A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I was embracing the change that’s happening for me in midlife as a positive thing – a midlife reframe. By its very nature, a reframe suggests positive change – growth, rather than loss. I’m choosing to notice the benefits of my age as much as I’m aware of needing to accommodate the less fun things (hello achy joints and patchy eyebrows!) Of all the things I’ve noticed since menopause, improving my energy in midlife has been by far the most challenging. Here’s what I’ve started doing: Getting more daylight I’ve really started listening to my body, trying to no ..read more

It can be an incredibly daunting idea, sending a teenager off to a world where you have little input in their lives. This tends to strike particularly true when parents start to consider how safe their child is at university, especially when thinking about a new social scene with drinking and lots of new friends you’ve never met (remember when all your kids’ parents were stored in your phone?) Hopefully, this guide to staying safe at university, and how to talk about safety at university with your teenagers will put your mind at ease, and reassure you that it might not be as scary as you think ..read more

I don’t know if it’s a reflection of the circles I’m moving in as I approach the end of my training as a counsellor, but I’m increasingly aware of a drive amongst the middle aged women I know to examine their lives and make some changes. Some would call it a midlife crisis, but it’s not that – it’s more like a midlife reframe. Empty nesters and mothers approaching their children’s teenage years are realising that they may soon have more time for their own concerns, and it’s prompting conversations around what they will do with themselves when the demands of parenting take up less physical time ..read more

If your child is due to sit GCSEs, the chances are they and you might be feeling quite stressed about the revision they may or may not be doing, and their eventual exam results. Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash I recall this feeling myself from when my daughter had the extra stress of uncertainty around how GCSEs would be graded during Covid-19, and much of the conversation in the featured podcast episode below focuses on that 2-year blip in our educational history. However, the revision tips and ideas on how to help your teenager prepare for GCSE exams – and maximise their chances ..read more

In 2023 I had the opportunity to speak to a transgender teen on the Teenage Kicks podcast. Jay Simmons told me about how she came to the realisation that she was transgender, what happened when she came out to her family and friends, and what she would like parents to know if they’re facing a similar disclosure from their own child, or wondering if their child might be questioning their gender identity. Listen to the podcast View on Zencastr How do you know if you’re transgender? It’s easy to imagine that transgender kids know deep down right from the start that they’re not in the right body ..read more

It took me until nearly 5pm on New Year’s Day 2024 to start wishing people a happy new year on my various social media apps. The WhatsApp groups had been busy since around 9pm the night before, but I didn’t feel inclined to reciprocate until now. It’s not that I don’t wish everyone a happy new year. I just wasn’t feeling full of hope and excitement. Instead, I felt quiet, and peaceful. After some smoked salmon on the sofa and half a film, my family began to peel away – to bed, the xBox and a drinks party respectively, and I was left with the dog and my book. I watched some TV (the luxury of th ..read more

Every year, I try to get away for a short break on my own. It began as a bit of downtime, away from the full-on-ness of managing a busy family, but now my kids are older – and need me less – I don’t want to give it up. I think mothers often grow to feel needed, even when they’re not needed – it’s ingrained in me now, this need to constantly be busy, or what I think of as ‘productive’. This weekend away on my own is a way to give myself permission to be deliberately unproductive – to look after myself. This time, I did it at the Cotswold House hotel and spa in Chipping Camden. Ad: My stay at t ..read more

I recently had the most glorious weekend away in Bath. If you’ve never visited, you’re really missing something – it’s a stunning Georgian city full of fascinating history and beautiful architecture, and home to many, many film and TV sets (hello Bridgerton). Now that the kids are older (and one of them is away at university – sob! – my weekends are my own more often, so I took the opportunity to escape with a friend and explore. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo Bath – read on for what we thought. AD: We were guests of the hotel, but all words, thoughts and images are mine, unless otherwise cred ..read more

Do you still give your teenager a stocking at Christmas? Now my kids are teenagers I’ve gently suggested that they’re too old for Christmas stockings, but they are having none of it! It gets hard finding stocking fillers for teenagers though so I’ve put together a list of 147 ideas for teenage stocking fillers guaranteed to make their Christmas morning special. Brilliant ideas for Christmas stocking fillers for teenagers I’ve never had a problem finding small Christmassy gifts for teen girls, with jewellery and makeup items frequently at the top of my daughter’s list. But I’ve always found it ..read more

It’s been an emotional week here, with my eldest child leaving for University. Along with the huge pride, and sense of this being exactly the right thing, there’s been sadness, and I know I’m not the only mum feeling it, so I thought I’d write about how it feels when your child leaves home. Over the summer we had not one, but two incredible exam results days. First Maddie, who got A* in every A-Level subject she took, then Evan, who brought home all 9s in his GCSEs, apart from Spanish. (I was as proud of that one as I was of the rest – he told me long before he sat the papers that he wasn’t go ..read more