Not Another Mummy Podcast

My guest on this episode is Sunday Times bestselling poet Donna Ashworth, who Dawn French (gorgeously) once called "a human disco ball". Her poems are shared by millions of women online, and they put into words what so many of us feel but can’t quite say.

During our chat, Donna talks about why touring makes her feel like a robot Hoover, and why she needs “staring at a wall time” to recharge. We also talk about being a mum to teenage boys, what happened when she asked them to describe her (a brave move!) and why she tells her sons they can take mental health days off school, no questions asked.

Donna also tells me:

• How a blog called Ladies Pass It On, started in 2018 to find internet friends, turned into a poetry career with no business plan
• Her rule of one spiritual step and one practical step to move towards something you want
• What Vinnie Jones taught her about why life’s bags get heavier to carry
• Soul flu, and treating a bad mental health day the way you’d treat a virus
• What she’d say to every woman who’s been told she’s “too much”
• Why beginning has never been her problem, but finishing used to be
• The best way to read her new book, and her free journaling group

You can find Donna on Instagram: @donnaashworthwords, and on Facebook in her group Journaling with Donna Ashworth.

Buy her new book The Art Of Being Easily Pleased: https://link.amazon/B09olbhkH

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review — it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I’m a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It’s Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I know a lot of parents with questions about the upcoming social media ban for under 16s and my guest on this episode is the best person to answer them. Ian Murray MP is the Online Safety Minister, and I put as many questions to him that parents have been asking. From what happens to your teen’s Snapchat memories come March 2027 to whether kids will still be able to watch YouTube on the family telly.

We also cover:

• Roblox and Fortnite - why the focus is on strangers chatting to kids, loot boxes and chatbots, not stopping them playing with their friends
• Whether parents who log their kids in are breaking the law
• Passport and ID checks - what’s still being decided, and how a third party could confirm your age without the platforms holding your data
• Kids who’ve found their people online - what he’d say to parents worried their child will miss out on plans made on Snapchat
• What changes for 16 and 17-year-olds - curfews, time limits and less contact from strangers
• Why he changed his mind on a ban - from a police briefing on child exploitation to watching how his own daughter uses screens

You can find the government’s free online safety hub for parents here: kidsonlinesafety.campaign.gov.uk.

Thank you to the sponsor of this episode, the Online Responsibility Network. Find out more here: https://www.onlineresponsibilitynetwork.com/

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review - it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I’m a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It’s Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This brand new series of Not Another Mummy Podcast kicks off today with a stonker of a guest. I'm joined by the incredible Dr Shefali - clinical psychologist, New York Times bestselling author and founder of the conscious parenting movement, whose work has been championed by Oprah and Pink.

Her two new books, Raising Conscious Daughters and Raising Conscious Sons, are hands-on guides to raising confident, resilient kids in a digital world.

During our chat, Dr Shefali explains why seeing our kids’ wins as our own can actually push them away from who they really are, and why the question we should ask ourselves when we’re losing it with them is “is this about my child, or about me?”

We also cover:

• Why watching Adolescence on Netflix prompted her to write two books, and why it was the well-meaning parents who stuck with her
• Why we should raise our daughters to be heard, not to be good, and what that looks like from age three to 13
• How the algorithm targets boys and girls differently, and the “perception prison” she says girls can end up in
• Why “I just want my child to be happy” can backfire
• The three free things she says any parent can start this week: connect before you correct, protect them from the algorithm, and bring back boredom
• Letting our kids be ordinary, and why “average” has become such a dirty word for parents
• Reclaiming masculinity as something positive for boys
• What to do if you agree with all of this but just don’t have the headspace right now

Follow Dr Shefali on Instagram at @doctorshefali

Check out Raising Conscious Daughters here: https://link.amazon/B04G1qsIv and Raising Conscious Sons here: https://link.amazon/B08ESURVp

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review - it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I’m a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It’s Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this special episode, brought to you in partnership with YouTube, is Dr Garth Graham. As well as being YouTube's Head of Health, Garth is also a dad of four, from age three up to a teenager.

