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It’s been a pretty dreary summer here in the UK with a lot of rain.

I don’t know about you but I’m not a fan of rain, especially the quantities we've had.

I remember one summer getting caught in a massive downpour at the playground with my kids and their cousins.

There was...

We were once returning from a trip to Italy many years ago when we just had the two boys.

Felix was 2 and Nico was 4 .

Felix had missed his nap and the flight was delayed so we were fairly doomed from the get-go!

He wouldn’t eat any of the food at the airport and by the time we go on the plane he...

Sometimes it is just worth having a laugh with your kids.

 I think a lot about parenting – well I guess I would as it is my work – and as I’m around my kids a lot (yes, all four still living at home) I am constantly evaluating and testing what works best. ...

At this time of year, quite a few parents are sending their kids to summer activity camps. If you are lucky enough to get away on holiday, there might be a kids' club there.

Some children skip off happily and others are a lot more reluctant.

When my eldest son Nico was 5, I signed him up for...

Scarlett, aged 4, looked at me and threw the cup of water on the floor.

Then my mother in law said

‘You are a very naughty girl’

And Scarlett replied

‘I don’t care. I don’t like you anyway, why are you here?’ 

Oh dear… who has had that? That...

I was really irritated a couple of days ago. I’d had a spat with my husband and I was feeling so annoyed with him.

It is a pretty rare couple that doesn’t argue but boy is it hard when you do, isn't it?

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yes. SO I was really preoccupied by this argument and...

My mother’s favourite expression is ‘A mother’s place is in the wrong’

 It makes me smile and it is so easy to slip into guilt around motherhood and be tempted to fix things when they’ve gone wrong.

 I has certainly felt like that for me.

 I...

I remember my parenting coach telling me that it wasn't my job to make my child happy and I felt really shocked by that.

What's the point in having kids if we don't want them to have a happy life?

If you want to raise a well-rounded, emotionally well-balanced child then you’ll want to read...

When my eldest son Nico was 9 we made the decision to move him from his cosy primary school to an all boy’s school that we felt would suit him better academically.

He was the kind of child who sucked up information like a sponge.

He would inform us of the most amazing facts.

He poured over...

I went to a cafe today with my husband today and he ordered their banana bread with our coffee.

We were having an impromptu 'date' after a visit to the dentist.

I love banana bread and was really excited to eat it.

Isn't it funny how small things like that can give you pleasure?

Except it...

For mental health awareness week, I met Heather Rutherford for an instagram live Q&A. Heather runs The Parenting Partnership and is an old friend and colleague.

Heather and I have 7 children between us and have raised our children using gentle parenting with firm boundaries. We were talking...