University students are heading home, the school holidays are on the horizon and the party and festival season is warming up, which for parents of teenagers and young adults serves as a pertinent reminder that it is time to reiterate a few health and safety messages, not least…
Musicals have a strong nostalgic resonance with me, reminding me of my own teenage years and many a happy trip to London with my parents to take in the latest show. Love them or hate them they are a big part of London’s theatre culture and hard to…
Growing up as a teenager in the 1980’s in the idyllic English countryside I had very few worries and certainly none that kept me awake at night. Our teenagers today, however, are not so lucky. Young people’s happiness in the UK is at its lowest point for seven…
What are your views on drinking alcohol in front of your children? Do you make a conscious decision to abstain when with your children or just not to drink to excess? Have you ever been drunk in front of your children? In a new report released by the Institute…
Has your daughter ever called herself ugly? If so how did you react? Did you – like me – respond with a sharp intake of breath and a vehement “No you are not!”? At the time of this shock announcement from my daughter I was in Paris on a girls…
Watching my eldest get to grips with his personal grooming was interesting to say the least, particularly when it came to shaving – when to start, how often etc. I have to admit to not being a great lover of facial hair so at the very first signs…
One thing I never thought I would be taking up again at 50 is running! I did all that and got the t-shirt way back in my 20’s and 30’s. Keeping fit and healthy is of course a priority, but over the last decade it has been of…
What makes you tick? Do you share any passions with your children? One of the many things I love about being a mother of teenagers is discovering shared interests that help to cement our relationship as adults and as a family. As parents we are all guilty of…