In this episode we talk about the UK's social media ban, whether YouTube counts as social media at all, and how it will impact older kids who use YouTube for school work and studying.

We also chat about how screen time vs play time is balanced in his own house and why the notion of ‘screen time’ isn’t particularly helpful for parents.

Plus, on this episode we cover:

• The three-tier system (YouTube Kids, kid accounts, teen accounts) lots of parents have never heard of, including whether it's too late to move an older teen onto one
• "Displacement theory" - the test Garth’s wife, a child psychiatrist, uses to work out when screen time's tipped into a problem
• The family media contract his household swears by, and why it has to change as the kids get older
• His line for handling bedtime pushback - "dude, they must run a class in it"
• What he says when parents assume tech companies will always put profit over kids' health

You can find out more about YouTube's parental controls and Family Centre here: families.youtube.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review — it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is content creator Kelly Taylor (previously known as Kids and the Commute) who turns the chaos of the school run, class WhatsApp groups and the work-and-kids juggle into some of the funniest, most relatable content on social media.

Since her eldest daughter has just left primary school and is about to start secondary school, I wanted to chat with Kelly about all of the emotions involved. She also tells me about how she's been preparing her daughter for Year 7 and why she's been deliberately stepping back and letting her fight her own battles for the past year.

We also chat about:

• The most bonkers class WhatsApp drama she's heard about
• Why non-uniform day is the most stressful day of the school year in her house
• The real cost of secondary school uniform versus primary
• Her rule about phones staying in bags when her daughter's out with friends
• The secret safe word she and her daughter use if something's ever wrong
• Where she stands on tracking apps like Life360

You can find Kelly on Instagram and TikTok at @thisiskellytaylor.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review — it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don't miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Silverton needs no introduction to most parents. She spent years as one of the most familiar faces on BBC News before retraining as a child therapist and writing two bestselling books There's No Such Thing as Naughty and There's Still No Such Thing as Naughty.

In this episode, we talk about everything from the science of a toddler meltdown right through to what it's like when your teenager looks at you like you've just ruined their life.

We also discuss the new BACP campaign on the parenthood preparation gap - why so many of us are prepare for parenthood with a changing bag and a birth plan but don't have the support to prepare for how parenthood actually feels.

We also chat about:

• Kate's own journey from BBC broadcaster to child therapist, and the moment she knew she had to make the leap
• The lizard, baboon and wise owl - Kate's brilliant way of explaining what's actually happening in a child's brain during a meltdown
• Why "there's no such thing as naughty" and what that means for how we respond to big feelings
• Whether teenage rebellion is something to fight or something to work with
• How to help a child who's dreading going back to school, and the questions to ask them
• Why Kate believes society, not parents, is failing children right now

You can find Kate on Instagram: @katesilverton

Her books There's No Such Thing as Naughty and There's Still No Such Thing as Naughty are out now: https://link.amazon/B0hj4g1o3

If you want to know more about the BACP campaign, head to the Parenting Grind website

Find a BACP reginstered counsellor: https://www.bacp.co.uk/

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review — it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don't miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Rose Stokes, best known for her honest, nuanced writing on motherhood, women's health and living in a body the world won't stop having opinions about. You'll have seen her byline in the Guardian, Grazia, the Telegraph and Women's Health. Rose is also a mum of two, and she's just about to launch her first podcast, A Matter of Fat, with Cambridge geneticist Professor Giles Yeo.

Rose tells me why she recently went back on GLP-1 weight loss jabs after having her second baby, knowing exactly the criticism it would bring, and why she still isn't fully comfortable with the word "obesity".

