The Village Coach Blog

I actually didn’t want to go. That's the honest truth. I'd had the trip planned for over a year - a kid free trip away in the sunshine, some time with my husband, then a solo yoga retreat, time that was entirely, unapologetically mine - something I'd wanted and planned for a long time. And in the weeks leading up to it, every single part of me started fixating on all the reasons it was probably not a great idea to go. You know that feeling? When something is for you -entirely

Last weekend, I stayed with friends. There were multiple children, multiple dogs, very little sleep, an endless task list of various bodily fluids and spillages to clear up and at one point a toddler ate something off the floor that I’m trying my best to forget about. It was, genuinely, one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. Not because it was restful (hard no). Not because everything went smoothly. (It absolutely didn’t). But because for a whole weekend, nobody wa

Ten years ago, the migraines started. (It’s not lost on me that’s the year I also became a mum). Not the occasional, take-a-paracetamol, have-a-lie-down kind. The other kind. The kind that arrive uninvited on a Sunday morning and stay for three days, and then 10, and then a month, the kind that have their own geography - a specific landscape of pain and light and nausea that you eventually learn to navigate the way you'd learn a difficult new route. Carefully. Tentatively.

When it Falls When I was discharged from the alpine hospital overlooking Lake Geneva, having fallen on a mountain, lost a day, gained a head injury and somehow misplaced my shoes, I left clutching an orangina in one hand and a printed sheet in the other. It was handed to me by a very handsome Doctor (this has been confirmed by my husband, it’s not just post concussion judgement) and written - unsurprisingly - in French. Luckily we’d had the foresight to invite two very impor

This week was Mother’s Day. It also marks a decade of me being a mum. Ten years of raising humans, wiping faces, finding lost shoes, packing bags, worrying, celebrating, and trying - and often failing - to hold it all together. And like many milestone moments, it’s made me reflective. I’ve been thinking about how what has changed and the vast plains of motherhood and life I’ve covered in the last 10 years. The ways motherhood has stretched me, sharpened me, showed me parts

Why Are We Still Asking Women to Give More? On the theme of last week’s blog - where I wrote about my slightly complicated relationship with rest - the idea of women resting has been on my mind again a lot this week. Partly because I’m still figuring it out in real life. Rest is one of those concepts that sounds simple, but when you actually try to do it, it can feel strangely uncomfortable. Like you’re doing something you’re not quite allowed to do,and if you try it then s

Why Putting Yourself First Feels So deeply uncomfortable If you’re reading this, the idea of putting you first and foremost, priority, top of the pile (yes even above your kids..!) likely feels VERY uncomfortable. Most of the women I work with come to me completely overwhelmed, exhausted, running on very little sleep and a lot of coffee, and the idea of resting - or taking a break to recharge - is completely unpalatable. The resistance to rest bingo phrases I hear on the reg

(Whatever your answer, you’ll be pleased to know - you are NOT the problem). I had high hopes for this month. The end of the post Christmas comedown, the longest month of all time coming to a close. The promise of lighter days, spring shoots, birds chirruping, half term hangs with friends and then after that..Spring, could it be…??! But if I'm totally honest I feel let down. Deceived. Hoodwinked. Possibly Delulu. The victim of some sort of trickery that February has done me

If there was a part of motherhood that was really good at poker, it would be the mental load. (Stay with me on this one). It's observing everyone in the room, anticipating their next move, remembering their habits, tactics and traits, strategising for the best possible outcome…all whilst maintaining the unshakable expression of one who does not give anything away. It’s the constant holding - of all the cards - whilst mentally you’re planning, strategising, pre-empting and p

Practical steps to feel supported in January and beyond. ` As you read this I can assume it is a grey, grim and gruelling outside as it is with you. January is hard isn’t it?! This is why this week I’m trying to tackle this by combatting the drizzle and dreariness with some simple, practical, achievable steps where I have done all the thinking so you can sit back and absorb. Grab a cup of something hot, a hot water bottle, a snack, and let’s dig in… 1. SELF BELIEF for start

We’re galloping into the year of the horse, and I’m still hearing the same old chorus... “ New year, new you!” “ Kickstart your year” “ Hustle harder!" " 2026 is YOUR year!" (repeat until fade) Now, I don’t know about you, but as a Mum emerging form the christmas chaos, I need a hot minute (or few weeks at least) to reemerge, calibrate and reset after silly season. While the world shouts for reinvention, what I believe many of us actually need is reinforcement. Not a shinie

There’s a strange tension that arrives every December, often creeping in quietly as the chocolate calendars spill open and the elf does his merry dance around the house. I think firstly, as Mums, we feel ‘the push’. The full calendar. The end-of-year deadlines. The school events, festive outings, catch-up festive coffees, performances, parties and plans. The internal pressure to “get everything done” at work before switching off, the need to ‘clear the decks’ and smash all t

As we step into December, something shifts. The list doubles. The expectations sky rocket. And suddenly, the stories we tell ourselves - the quiet inner monologues that hum beneath the surface - get louder than a primary school carol service (with recorder accompaniment). This time of year has a way of amplifying those old, inherited narratives about who we should be, how much we should carry, and what our family needs from us. And as mums, we absorb them more deeply than mo

Once upon a time, there was a mummy. She had three children who woke up at three different wake up times,all liked three different breakfasts and all would be in very different moods of a Monday morning. The littlest one would be up at dawn body slamming off a sofa and demanding ‘the red bowl! by 6:15 am. The middle one would float down at some point with his head in dreamland, asking questions like ‘how do you extract metal from the Earth?’ whilst scattering a trail of ce

You probably know by now that I'm a firm believer in the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child.” But what happens when the village is really bloody hard to find..?! In generations past, motherhood came with built-in support. Family often lived nearby, neighbours dropped in, lasagnes were left on the doorstep and parenting was shared across the community. It wasn’t just someone popping over to ‘cuddle the baby’ or hand over a present, but all of child rearing - the dis

When I first became a mum, I thought it was my job to hold everything together for everyone. If I’m honest, I wore the “Super Mum” badge with pride and got a kick every time said ‘you’re smashing this!’ or ‘I just don’t know how you do it all?’ On the outside, I was coping, smiling, spinning all the plates. But there was a swell of unease starting to ripple underneath that got choppier and choppier as the years went on. Now if you’re a millennial Mum, a little girl growin