When I was a young teenager, I had a very young cousin who died of a brain tumour. From that day on I was determined to become a children’s nurse and make the lives of children with cancer better. By the time I was around 17, I realised that I was never going to cope with children who don’t get better and so I started to look at other careers with children. From a very young child, all I really dreamed of being was a mum, like my mum, being able to stay at home and look after them myself. To be that mum with a pinny on, with flour in her hair and myriad of pets to take care of. It took some doing and during the first 9 years of being a parent I was, through necessity, a working parent. Also within that time I managed to work part time while studying and managed to gain a honours degree in Early Years and Health. One of my jobs over those years was in the NHS as a newborn hearing screener and for a while I loved the clinical environment and continued to consider health care as a future career. Then my youngest was born, we managed to juggle our finances and then with my husband’s new job I was finally able to stay at home with them, which in turn grew into home educating all three of them (not the original plan). This took me on a whole new pathway as being at home meant all four of us (myself and my three children) were able to really follow our own paths and dreams rather than those that are set for you through schools and employment.
Throughout the years I have kept up with my interest in health and over the last few years it has turned more into natural health to keep us all healthy, rather than health care itself.
Over the last 3 years I have very gradually introduced new healthy practices to my routine. It started with yoga and meditation, and then spread to optimal nutrition, cold water therapy and movement. I will return at a later date to discuss these in more detail.
One of my hobbies is reading and every morning as part of my routine I either read a non fiction health related book, or listen to a natural health related podcast. It’s just what I do. Just recently, I have discovered that I may have the chance to do a health science degree which is something I never in a million years thought would be possible for me to be able to do. Our income is not high enough for the uni fees and I really didn’t think I would be entitled to get a student loan seeing as I already had a degree under my belt. However, it seems that there are government loans out there providing you choose a subject that is on the list, and health science happens to be on that list! Who would have thought!? Health science is in my bones and has been since a teenager. When I first qualified as a nursery nurse my nephew was born and spent many weeks in the Special Care Baby Unit. This only heightened my interest in health care. When, 8 years later, I was studying for my childhood studies degree, I opted to stop after my Foundation Degree in Early Years and top up to gain an honours degree choosing health options through the Open University, rather than staying at my original uni and going the education route. And my interest in health has never stopped.
With my third child I took part in a baby massage course which I absolutely loved. It made so much difference to my own and my baby’s wellbeing. I used a sling to carry him, which is another area I’m passionate about as it makes so much difference to the health and wellbeing of both mother and baby. Both areas I would love to explore in more detail at a later date.
I am so excited that this might be something I canpossibly start as soon as October this year! I have no idea where this degree may take me. I have a passion for the first 3 years of life and the health and well being of both mother and child. The wellbeing and happiness of both is an area I desperately want to be part of but right now I have no idea what job in particular I would like to do within that area. But the exciting thing is taking that step and seeing what the future holds for me. Maybe it will be some form of writing within the early years/parenting/health area. Maybe it will be within the NHS or Children’s Centres or even back to day nurseries which is where my career started. Who knows… but I’m excited to find out.
Living Our Own Way 