EDITION 9

EDITION 9

Introducing Amanda Marks

Introducing Amanda Marks

We’re thrilled to welcome our new columnist Amanda Marks. Amanda is a Renowned Breastfeeding, Food & Sleep Consultant

With over 40 years of experience supporting families, Amanda Marks is a highly respected breastfeeding, food, and sleep consultant. Based in prestigious locations including 10 Harley Street, London, and Alderley Edge, Cheshire, Amanda has worked with families from diverse backgrounds, including media personalities and royalty, maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality.

How to network at your first in-person event

How to network at your first in-person event

In-person networking can be a bit overwhelming, especially when it’s your first time. Unlike with LinkedIn, you don’t have all the time in the world to figure out what message you’re going to write next – you’re faced with real-world, real-time socialising, and that requires a certain preparation and confidence.

Why Family Gardening Is Having a Quiet Comeback

Why Family Gardening Is Having a Quiet Comeback

There’s a noticeable shift happening in how families spend their time. It isn’t loud or trend-led, and it’s rarely documented with before-and-after shots. Instead, it’s quieter and slower, rooted in small routines and shared moments. Family gardening is part of that change.

Give the gift of a skill this Christmas 

Give the gift of a skill this Christmas 

Christmas is the perfect time to encourage new interests – musical instruments, cooking lessons, language tutoring, or creative workshops can inspire skills that last a lifetime. For children, such gifts spark curiosity and build confidence, while for adults, they provide creative expression and proof that it’s never too late to learn something new.

Dressing for every season on the golf course

Dressing for every season on the golf course

The weather can be one of the most unpredictable aspects of a day on the golf course. One minute, you could be basking in the warmth of the sun, the next, you might find yourself battling the wind or caught in a sudden downpour.

How to stay entertained on a road trip

How to stay entertained on a road trip

How to stay entertained on a road trip The open road offers a distinct sense of freedom, especially when you leave the city behind for the rolling countryside or dramatic coastlines of the UK. However, the initial excitement of setting off can fade after a few hours...

IS GUILT A GIVEN WHEN YOU ARE A WORKING PARENT?

When I started to really see that my feelings of guilt came from the thoughts I had about myself, I started to see guilt as a wonderful alarm and indicator for me to actually lower my expectations of myself, relieve the pressure and be much more patient and compassionate with myself! It is simply and indicator that our thoughts have gone off in an unhelpful direction.

Marcus Bean’s – Chicken, basil pesto & courgette risotto

Once you master the basics of risotto, the options are endless. To make it easier on busy weekdays, you can
make the base in advance, then finish it off just before serving

The Cognitive Crutch: Are We Outsourcing Our kid’s Brains to AI?

The Cognitive Crutch: Are We Outsourcing Our Children’s Brains to AI?

Generative AI has transitioned from a novel tech trend to a permanent classroom fixture. But as tools like ChatGPT effortlessly handle the heavy cognitive lifting of writing essays and solving equations, educators and neuroscientists are raising an urgent alarm. True learning is rooted in the cognitive friction of arriving at an answer. By outsourcing that struggle to machines, are we causing intellectual stamina to atrophy, leaving behind a generation of brilliant curators who have lost the ability to think independently? From primary schools to university campuses, the data reveals a stark shift from active learning to passive “cognitive offloading.”

Quick and Easy Blow-dry Tips

Nicola Wood is a leading entrepreneur, hair professional, and founder of Hair Made Easi, the trailblazing brand synonymous with innovation of high-quality hair tools and products.

Why keeping employees hydrated improves productivity

The human brain is roughly 70-75% water. When dehydration kicks in, it isn’t just a physical drain—it causes a direct hit to focus, memory, and spatial coordination. In fact, research suggests that even a small one percent rise in dehydration can result in a worker’s productivity dipping by approximately 12%.

Auntie Cath Cooks: Chilled Honey Chicken Poke Bowl & A Hot Soy Beef Poke Bowl

In this edition of Auntie Cath Cooks, Catherine Tyldesley shares two fresh, flavour-packed recipes perfect for busy family life — a chilled honey chicken poke bowl and a hot soy beef poke bowl. Simple, satisfying and full of goodness, they’re ideal for an easy lunch or midweek dinner.

SARIE TAYLOR: Procrastination; does it stop us from getting where we want to be?

PROCRASTINATION; DOES IT STOP US GETTING WHERE WE WANT TO BE?It's September and routines are changing again, a time to find our feet with a new schedule again, and maybe get all the things done we haven’t managed to do during the summer. Easy? Or is it? Maybe you find...

