My reverse Cinderella Story: how Prince Charming popped into my life when I was least expecting him

Having spent the last two years trying to overcome several health issues, I have at times lost sight of who I am. During a 10 day stay in hospital, I had a lot of time to reflect. Whilst doing some housekeeping on my computer, I came across an article I wrote whilst doing an internship with Mother and Baby Magazine in August 2011. It has helped me to put life into focus again and realise that my family need me to rest and recover so that we can enjoy our life together for years to come.

As my eyes, searched the results pinned to the board, I felt sick.  I started at the end, looking for my name amongst the fails, then the passes, then the third class degrees. Failing to see it, I turned to the lower second class, amazed to have not found my name there I finally found Elisabet Howlett nestled amongst the upper second class degrees.  Two days later, I packed my bags, flew to France and after a few weeks of sending out my CV, landed my dream job as International Co-ordinator at a large French accounting firm.

 

Walking through the door to MY office, I smiled inwardly as I reached for the phone to order my business cards. This was what all that hard work had been about, those late nights during finals suddenly felt worth it as I clung to the first rung of my career ladder. The next eight weeks flew by, with meetings in Istanbul, Barcelona andVienna.  I got used to the buzz of waltzing into the business lounge, helping myself to drinks, snacks and magazines and crashing in four star hotels. That’s not to say that these little perks came without graft however.  My days would often start at 7 and end at 10 at night. I figured that this was a rite of passage, an essential stepping stone to further my career and set me apart as a serious, hardworking business woman.

Taking advantage of a French bank holiday, I decided to return home, check in with my family and meet up with some of my friends.  I hooked up with one of my childhood friends who had been away in Germany; we were going to have a quick catch up.  Or so I thought.

 

At 23, my dreams were firmly focused on working hard to further my career.  Whilst I did intend to eventually get married and have kids, (let’s face it most of us want our fairytale ending) it was definitely not my priority at that moment in time. 

 

Why then in the course of that fateful meeting with an old friend did I end up getting married to him less than six months later, changing my career and trying for a baby?  Quite simply, because he was the most amazing man I had ever met and rather predictably, I fell head over heels in love with him.

 

Suddenly, the jaunts around Europe weren’t so appealing; the long hours in the office became a chore. Two years into our marriage, I retrained to be a teacher which meant a job in the same town as my prince charming.  It was then that we decided to start trying for a family.  Sadly, things didn’t go to plan at first, and suddenly life took on different meaning.  At once, the most important things in my life were my husband, our health and our wellbeing.    Whilst we worked hard for our employers, we focused on enjoying life, spending as much time together as we could.

 

Ten years later, I’m afraid to say that, rather sickeningly, I love him even more than I did then.  He is without doubt the best man in the world.  But it gets even better. We have three beautiful healthy children. 

 

So my life didn’t quite turn out the way I’d envisaged it. I am definitely not earning the big bucks I imagined I would as I perused the echelons of management.  There is no company car, I have long since used up my Frequent Flyer miles (my favourite perk) but I am happy and content as a wife and mother and school teacher.

 

I know the cynics among you will say I took a risk and got lucky. The truth is, I did get lucky, but I have never forgotten my good fortune, and every day, I work to ensure I am deserving of it.

Easter 2014

I love the Easter holidays, flowers blooming, sunny days and Easter. On Good Friday he always make our fish pies, this time Ismay did them practically all by herself. We decorate our Easter tree and reflect on what we are grateful for.

On Easter morning after Church, the children made their own Easter baskets and then went on an egg hunt around the garden. We had a traditional dinner of lamb which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Visit to the Howletts - March 2014

Unfortunately I fell at work. This necessitated a trip to the hospital, crutches, morphine and a whole host of other delightful drugs. Needless to say, this combination sent me a little bit loopy and the past couple of months have been a bit of a blur what with the drugs and the pain!

I was having difficulty with the school run with crutches, so I asked my head teacher if it would be ok to take the children to Jordan's. Both Clare and Jordan were amazing at letting me rest! waiting on me hand and foot and looking after the kids so I could rest. I am so grateful to have a brother and sisters who are willing to look after me at a moments notice.

Visit to Dorset - April 2014

During the holidays, we spent a few days with the Duerdoths. It was lovely to spend time as sisters with Celestria, especially as we were so worried about Beth and feeling helpless. Being together enabled us to be distracted and bring comfort to each other.

The car journey can only be described as "hellish", any parent of one or more children will know what I mean after 5 hours of travelling!!

Nonetheless, it was thoroughly worth it. Here is a summary of our stay in video.

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Sleep over - March 2014

As Eden is the "baby" of the family, he seems to love the role of "big boy" when playing with younger children. He absolutely adores his friend A with whom he has shared a love borderline obsession with Thomas the tank and Toy Story for several years. I love watching him show A how to play with his toys and generally just looking after him.  This weekend A and his little sister M came for a sleepover.

These children are so cute and Mia and Ismay treat her like a life size dolly.

In the morning, the children love eating breakfast together. Mia made us laugh when she was brushing M's hair she said "oooooohhh, your hair is so soft and silky, how do you get it like that?". Having grown up in some pretty cramped conditions,  I always dreamed of owning a house that was big enough for the children to have their friends over. I am so grateful that they are able to have these moments with their friends and that we can accommodate them.

Gardening - Spring 2014

We are typical Brits; as soon as there is a modicum of sunlight we don flip flops, summer clothes and go outside. Today was the first real sunny day we've had this year, so as soon as I'd finished work I took the children to the park and then organised for them to do some planting.

The girls at the moment are going through a fashion conscious stage and don't like getting dirty, so after a while it just ended up being me and Eden. Because of my back, it is quite difficult to bend so Eden did very well in doing the planting by himself whilst I instructed him. I love how he rolled up his trousers by himself, my littl. Huckleberry Finn.

I love spring and I love the flowers in our garden. At the moment we have primroses, daffodils, snow drops, grape forsythia, Christmas roses and herbs flowering. 

The children making tea - April 5th April 2014

The children have always loved helping me make dinner. When Mia was smaller, I used to sit her on the kitchen counter and she would "help" in whatever way she could. This is how my Daddy taught me how to cook, he would let me help him. One of my earliest memories is of him kneading dough on our wooden kitchen table in Essex.

Tonight the children wanted to prepare dinner by themselves so I decided to bite the bullet, hold back on my OCD tendencies and let them do it.  Here they are preparing a salad. I love the way that Eden has chucked in a stalk of celery without chopping it up! (This was soon rectified by his bossy sisters).

The girls made their own pizzas and chose the toppings to go on them. It was all very delicious.