About Us

Welcome!

Hi, and thanks for visiting our blog.

It was started about our family, The Readings, written by Jocelyn, a happily married mum to two school-aged children. Here they are known as Boo and Little Man, there’s the Husband and we also have a miniature dachshund. Over time, the blog has evolved and I now love to share lifestyle tips and inspiration with you, along with growing our happy mail community and stationery store

Here on the blog you will find me sharing stories and solutions around family life and your home and garden. Wherever I possibly can, I want to help things run more smoothly for you so that you can free up time spend with your family or to take time out for yourself. This is where my passions come in, as me-time for me revolves around all things papery and planty, so you can expect lots of both here.

 

Get To Know Us

Here are a few Reading facts for you…

– The Husband’s sporty and artistic, and I’m….not…! I like to read, write, manage, organise. Not as thrilling, but it is what it is. Boo seems to have inherited her daddy’s interest and talents where art’s concerned, and time will tell whether Little Man is going to be a footballer. It’s fair to say that they are little daredevils and will have a go at absolutely anything, I think I have a pair of adrenaline junkies on my hands. Both kids are readers, so my influence is in there!

– We love getting out and about together and exploring new places. Parks, picnics, farms, castles, theme parks, museums, libraries, zoos and festivals, we enjoy them all.

– We’ve taken the kids to Disney World twice now, Disneyland Paris and Disneyland California, we all really enjoy our time in the parks. I love all of the planning that goes into it and the build up to the holiday and then the time we spend there is magical. The Husband is all about the snacks! We then also enjoy quiet and more relaxing UK breaks and the kids are keen to visit a few European cities (the Husband and I love so many of them, especially Venice and Paris).

– We’re a close family, the kids get on very well, and we are also lucky enough to be close to our wider family. The children have doting grandparents, fabulous aunts and uncles and four lovely cousins, all of whom we see regularly.

– Little Man is now in Year 7 at school whilst Boo is in Year 10. They’re at different secondary schools and have great groups of friends. 

My Story

A mini biography would go something like this: ‘Happy childhood with younger brother, enjoyed school, manager of a bookshop, met and married the Husband, career move resulting in being an area manager of a building society, started a family, walked away from career, started blogging (and university), graduated, moved on to blogging full time, fought against breast cancer…and here I am!’

I Love…

Planning stuff. Yep, that’s the first thing that’s popped into my head…and also candles, houseplants, flowers, yoga, sunshine, music, walking, TV shows, films, dogs, books, books and more books. I’ve always been interested in history, I love learning new things, I’m an enthusiastic gardener, I like faffing with interiors and I have a strong leaning towards pretty stationery purchases.

What Will You Find Here?

I will bring you our family life and snippets from my blog life, from parenting wins (or fails!) to blog inspiration, along with our reviews of anything we’ve tried to share our findings with you.

To make things run that little bit more smoothly, I will share organisational tips, practical routines, organisation printables, easy family meal ideas, suggestions for the home and garden and more – absolutely anything I can think of that makes family life that bit easier or that catches my interest.

From the industrious to the calm, I will focus in on quality family time and self-care. If we’re freeing up time, let’s enjoy it. Within this, I host the popular #BringBackPaper, with plenty of activities to get involved in and sharing all things paper-loving. There’s a whole community around this, as paper is my go-to ‘me-time’, so do read more about that, search the #BringBackPaper hash tag or join the Bring Back Paper Facebook group if you like to wind down with a good book, want to get back to sending snail mail again or can just never resist a stationery buy!

Come Chat With Us

If you’ve Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest accounts, do find me over there, as it’s nice to connect. I am quite active on my social media accounts so you have been warned! You can email me at [email protected], and you can keep up with our posts by subscribing to the newsletter at the bottom of this page.

And don’t hesitate to comment or get in touch. It’s always nice to hear what you think.

Thanks for reading, Jocelyn x

 

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18 thoughts on “About Us”

  1. Posts and Pens

    It looks like a fun residence, “lazy dog” notwithstanding! 🙂 I can imagine what it felt like when you mentioned “what to do with the corn on the cob.” I “can” cook, but my skills are nothing to be amazed at. Looking forward to your other posts! Cheers!

    1. Thanks! My brother knows me well enough to not be remotely surprised by my random corn on the cob call! He knows my strengths lie elsewhere…!

  2. Always on the look out for future husbands for my daughter: your son seems a promising candidate, being exactly the same age and rather handsome. Have you made arrangements for him yet? 🙂

      1. Good good, I believe it is customary for you to set the price: flock of sheep? Several sheaves of corn? We have some rather attractive brambles in the garden? I also bake a mean cake.

        1. Whilst the several sheaves of corn is clearly the most valuable suggestion, word on the street is that the bottom’s about to drop out of that market. That considered, I feel the cake offer is the most appealing. Thank you 🙂

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  4. Hi Jocelyn
    I don’t know if you’ve made it over to my new blog yet but our stories, likes and dislikes are so similar I had to leave a comment. Feels like you may be a sister form another mother (doesn’t have the same ring does it? Hey ho). My first daughter was born in June 2010 and the second in November 2012. I went back to work but finally gave in to the overwhelming feeling of guilt and wanting to be a ‘proper mum’ last month. So now here I am a full time mum and blogger. I’m only a month or so in but loving every aspect! Like you my husband has been 100% supportive, which makes me love him even more. Sorry I’m rambling now! I just wanted to let you know that I really relate to you and your blog, and admire your amazing success in one year.

  5. Hello and thank you! It is a tricky one, and often neglected, too, yet people want to know more about the blogger, so it makes sense to share here! Glad you found it helpful and thanks for commenting.

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  7. Oh no, your poor guinea pig, I can imagine how you all must feel. And yes, feel free to send over further questions and I will certainly try to help. My email address is there at the bottom of the page for you.

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