*Diane came to motherhood later in life. Her little boy *Bobby was her only child, so this experience was very precious to her as something she wouldn’t repeat. So, when the pandemic came she faced the loss of many hopes and dreams she’d had for this once-in-a-lifetime experience and her motherhood story predominantly happened behind… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Parenting
A Story To Be Told

One of the most challenging seasons for women is motherhood. Becoming a mother deeply impacts your body – the physical process of birth and a massive disruption to your sleep cycle. It also has a huge impact on your emotions, being a season of extreme change in your daily life and relationships. And, with both… Read more »
You can’t be supermum every day

When we think of motherhood, we all think of the beauty of it. It’s a precious time full of love and joy… All of this is true, but this is not all it is. The other side of motherhood is coping with fundamental changes to your body. It includes massive emotional highs and lows, and… Read more »
Reclaiming Time: A Journey with Mum & Sophia

This series tells fictional stories of the counselling journey. Drawn from our counsellors’ extensive experience, this story explores the use of mobile phones in our everyday. Initial meeting Laura came to Relate family counselling as she was worried about Sophia, her 15-year-old daughter. Constant arguments were making their relationship difficult and disrupting family life with… Read more »
Effects of your arguments on children
Many of us will remember what it was like to listen to our parents arguing. The feelings of helplessness, panic and sadness. A desire to block it out or run away. Yet it can be easy to forget this as a parent later in life. We can get so mixed up in arguments with our… Read more »
Why do my children argue so much?
Arguments between children can be upsetting for a parent. You may worry about your relationship with your children – especially if the arguments have been going on regularly for a while. You may feel a responsibility to stop the arguing, or may be upset that the arguments are causing disharmony in your family. While some… Read more »
‘Children learn positive lessons when parents explain how they resolve arguments’
Most parents argue. But the way these disagreements affect children varies greatly, according to research commissioned by the BBC. It’s not only the relationship between parent and child that affects children’s long-term development. How parents get on with each other also plays a big role in a child’s wellbeing, with the potential to affect everything… Read more »
Coping with the ‘snowball of stress’
Stress can have a distorting effect on our relationships. It can make us feel low and not wanting to talk to people. We tend to shut ourselves away and keep our emotions on the inside. It can make us argumentative and prone to lashing out – ready to lose our temper in an instant. Or,… Read more »
Sex after babies
After giving birth, when it hurts just to go to the toilet, the thought of having to resume love-making can be worrying. Sex postpartum isn’t something that most women, or men, talk about openly – but it can be a major concern. As well as fears over pain, new parents find themselves exhausted with looking… Read more »
Tips for summer holiday survival
We’re preparing for a surge in enquiries from couples whose relationships reach breaking point over the summer. Last year, we received a 49% increase in calls in September compared to an average month in 2016 along with a 9% rise in web traffic to the national site. This makes it our second busiest time of… Read more »