My Favourite Mama J Memories | Mother’s Day 2020

Tomorrow here in the UK, it’s Mother’s Day. I won’t lie, it’s going to be a pretty shitty one this year. For the first time since I was at uni, I’m unable to see my Mum tomorrow. In fact, I haven’t seen her in nearly 3 weeks because she’s been poorly and of course, with everything going on, we both agreed I should stay away. I know for some 3 weeks is nothing, but for me I’m struggling. My weekly catch up/bitching session with Mama J and cuddles with Daisy is the highlight of my week and I miss them both like hell. We Facetimed the other night and I can’t tell you how much that gave me a boost. I had this post scheduled for my usual time on Monday, but in light of everything I wanted to share it early as a little pre-Mother’s Day surprise. Love you and miss you loads Mama J x

Last year, I wrote a post on the best things about my Mum, and to mark the occasion this year, I’ve decided to write a little bit about some of my favourite memories with Mama J. Some of them are because they were just so much fun, others are because they were just bloody hilarious. Of course, I have loads of favourite memories with Mama J, but these are my top ten from adulthood. Enjoy!

Going to See Steps

As a little kid I was OBSESSED with Steps. I’m talking concerts in the living room, pretending you were in the band (I was always Claire) and being in love with H kind of obsessed. I always dreamed of going to see them live, and I was heartbroken when they split up. When they got back together in 2012, I didn’t quite have the money to buy tickets to their reunion show, and also Liam had made it very clear that he’d rather shut his knob in the car door than come with me, so I reluctantly gave up on the idea. Cut to 2017, when Steps announced their Party on the Dancefloor tour. Mama J was totally up for going, and the next thing we knew, we’d booked tickets to see them in Bournemouth. Ultimately, we made a nice couple of days away of it – we got the train to Bournemouth and stayed over in a rather nice hotel. We had lunch at The Cosy Club followed by some bloody expensive G&Ts in the hotel bar, and then we headed off to the BIC.

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While there were a few not so good bits (mainly down to the over-packed venue and my hatred of literally everyone), the concert itself was incredible. I will never forget how excited I felt as their opening number started, and seeing them perform Tragedy in wedding dresses on top of a massive wedding cake as the finale is one of my favourite memories EVER. Mama J made that happen, and we had the best few days away. We went back to the hotel and watched First Dates in bed and it was just the best mama-daughter trip. 

Michael Bublé

For my Mum’s birthday one year, she got Michael Bublé tickets. At the time, I was particularly a fan of the Bubbles, but I agreed to go with her. It’s safe to say since that concert I have been converted into a Mickey Bubbles fan. What a showman. We had the best time – so much so that for Christmas I got her tickets to his show in Bath (thanks to the help of my wonderful friend Cheryl using her O2 Priority!) It’s at the end of July so hopefully we’ll have some decent weather for it and can have a few cocktails beforehand – provided it still goes ahead thanks to a certain virus that’s ruining everyone’s lives at the moment.

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Pre-Wedding Sleepover

Some brides have quite a busy night before the wedding, but not me. While Liam went to drop the last of the decorations at the venue, I dropped Tilly off at her foster mum’s (the lady who we adopted her from) for the weekend and headed off to Mama J’s house. We had steak and chips and then we had a fairly chilled evening watching Alan Carr: Chatty Man and she gave me a DVD of old home movies – basically me from the ages of about 3 months to 7 years having regular tantrums. It was a lovely evening and it was the best way to kick off wedding celebrations!

Walking Down the Aisle

I always knew Mama J would walk me down the aisle. I remember most of the morning getting ready while she was trying to decide which jacket to wear and was adamant we had to have our glass of Asti before the ceremony (which never happened as we were running late). I don’t remember much of the actual walking down the aisle itself because I was insanely nervous – so much so to the point where I bolted down it before the intro to the song had even finished – but I have the pictures to remind me what a special moment it was. If I could go back and do it again, I’d do it more slowly so I could take it all in a bit more.

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DogFest

We’ve been to DogFest 2 years running now, and all going well we’ll be going this year too. We take Daisy and it’s a lovely day out for the three of us. So far we’ve not managed to meet Noel Fitzpatrick though! The first year was probably the best, as the weather was amazing and Daisy was absolutely buzzing! The second year was still great, but I was battling a raging hangover and the weather wasn’t as good – however, Daisy met lots of new friends and we caught a glimpse of Noel doing a speech on stage. This year my goal is to not get hammered the night before…

Getting Lost in Swindon

At the time this one wasn’t particularly funny, but looking back, it’s bloody hilarious. Mama J hates driving places she doesn’t really know – and Swindon is one of them. She’s not a fan of motorways and she’s easily stressed (hence where I get it from!). Despite this, we still decided to take a trip to the outlet village. Anyone familiar with Swindon will probably be aware of the Magic Roundabout. Every time we head to Swindon, the end goal is to ultimately avoid this absolute catastrophe of a roundabout. However, on this particular occasion, we wanted to pay a trip to The Range, so after our visit to the outlet centre, we got up Google Maps and started driving. I’m not particularly sure where we went wrong, but fuck me, we went wrong. We couldn’t find The Range for a start. We went through the Magic Roundabout once and shat ourselves, and at one point we drove past the exit to get on the M4 to take us back to Chippenham, where I live. Scripting this sitcom worthy material will not do it justice, but this is how it panned out:

Julie: I don’t know where I’m fucking going – AMY YOU NEED TO HELP ME

Me: You can get on the M4 just there and we’ll be home in half an hour…

Julie: I AM NOT GOING ON THE FUCKING MOTORWAY

Me: Yeah but we’re heading back towards the Magic Roundabout…

Julie: OH FOR FUCK SAKE

Me: Just get on the M4!

Julie: We’ve fucking gone past it now!

I still to this day don’t know what went wrong. What I do know is we went back over the Magic Roundabout again, shat ourselves once more and then went down a route that took us a good 2 hours to get back to Chippenham. We got home and decided that there probably wasn’t a branch of The Range in Swindon, because we couldn’t find it. It was a year later when Liam and I were driving back from the Wyvern Theatre that we drove past it. However, it was VERY close to the Magic Roundabout.

Getting Hammered in Spoons

I’m not sure how this even happened, but Liam and I met with Mama J and her BF for drinks. Four double vodkas and a bottle of red wine later, we were both hammered, much to the dismay of our partners. Quote of the evening? “Take a fucking seflie Ames.”

Clubbing

For Mama J’s 60th, we went out for drinks with a few of her friends, and we ended up in Elevens. It’s the dodgiest, scabbiest nightclub in Chippenham. However, it’s also the only nightclub in Chippenham, so it’s always packed and it’s pretty much the only place you can go for a dance and cheap shots. Who else can say they went clubbing with their Mum for her 60th? It was one of my most favourite nights out!

Wedding Hammered

A few years ago, we were both invited to a wedding we didn’t really want to go to. However out of obligation, we ended up going together for moral support. We were antisocial AF all night – while everyone spent most of the time in the main part of the venue where the reception was, we spent it in the bar, away from everyone else and enjoying the cheap drinks and getting incredibly hammered and chatting shit.

Colonoscopy 

Not particularly a great memory in hindsight, but the time we spent in the waiting room before I went through for the procedure was rather amusing. Between chatting shit and looking at dodgy memes on Facebook, a good anxiety inducing wait was made so much easier. Mama J made me laugh, and she made me feel so much calmer.

Ultimately, Mama J has made me laugh at some of the most shitty times, she’s kept me calm at times when otherwise my anxiety would have ruined me, and she’s been my best friend since I was small and annoying. Love you Mama J!