Our Blog

Wendy's blog: The benefits of headspace

I’ve just returned to work following my second period of maternity leave. With my first child, my mind was occupied constantly with the distractions of being a first time mother ... Read More

Ellen's blog: You can fail at least once

This is the second version of my blog; the first having been about Weinstein, Westminster and whistleblowing…….but I decided that actually enough has been said on the subject, so I w... Read More

James's blog: Only child syndrome

There has been quite a bit in the press recently about the growing number of one child families. My wife and I both have siblings – my wife is the older of two sisters and I have an older siste... Read More

Lawrence's blog: The October christmas tree

"During my weekend moonlighting as my eldest’s chauffeur (although we traipse from Saturday activity to activity with her on the back of my bike, so I’m more akin to a Deliveroo cy... Read More

Rosie's blog: Spooky goings on

Just as we are about to reach the end of the first half term at school a watershed was breached. A rare moment of freedom allowed me to do the rugby run, picking up my son and three of his friends fr... Read More

Freddy's blog: For the shy kids

The temptation to fix things is strong. Especially for a man, because it's well-known that our response to a problem, particularly one raised by a woman close to us, is to offer an immediate and ... Read More

Maria's blog: Pushing or letting be?

This weekend I was having a drink with two of my neighbours, both super achievers type parents; they were talking about their eldest child currently in Y6 applying for secondary schools and how in or... Read More

Kim's blog: Time to start letting go

My firstborn started secondary school last week.  The transition from primary loomed over like a dark cloud from the beginning of Year 6. Then one gets bogged down in the spectre that is SATs an... Read More

Dolly's blog: Who are you calling bossy?

It was the usual back-to-school chaos at Dolly Towers.   Their shirt cuffs stopped mid-forearm and last term's shoes definitely hadn't encountered a polish tin.  Ten minutes b... Read More

Caroline's blog: Change is here to stay

"OK – own up - so who flicked the switch to change summer to autumn last week? It seemed a cruel thing to do. And with it came the sudden realisation that the un-named unwashed pile of new... Read More

Hayley's blog: Time off

I have just returned to work after having just over a week "off"   with my husband and 16 month old son.   We didn't go away; the advantage of having annual le... Read More

Matt's blog: Ingredients for flexible working success

I've worked for my current employer for just over one year now.  In looking for a new role, a key criterion was the flexibility of part-time working to allow me to spend more time with my da... Read More

Marva's blog: No time like the present

So, I’ve got a little bit of time off work over the school holidays & for the first time in, I think, ever, I’ve taken a moment to sit back and reflect on how far my tiny full-ti... Read More

Ellen's blog: Summer Holidays

Will this school  holiday ever end?? The summer holiday experience seems to be very different depending on the parents’ working arrangements. I must say I don’t know how at-home moth... Read More

Lawrence's blog: The Parental Leave Experience

Through a chance meeting with a member of the HR team at work earlier in the year I was made aware of my firms recently enhanced ‘shared parental leave’ offering. As you can expect, I had... Read More

Rosie's blog: Ready for the holidays

I have been looking forward to the summer holidays for simply ages. As term-fatigue reaches its peak, the prospect of a six-week holiday seems like bliss. The City is warm and close, the formalitie... Read More

Addy's blog: The ups and downs of working from home.

I am incredibly lucky, my employer has a remote working policy that insists the majority of staff work remotely two days a week. I don’t have to fight for my right to flexibility and it is a bl... Read More

Freddy's blog: A run of bad form

When I was 13 years old I had a run of bad form at school. First I got in trouble for insulting my French teacher’s fur coat. She was a Russian woman called Madame Filipovna. A very mean and un... Read More

Hippolyta's blog: The Dark Ages

As a Mentor with WorkLife Central for the last three years, I’ve had the privilege of mentoring five smart, ambitious, caring, hard-working parents in a range of City occupations.  I do it... Read More

Dolly's blog: The balance of power

Mr D is away for a month and the added pressure is starting to bite.  Friday was a blur of admin and long-distance driving, culminating in a crossed-wire conversation with the headmaster durin... Read More

Ellen's blog: Fight or flight?

The way an organisation handles its ‘flight risk’ is very telling of the kind of culture it has. By ‘flight risk’ I mean the likelihood that a valued employee will leave the o... Read More

Wendy's blog: The power of two - Shared Parental Leave

I recently took eight month’s maternity leave to have my first baby, a lovely boy called Oskar. It is true that nobody can prepare you for how hard it is, particularly when your family isn&rsqu... Read More

Hayley's blog: Part time lawyer, part time mummy

I have the best of both worlds, don’t I? I work for part of the week and spend one day and the weekend at home with my son. I have, every week, that 3 day weekend that most of my colleague... Read More

James's blog: Obsessive Compulsive Parenting

When I was in my late teens I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I had displayed symptoms of OCD earlier in childhood but in my late teens and early twenties it took a strong hold over... Read More

Caroline's blog: Making lemonade

Sometimes, as a treat, I take my tots to our favourite tea shop after school on a Friday. There’s a sign on the wall that my daughter always comments on: “if life gives you lemons, make ... Read More

Rosie's blog: Personal maintenance

One of the struggles as a parent is validating the time taken for what might loosely be referred to as “me time”. This takes varying forms for everyone. I had always subscribed to the ide... Read More

Maria's blog: White lies or reality check?

I recently introduced my little one to the daughter of a friend, same age (nearly 9) but let’s say a tad more naïve than mine. I was told this girl still believes in Santa and the tooth fa... Read More

Rosie's blog: Losses

Recently on a trip away I bumped into an old school friend whom I hadn’t seen for over 20 years. We both have busy jobs and families. It was so good to catch up after that time and share some m... Read More

Freddy's blog: Education

We're starting to think about education for our daughter. Now she’s almost two, it feels like time. Or it's way overdue. I want to make sure she’s fluent in classi... Read More

Julia's blog: Leadership Skills

My daughter is blessed with bundles of confidence and a very strong sense of justice. She chats away for hours to anyone who will listen and is very quick to point out if she feels she has been wrong... Read More