My 2018 Alphabet

Adoption. A beautiful baby finally arrived for my long waiting well deserving cousin. She is definitely a bundle of joy for the family, a lovely new chapter that’s been born, enveloping my beloved cousin into the hazy throes of newborn motherhood.

Buckingham Palace. The summer visit with our girls was entertaining especially when using the interactive guides in each room introducing history via games for the little one.




Cousins (to my children) visited London from Hong Kong and stayed with us for two glorious whirlwind weeks. Our kids have grown closer from this short visit, living in close quarters. I hope we’ll be able to gather again like this in the near future.

Dancing (and singing). For the first year in her Christmas performances, my firstborn has emerged from her shy cocoon shining bright like a star, remembering all the words and actions without prompting. I couldn’t be prouder to be her Mum. We even had parents stop us in the street to praise her for how loudly she sang in the Christmas play.

Engagement. My best friend has finally found her happiness as well as the new hopes and joys that come with planning a wedding and the dreams for spending her future with her forever soulmate. I am excited to watch this new chapter of her life unfold.

Forever Home. I said end of last year I didn’t mind not having our forever home but it weighed on our minds. It struck us as a momentous milestone in our lives when we fell in love and hastily made the arrangements to uproot and move in before I went back to work. We promise this will be where the girls will grow up and can’t wait to unfurl our lives in here.

(Becoming) Godparents to beautiful little L has been a surreal commitment. We had such a brief ceremony for this big a lifetime and spiritual commitment it doesn’t feel like it has happened at times. But here we are and we are grateful to have been given the honour. We would be pleased to always have her and her family in our lives.




Hampton Court Palace’s Magic Garden was a big hit with the kids this summer too. We went about five times. Who doesn’t love a bit of magic and dragons in their lives?

Independence. Toddlers and children who want to hold their own but want you to stay near all the same. They are cute unless you are struggling for time, then it’s infuriating. Still, time passes to quick and there’s not long till they will dismiss us and no longer require us to hold their hand or watch them perform these tasks caring for themselves.

Juggling. All the time. With the bigger space comes more household chores alongside caring for young children with a full time work load; it is a lot to bear. If I eliminate all hope (and self-pity) that I can receive help, suddenly self-reliance gives me Adrenalin to get me through. I need to install boundaries that will work well for me and the girls. I need to be strong and centred and unaccomodating to any old school patriarchy. I need the girls to know we do not need a man around to get things done and that our lives are not fun only when Daddy is around. I will hang on to these affirmations in hope that they will give my girls independence in life and a rooted understanding that their happiness (and mine) is not pinned upon having a man in their lives.

Koalas and Kangaroos. Feeding these marsupials at Symbio Wildlife Center was a fun experience for the whole family. It’s a lesser well known gem but a highly recommended one over the Zoo when visiting Sydney.




Lixir skin care is my new favourite. It took care of an age spot I had on my right cheek that I got from five years ago. It’s not expensive if you have the right cashback combinations on from ASOS. I’ve decided to replace my Ordinary serums and masks with this range’s night switch and Vitamin C paste because I feel it’s done wonders for my skin.

(St.) Michael’s Mount in Marazion was a bucket list visit for me. Between our stumbling toddler and me hauling a baby in a carrier, I was proud to say we made it up and down the mount through the rain and cold. A beautiful island to walk to when the tide is low and then fun to take a boat back when it’s high tide.





Nexplanon. Inserted on the 16/1/18 to take me through to 2021. It’s a statement that I am done with baby making as I cannot muster the inner strength to grow another being inside me, moving things around inside, bearing down on my bladder and cervix again. Am pretty sure third time around everything will get pushed out. I also do NOT fancy going through childbirth and sleeplessness for another year again.

Ocado. Online shopping basically has been God sent this year. I think I find physical shopping too hard these days. I need a search function and someone to keep suggesting offers to me that I may be interested in for it all to work.

Playgrounds, picnics and play dates galore this past year. My little ones and I have loved every moment so I hope to hang on to those memories. If I could just have this every summer until they are grown, I should be quite content.



Qualifying for our ILR after passing the Life in the UK test offered us momentum in the direction of our future lives. At least it certainly propelled us to consider whether we were staying or going and we are pleased with the decision we have made.

