Jo

I am Jo and 13 years ago I closed the door on my career of 15 years in PR to have my second child. I live in that enclave of South London fondly referred to as "Nappy Valley" with my husband and two children. Our son, Teenager No.1 has just turned 17 and our daughter, Teenager No.2 turns 13 imminently.

After my son was born I returned to work quite quickly and hungry to advance my career employed a live-in nanny. Despite her perfect credentials, however, she burnt our house down. Luckily we all survived, thanks to the heroic actions of our 60 year old neighbour Stan. After that I opted for live-out childcare and worked harder and longer, only for my son to learn how to say "Fink" rather than "Think". We have a large "Think" sign in our house now as a nod to those days! My first marriage to my childhood sweetheart didn't survive and I spent a period as a single working mum before the arrival of my knight in rusty armour, in the the guise of my now husband who I shall fondly refer to as Mr MoT.

Parenting is a deeply personal journey. I have worn many t-shirts in my role as mother and have experiences aplenty of the junior milestones. Full-time parenting has consumed me for 13 years and I look back fondly on a plethora of parenting episodes that have made me the mother I am today. Today I find myself on the brink of entering a brave new world as a mother to not one but two teenagers and all the new challenges that brings. I have learnt a lot, cried a little, certainly shouted a bit and laughed even more. As I embark on this next stage of my parenting journey I will share our family stories and my musings on being a mother of teenagers, interspersed with reviews and comment on things that interest me outside of my parenting bubble.

Why now? Well quite simply I want to make the most of our experiences before our children flee the nest. I hope you will enjoy reading this blog and I look forward to hearing from you during my and our journey.