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my son's first phone

My Son Oliver’s First Mobile Phone and How I Keep Him Safe

February 26, 2019
How I keep Oliver safe online.
Honest Mum eat Spaghetti Bolognese

Tips on a Tech-Free Dinner with Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe & Win a Dolmio Hamper Worth £50

August 24, 2016
Homemade spag bol.

About me

Vicki Psarias (Honest Mum)

Hi, I’m Vicki, mum of two, blogger, vlogger, author and former filmmaker and TV director.

I recently won Inspirational Role Model of the Year at the MPower Awards as well as Best Baby and Parenting Blog for Honest Mum at the UK Blog Awards 2019.

I often pop up on TV as both a presenter and parenting expert (regularly appearing on BBC News and ITV) and I’ve spoken about maternal rights and flexible working as well as perinatal mental health in the House of Commons.

Career highlights include interviewing superstar actress Kim Cattrall and pop group, Westlife.

If you’d like to work with me, please email me at vicki@honestmum.com.

You can read more about me here.

My TV and Campaign Showreel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjNU277Pje4

Lets Get Social

  • 41,706 Followers
  • 44,245 Followers
  • 53,653 Followers
  • 35,175 Fans
  • 3,800 Subscribers

My Interview with Kim Cattrall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf7gFTn7dnc

… And Westlife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCJE7KJwEvA&t=1s

I Feature on BBC World News to a 100 Million Viewers

https://youtu.be/UdwJpJNBLZo

Order My MumBoss Book

Order my #1 bestselling book #Mumboss HERE. My debut book is my guide to surviving and thriving at work and at home and offers insight into how to create a digital business, or return to work with greater confidence.

'Mumboss' by Vicki Psarias - book cover

‘Ideal for… going back to work without losing your mind. TV director and filmmaker Psarias founded her blog Honestmum.com while she was on maternity leave, following a particularly traumatic birth. Mumboss is her no-nonsense guide to navigating the tough back-to-work transition.’

— Book review from Marie Claire UK.

Honest mum was given a full Windsor display in Waterstones Windsor

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Top 20 UK Parenting Blog 2019

Vuelio - Top 20 UK Parenting Blog 2019

Featured / Written For

S Seen In / Written For: Good Morning Britain, Red Magazine, British Vogue, The Daily Mail’s Femail, Fabulous Magazine, The Sun, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Grazia, The Independent, Lorraine, Sky News, BBC Breakfast, Closer magazine, Channel 5 News, This Morning, E! News, BBC World Service, Huffpost

