Jo Sandelson, Author at Jo Sandelson Cartoons

All Posts by Jo Sandelson

Kids blogs – how scared should you be?

Kids, blogs, laptop, computer, photographs

This post is inspired by the lovely Sarah from Mum of Three World. Yesterday she said two of her children were going to start blogs and I thought straight away AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! If my son does the same, will he upload photos of me with pre-brushed hair, red eye and a manic expression? Will those pictures stay forever in cyberspace […]

Hooray I’m off to BritMums Live on 25th June. Will we behave when we get there? I give myself a little talking to before Blog conferences which pretty much involves:- “Now Jo, only have ONE small glass of white wine and wait until the sun is over the yardarm.” That’s my talk. But in case you weren’t sure of what to […]

Do I want my child to look like this? … or like this? When the protests about THE SATS tests came up, I was ready to join in: STOP STRESSING OUT MY KID !! Let them be like this … Now I’m not so sure. We just got a link from his […]

In my dreams!! But AMAZING NEWS ….. Heir Raising has been Shortlisted for a Brilliance in Blogging Award! Please click on badge and vote to get me into the Finals … There are some outstanding blogs so it’s a real honour to be in Reader’s Choice next to such talent. I’ve been out of range near Hambledon Hill, […]

How hard can it be for a child to bank a cheque ? My son had four generous birthday cheques from relations. Unfortunately, they had made them out in his name so I couldn’t put them in my personal ‘Spa Treatment Emergency Fund’ This was a wise move on their part but also impractical as […]

What do these women have in common? Angela, Hillary, Melinda, Christina, Sheryl, Michelle, Malala, Mishal, Libby and Lyse ? They get out there and do stuff. They probably don’t say, “Can I get everyone coffee before we start?” And if they do, they do it mindfully without letting themselves be distracted from their true goals. […]

It’s that time of year again. One hour after the envelopes flopped onto the doormat the phone rang. It was Mish from down the road whose DELIGHTFUL daughter Persephone plays with my son Oscar when there’s absolutely NO ONE else around. They’ve both sat the 11+ Exam for a highly selective private school in our town. […]

I moved to a new school when I was 7. Everyone else had started the year before and knew what the hell was going on. My first ballet class: stretched into a pink leotard, pink ballet skirt and pink satin pumps from Freeds, THE ballet suppliers of London – standing in the Assembly Room surrounded by huge […]

Did I die on my arse as Arthur Smith my esteemed comedy teacher might ask? Well the most important thing for a middle aged female comedian was not having bingo wings flapping out of a sleeveless dress ready for flight front of stage. No laughs I could handle. Unless they were going to laugh at […]

When did you stop wanting to get older? For me it was about 33-35. Until then, I only ever wanted to be a Grown-Up. Being a younger sister, I never felt this was really possible – there was always SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED two years ahead, and I was always playing catch-up. But then everyone around […]

I’m on stage at The Oxford Playhouse next week and need to shape up. I found an excellent way of both having the toned muscles of a Wimbledon champion and getting to embarrass my child at the same time. Watched a Get Fit video from the USA and have been religiously copying Mrs Workout to […]

I am posting this illustration in the hope that even if no one sees it, my little drawing of the fictional town of Cattleford with its university and many places of worship, (from the front cover of my children’s book), may radiate some its harmonic image into the real world. Previous post Also … how […]

My 9 year old son didn’t believe he’d won a prize for his illustrated poem last week, but when we arrived at The Story Museum in Oxford last week, and saw his work mounted and framed on smart black display panels, he looked hugely relieved. The charity Family Links […]

Nobody died – and nobody left. 12 days ago I was sitting on a bench in Soho, London when I was plucked from obscurity and put on stage as a Stand-Up comedian in central London by the great man of comedy himself, Arthur Smith. Here’s an excerpt from my debut performance Arthur had been my unpredictable but […]

How do you get your family to do what you want them to? Embarrass them. Always works for me. Recently – on the Comedy Workshop in Greece – we got the chance to show off big time. It was fun. I loved it. Came back home with a whole set of tools to make relations […]

Last year was my first Blogging conference and it was a bit overwhelming. It was easier this year, as I’ve met so many bloggers in real life since then, but something still felt a little strange. Could it have been anything to do with the fact there was a considerable imbalance of […]

Can’t wait to see you at Blogfest 2014, but are you wondering like me what’ll be going on at home? Will they cope? Here are some of my friends’ kids the last time they were left on their own without you. NERVOUS NOW ? Previously

Child's drawing of Ai Wei Wei's blue balls

How did you amuse the children during Half Term? Entertaining them is a job and a half but just how hard could it be? A spot of culture shouldn’t go amiss. Ah, we thought, let’s take them to see the Poppies Or Rembrandt at the National Gallery Constable at the V&A Turner at Tate Britain […]

Ever feel like the education system and life in general is a treadmill ? You’re launched aged 0 and don’t stop till you drop off somewhere along the way. We slept in this morning – half term – until 10.30 am. After 6 weeks of 6.30am starts, 6 days a week, the hours are beginning to […]

We’ve had a half term report and there’s been much tearing out of hair and critical analysis of where it’s all going wrong. Our 9 year old son has scored below average in one of his tests and the teacher’s comments were very ho hum indeed. ‘Could do better’ didn’t even begin to […]