More of Molly's blog posts

Molly Forbes: Mum, presenter, blogger... and so much more!

What one piece of advice would you give yourself if you could travel back in time?

27^th February 2012

When I was 11 I got my hair cut . I wanted to look like Justine Frischmann out of Elastica. (She’s the one who went out with Damon Albarn when Blur were all the rage.)

Instead, I ended up with big frizzy curtains. My nickname throughout the whole of Year 7 was ‘Little Man” because of that haircut.

After finding a school worksheet I filled out when I was aged 9, it got me thinking about what I would do if I could travel back in time and give myself a piece of advice. That dreaded haircut would never have been given the OK for one thing.

But what other nuggets of wisdom would I pass to a childhood me? I think I would tell myself to stop worrying so much – especially about all those times-tables tests.

I put the question to Jez and he said, without hesitation, that he would definitely tell himself to “Work harder at school”. Apparently his only regret from his childhood is not taking lessons more seriously.

Producer Adrian said he would tell himself to chill out a bit. Like me, he was a bit of a worrier and used to get really nervous about things.

We’ve been chatting to you lots about going back to your own childhood recently. It’s all because of the Be a Kid for a Kid theme of this year’s Have a Heart Appeal, raising money for Childline.

We asked you to fill out my school worksheet – with a fantastic response. One of our favourites came from Sharon, have a listen to what Sharon was like as a 9 year old and see if it triggers any memories for yourself…

Sharon goes back in time!

With that in mind, we’ve been asking you what you would do if you could go back in time to meet yourself as a 9 year old. The answers were really interesting.

We had lots of tweets to the Heart Wiltshire Twitter account, with a whole range of replies. Kyo said he would tell himself, “Look behind you before you push that kid in the playground. The principle is standing right there.”

Becky said she would tell herself, “You are beautiful. You are perfect the way you are. Hold your head up high.” While Stephanie said she would say, “There is a place for you in this big scary world. Just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t worry about everyone else.”

Fascinating really.

So how about you? What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time and meet yourself as a 9 year old?

 

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Relationships – good or bad for the waistline?

February 22nd 2012

Did you see Adele at The BRITS last night? Didn’t she look absolutely gorge?!

I know all the chat was about Adele’s acceptance speech for Album of the Year being cut short but, for me, her dress was what really stood out from the evening.

You can check out all the pics from last night here . Now, don’t you agree Adele’s hair and dress were stunning?

Rumour has it that Adele’s gone from a size 20 to a size 16. And it certainly shows. Apparently the multi-award winning singer has put her weight loss down to a healthier lifestyle all because – wait for it – she’s in love.

Now, is it just me, or is this all the wrong way round? When I started dating my (now) husband I didn’t lose weight. Instead, I put on about a stone! All those Chinese takeaways didn’t help. Neither did those cosy evenings on the sofa in front of a DVD with nothing but my man, a bottle of wine and a posh bag of crisps for company.

Jez reckons it’s because once you’re in a relationship you get “content” and so stop making an effort. Whatever the reason, Adele’s certainly not buying it. She’s looking HOT, showing her particular “love diet” is certainly paying off.

Now, back to that speech. Lots of you were pretty cross the lovely Adele was interrupted. On the Heart Wiltshire Facebook page a proper debate got started. Sarah says “It’s not the way to treat the biggest star in the music industry” and Pat agrees. She wrote, “It was disgusting. Awful reason to make way for Blur who put in an appalling performance.”

Fellow singer Olly Murs agrees, although he also feels sorry for someone else…

Olly Murs on Adele

So what do you think? 

 

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What are your reasons to be cheerful?

20^th February 2012

Coming back to work after a holiday can always be a bit tricky. Gone are the lie-ins, the sunshine and the excuse to eat lots. Instead you’ve got early mornings, post-holiday diets and pretty grey English weather.

So that’s why I’m looking for reasons to be cheerful this week.

I don’t want to fall into the post-holiday blues after my honeymoon in Cuba. There’s nothing worse than an office whinger and I think Jez and Producer Adrian may just ban me from the studio if I start moaning!

My main reason for being happy this week is being reunited with my gorgeous 19 month old daughter, who spent last week with her grandparents at home. I was so excited to see her and was pleased to find she’s her usual bossy self. I even got a huge cuddle last night (rare)!

An obvious reason to be cheerful – but I need some more.

So that’s why we asked what YOUR reasons were. We had some brilliantly random ones, ranging from Kim who’s just got herself a new allotment, to Ally who’s celebrating because her husband has just got back from the Falklands.

And then we had Tony from West Swindon. Have a listen to his reason for being cheerful…

Tony from West Swindon

Think you can beat that?! What are your reasons?

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I’m leaving Jez…

10^th February

I’m sorry to say the time has come for me to say goodbye.

But only for a week!

I’m off on honeymoon tomorrow to Cuba, so I’ll be trusting you lovely lot to look after Jez for me while I’m away.

Don’t forget to remind him about Valentine’s on Tuesday (I’m very worried he’s going to forget). And keep texting / emailing / tweeting and Facebooking with all your funny stories. You do keep us entertained in the mornings!

While you're on our Facebook page - check out the picture of Jez in my old Brownie uniform. Priceless. 

He donned it in honour of our HUGE Have A Heart Appeal. This year we’re going back to our childhood and asking you to be “Be a Kid for a Kid”. The idea is to use your formative years as an inspiration for fundraising.

