Over Christmas, Rosie and I had an exciting idea. Our plan: to jump in the car with Harry, her best friend Rose, and her mum – my close friend Rachael – and spend a week exploring Northern Europe together. For this extrovert of mine, a whole seven days with her bestie discovering the gems of some of the oldest cities in the world is her idea of heaven. Luckily for us, Rose and Rachael are adventurous souls and were just as enamoured by the prospect of such a road trip! Initially we were keen for a wintery, snowy type of holiday in Germany or Austria. But after some research, I realised it wou ..read more

Have you ever felt frustrated by not being able to do something as well as you’d like? Or anxious because you feel you should be able to do it better? Do you actively avoid situations/scenarios which might highlight your lack of skills/knowledge? Me too! All the time! And I suspect this is true for most of us. And although we think we’re being kind to ourselves by not facing what we don’t feel competent achieving, this avoidance strategy is feeding our anxiety. So not only is it inhibiting our personal growth, it’s also subconsciously making us feel worse inside. Consciously embracing areas of ..read more

This summer with my son very much otherwise engaged on the cricket pitch, it left my beautiful teenage girl and me free to go adventuring together. And many an escapade we had From scaling tors on Dartmoor to hanging upside down in an aerial hoop class to sleeping in a wooden shepherd’s hut with mice running around our heads, adrenaline flowed, and comfort zones were challenged (mostly mine). But there was also so much laughter, joy and special conversations. A suitcase full of magical lifelong memories. Adventuring with my teenage girl is an absolute privilege. As my baby grows up and ente ..read more

I have always been one of life’s planners. It’s taken me a long while to learn that plans should only be there to guide us, not to hold us steadfast in their grasp. Whilst pregnant, I distinctly remember a conversation with a work colleague about how I would follow Gina Ford’s scheme for getting new babies to sleep through the night. I also remember his rye smile at my innocent plans (he was already a parent!). With the naivety of a new mum, I was convinced my baby would slot nicely into a neat little routine. How wrong was I? Rosie arrived and promptly shook my world upside down. There was no ..read more

After a week of non-stop activity in the central cloud forests and volcanoes of Costa Rica (see Adventures in Costa Rica Part 1), we needed our adventures to take on a more mellow vibe for the second week of our holiday: enter the Caribbean coast. Blessed with beautiful beaches, abundant wildlife, and an extremely relaxed feel, it’s the perfect spot for unwinding. Many fewer tourists venture to this coast, which only increased its appeal to us! We decided to visit the very southern part of Cahuita, followed by a few days in the stunning Tortuguero National Park in the North. Both places felt ..read more

A Spontaneous Adventure I’m here to present to you the joys and ease of a mini adventure break to Iceland! I have to confess that Covid has somewhat knocked my solo (i.e., without my husband) travelling confidence. This seems somewhat ridiculous given that when my children were only 8 and 9, I took them halfway across the world to Auckland alone. Now I was feeling nervous taking an 11- and 12-year-old to Europe… To counteract this, I decided the best option was to get back on the horse as it were. One Saturday morning I woke up and the thought of Iceland popped into my head. I checked out the ..read more

In September 2021, Rosie chose to start studying for a biology iGCSE from home. The following summer, my not-so-little-anymore (but still quite little) 12-year-old sat her first iGCSE (International equivalent of a GCSE). Yes, she was young. But we wanted to test the waters and see how difficult they were to do from home. And being only 12, there was no pressure on her whatsoever. If it all went wrong, it just didn’t matter. On August 25th, my happy little girl found out she’d achieved a 9 (equivalent to an A** for those of us not so used to the new crazy number system!). Throughout this proc ..read more

A friend recently asked me the following question: “How do you have time to learn all the different subjects/all the things your children need to know so that you can teach them?” The simple answer: You can’t possibly, and more importantly, you don’t need to. When the children were younger, aside from the odd question from left field (and there were a few of those…) I could comfortably teach/help them with most things they couldn’t work out for themselves. (Apart from music, at which I am utterly hopeless!) We could explore and discover the world together, discuss and debate, and enjoy delvi ..read more

I’ve been quiet on this blog for a while as Rosie and I have been poorly for a few weeks. Thankfully we’re coming out the other side, recovering slowly. In the process, we’ve grown to fully appreciate the absolute necessity of rest! Paring back our days back to the bare minimum has left plenty of space for reading. In my opinion, a good book is the perfect way to recover. So, I thought I’d share a few of our favourite current reading recommendations here.  Harry’s New Reading Recommendations Harry is in the middle of a World War II study, which he finds fascinating. As you may know from r ..read more

My daughter Rosie is acting obsessed. It’s been her dream to follow a career in this tough profession since she was a little girl. And as she’s got older, her interest has only increased. Gaining some form of qualifications to prove her skills in this area seemed a logical step. As a home educator, it’s difficult (although not impossible) to sit a Drama GCSE, but LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) exams are an excellent, if not better alternative. I’m very thankful we discovered them, so wanted to share our positive experience with others. (Note I’m not being paid to write this p ..read more