Welcome to the 'How to Raise a Teen' substack
So, what's this all about then?
Seventeen years ago I started writing a parenting blog. At the time I had four little children under four years of age and was working as an antenatal teacher and doula. I was deeply immersed in the world of pregnancy, birth, babies and toddlers. My writing naturally focussed on the early years and I (ironically, it was tongue in cheek) set up a (then) Twitter account with the username ‘thebabyexpert’.
Time moved on, my own children grew up (they are now young adults), I gave up working as an antenatal teacher and doula, and naturally my writing shifted. I left baby and toddlerhood behind and started to write more about ‘school-aged’ children, including my book BETWEEN (for 8-13yr olds). My readers children grew up and my little bubble shifted into one of adolescence. My world now is full of acne treatments, mobile phones and gaming consoles, college homework, university exams, CV writing, saving for first home deposits, driving lessons, tangled love lives, an increasingly empty nest and the menopause. I thought it was time to move on with my writing, to reflect my own personal changes, and those of my readers who, as well as their children, have grown up alongside me.
My blog and newsletter however are still firmly entrenched in the early years. My most read posts are about baby sleep and my audience there is not at the same stage in life as me, so I wanted to set up a space for those with older children and different life challenges. A place where we can grow together and a space where I can share tidbits from my new book ‘How to Raise a Teen’ together. I don’t think we talk about parenting during the teen years enough in our society, so I hope you’ll join me here.
I don’t know how much I will write here, but I promise you that:
Anything I write here will always be free
Anything I write here will be genuinely helpful and spam free (apart from the odd nudge to get hold of a copy of the book of course!)
I hope you’ll stay, but you’re free to unsubscribe at any time.
Take care and talk soon.
Sarah xx