Pandemic Parenting

Pandemic Parenting

But being accompanied by just one child - for the first time ever since she was a tiny baby made me realise that we both (perhaps unfairly) expected more of her when she was by herself than we would have done if she had been accompanied by her merry troupe. Whilst at the same time, I found myself ‘caring’ for her more over the two days that we spent away than I usually do when she takes up her role as eldest of her clan. So paradoxically, having only one child around made me into a MORE attentive but also LESS sensitive parent…

The Fluid Nature of Parenting - When 3 Isn't A Crowd

The Fluid Nature of Parenting - When 3 Isn't A Crowd

But being accompanied by just one child - for the first time ever since she was a tiny baby made me realise that we both (perhaps unfairly) expected more of her when she was by herself than we would have done if she had been accompanied by her merry troupe. Whilst at the same time, I found myself ‘caring’ for her more over the two days that we spent away than I usually do when she takes up her role as eldest of her clan. So paradoxically, having only one child around made me into a MORE attentive but also LESS sensitive parent…

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Gina Ford or Philip Larkin - what is your parenting style?

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Gina Ford or Philip Larkin - what is your parenting style?

This is something I’ve been asking myself recently. Pondering what it might be, whether I actually have one and whether it even matters in the grand scheme of things?

I’ve been asking myself because the family dynamic has shifted. A new paradigm has crept up on us and all of a sudden the kids are no longer toddlers who need me to do everything for them. So I’m wondering what my new role looks like.

With my youngest now 6, and my eldest soon to reach 2-digit figures (yikes), it’s become (a little) less about enforcing guidelines around nutrition, hygiene and bedtimes and more about strengthening their values, consciousness and perspective.

In short, I too am being asked to grow up.

What if 'networking' were just part of life?

What if 'networking' were just part of life?

We mamas are used to this of course: parks, GPs, recreation grounds and nurseries are fertile friend-making turf - it's how we grow our essential support networks, toting our kids’ vital stats as easy ice-breakers⁣⁣

But then the kids get older, there are less vaccinations to tick-off, you hang out less in the park, more mums re-enter the working rat race so that the school run becomes a quick kiss and drop off/pick-up rather than an opportunity for a catch up, and then suddenly you’re not meeting anyone new and not really speaking to anyone else outside your close family or colleagues. All that is left is said networking events - my very worst fear…

5 ways to manage tech 'creep' as a working mama...

5 ways to manage tech 'creep' as a working mama...

 Working mamas, would you classify yourselves as ‘blenders’ or ‘separators’?

As in, are you happy for the boundaries between work and home to become blurred so that you can dip in and out of emails in between supper, bath and story time, juggling both mama and professional roles simultaneously?

Or would you rather they were slightly less porous so that you were able to choose when to take off your work hat and when to fully embrace time as a parent and partner (not forgetting to ringfence the essential me-time that keeps us all sane)?

Sadly – for separators – technology has made blending an almost inevitable part of managing the mama work/life/parenting dilemma. So most of us have had to become blenders whether we choose to or not…