Rangemaster kitchen. This wasn’t even a dream until I owned it. Suddenly I cannot imagine cooking with anything else. It’s such a beautiful oven; easy to use and maintain too. I was intimidated at first but have now learnt that it is my family’s friend not foe.

Sleep (lack thereof). This is an obsession for all parents of young children. I spawn babies who don’t sleep in their first fourteen months reducing my life expectancy from the two and a half years of sleeping only max five hours a night. Part and parcel of how shockingly tough parenthood is.

Tuscany. We were spoiled by its excellent fare this sweltering summer. Driving through undulating green hills and bright cheery sunflower farms, we indulged in gelato and pizza galore. Watching two of our favourite people that we’ve met in London tie the knot made the days spent here that much more special.




Unity with my husband, being on the same page, playing on the same team. I realise how fulfilling and intimate it can make us when we work together as an effective team. Our values are aligned and our beliefs not dissimilar. Yet I am only human and with sleep deprivation, I tend to forget to behave around him; somehow we bring out each other’s worst rather than lift each other up. Be kind. Be Kind. My Mantra to survive this relationship.

Vexation. I am perplexed by how set in her ways my mother in law had become. Her fixation on argument and being contrary which once struck me as a strong woman who could hold her own is now rather domineering and inconsiderate of who she hurts. She says things she doesn’t mean just to pick a fight. In fact I wonder if all old women are like that? My own grandmother always said keeping quiet as a live in inlaw keeps the peace. And my mother in law has always wanted to fight it out. Perhaps because I was raised to expect one thing I now feel the provocation from her part completely unnecessary.

Wetlands Centre membership has given my girls and I some good hangs this brilliantly hot summer. Their ducks waterplay has been fun as has their Lego wildlife.



X-ray for my hypersensitive tooth that has made my cold drink and nut consumption just a tad less enjoyable this past few months.

Youth. It’s slipping me by and with my second child I feel older than ever, my body aches, slumps in ways it didn’t with my first. The sleep deprivation mellows me out. The fighting flame is very rarely there. Consciously I choose to replace it with gratitude and joy in the little things, like my children’s laughter and cuddles.

Zip line. I helped build her skills by encouraging her on different levels of difficulty. Step by step she trained her ability and prepped; my three year old conquered the Zipline despite her fears. I was one proud mum the first time I let her go off on her own, she made it to the end and now has learnt that she can achieve loads as long as she builds it up like a tower, block by block at a time.

2018 flew past I am sure. The mundane gave way to some exciting business in the end. It was an unforgettable, pivotal year in our lives. A true blessing to have had the variety of experiences and decisions fulfilled this year. I haven’t planned 2019 just yet, though I know it will require a finer act of balancing than 2018. I just look forward to the break that will come before then. I am off to find a mince pie and to steal a cuddle and a kiss from my little ones whilst they are still little.

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One year later

I have rejoined the work force. My littlest turned one and it was the most ordinary day in our new ordinary. The preceding month before that had all been about packing for the move, unpacking after the move, ordering, receiving and building new furniture whilst making sure the baby is safe in the new house.

We have our dream home and I still love it everyday. I love it more and more as we put our own stamp on it each day. Sure it doesn’t look as much of a show home as we initially fell in love with but it is our lives on display there. The strewn toys, the child’s bath tub, the various toothpastes with each family member’s fluoride needs cluttered on the bathroom sink and each person’s towels hanging on the towel rails all representing each of our footprints in the home and I do not let it irk me.

I do feel robbed of my last month of Maternity Leave as the amount of time put into the move has meant I didn’t get to develop my girls as much as I would have liked. Sure little L had great fun ‘packing’ as she threw various things into boxes for me. Sure S enjoyed quietly sitting by and tracing Chinese characters with a highlighter, but those achievements went quietly unnoticed in present time. So many times I had to say “Not now honey” to a request to play or read with my toddler and so many times I’ve discouraged an inquisitive baby by strapping her into the baby carrier. If only I had double the amount of time in my day so that I could go about running errands as well as being a dedicated mum. I spread myself too thin as did Mr HEA and I hope our girls forgive us.

