Our Blog

Ruth's blog: They Grow Up So Fast

Now that the sun is shining (FINALLY) I can feel the summer holidays approaching and more milestones about to fly past.  Our summer-born son has almost finished Reception (he will still be ... Read More

• Families

Ruban's blog: EmbRACE

A brown man walks into a pub.......is potentially the start of a humorous observation of ethnic mismatches and misunderstandings that would have been acceptable in the 80's, but actually it conti... Read More

• Families
• Inclusion

Caroline M's blog: Anniversaries

We are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary next week. Where did the time go? Being 10 years married makes me feel older than my own age does.  My husband and I were talking in the... Read More

• Families
• Careers

Barbara's blog: You’ve Got This

By the time you read this blog, Son will have started his GCSEs, the culmination of three sets of mocks over the past year, endless revision sessions – for the students and the parents! - and e... Read More

• Families

Linda's blog: "She's A Proper Mum"

Most of the time I don’t think much about being a working parent or the fact I’m half of a couple of working parents.  Our daily juggle is not remarkable and has been our life f... Read More

• Careers
• Inclusion

Anushka's blog: Resilience, adaptability and drive – the sil...

We have just returned from a would-be family holiday of a lifetime to Egypt that ended up feeling like more of a trains, planes and automobiles ordeal!  It began with severely delayed flights, a... Read More

• Families

Kay's blog: Do You Have A Voice?

Since childhood, the two words “Koi Na” have been, metaphorically speaking, tattooed to my forehead. The cultural phrase “Koi Na” translates to either “never mind&r... Read More

• Inclusion

Katie's blog: Lockdown Doggy

We were one of thousands of households in the UK, seduced into bringing a puppy into our family during the Covid-19 lockdown; perhaps ‘coerced’ would be a more accurate description. My da... Read More

• Families

Jill's blog: Privilege vs Luck

One Saturday morning we were looking for something to do with the kids and I suggested to my husband that we go check out Mercedes Benz World. It’s not too far from us, I’ve heard good th... Read More

• Families
• Inclusion

Lee's blog: The Happiness Taboo

I am happy – is that a taboo thing to say as busy working mother of two with a loving although often absent (working and golfing!) husband? I am happy – with my children, they are mo... Read More

• Wellbeing

Louise's blog: Third Time Lucky

Ten months after coming back from maternity leave I now find myself in job number three. Given that I am not a contractor this has been quite a high number of new starts in under a year! To clar... Read More

• Careers

Uchenna's blog: Just Two Sleeps

I need to learn from Commander-in-Chief-Junior’s priorities. He woke me up in the middle of the night murmuring something unintelligible about Dracula. When I asked him in the morning what he d... Read More

• Families

Dolly's blog: Facing 50

I went to a friend’s very glamorous 50th birthday party last weekend and thought, “God I’m old”.  “Tell me you’re not going to wear your Bush Dress&... Read More

• Inclusion

Ruth's blog: How Things Poo

Like fellow contributor Jill , we often struggle to get through the regular homework set by the school.  My daughter claims that homework is not for weekend days at all, which is a good an... Read More

• Families

Ruban's blog: Divided Attention

"It's not fair". The soundtrack of our (parenting) lives, the title of my memoirs, the last line on the end credits scene at my funeral.   When you have siblings, life is... Read More

• Families

Caroline M's blog: Tempus Fugit

There is a bit of a pinch to turning 40. It’s the age that you think of in your 20s as people having their life organised, and settled, and having disposable income! Now that I am looking down ... Read More

• Families

Barbara's blog: Choices and Sacrifices

The first thing I noticed, when I walked back into mum’s apartment in Savona, after she passed away last November, was the familiar smell of a home I had not been in for a while. I closed my ey... Read More

• Families

Linda’s blog: Roses are red

As with most things in life, Valentine’s Day has meant something different to me during different periods in my life. I remember the fear as a teenager that I might not receive any cards, along... Read More

• Families
• Wellbeing

Fiona's Blog: When We See Our Parents Die…

I could never have imagined life without my dad and my mother-in-law. My parents lived quite a distance away, and visits were not as frequent as I would have liked. But my dad had been a strong figur... Read More

• Families
• Wellbeing

Anushka's blog: Tattoos and Thinking for Oneself

My schoolfriends and I have a tradition on every 10-year anniversary since we left school, the last one being in 2017, we make predictions as to ‘who is most likely to’ for the next decad... Read More

• Wellbeing

Jill's Blog: Don't Let Homework Define Your Parenting Skills

Now that I am doing my best to actually talk to other grownups at school pickup, I’m hearing much of the same frustration across the playground. One of the most common themes is Homework. ... Read More

• Families

Jill's blog: Stop the Presses I’ve Made a Friend!!

Why is this such a big deal in grown up age? I’m not going to lie, my social life took a hit during Covid. Everything changed. My community, my routine, my job, my personality… all of it... Read More

• Families
• Wellbeing

Katie's blog: New Year's Resolutions

What will yours be? Give up alcohol, get fit, eat less sugar, get a new job, quit smoking, run faster or longer? I think mine needs to be a bit different this year… Over the festive perio... Read More

• Wellbeing

Louise’s blog: Back to Work and Back to Maternity Leave

My son Logan was born in September 2019 and six months into my maternity leave the UK went into its first ‘Lockdown’. Initially I felt that my ‘special time’ had unfairly been... Read More

• Families
• Careers

Dolly's blog: Dear Me

Ten years ago, I saw an email from Citymothers seeking applications for a blog they were about to launch. I had three children under the age of eight, childcare we couldn’t afford, a husband ab... Read More

• Families

Ruban's blog: Finding Your Lost Self

I find myself writing this as I sit on the Elizabeth Line on the way to Heathrow Terminal 5, to board a flight to Qatar where I'll see England take on the might of current world champions France ... Read More

• Families

Caroline M's blog: Hugging The Silence

When the first lockdown finished and restaurants finally reopened, myself and my husband booked lunch. When we got there, my husband stopped me at the door and said – “they will ask your ... Read More

• Families

Barbara's blog: On Love and Food

Dear Mum, I made lasagne today, just the way you taught me, with lean beef and handfuls of fresh herbs. We ate them for dinner and talked about you. Son and daughter reminisced about visiting you in ... Read More

• Families

Linda's blog: It's Just a Phase

"It's just a phase" I said last week, hoping to reassure my friend with a newborn baby who was worried about not managing to get dressed before 2pm.  It was my wise mum who first s... Read More

• Families

Angel's Blog: Matching Christmas PJ’s

Hey, how are you all? Today I am writing from the ‘Half Term Trenches’. I am still alive, amazingly still smiling and my kids haven’t killed each other. How I hear you ask? I c... Read More

• Families