As a family with 2 working parents, we try to protect our downtime, and make sure our tots don’t overcommit to too many extra-curricular activities. My Disney Princess has chosen activiti... Read More
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Last year I attended a career development course provided by my (then) employer. One session in particular on the course struck a note with me. The session took as its starting point the ... Read More
The New Year has started in our home with the usual taking-down of decorations and disposal of seemingly endless bags of wrapping paper and other assorted rubbish. Now that the decks are clear it giv... Read More
It's December! 'Tis the season to be merry. The glow of fairy lights and baubles create a festive atmosphere that is inescapable. At this time every year, the world takes a magic glow, people... Read More
I write from work, where I’m under pressure after taking responsibility for a major project that has been failing because nobody understands it (and I don’t either) as well as on the usua... Read More
I don’t think we have had a WorkLife Central blog yet about experiences of the NHS? Mine was wonderful and marvelous, but I now feel pretty guilty because it turned out to be rather a drain on ... Read More
Controversy alert...
When I was a kid, this time of year was all about bonfire night. Bonfire night was special, partly because it was the only event of significance between summer and Christmas... Read More
They say all good things come in threes, but I have not, as yet, found any professional body which gives recognition to the hat-trick we are about to achieve. Sadly, we haven’t scored goa... Read More
My 2 year old daughter has a t shirt that says “No Llama, No Drama” and I think I'm going to make it my new moto in life!. Since coming back from a nice trip abroad in August, life se... Read More
The children are back at school now after what, as I’m told by my 15-year-old son, was a very well deserved and long-overdue break from the rigours of being a full time student.
At what I ... Read More
Ok, so the title to this makes it sound like it’s going to be about something far more important than the latest publicity stunt by Piers Morgan. But (a) I thought if I wrote “papoose&rdq... Read More
A few weeks ago I was walking my daughter to school when someone stuck in the voluminous local traffic wound down their window to shout something to us. At the time, my daughter was on my shoulders a... Read More
We have recently welcomed our third au pair in four years, and she and the children are getting used to each other and their new routine. My lovely new au pair is Italian and has a wonderful can-do a... Read More
The second time definitely feels different. My wife and I are just under two months away from the birth of our second daughter. Our first is coming up for 3 and a half and is looking forward to welco... Read More
I was on a roll. Surfing the wave. Living the good life. Obviously that couldn’t last and lo and behold...
I pulled my back and spent 5 weeks in fairly constant pain.... Read More
So this blog started last week whilst on holiday in the south of France but the story started two years ago when we started planning the trip. Three couples, three countries and six kids between us s... Read More
It can be a bit of a weird one, can’t it, making meaningful new friendships as an adult? I mean, brand new friendships, with other adults with whom you genuinely have things in common and... Read More
"I attended a WorkLife Central seminar a few weeks ago, ran by mother and parenting expert Sarah Ockwell-Smith. The topic was “Understanding Naughty.” My son is almost 2 and a half -... Read More
Like many, by the time our children are all in bed our house looks like a complete bombsite. From the barrage of toys that despite best efforts cannot be contained to one room and are spread througho... Read More
We have just returned from an early summer holiday in the UK. As seems to be the norm for our family holidays, my wife and I took the opportunity of some downtime to reassess our lifestyles and... Read More
Its scarcely seems like almost three months since my youngest son was discharged from hospital. I felt at the time as if my world had been turned upside down; indeed, all of our worlds had been turne... Read More
It’s my second to last ever Primary school summer fair today which means its nearly the end of term and time for melancholy reflections on how much the children have grown up and changed since ... Read More
I don’t like to make plans. My wife and I spent a lot of time talking about it in our early years. When we were single, she used to divide Friday night to Sunday night into seven time slots to ... Read More
After placing my order that morning on my way in to work, the juice bar tender says with a smile, "your smoothie will be ready in 5 minutes; your name is Peace, right?"
Let’s rew... Read More
It was a funny old week. Mr D was working, but the kids and I had a half term staycation. I enjoy these one parent holidays because I’ve realised how much more I interact with the c... Read More
I love bookshops. I can happily whittle away any chunk of time browsing books on any subject area going. Last week, on the way to a meeting, I had some time to kill at Waterloo station, and so indulg... Read More
Back in 2015, I wrote my first blog for WorkLife Central. It centred on my ambitions for a random weekend which, like for most, had a focus on seeing more of my partner and my then 2 year old daughte... Read More
“The day before you turned two, we flew back from our holiday and you sat on my lap for most of the flight home. You were just short of having a ‘paid-for’ seat on the plane, so whi... Read More
Around this time last year, whilst on a country walk with the children, I spotted one of those farms where they sell fresh eggs at the farm gate, via the use of an honesty box... Read More