Miss 1, you have finally understood that Mummy is not going to always be around and that you’ll be ok. Even if it means you don’t let go when you do find me, I know you’ll be alright. You have really begun to understand words and communication between us all. You do really well in Nursery, enjoying circle time most and the constant singing in your new environment. You clap and bounce and wave happily along with your new friends and I believe they are teaching you to walk as you spent your first weekend after Nursery cruising a lot and pushing around bar stools like walkers. You no longer need to feed to sleep though I am sneakily still giving you boob throughout the night. You have the cheekiest demeanour as you find splashing me with your bath water, eating my nose and putting food in your hair the funniest things to annoy me with. Suddenly you have gone from a child who abhors food to now adoring it. I feed you rice balls, bananas, veggie straws and apples which are suddenly your new found favourites. You started taking a dummy last week and cows milk out of a sippy cup last month. You never cease to prove me wrong, perhaps because you are always so easily bored and in want of a new distraction. I know that this means I don’t have to worry about you trying new things and that in your own time, you will accept them. My daring, sweet yet cheeky child thank you for the past year, validating that I can be a competent mum if I relax just a tad.

Miss 3, you can trace lines and try very hard to colour inside the lines now. You can do buttons and blow your own nose. You pronounce L and K better than before and you can read small words with phonics now. I know you can climb very high on climbing frames and you can slide down poles too. My fearless, clumsy, clever little monkey, you are so imaginative and so protective of your loved ones, I love your mother hen nature and hope in time to shield you from the pain that also comes with not being able to watch your loved ones fail for themselves. You are brave my little one, able to bear sadness and pain with your quiet strength, though you would sing our ears off with your made up or newly memorised songs. I was very sad the other day when I had to force you into a quiet corner because you couldn’t control your temper you were so tired and hungry. I couldn’t bear to see you so distraught but you were so mean and disagreeable before food arrived. I know that is a side of you that I need to teach you to manage even if I was never taught it myself. I know what it is like to feel sorry for yourself and to feel that the whole world has turned against you in those moments. You are a true reflection of me my child. Please trust me as I help you navigate your emotions and imagination in this big world.

I love you two more than I’d ever imagine I could and I have had to be tougher on you lately because I hope to shape you both to be kind and useful human beings. Please do not let us take in vain every laugh and every tear we share together as I hope to see you two become strong influential women who apply yourselves in your chosen vocation. For now, learn through play and enjoy childhood together with Mummy and Daddy by your sides. We are not ready to let go quite yet.




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Sydney in my twenties versus London in my thirties

The sun is out shining its rays onto the shimmering blue calm waves on Coogee. My girls are digging their heels into the soft white sand enjoying their first Aussie spring day at the beach. Our friend walks over to join our picnic from her home.

We see the delight in their eyes as they are getting spoiled silly with lollies and unlimited screen time. We see how amazed they are at the sheer size of outdoor space and family homes to explore. We almost regret our decision to not raise them closer to home where they can grow up with cousins and grandparents close by.

Life is comfortable here, when our friends and family get together it’s as though time hasn’t touched us, the banter is still there. Although there is occasionally interruption in the form of a kid’s scraped knee that needs to be kissed, then there are the pauses in conversations when the newly engaged couples exchange loving glances or sneak a reassuring arm squeeze.

I haven’t had good girly cocktail sessions or drawn out brunches with the girls for a while. I brought my girl out one evening with my girlfriends and she was stoked about being a big girl allowed her own strawberry calpis mocktail. It’s like that scene in SATC when Lily is colouring at one of their weekend brunches and the ladies changed their chat to how the men in their lives ‘colour’.

I am surprised that I do not miss those days of dolling up. Even carrying my LV purse out to town that evening felt foreign to my trusty Kate Spade. I cannot fit into the conversations here as my friends speak of travel plans to Japan, Bali or Fiji. I know in my heart I cannot come this far out to join them in those escapades. And when we talk about children there is divide between those who have children versus those who don’t yet. The ideals versus the reality and the subtle judging that goes on. I almost feel like choosing Europe over Australasia has made me snootier, with anecdotes of my toddler singing French and Spanish songs not viewed as cute but rather pretentious. I no longer fit in.

Throughout my twenties I lived for my girlfriends. We sipped many a soy lattes and lychee martini’s whilst debating the pros and cons of our men and our budding careers. So much of our lives were unwritten as yet. We had the world at our feet and could walk any path we wanted. Love was always a possibility each night we went out.