We also chat about:

• Why she assumed breastfeeding would be the one thing she'd definitely be good at, and what happened instead
• The moment she realised motherhood wasn't going to "complete" her the way she'd always been told it would
• Having postnatal depression after her first baby and choosing to go again anyway
• Why she thinks the UK not classing obesity as a chronic disease is more complicated than it sounds
• What she actually wants listeners to feel by the end of an episode of A Matter of Fat
• Her son's brutally honest take on leaving nursery

Find Rose on Instagram: @rosestokes

Listen to A Matter Of Fat podcast: https://www.instagram.com/amatteroffatpod/

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review — it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Sarah Beeny - property expert, broadcaster and entrepreneur, mum of four boys, and the host of the podcast Seriously?, where she talks to her sons about pretty much every topic under the sun. She's also just relaunched My Single Friend, the iconic dating site everyone was talking about in the noughties, now reborn as a video app, and she's been working with the NSPCC on online safety.

Sarah talks to me about why she took a hard line on screens years before it was fashionable - she once organised a school sit-in to keep iPads out of the classroom. She tells me why she thinks the under-16 social media ban is only the start, why we've all muddled up "quiet" and "happy" when it comes to our kids, and why talking to them about absolutely everything (yes, including sexting and foreplay) beats crossing your fingers and hoping it sorts itself out.

We also chat about:

• Why the social media ban is just the beginning - and the bigger thing she'd ban tomorrow
• The advice from her brother that made every awkward conversation with her kids easier
• What all four of her sons say to her now about growing up with phones (brace yourself)
• How watching her boys on Snapchat gave her the idea to bring back My Single Friend

You can follow Sarah on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarah.beeny/?hl=en

Listen to her podcast Seriously? with Sarah Beeny https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/seriously-with-sarah-beeny/id1784734492

Find My Single Friend on the app store https://mysinglefriend.app

Find out more about the NSPCC's work on online safety https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

If you enjoyed this episode, please do rate and review the podcast - it really helps. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is presenter, author and speaker Andrea McLean, best known for over a decade on Loose Women.

Her new book, Shameless, details how she left her TV career to build a business with her husband Nick, and watched it collapse - with a bailiff turning up at the door, debt, and eventually having to sell their home. She talks to me about applying for jobs in coffee shops and hearing nothing back, what she told her kids when the money ran out, and the health scare that nearly killed her and changed everything. She also opens up about finding out who her real friends were, and why she and Nick packed up the car and moved to Spain to start again.

On the episode we also talk about:

• Why she used her own savings to fund the business instead of bringing in outside investors, and what she'd tell her 2020 self about that decision
• The moment a bailiff turned up at her front door, and how she ended up making him a cup of tea
• The friend who pulled a work offer at the worst possible moment, and what that taught her about who shows up
• Being told she was 24 hours from death, and how that reshaped the way she works and lives now

You can find Andrea on Instagram @andreamclean1 and her book, Shameless, is out now wherever books are sold: https://link.amazon/B0f2y45Yg

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review - it really helps other mums find the podcast. Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is the always fantastic Dr Louise Newson. Louise is a GP, hormone specialist, and the woman described as the medic who kickstarted the menopause revolution. She's just come off the back of a sell-out UK theatre tour, and her new book, The Power of Hormones, is out now.

Louise talks to me about something that might surprise you - how the contraceptive pill doesn't actually contain any real hormones at all. We talk about what's really in it, why she believes we're not being warned properly about the risks, and why she thinks there's a link between the Pill and cancer that's being ignored.

We also chat about:

• Why so many women are handed antidepressants when what they actually need is hormones, and how to tell the difference
• Progesterone for PMS and PMDD in teenagers, and why her own 15 year old takes it
• Why HRT should be seen as a basic health essential, not a last resort
• What really happened after the Panorama programme, and how her clinic ended up rated Outstanding by the CQC
• Whether all of us should be on testosterone, and why the UK's "licensing" of it hasn't actually made it any easier to get

Follow Louise on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menopause_doctor/

Listen to The Dr Louise Newson Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@menopause_doctor

Order The Power of Hormones: https://link.amazon/B05wPyPsU

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review — it really helps other people find the podcast. And you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.