So far we’ve heard about some brilliant event ideas – including a naked cake sale (alas, the only things that will be naked are the cakes – customers will get the chance to ice their own!) and a sponsored bike ride on Raleigh Choppers.

Jez and I are desperate to find a fun event to get involved in – we’ll come along and front the whole thing for you – so don’t forget to get in touch if you come up with a great idea.

You can download a fundraising pack here and share some of our ideas on the Heart Wiltshire Facebook page.

Right, that’s it. I’m off. Have a great week! 

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Do you suffer from Gwyneth rage?

February 6^th 2012

  I was a little bit wound up this morning. I’m not easily riled, but I read something over the weekend which got my heckles up.

Jez couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, so we decided to chat about the source of my rage on the show today, to see if I was (as Jez thought) getting my knickers in a twist over nothing.

The issue in question was an interview Gwyneth Paltrow gave recently. In the interview Gwyneth was offering advice for women everywhere, on how to be the perfect wife and mother. According to Gwynnie, the best mums and wives are the ones who make sure a home-cooked meal is on the table when their husband returns from work. And, again according Gwynnie, all mums should be of the Stay At Home variety.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to cook your husband dinner. And I’d quite happily spend all day at home with my toddler. But for me, this just isn’t an option. Like lots of people, I have to go out to work to help pay the bills.

I don’t have time to craft a delicious meal from scratch for my husband every day and – shock horror – sometimes he has to make do with fishfingers and peas instead.

If I was married to a pop star worth the reported £48m that Chris Martin is, maybe things would be different.

The thing is, I’m just like all other mums I know – whether they stay at home or go out to work – I’m just trying to do my best.

Now, Jez didn’t get what all the fuss was about. He was all for Gwyneth’s advice, if it promised him a tasty home-cooked dinner at the end of the day!

We had quite a few texts about this, and the debate continued on our Facebook page . Some of you thought Gwynnie should get a reality check, whereas others agreed with her completely.

So what do you think? Does Gwyneth have a point?

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Do you ever get embarrassed by your kids?

1^st February 2012

I don’t often get embarrassed. Maybe it’s a mum thing, or maybe I just have no shame, but it really takes a lot to ruffle my feathers.

Which is why I was so surprised when Jez announced that he regularly has to do things he finds cringeworthy, for the sake of his kids.

Take the most recent example. Jez went to Brighton for the weekend and ended up on the pier for a lovely family day out with his wife and kids. His 4 year old daughter wanted to go on the Helter Skelter, but was too short to ride it alone.

Step up to the plate, Mr Jez Clark. Next thing, Jez finds himself riding the Helter Skelter, squished in amongst lots of little people. Much to his embarrassment, there was a big crowd of proud grandparents gathered at the bottom to cheer.

Poor Jez.

He’s not alone. My husband often gets flustered when he has to take part in the “forced jollity” of young children’s activities. Singing along to nursery rhymes in public, splashing around in the pool with our toddler during her swimming lesson, he hates the lot.

And judging from this video we found, Tom Cruise is also a member of the Cringeing Dads Club. Is it just me, or does the Top Gun star look a tad uncomfortable riding the pink teacups with daughter Suri?...

Tom and Jez aren’t the only ones. Dominic text us, telling us a brilliant story, winning him some huge dad points.

Dominic accompanied his little girl as she was out on her pony. But she fell off and didn’t want to ride the pony home. So, in brilliant dad fashion, Dominic rode the pony home instead. But he was thrown off too - and chucked into a load of pony muck. 

Good old Dominic.

Looks like it may just be a dad thing then. Is it to do with “losing your dignity” perhaps? Or maybe you can’t keep up your manly street cred while sitting atop a cute little bouncy pony.

If you’re a dad please do enlighten me. Go on, share your stories and let Jez, Tom and Dominic know they’re not the only members of the Cringeing Dads Club…

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On settling in and meeting Wiltshire

27th January 2012

It’s been a crazy and exciting three weeks.

Getting used to the early hours that come with working on a breakfast radio show, juggling mum duties and finding the discipline to go to bed early haven’t been easy.

But it’s been made a whole lot more manageable by the perfect 5am cups of tea made by Producer Adrian and the very satisfying giant pack of digestives Jez has supplied.

Oh, and you lot have all been rather lovely too. We’ve been bowled over by all the brilliant welcome messages – it’s fair to say the people of Wiltshire are a very friendly bunch.

Our main topic of conversation in the office for the past fortnight has been bemoaning the fact we’re all skint. Payday has just arrived - but blimey, it took a while to get here didn't it?!

What with Christmas and the January sales and the early December pay date, it’s meant the cupboards have been pretty bare. I don’t know about you, but I never want to see another baked bean as long as I live.

Which is why we’re all so excited about the Who’s On Heart competition we launched on the first day of our refreshed show. This fabulous competition means you (not us, unfortunately) have the chance to win your share of £50,000 .

Which got us to talking about what you’d spend the money on...

It seems you’re all a bit desperate for a holiday at the moment. Nearly every person we’ve spoken to so far says they’d splash out on a break to somewhere warm. Can’t say I blame you really. Even my new Radio Mum - our cleaner Lisa - says she’d spend the cash on a Caribbean holiday.

Jez keeps banging on about the fact he’d love to take the kids to Disney Land. And Producer Adrian is keen on another trip to Stockholm.

I’m all about the beaches, so if it was me, I’d pick a nice warm beach somewhere and take a good book. (Not sure my body’s “bikini ready” though, so it’s probably handy that we’re not allowed to enter the competition.)

What about you? Where would you go if you won your share of £50,000?