Now I am a flat white and ballet flats kinda mum. My girls are my world still only, I refer to my Number 1 and Number 2, not my girlfriends of my twenties. There are the mums I met through my daughters and I long to make a stronger connection with them. I also know there are relationships I’d have to work harder at to build at work, to forge greater networks for my career which I realise I have put on hold for the past year without intent.

Life moved on. I had the whirlwind romance with my Mr. Big. We broke up, made up and then married before he left me to move to London. My life phase now is SATC the movie the sequel where I cheat on bags with furniture. Or even perhaps I am not actually Carrie, I have really always been Charlotte with my Prince Charming to be surrounded by pretty princesses with a bra less nanny on her way soon. The picture of our family is complete.

When I leave Sydney this time, we begin our lives in our forever home. A Victorian four bedroom terrace in South West London surburbia. The set wrapped up with the four women moving up and away from New York anyway. We were and are the same women who fiercely love and protect each other through heartbreak and through life’s failures and successes. But though we want to be there for each other, the sisterhood gives way to Motherhood. Life isn’t as difficult as it used to be, or rather we are presented with different battles in the form of opinionated mother in laws and wilful toddlers. I look forward to creating a home in our terrace that is similar to the Brownstone in the movie ‘The Intern’. One that I stand in front of each day I come home knowing that behind the shutters in the sash window is my happy family and where my friends and theirs are always welcome to share in the joy and warmth.




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Two more months

Blink and it’s been two months since the last post. One month of pure sightseeing Tuscany and London. Another of just crazy organising life admin. And in that time, my number two learnt how to clap, how to wave, how to flip pages in a book and how to kiss. She now also drinks from a straw and knows how to call for each of us in the family. She crawls around the flat very confidently looking for me. I will miss the pitter patter of tiny palms on the floor one day I know as she follows her daddy around the flat.

It’s hard to imagine that she is two months away from turning one. Two months away from me no longer obsessing over the salt content, honey or breast milk. Two more months before our lives change to me going back to work and they go into full time nursery. I will miss the play date mums. I will miss the playgrounds and the buggy pushing walks.

Miss Three has had a great time learning tennis, the world map and flags this summer. She climbs like a monkey and now is so much more confident in her physical abilities as well as speaking publicly. I love her confidence in life having worried incessantly about her shyness over her two year old stage. She didn’t even so much as flinch as she got her pre-school booster shot even though she confirms to me that it hurt afterwards.

I loved having been an integral part of my two daughters’ growth this past summer although I will admit that the last month I have lost the will to be a good mum and haven’t read as much or bothered to think up exciting new things for them to do. Lots of planning ahead as I research schools and think up life admin things that must imminently get sorted before I head back to full time work.

I will miss this. My last two months of being a SAHM forever. My babies have grown up and the grey clouds have lifted. All my worries are different now. My jigsaw puzzle on what my future would be like is complete. I am proud of my big clever and brave girl. I am also smitten with my cheeky little one who I think will always be a mummy’s girl.

This is enough. My cup runneth over. Two more months of this, and I will fill it with kisses and cuddles I promise.



















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One month full time SAHM with two

This June I set myself a challenge to see if I could have the two children with me full time. No childcare. No holidays. Just us three for five days a week and then with Daddy on the weekends.

It was hard I won’t lie. I worried about the toddler. She challenges me more and more each day with her defiance, her sass and her acting out due to her need for attention. I can not contain her and often this month I have felt like a failure of a Mum. I sometimes do wonder if I have a good grasp at all on what to do with her. Twice this month I have gotten so frustrated with her that I have tried to make her feel bad over what little selfish thing she had done to upset me. Petty of me, because of course she doesn’t understand how when I am tired or sick I can’t play with her anymore. She just demands it regardless of any circumstance. I need to accept that I am to be her everything when she is on my watch. Other days I teeter between using kind language to persuade her to concede versus using threats of cancelling treats or activities and I feel like a crazy lady when her antics escalate to all sorts of cray to drive me up the wall.

