - this comedy-drama is all about Mavis, a personal stylist who finds out her photographer boyfriend is cheating on her, so she rebuilds her life. I did a double-take in one of the episodes because Garcelle from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is in it, I didn’t realise she was an actress too! It’s really funny and I love the relationship between Mavis and her friends too.
Bump on BBCiPlayer - this Australian drama is about an A-grade teenage girl, Oly, who does’t realise she’s pregnant until she has her baby. It follows her as she navigates life as a teenage mum, and her relationship with her boyfriend. I really liked the main story but also all of the other stories with her family and her boyfriend’s family too are good too. Really enjoyed this - there’s 3 series too, so a great binge watch!
Books and podcasts:
I read Lovestruck by Laura Jane Williams this month and loved it - I've read a few of her other books and they are just as good. This one is really interesting as it's a sliding doors rom-com - I actually needed to go back and check the blurb on this book because each chapter was going back and for with a different relationship and I hadn't realised!
This episode of The Therapy Edit with Dr Caroline Boyd on how anger can be your superpower. Honestly, every mum needs to listen to this episode. Talking about maternal anger in such an open way is so important. In this episode they talk about the causes of maternal anger and really helpful ways that you can deal with it too:
I’m also including my own podcast episode in here that I released last week- I really enjoyed recording this one because it was all about life as an allergy mum with Kate from The Dairy Free Mum. It was really good to chat with another mum who just got what it was like to deal with allergies everyday (my daughter has a number of severe allergies), and that low-level anxiety that is ever-present:
I hope you’ve enjoyed these recommendations, and let me know what Substack posts, TV shows, podcasts or books you’ve loved in July.
I like the sound of 'Bump'. Hadn't discovered this so I'll look it up. Cheers
Thank you so much for the mention Jenna! 💫