Part 1: What Wildlife Journalism Taught Me About My Kids
A wildlife journalist turned parent shares 4 observation techniques from the field that transformed how she reads her children's behaviour, before the meltdown hits.

A difficult day - broken sleep, illness, a meltdown over an Easter egg, and a child who needed the beach more than he needed advice. A honest account of nature-led parenting on the days when nothing goes to plan.
A slow day of molehills, shells and seaside discoveries - and a gentle reflection on how children learn not from what we say, but from how we move through the world.
A personal story of burnout, rewilding, and motherhood — and how reconnecting with nature changed everything. Discover why children regulate through environment, and how small daily shifts can transform family life.

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.
Real stories.
Small shifts that actually work.
Backed by science.
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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