Last week alone on Monday, she defied me and opened a gate at a pub which had a sign to say Do not Enter which I had read to her and then lied to say Peter Rabbit was responsible. On Tuesday, she got bored in Mandarin class and decided to walk out to play and when I dragged her back into class she hit her baby sister on her rage. Wednesday she was lovely until I tried to explain to her it may be nice to lend some toys to a visiting friend whose little boy had lost all his toys in Hurricane Irma and she kept shouting he could have none. Thursday she insisted on jumping into her sister’s cot after I had out her down for the night resulting in of course her waking her sister up. Is this all just attention seeking behaviour? Is it normal Three year old behaviour can anyone confirm to me? I miss my sweet little two year old now. She may have tantrumed then but she was never as naughty or mean as she is now.

It wasn’t all hard though. It has been a lovely hot June and so the girls have enjoyed playgrounds, play dates, wetlands, picnics galore, even caught the changing of the guards and visited two museums.

Picnics make it so much easier as eating al fresco means very little cleaning up. It also means easy to little cooking. I’ve been boiling some easy finger veg and find boiled eggs make very easy BLW picnic food. Otherwise, a bit of sliced cheese or poached chicken is always welcome protein. Fruit is also at their best this season making easy and healthy puddings for these picnics.




Eating at home required lots of easy meals. I find myself buying pre-prepped veg quite a lot so that often I only need to blanch them in boiling water and serve up with easy oven or slow cooked protein options.



These were Asian meals, premade and frozen dumplings, batch made stock, one pot rice cooker steamed miso cod and sous vide bulgogi beef with Korean rice cakes, udon or fried rice have been easy crowd pleasers.




On the western meals front, if it isn’t pasta with leftover roast, then I’ve opted to buy ready meals or premarinated meats such as tortillas, pies, lamb kebabs, chicken goujons or breaded fish are also generally easy toddler meals.

That’s all done and dusted now. June’s taster of being a full time SAHM. The flat isn’t as clean as I’d like. The children weren’t always as well turned out as i would have liked. But the important thing is that we are all loving and growing together. I just need to mother on and keep my eye on the prize.




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Summer of Love 2018

I love you two so much
My heart overflows
It’s hard to capture all memories
As time beyond me goes.

This year I spend each day with thee
Our weeks so fulfillingly intertwine
With song, dance, hugs and glee
At picnics, park play in the sunshine.

Together we grow and learn more each day
As Baby becomes more mobile
Preschooler practices numbers, phonics, independent play
It makes giving up my sleep worthwhile.

It’s been climbing, twirling and cuddles galore
But cheeky grins, witty sass and tantrums too
We read stories, non-fiction and rhyme till I can last no more
We share countless meals and sneak snacks with my beloved two.

Time cheats us my dears
Seven months has in a blink passed us by
I believe the laughter has outlast the tears
And it’s time well spent I don’t deny.

One day you shall each have your little ones
I hope then I will still hold you close.
And remember the days in our flat when I held you two once
Hoping for the best I can give you, your futures, only God knows.







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Stolen moments: Making daisy chains

“Mummy, thank you for all the treats today. May we do this again tomorrow?”Miss ‘sugar and spice’ Three thanks me for simple things( a cup of milk and a vitamin) she delights in.

At the moment, life is brilliant for us. The baby is learning to crawl, can sit up and discovers new foods everyday. All the toothless smiles and her determination to inch forward or upward to reach yet another toy never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps because her sister was lazy and never quite as bothered to exert effort, we are not entirely sure what lies ahead for us parenting a wilful toddler.







Miss Three is currently obsessed with trying to climb the taller apparatus in the playgrounds and trees in the park, but she isn’t quite the daredevil only stretching herself a teeny bit more each time. Equally capturing her interest is her new Leapfrog toy that teaches her to write letters and numbers.



I remember different emotions from when I was on Mat Leave the first time around. The sleep deprivation got to me. The lack of friends and confidence left me bereft with a proclivity to self-pity and depression taking it out all the time on the husband and blaming him for my unhappiness.

“I used to say to myself that happiness and misery depend on ourselves. If you feel unhappy, raise your self above unhappiness, and so act that your happiness may be independent of all eventualities.”

Catherine the Great


The recipe these days when the sun’s out:
1)Pack sandwiches/pasta salad, a pack of crisps/ popcorn, fruit, a snack of cheese or biscuits and fruit shoot/smoothie pack.

2)Find a park or garden to eat/run/scoot around in.

