About Me

My name is Janessa, wife to Mitcho and mum to E, Nono and baby Willow.

I'm a home body and a night owl, I work best with music in my ears and a cup of tea close by. I love to be with people, create things with my hands, go for walks with my family and invest time in causes. I have a very kind hearted, patient and smokin' hot husband of 8 years who adores me for my cheekiness and generosity but despises my stubbornness, short fuse and tendency to hold a grudge. He does not understand it, but tolerates my love of online networking and my deeper love for my insta gal pals. However, regardless of his naivety, he continues to be my biggest advocate and fan. Which leads me to the other members of my cheer squad and the subjects of many of my pieces - I am a mum. But nothing exceptional, I don’t even tinker on the edge of amazing really, I’m just your ordinary, run of the mill, kick about town mum of two delightful boys and a brand new baby gilrl, trying my best not to turn them into complete turds. E is my easy, affectionate and clever big seven-year-old and NoNo is our cheeky, adventurous and sparkly four year old. then baby Willow is our sweet little dream that we has no idea we needed. They boys are equal parts magic and horrid. The other half of my life, when I am not mumming, I am teaching. I’ve been teaching primary aged children for 11 years and a many of those years on my favourite grade - Kindergarten. In my job, not only am I responsible for supporting the growth and development of plenty of darling children, but I’m also privy to how different types of parenting frameworks mould particular types of children. And how that type of parenting affects the way the kids act and react in social situations. I read a lot of articles and journals on parenting and child development to wrap my head around my own kidlets, but also to help me support my students. Finally, aside from the hats I wear and the labels I fall under, I actually feel like I am a fairly decent human being in general, with good morals and values, raised by pretty switched on parents. I try to be fair, understanding, tolerant, generous and kind in most life situations, and I expect the same from my children.

So, when you flick through my blogs and hear about how I parent, how I teach, how I keep a home - you can trust that I am not just throwing out random ideas – most, if not all of my tips, are a culmination of my upbringing, legitimate parenting and teaching theories and genuine, moralistic foundations. But while theories are bloody ideal when you want to better yourself – they are just that, theories. Don’t expect miracles, because parenting is actually the bloody hardest thing I have ever done, and all the crap I think I know gets thrown out the window on the daily. Not even kidding.

J x