@honestmum on Instagram

Instagram post 2174419663508679631_537862275 ❤️Back from the best weekend with my best friend of 27 years (!) @carlie.leanne and our families at dreamy 5 star @100queensgate hotel in Kensington who kindly invited us all to spend a weekend in London to play tourists together (video to come and stories in my London highlight). The weekend was extra special because today, I celebrated my 9 year blogiversary at honestmum.com (thanks for the bubbles Sian @100queensgate, I felt tipsy after 1 glass 🤣)! But wow, 9 years!!!! I’ll always be grateful to my great uni pal @theladyoftheworld for pestering me to set up a blog on Nov the 10th, 2010 at a time I felt broken after a traumatic birth with my first son and craved a creative outlet but wasn’t ready to get back on set as a TV Director (my former job). I wasn’t the person you see today, then. Walking to the corner shop, let alone sharing my thoughts online, felt unbearable, a black cloud persistently hanging over me, yet somehow post by post, I slowly built back my confidence, and identity. Blogging plus CBT and a move closer to my folks helped me to piece myself back together again. My blog provided me with an accidental career, and a flexible one at that which grew into a personal brand. There are too many highlights to mention but writing my book Mumboss is up there and of course working with people I’ve admired my whole life (interviewing Kim Cattrall, Jamie Oliver, Westlife and more) plus popping up on the box regularly has ticked off some childhood dreams. Next, alongside my blog, comes a new, exciting company I’m launching with my business partners @lucygriffithsdotcom and @jackfreud which will help mobilise a great many mums worldwide. I can’t wait to share more with you in the coming months, after a year in development...Thank you all for sticking by, for reading, caring and also sharing your own lives with me in dms, comments and when you’ve attended my book tour events. I’ll never be able to adequately express how much it all means to me. The greatest lessons I’ve learned in 9 years is to believe in yourself, content is king, reach out for help from those who love you and trust that anything is possible in these digital times. #ad #gift
Instagram post 2172815466145115782_537862275 Throwback to Wednesday and speaking to 75 incredible fellow Yorkshire mumbosses at the brilliant, inclusive, warm and wonderful @yorksinstameet at the majestic @castle_howard in York 🏰! Thanks so much to my fellow neighbour @peonyandgrace, @drs.wife and @theyorkshirehouseproject for inviting me back ‘home’ to Yorkshire to speak about my 9 year blogging and vlogging journey: an accidental career I pivoted into during maternity-leave, back in 2010 after a TV directing career. I started blogging utterly broken after the birth of my first son, I was lacking in confidence and felt directionless but blogging and social media were an emotional lifeline at first, and later a flexible way to work around my family. On the day, I spoke candidly about trying to balance work/home life, overcoming trauma, trolling, and how best to utilise and monetise digital media in the most meaningful and fulfilling way. I hope my biggest takeaway for others was something I’ve come to learn myself from therapy: the importance of leaning on yourself, and trusting yourself, removing the need for external validation. One of the many exercises my therapist advocated has been to TRULY absorb compliments when they’re given rather than instantly shun them as a default. To focus on kind words for at least 30 seconds to 1 minute so they’re fully registered and absorbed. By doing this, and consistently, you purposefully build a lattice of armour, a greater sense of self, and resilience. We must commit to relearning historical, inherited negativity and equally must work on ‘boundaries’ (saying ‘no’, not feeling a duty to those we don’t want to be around etc). Thanks to @fox_lane_books for supporting the book signing and huge thanks to Castle Howard for the pretty holiday cottage my folks and I moved into for the trip. Thanks too to the wonderful @the.jewellery.makers for my stunning silver earrings and ‘Honest’ engraved necklace. Touching the pendant’s letters make me feel grounded and calm. Massive thanks to @charlottenelsonphotography for these wonderful photos that capture the beauty of Castle Howard, and the joy of the day. Thx to @ljstyling for styling me + @paisielondon for the pretty dress #ad
Instagram post 2168415104092930870_537862275 Hair problems 😢
Instagram post 2166957643221795082_537862275 Watch out Windsor 🤣! Couldn’t find a less scary sight to be fair, especially with both wearing my warmest scarves. First time out the house since Oliver’s ear op (we’ve all got cabin fever) so need to keep warm. Can’t stop laughing at this pic. Sorry kids. Have your children forced you to knock on your neighbours’ doors begging for sweets, too? And no, I’m not dressed up for it!!!
Instagram post 2164749495283146582_537862275 My brave boy is out of hospital now and is thankfully happy post-op. He was just 15 months old when he had an adenoidectomy along with grommets in his ears due to recurrent glue ear. His left eardrum remained perforated however, so 8 years on, age 9 he’s had it repaired. Fingers crossed it’s worked (we’ll know in a few weeks). We cancelled a holiday this half term because health always comes first, and I can’t wait to see him swimming, something he loves, without pain in the near future. Daddy @peter_broadbent has been brave himself and an absolutely trooper as I couldn’t face taking him to theatre. My heart was breaking. So relieved he’s OK. Mummy is about to pour herself a large brandy now.