There are simple games Miss Three enjoys when there aren’t any playgrounds, such as chasing bubbles, tracking down dandelions and counting the time with each blow, making daisy chains or sometimes just running through tall grass or daffodils. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.














Had we chosen a different city to live in, life would be different. We are blessed in London and I try not to take each blue sky day for granted. It’s hard to remember these uneventful, mundane days but I am so fulfilled that just buying a new electric toothbrush is enough to send me to the moon. I want this post to remind me of the laughter, the joy, the lessons learnt and the growing pains. After all it happens just a tad too quick and I will be caught in the rat race again all too soon. Feeling ever guilty and ever so inadequate. For now, I know I am giving them my all and enjoying every moment stolen.

Six months

I don’t know how we managed to get here, but yet here we are.

You have truly brought joy to my life in ways I didn’t experience before. Motherhood is such a pleasure when you beam and gargle at us all the time.

I love your enthusiasm every morning, I love your bright smiles when you see your sister each time especially love how amused you are by her jumps or one liners. I love that you demand so little even though you need much more. Especially when your sister is being a diva, you are so chilled and reserved.

I think you are strong though. I see your determination when you’ve set your heart on something. I feel your resolve as you tense your little limbs up and prepare to launch at something you’ve decided you want. I see your little eyes watching and observing every detail around you. I think you will be fine.

When I named you, I thought of encompassing joy, grace, and leadership into your name, and now we’ve had you for six months I believe it will come to be. But in the meantime as you grow with your sister, I pray that you both will get along well and that I will continue to be fair with my level of attention to both of you. You two are my world now and even when I wake in the wee hours of the morning and have to be drip fed caffeine to survive each day, I love you and your sister so much my heart could burst.

Happy six months my Lou. Stay active and inquisitive. I look forward to introducing you to more foods and hope you will be a good eater like your sister. I look forward to watching you learn to crawl and stand with the same grace you learnt how to roll over and sit up. The days are not long enough the ones I spend with you. I treasure every single moment you bestow upon us and look forward to many more belly cackles and cuddles.







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Raising a child in London

Just know that this post has been two years in the writing. Londonkiwi Emma first suggested I write a post comparing motherhood here versus back home and I thought it was a great idea, but between figuring out the parenting thing and trying to build new friendships ( because making mother friends are a whole new social circle to invest time in), this all fell to the wayside.



It’s a new year though and whilst we’d always postponed decision making for 2019, we started talking recently about the question weighing on our minds; Are we going to move back home? We love our lives at the moment but London is a transient place and we have said goodbye to so many of our couple friends who have their kids here and then move home to be around family whilst raising their kids.



As our family is dispersed among Australia, Malaysia and Hong Kong, there isn’t a great pulling power for us to head home. If anything, I’d have to find my feet again and find out how to parent in Sydney all over. Figure out the schools, the good parks, find our favourite family restaurants, get weekly shopping done, getting used to new produce to suit my family’s tastebuds. It all seems a lot of effort and I’d give anything at the moment to just have a nice little updated Victorian terrace house in London to raise our children in.



So herewith is my list of London versus Sydney comparing how we’d raise kids in both.



1) NCT groups versus local council run mother groups.

I paid for our ante natal classes in London. It seems to be a thing all the new mums do to meet local mums here. The other locally run children centres and clinics don’t seem to have as much pull in my experience for meeting new mums. Perhaps because there isn’t a commitment for mothers to attend weekly since it’s free and so I haven’t really established good friendships through those. In Sydney I understand the local council runs mother groups and I have heard many sing praises of the friendships they’ve built from these groups that last beyond maternity leave and their children become fast friends. Half of our NCT group have moved away though since Greater London doesn't seem to be the place people tend to imagine themselves raising kids, too expensive, too polluted or not enough of a work life balance. Whilst this works for first time mums it generally doesn’t work for subsequent children though as toddlers will be bored at baby sessions or are sometimes generally not allowed. In this I’d say the alternative is to huddle with the other second time mums at toddler playgroups or classes and compare notes or commiserate together.



2) Walking versus driving everywhere.

I have become reliant on public transport in getting me everywhere with my children. Buses and trains take me directly to some free museums, city farms and parks that are extremely engaging for my little ones. In Sydney, I’d probably be looking to local libraries, parks and the beach for free kid friendly hangouts but most places are via driving access and I don’t know if I could get used to screaming babies in tow when I am battling traffic or finding a parking space.



