IN her weekly column, Peta Todd discusses all aspects of family life.
Today the mum of four, who is married to cycling champ Mark Cavendish, reviews her recent home improvements.
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LIVING through a pandemic has taught us many things – we touch our faces a lot, everyone can make banana bread and pyjamas can be worn, from the waist down at least, at all times of day.
From my experience, and judging by the internet, we are all more capable – at least of trying things out of our comfort zone – than we previously thought.
By having to keep things in house, we have realised there is nothing we cannot fix – broken appliances, overgrown hair, dodgy eyebrows, you name it, we’ll have a go.
I like to think of myself as pretty capable – arm me with a YouTube tutorial and I am a one-woman whirlwind. Or so I would like to believe.
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But I must admit, at times I’ve got a little overconfident during lockdown.
Inspired by Instagram, I broke the first rule of mum life and gave Frey, my four-year-old, a brutal trim.
He now has a fringe (which he calls a fridge) that wouldn’t look out of place in Dumb and Dumber. It’s awful.
I mean he can now see without his hair covering his little eyes, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing as he can see exactly the hack job I administered.
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I keep telling myself it’s not that bad and that it will be charming when we look back at the photos from this mad time, but I think that’s purely to ease my guilt.
Mark took the clippers to 14-year-old Finnbar’s barnet and he now looks like an Army recruit. But Mark trimmed around the ears with such precision, it is one of his proudest moments.
Who knows, maybe a barbering career is calling when he hangs up his wheels.
Our need to “fix” everything hasn’t stopped at hair. I’ve been painting skirting boards, sewing clothes and Mark has been mending upholstered chairs with every tool known to man.
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The conversations about sandpaper grit have been enthralling.
Mark has also made a little turbo-trainer for two-year-old Casper’s bike so it can go next to Mark’s in the gym and he can be with him when he trains. The child is obsessed with bikes.
What was born out of necessity has now become a bit of an addiction – I constantly need to fix or create.
My most recent job was the oven. I convinced Finnbar we could remove the glass door to give it a deep clean.
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He was certain I’d blame him as the accomplice if it went wrong. Thankfully, we managed it and it now looks lovely, like brand-spanking new.
While not everything always goes to plan – there are certainly a few absurdly groomed dogs around – when else will you have the time and patience to roll up your sleeves and just have a go?
Maybe you have a hidden talent. And if you don’t, well . . . it’s the thought that counts.
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