Katie Stacey Published on: 21/05/2026A wildlife journalist turned parent shares 4 observation techniques from the field that transformed how she reads her children's behaviour, before the meltdown hits.
by: Katie StaceyPublished on: 16/04/2026Every transformation needs a track to run on. Mine is a 4km loop through the mountains of Asturias that I've walked in every season, every mood and every version of myself — with babies on my back, dogs dragging me round, and more recently with an ACT course in my ears and orchids on the verge. This is about how a familiar route becomes a growth practice, why the landscape matters less than you think, and the question that lives with me every time I walk it. Plus an excerpt from my book No Paradise with Wolves — where the Loop began.
I spent a decade as a wildlife journalist documenting how environments shape behaviour — from Peregrine Falcons in Chicago, to otter families in Singapore, the return of wildlife to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to the return of wildlife to our finca in Asturias. Then I had children.
And I realised I'd been studying parenting all along.
The same principle that restores ecosystems restores families. You don't force change, you restore the conditions.
That insight became The Wild Shift™.
Wildlife journalist — BBC Wildlife, National Geographic, Geographical
Author of No Paradise with Wolves (Earth Books, 2025)
Founder of The Wild Shift™ and the ROOTS Framework™ — a nature-led parenting methodology for parents of children aged 10 and under.
A weekly note for parents who want to understand their children more deeply — and change the conditions, not the behaviour.
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Every week I share one idea, one story or one shift that helps family life feel steadier — rooted in nature, grounded in science, tested in real life.
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