Instagram post 2164226621619067174_537862275 ⚡️RAISING FEMINIST SONS⚡️As the daughter of feminist parents I knew that my children, whatever gender, would be raised as feminists by myself and my husband. I hoped they would believe in, practise and advocate for equality for both sexes, and with our guidance, feel free to play, be and behave in a way that supported and empowered others, and women, in particular, who are living in an otherwise limiting and biased patriarchal society. As a mother of two boys, Oliver, 9, and Alexander, 7, I hoped my sons would speak up when it would be easier to stay quiet, not feel confined to an Alpha male notion of being a man, and grow up content, confident and resilient. It’s an ongoing challenge to raise feminist sons, particularly when your boy’s fellow classmates chastise him for liking non-traditional colours and not liking football. I’ve had to navigate some tricky waters. My eldest didn’t want girls to attend his birthday party yet when they arrived, everyone thrived on one another’s company. For me, it’s about making mindful choices and exposing my kids to children and experiences that will be eye-opening for them. Below, I share my 3 top tips for raising feminist sons in case it might be helpful. Full 5 tips at honestmum.com and the piece is in some print versions of @familiesuk. Start Early Don’t be swayed by gender specific everything. Just because you have a boy or girl, doesn’t mean anything/everything has to be blue/pink respectively – there are some beautifully vibrant non-gender specific clothes available. Try and opt for gender-free toys/books where possible and ones with strong female characters. As they get older, films like Horrible Histories the Movie, Moana and Brave teach children that they can do and be whoever they want and gender doesn’t pose limitations on ambition and strength. Don’t Wrap Them in Cotton Wool It’s hard not to mollycoddle your kids. The world can sometimes be scary but I refuse to raise children who are fearful of life. I want them to take calculated risks. Cheryl Giovannoni, Chief Executive of the Girls’ Day Trust (GDST) said in 2017: “Girls are not victims and are stronger and more feisty than they are often given credit for.”
Instagram post 2163129559347558481_537862275 So proud of my 9 year old son, Oliver, for discussing Brexit with me on @skynews this morning. The piece covered the UK’s first children’s story book dedicated to Brexit after new research revealed that a third of UK parents (32 per cent) would not be able to explain Brexit to their children if asked. I Want To Leave This Book is a funny allegory of these shambolic Brexit times providing a useful tool for parents and teachers. Oliver is a serious young man and unlike his brother hasn’t always felt confident but he smashed it. So grateful my job is helping my children push out of their comfort zone and grow. He absolutely loved it and came out of the studio asking how many people watched him and did I hear his point about Theresa May not being able to resolve things. Love that kid. 📺 ⭐️ . Have you discussed Brexit with your children? (Thanks to @ljstyling for styling me as always, @paisielondon for the gorgeous gifted dress and @the.jewellery.makers for my earrings that seem to be hiding but are stunning silver squiggles #gift #ad).
Instagram post 2160532739811242751_537862275 I’m sick and tired of the relentless racist hate campaign on Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex by the tabloids. This abuse began with venom when she first started dating Harry, prompting a warning statement to the press from the Prince about the harassment his then girlfriend was facing, with an extract below, ‘His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments. Some of it has been hidden from the public – the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life. Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her.’. …With the harassment not ceasing as their wishes, but escalating post wedding and firstborn son, Archie, culminating into a vile fervour of unprecedented scale, forcing the couple to take legal action against the Daily Mail and The Sun, respectively. In an interview for the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, both were visibly upset at the onslaught of press intrusion, malice and lies they’ve both faced at the hands of the tabloid press, and during a vulnerable period for Meghan of pregnancy and new motherhood which is disorientating and emotional ‘at the best of times’ for us all, without the glaring spotlight. I personally suffered a traumatic birth with my first son and find it impossible to imagine navigating first-time motherhood under the scrutiny Meghan has. Unless you’ve experienced pregnancy and a new baby and the hormonal onslaught and fatigue, you will struggle to fully empathise with enormity and transition of that time. Click on the bio to read the rest...
Instagram post 2159108282802688582_537862275 What a deeply moving, inspiring and candid documentary about Harry and Meghan @sussexroyal that was. ‘I never thought it would be easy, but I thought it would be fair’. I cried at Meghan’s words, and several times during the piece as Harry spoke of his own struggles with mental health and grief, and when he followed his mother Diana’s footsteps later. This family deserve to truly live not merely survive. It’s rare to witness something as searingly honest and vulnerable as this about the royals. The love this couple have for one another and their baby, and their commitment to helping others was evident throughout. The tabloid press need to leave them alone, they are guilty of racism and jealousy spearheading a dangerous hate campaign from day 1. Anyone consuming the BS is complicit.
Instagram post 2157490161482256859_537862275 This brought me to tears. It’s hard enough to go through pregnancy, birth and a newborn without having to endure bullying and harassment. Meghan is so courageous for speaking up and being honest, thank you @sussexroyal. The vitriol must stop. I’ve only experienced a smidgen of trolling and abuse compared to her and my heart goes out to Meghan and Harry. {Posted @withrepost • @itvnews 'Not many people have asked if I’m ok... it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.' Meghan reveals to ITV’s @tom.bradby the intense media spotlight has left her struggling to cope while becoming a mum #HarryAndMeghan}
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