About us

Welcome to Cats, Kids, Chaos.  I started this blog, originally called The Mad House of Cats & Babies in a blur of sleep deprivation, to get my thoughts and feelings down somewhere, on parenting, second time round, with a baby that had major sleep issues (and not just normal ones) but it has grown and grown. We are now well into our ninth year at the Mad House and you will find blog posts on anything from gardening, to politics, with lots of ramblings on parenting, and also about living with food intolerances. I blog about cows milk and gluten free cooking too.

Meet the “babies”…

They aren’t really babies any more but the name has stuck. I keep thinking I should change it but somehow just can’t.

Emily is 13. She has perfected the “my parents are so weird” eye roll already. We are riding the rolleroaster that is “tweenagehood”. She’s creative, caring, compassionate beyond her years, loves to help me, and is very good at bossing her little brother around, but adores him, even when he is not being as cooperative as she would like. She has shared some of her writing on this blog, and occasionally pops in to voice her thoughts.

Matthew, was known as Small Boy, in the blog’s early life, and now is known and The Boy, occasionally acts like a stroppy teenager already too. He’s funny, scarily bright (don’t give him anything electronic, he will work out how to use it faster than you can) and a bundle of love and energy. He spent a lot of his late baby and toddler-hood with chronic ear infections which affected his sleep and behavior. This has slowly, and happily resolved after grommet surgery and speech therapy. He has sensory issues, but we are working with him to help him make the most of life and be the amazing boy he is. He is also currently homeschooled at home with me.

Meet the apparently responsible adults…

Me – Karen: forty-something (would like to pretend I am 10 years younger, but my body just won’t obey) I have struggled with fertility issues, health issues during pregnancy (hyperemesis gravidarum and pre eclampsia) and then Post Partum Depression and Anxiety after Big Girl’s birth. I have been open about my mental health struggles, having faced eating disorders in my early adult life, and now working through therapy for some anxiety issues. But it’s not all gloom. I also like cooking, feeding my family, writing, spending too much time on social media, and am passionate about parenting, and many aspects of raising a family however, I work on the basis that this parenting malarky is learn as you go, and that what we do as a family may not work for someone else. I like to think that this blog is a place where people can read about family life, written in an honest, humorous way.  I rant, occasionally, too, be warned.

The Husband or Long Suffering Husband (otherwise known as Charles) He may be 45 but he still manages to look younger than me, I still haven’t figured out how he does that. He’s patient, kind, a wonderful and very involved father, and puts up with me, and the madness of daily life round these parts. He’s an IT Geek, for a living, and spends a lot of his time throwing cats off beds, and competing for the remote control!

Meet the Cats…

Cat 1 – Layla: (she refuses to share her age, she is ageing gracefully) She was my fur baby before there were any children in the picture, and I don’t think she has ever really forgiven us for adding small humans to the household. She doesn’t like children, or anyone for that matter, except me. She follows me round the house, and probably thinks she is human.

Cat 2 – Jasper: Adolescent, permanently hungry, spends his life winding Layla up, cat. Eats everything and anything, but likes to be cuddled and tolerates much manhandling by the small humans.

We also have a hamster, fish and a leopard gecko, and snails, because when I’m not parenting I sideline as a small animal zoo keeper!

So those that’s us. Grab a cup of coffee, and join in the crazy…