Debate, discussion and disagreement – are the dreaded 3D’s that come with the territory of parenting teenagers. More frequent, more intense and without doubt louder and more animated. How to navigate them successfully can only be described as work in progress and remains a mystery for us all. …
Did you ever feel left out as a teenager? My teen years are long gone but I still vividly remember those days when I was struck by the FOMO curse and agonised silently about not being part of the cool crowd. I am sure we all know the…
If reports are to be believed the new generation of students are turning their backs on the age old tradition for alcohol fuelled freshers’ events and universities across the country are making changes as a result. Hull University has replaced Freshers’ Week with Welcome Fest, which features a…
Words consume our lives but what kind do you need most? Are you a person that responds to the simplicity of the written or spoken word or is it music that draws you in? My degree and career has always made pure words my dominating force, yet my defining…
Brighton is a short train journey from our home in South London, yet it was only this summer that I finally succumbed to my daughter’s repeated pleas to visit and organised a weekend break for us both. Seaside towns in England generally fall into one of two camps…
Is there any joy in being alone? Solitude is not for everyone, but for me, despite a career in an industry that demands sociability, I love being alone. In fact I would go so far as to say I positively crave it. Research findings suggest there are some…
How do you talk to teens about cancer? The teenage years are historically filled with emotional ups and downs, add to this the knowledge that a family member has cancer and things can become particularly difficult. Millions are spent on cancer research every year and significant inroads in…
Parenting teenagers is an emotional rollercoaster. Throw puberty and the menopause into the mix and you have a toxic cocktail of hormones which is guaranteed to involve a lot of tears, tantrums and door slamming. There is something quite cruel about the twist of fate that places the…