The March Reset: A Realistic “New Season” Routine for Working Parents

March always sounds like a fresh start. Lighter evenings. A hint of spring. That little voice saying, “Right, this is the month I get my life together.”
But if you’re a working parent, you already know how that usually goes.

When Families Fall Out: What the Beckham Headlines Can Teach Us About Repair and Mediation

When Families Fall Out explores what the recent Beckham headlines can teach us about family rupture, repair and the role mediation can play when relationships feel strained. With insight from JMW Solicitors’ family law team and child anxiety therapist Saskia Joss, it looks at why disconnection happens, how to name it, and what practical support can help families move forward with more understanding and kindness.

Adolescence in schools – is it the answer to challenging online misogyny?

Just about everybody’s talking about it, or is aware of the heated debate over whether it is appropriate for the Netflix series Adolescence to be shown in schools, to tackle online misogynistic attitudes. The show has been a massive success and within just 11 days in March, became the most-watched UK series ever on Netflix, with over 66k views.

School Holiday Jigsaw: Surviving the Summer Holidays as a Working Parent

School Holiday Jigsaw: Surviving the Summer Holidays as a Working Parent

For school children, the six-week break is a magical expanse of unstructured freedom. For working parents, it marks the beginning of a military-grade logistical operation. Between the skyrocketing costs of summer camps, tag-teaming annual leave with partners, and attempting the ultimate high-wire act of working from home with a laptop on your knee, the math of July and August simply doesn’t add up. We dive deep into the reality of trying to fit a 19th-century agricultural school calendar into a 21st-century digital economy—and explore the progressive workplace shifts needed to save our sanity.

School Attendance at an all time low, but what’s the reason?

School attendance is at a crisis level, but the key issue is not a cheaper couple of days at Center Parcs, but the very serious issue educational settings not being able to meet children’s needs be that for children with SEN needs, or the who are experiencing bullying and experiencing anxiety, especially post-Covid and the experience of lockdowns on children and young people.

Explore Europe Without Breaking the Bank: Family-Friendly Eurocamp Adventures for 2026

Discover how to explore Italy, France, and Spain on a family budget with Eurocamp. From Lake Garda’s Bella Italia to Domaine De La Yole and Playa Joyel, get real tips on lodges, on-site amenities, kid-approved activities, and off-season travel—without sacrificing comfort or fun.

When Parents Split, Schools Feel It Too: The Hidden Impact on Children

Relationship expert Sally Land highlights the hidden toll that high-conflict separations can take on children — and how often schools end up caught in the crossfire. Citing research from The Parents Promise, she notes that teachers are regularly seeing the fallout in real time: slipping grades, increased absence, withdrawal, behavioural issues and worsening mental health.

Part Time Working Mummy Interview: Rachaele Hambleton & Josh Marshall

Rachaele Hambleton, aka Part Time Working Mummy, is an inspirational mum of six. The incredible 43-year-old is a Sunday Times Bestselling Author—four times over—founder of The Patchwork House, a support and guidance service for vulnerable individuals and families, and she’s also a successful entrepreneur, which includes her own clothing brand REBL.

WHY PARENTS NEED A WILL (Even If You Don’t Think You Do)

A lot of people still think wills are only for the wealthy or the elderly. I hear this all the time. In reality, wills are about far more than dividing up money.

a wave of light: Honoring little lives lost

Honoring Little Lives Lost October 9–15 marks Miscarriage Awareness Week, a time to remember and honour all the little lives lost too soon. Having experienced the pain of pregnancy loss myself, I see this week differently now. It is not really for those of us who have...

£1,081.227 raised at this year’s Dr Michael Josephson MBE Farewell Ball

The Manchester Deansgate Hotel was transformed last night for a dazzling celebration of philanthropy and performance, as friends, supporters, and celebrity guests gathered at the Dr Michael Josephson MBE Farewell Ball raising £1,081.227 for children’s charities across the North-West.

CHARLOTTE HAWKINS INTERVIEW: Mum of one, TV and radio presenter

Mum of one, TV and radio presenter, Charlotte Hawkins has firmly cemented a place as one of Britain’s most loved TV presenters. She is one of the first faces millions of Brits see each morning, as co-host of ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

SALLY LINDSAY: CHILDCARE CAN BE SEEN AS A ‘DIRTY WORD’, BUT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH IT

Sally Lindsay is one of Britain’s best loved actors and presenters, best known for her roles as Shelley Unwin in ITV’S Coronation Street, Lisa Johnson in Sky One’s comedy series Mount Pleasant, and as Kath Agnew in the BBC sitcom Still Open All Hours.

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