3) Jumping in puddles versus heading to the beach.

Got Peppa Pig to thank for this one but in Autumn/ Winter British kids just live in Wellies. I must say it is a great way to encourage them to walk more as I almost never need a pram for our school run if I can assure her there’s a host of muddy puddles for her to look out for along our way home. If we were in Sydney however, our place was only fifteen minutes away from some of the best beaches in the world so I’d probably be slathering sunscreen on my toddler instead of slipping on wellie liners.









4) Compliance parenting versus Australian parenting styles.

British children are raised to be polite and obedient in a very traditional way. Children are just not allowed to tantrum in public. I remember a British old lady telling me off when I was letting my baby practice walking along the pavement one evening. She said to me this was going to take us all night to get home innit? With the Brits I can never quite tell if they are being passive aggressive or just wry. I usually respond in nervous giggles if in doubt of their intention. I find Australians conform to more modern if American styles of parenting, such as Breast is best, Baby led weaning and Gentle sleep training methods as opposed to formula feeding, purées and Crying it out. It may just be in my circle of experience but I did find I was on my own in London when I employed Australian preferred methods to my child rearing.



5) No poisonous spiders or lizards to worry about.

Seriously everything in Australia can kill you. Even the birds (according to this article). At most we get Spiders in the flat about a month of the year in UK. Otherwise you hardly ever see them. I just remember and still see on Facebook living in Sydney the terrors of encountering a Huntsman in your closet or a snake in your backyard. I am not entirely prepared to deal with that again especially with inquisitive children in tow.



6) Exposure to all sorts of first generation migrant cultures and a stronger tendency towards bilingualism

In London, as it is such a melting pot of immigrants, I find a lot of the children grow up learning at least two languages. Even the nursery my daughter attends teach French and Spanish as part of their curriculum. This is not something I experienced in Sydney, with most of my husband's contemporaries learning only English although perhaps there may be a shift towards teaching more Mandarin these days given the influx of Chinese migrants that are having children in Sydney and truthfully, for my cultural background, I would prefer that. Also my husband tells me that he is able to feel Australian here in London where else back home he was always made to feel Asian when someone was getting to know him. Subtle difference perhaps but I suppose he’d much prefer the former.



7) British tastebuds versus Australian tastebuds

Eating out in London with kids is boring. Their menus always seem to consist of battered fish or chicken goujons, sausages and some sort of pasta. Frankly, I'd prefer the restaurants to say yes they can do a kids sized version of some of the adult dishes so that our kids can experience a more diverse range of foods without waste. I see they do this in Australian cafes back home and I see children who love their food, eating a wide range of seafoods and cuisines. My own daughter won't even touch avocado, which is devastating for me.



8) The convenience of Amazon Prime. And just generally having access to all global brands available with delivery services.
I have gotten very used to the convenience of living in London with Amazon prime for everything. It sure makes it easier than heading out to the shops with two kids in British weather. This may not be as bad anymore in Australia with online shopping fast becoming a normality too in Sydney but still I thought it was worth a mention.




9) Everybody looks for outdoor space when looking for nurseries in London. Truth be told I don’t think we’d be different in Australia but I suppose good outdoor spaces are harder to find in London. And if you were wondering what to look for when visiting a nursery, I found this article to be helpful in your decision making. My daughter’s current nursery backs out onto the train tracks so I worry about noise pollution for her, but she hardly ever spends time outdoors in nursery so I have made peace with that in exchange for a convenient location for my commute to work around the school run.



10) Snow versus 47 celcius days
London days are cold. We have had many snow days this winter. Far more than I’d ever remember in my few years here. At the same time my Aussie friends’ kids are living in pools because it’s 47°c days down under. It is a huge contrast but given I have one daughter who simply melts in heat and another that finds the cold insufferable, My hands are tied for this one. I will say this though, the nicer weather in Oz does make it easier to organise gatherings at parks and beaches for kids. Here in London we struggle to find non-grotty indoor spaces to take our children to that won’t cost a fortune to play.

So there you have it. London has four clear wins, Sydney has three, and three points where it’s just as good on both fronts.

We might just stay that little longer then to make this work out for us.



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