Our Blog

Hippolyta's blog: The Dark Ages

As a Mentor with WorkLife Central for the last three years, I’ve had the privilege of mentoring five smart, ambitious, caring, hard-working parents in a range of City occupations.  I do it... Read More

Dolly's blog: The balance of power

Mr D is away for a month and the added pressure is starting to bite.  Friday was a blur of admin and long-distance driving, culminating in a crossed-wire conversation with the headmaster durin... Read More

Ellen's blog: Fight or flight?

The way an organisation handles its ‘flight risk’ is very telling of the kind of culture it has. By ‘flight risk’ I mean the likelihood that a valued employee will leave the o... Read More

Wendy's blog: The power of two - Shared Parental Leave

I recently took eight month’s maternity leave to have my first baby, a lovely boy called Oskar. It is true that nobody can prepare you for how hard it is, particularly when your family isn&rsqu... Read More

Hayley's blog: Part time lawyer, part time mummy

I have the best of both worlds, don’t I? I work for part of the week and spend one day and the weekend at home with my son. I have, every week, that 3 day weekend that most of my colleague... Read More

James's blog: Obsessive Compulsive Parenting

When I was in my late teens I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I had displayed symptoms of OCD earlier in childhood but in my late teens and early twenties it took a strong hold over... Read More

Caroline's blog: Making lemonade

Sometimes, as a treat, I take my tots to our favourite tea shop after school on a Friday. There’s a sign on the wall that my daughter always comments on: “if life gives you lemons, make ... Read More

Rosie's blog: Personal maintenance

One of the struggles as a parent is validating the time taken for what might loosely be referred to as “me time”. This takes varying forms for everyone. I had always subscribed to the ide... Read More

Maria's blog: White lies or reality check?

I recently introduced my little one to the daughter of a friend, same age (nearly 9) but let’s say a tad more naïve than mine. I was told this girl still believes in Santa and the tooth fa... Read More

Rosie's blog: Losses

Recently on a trip away I bumped into an old school friend whom I hadn’t seen for over 20 years. We both have busy jobs and families. It was so good to catch up after that time and share some m... Read More

Freddy's blog: Education

We're starting to think about education for our daughter. Now she’s almost two, it feels like time. Or it's way overdue. I want to make sure she’s fluent in classi... Read More

Julia's blog: Leadership Skills

My daughter is blessed with bundles of confidence and a very strong sense of justice. She chats away for hours to anyone who will listen and is very quick to point out if she feels she has been wrong... Read More

Caroline's blog: Stars in their Eyes

Does anyone else’s life sometimes feel like an episode of Stars in their Eyes?  You wake in the morning and want to announce to the world: “Today, Matthew, I am going to be ...&r... Read More

Ellen's blog: All About Me

Last Friday my 4-year-old returned from school with a note in his bag to say that from the following Monday it would be his turn to put a display on the “All About Me” board. This was t... Read More

Sisieta's blog: New Territory

So I’m no longer phased by the logistics of juggling home life with a city career (with the help of an extremely supportive & hands on husband). As I approach the 1 st anniversary with my ... Read More

Hayley's blog: It's ok to want to go back.

I'm looking forward to going back to work. I have to keep telling myself that it is ok. It doesn't make me a bad mum, it doesn't mean I haven't absolutely loved (almo... Read More

Gemma's blog: The house of sickness...

Before I had my daughter I was never ill, in fact it was like my badge of honour, cough or sniffle I was at work. During my pregnancy this hardly changed, until the end when a nasty bout of Pelvic G... Read More

Lawrence's blog: The Twin Reaction

After being a parent for nearly four years, my wife and I feel like we are no-longer complete novices in managing the various aspects of being a city parent. Like most working parents, work fatigue, ... Read More

Dolly's blog: Role Models

I inadvertently re-read my 2015 appraisal the other day - the last in my old role. God I was miserable. I'm so happy in my new job that I'd almost forgotten quite how unhappy I'd become i... Read More

Rosies blog: Transformations

The maintenance of the resolutions made on December 31 st can at this time start to seem tough. Giving up alcohol, adopting a new exercise regime or changing the way we eat can all seem important im... Read More

Maria's blog: 8 going on 18

My daughter is 8 years old, but, as I am sure many other parents experience, they grow up far too fast and we are all bracing ourselves for the teenage years! At the cost of sounding like an 80 year ... Read More

Freddy's blog: New Year resolutions

Happy New Year to all you WorkLife Central. It seems a lot of people were back to work after Christmas this week, or maybe it was just that everyone was on the pavement at the same time yesterday th... Read More

Helen's blog: The business of sleep

In an earlier blog, I shared my resolutions to adopt a little of our daughter’s natural curiosity and join her more in play and discovery.  We’ve ticked various mini-adventures off o... Read More

Ellen's blog: Feedback loop

It is the time of year when my employer conducts the annual appraisal process. Having been a contractor for a while, this is the first time in two years that I have been through the permanent employe... Read More

Julia's blog: Coping with change

I have come to the conclusion that I need to take lessons from my children in coping with change. In the last few weeks our family has faced a huge upheaval. We have moved out of our home to allow bu... Read More

Gemma's blog: How do I channel Elsa and just let it go……?

In 2015 I started maternity leave on top of the world. I was a senior manager, high performer, with a raft of glowing references to attest to my achievements and I could not wait to welcome my baby t... Read More

Rebecca's blog: The Wobble

As a full-time lawyer at a city firm, I had a little ‘wobble’ recently over whether my working in a career as demanding as mine is what’s best for my secondary school-aged children.... Read More

James's blog: Two new jobs

It's been a while since my last blog. Since then, and after a few years of searching for the right opportunity, I've started a new role in a smaller law firm.  So far, things seem to ... Read More

Sisieta's blog: It's a Revolution

No this isn’t a remix/lyrics to the song by Diplo from the “Monsters in my head” album, but rather behind the scenes of society’s “New Woman Misfit”.  A &ldqu... Read More

Dolly's blog: All change.

"September may normally be the season of mellow fruitfulness and a nice new coat, but this year it was carnage. Within a handful of weeks our middle child started boarding school (which sti... Read More