Test Run

Coffee - Office Mum

Not on purpose, one day two weeks ago, I had a test run of what's ahead as a work-at-home freelancer self-employed type person. And it left me pretty worried. By 10.30am, I was phoning my husband to tell him it wasn't going to work, and that I needed to start talking to recruitment agencies again IMMEDIATELY. He talked ...

Out of the Office by the End of the Week

Clean House Sanity Happy Kids Triangle

I've published 53 interviews with women about balancing work and home, and I've written dozens of posts about women in the workplace, but I haven't said much recently about my own job. I do have an update though - after seventeen years in the funds industry, six jobs, eight bosses, and far too many pairs of black ...

Brow-Beaten

Frida Kahlo - Office Mum

"Would you like them tinted too?" is the question I am asked every time I get my eyebrows done, and I always decline. "Up-selling..." I sniff to myself each time, refusing to be sucked in. Though a tiny voice in my head usually says, "But maybe they're right - maybe a tint would really add definition and ...

A Doctor on Your Phone – Babylon Health App Review

Babylon Health main screen - Office Mum

Medicine and the internet – they haven’t always been the most comfortable of bedfellows. I can’t be the only one who has googled a mild headache and come away thinking I’m going to die within the hour? And I remember when my first baby was tiny, and breastfeeding was hit and miss to begin with, I ...

The Kids Are Alright

school

Are our families being damaged by the non-stop commuting lives we lead? Or are children with two employed parents doing OK after all? The media gives us conflicting answers to this - often on a daily basis. Most recently, there's are reports of a study that showing that children in families where two parents work are ...

The Holy Grail of Flexible Work

Working Mother - Office Mum

Babies and commuting and working and cooking and changing and feeding and trying - trying very hard to keep it all together. That's how it was for me in the early days - like for so many others - as a new mother trying to maintain a career. I vividly remember reading an article by Gaby ...

That Boy in the Playground

Boy in playground - Office Mum

I saw a little boy in a restaurant today. He was in his mother's arms as she tried to order bagels at the till. He wanted cake, and tried squirming out of her arms to get it. When she said no, he shrieked and howled. She was embarrassed, but ploughed firmly on with her order, raising ...

Giveaway! A chance to win with Papier Prints

PapierPrints Office Mum

In-keeping with the spring-like, new-beginnings feel that's all around us at the moment, I have a lovely competition for you. Sarah O'Callaghan, founder of Papier Prints, has very kindly offered a personalised baby print for one lucky reader - perhaps for your own baby, or as a gift for a friend. I'm always delighted to help ...