The pressure is on, so much to do, panic panic…only a few weeks to go! I’m far from ready so I thought I’d write myself a list but I got diverted between my ‘wanna be a good parent’ mindset and…
In Mozambique, infant mortality was running at 30% when we first joined forces with Nema Foundation, our house charity. Promoting the value of breastfeeding is still so very valid in a culture where anything Western has cache; milk power included.…
…Or, Easy Peasy Potty Training; How it all went wrong Hmmm, I hear you say? Well of course it depends on the child, but it also depends on the parent. Potty training my first son took ages and he continued…
I’m worried. As a bank holiday treat, my son and I headed out to find some nice food and stumbled upon Inamo, a Pan-Asian restaurant in Covent Garden. You order off a tablet placed on the table, giving you a…
One of the great joys of living in London and being part of the EU is that we can be spontaneous with our travel plans. On a whim, I decided that I was losing touch with the fashionista inside and…
When we first kicked off our From a Mother to Another recycling and charity initiative, I was a little worried. No – that’s a lie – I was totally petrified. I had absolutely no idea how our customers would react.…
Only in America could I have a chat with my mum over breakfast (she’s been dead for 3 years), visited a whaling ship before lunch, driven through an Indian reservation after noon and enjoyed oysters and Prosecco that night. Our…
Some months ago a conversation with a close friend turned into a bucket list of places we wanted to visit. Some surprise was registered when Beirut came in my top 3. Since 1988 when, as a teenage backpacker, I travelled…
When I was at our company charity in Mozambique last year we took out a rugby ball. The local kids had never seen one before and we thought it would be fun to introduce something new. With no preconceptions of the game there was no gender stereotyping. Guess what? The girls played as much as the boys and actually ‘got’ the point first!
It’s true this was not the sort of rugby played by a scary rhinoceros-sized teenager prop. And to be totally honest I would definitely refuse to get on the pitch with my eldest son’s team! But some girls are gutsy enough for the rough and tough aspect of the game and relish it, so if they show an interest why not encourage it?
I have two boys. My eldest plays rugby and loves it. My youngest preferred footie. Whether they are thugs on the pitch or not they both love cooking and Toby just got an A in his Food Tech GCSE! He can make a mean Hollandaise sauce and I often come home to the smell of baking. If they are hungry when I’m at work they know what to do and don’t wait for me.
Let’s ensure the younger generation grow up to be useful in the home (making better partners in the future) and without the gender stereotyping of my generation; which meant I was sent to typing school and my brothers to agricultural college. It turns out I want to be the farmer (I’ve just bought a small holding in the country and enjoy growing my own veggies) and my brothers now struggle with their jobs by not being able to touch type.
The best thing we can do for the next generation is to let them choose who and what they want to be, so join in our Scrums or Sequins campaign and ask your little ones what they think?
X Laura
We want to be useful, in the most practical way possible, so I’m off to Lebanon with your lovely ‘From a Mother to Another’ packs to distribute to Syrian refugees. After many years of questioning what makes me and others…
