The Family Seesaw

Life comes in seasons - there are times when we're happy and life is good with everything going to plan, and then there are times when life just sucks! We've been in that season....

In general, I do believe that happiness is a choice we must make every single day and is not based on what's going on around us, but there are times when making the choice to be happy is really bloody hard.

I've therefore had to choose to slow down a bit and enjoy those little moments of me time when I can. I've cut out everything that wasn't "essential" and that included most social media. An odd Insta or FB post here and there but I took the pressure off myself of having to record, edit and post to a schedule. I/We have missed our interactions with you all but it was essential for me to try and restore some balance to my life (remember, life is a seesaw!)

We are genuinely fine other than the standard family worries of making ends meet in a cost of living crisis and the new challenges of "The Teenage Years"....yes, Caleb is now almost 6 ft tall and looking down on me! Combine that with a non-stop calendar of sporting activities (which we wouldn't trade!), increasing complexity of homework, a change of job for Toney, my full time job that has been extremely stressful for the past 12 months and the plates are already spinning and wobbling.

About a year ago we noticed a real change in my Mum's memory (she's 89) and that progressed to a dementia diagnosis. It has been rapid and, not having much experience of this awful disease before now, very scary. A month ago she had a fall in the middle of the night and was taken to hospital - they've now suddenly sent her home so a whole new set of things to worry about (at least in hospital we knew she was safe).

This was the "straw that broke the camel's back" for me - in order for me to feel balanced, one area of my life needs to be under control - and suddenly it all felt completely out of control. I wasn't sleeping, not eating healthily, not exercising - just running around putting out one fire after another - and it has been exhausting!

The only thing I had under control was meal planning and, believe me, that was the difference between eating a meal and not on so many days :-)

I know many of you have reached out to check on us - and we feel so blessed that you care enough to do so. Our little family of subscribers are like an extension of our close circle of family and friends - and we appreciate all of you. We will be back soon, maybe in a slightly different routine, and we look forward to sharing more peeks through our kitchen window! xx

2 years ago | [YT] | 51

The Family Seesaw

We took the scenic route but we've made it to 3K subscribers. Thank you to each and every one of you - we truly appreciate your views, interactions and friendship xxx

2 years ago | [YT] | 56

The Family Seesaw

Wishing Caleb a very Happy 14th Birthday today - we've had a fab day at the Insomnia Gaming Festival at the NEC - ticking the "excellent birthday gift for a teenager" box!

2 years ago | [YT] | 46

The Family Seesaw

Hi everyone, just a little "hello" from us to let you know we are all ok and scrambling our way through every week. Caleb continues to be extremely athletic and has had sport 5 days/evenings out of 7 - now rugby season is over and football is almost over, the athletics and running takes top spot so we don't slow down! Work for me has been very busy still - lots of late nights (when I'm not dashing off to sport) and quite a few overnight trips to our other sites. On top of that we've recently had a challenging health diagnosis for my Mum so that's added another layer of complexity to the puzzle.

Needless to say, video filming, editing and uploading has again had to take a back seat. We miss you all and have really appreciated the messages checking in on us. We are now trying to think of ways we can still post but without the pressure to string together lots of clips. I think we're going to try filming a few "one shot" videos like individual meals/recipes and then some "day in the life" type videos featuring photos and clips from days out and interesting things as they happen.

We do hope you are all keeping well. This photo was from a day spent walking Alpacas at the fabulous Barnacre Alpacas - we had the best time!

3 years ago | [YT] | 38

The Family Seesaw

Happy Mother's Day (UK Version) to all the lovely Mummies out there. xx

4 years ago | [YT] | 85

The Family Seesaw

Hi Everyone,

We hope you're all well and having a good start to 2022. Thank you so much for all your kind messages checking to make sure we're ok. I know when channels I follow suddenly disappear I do get concerned for them so apologise if you've been worried about us. We are all well, we've just had a number of unexpected happenings to start 2022 - will reveal more very soon (no I'm not pregnant lol) - by end of Feb we should be back with my weekly ramblings, grocery hauls and meals of the week - as well as catching you up with what we've been up to in the last 6 months. Warning - Caleb has grown into this strange half teenager/half child blend since starting secondary school!! The pic is from our lovely Christmas break in the New Forest, we asked a random stranger to take a picture of a real rare find- all 3 of us together! xxxx

4 years ago | [YT] | 124

The Family Seesaw

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to apologise for the radio silence the last few weeks and reassure you we are all ok.

Thank you all for the love and messages we've received, it does mean a lot to know our SeeSaw Family miss us when we're not here! It was just one of those times where life got in the way - nothing specific but I had so many plates spinning at once that something had to drop - knowing I couldn't drop family or work, the channel had to take a back seat while I re-set and sorted everything out.

We'll now begin a series of catch-up posts. We're off on our long-awaited summer holiday soon and we will, of course, take you along with us to see what we get up to.

We hope you are all keeping well and adjusting to this strange new life without many of the restrictions of the last year.

Karen, Toney & Caleb xxx

4 years ago | [YT] | 70

The Family Seesaw

And just like that, another era is over. Today Caleb held my hand as we took our last walk together to primary school - something I haven't been able to do very often during the last 7 years, but today was important. We chatted about his favourite memories of his time there and what he's looking forward to in September.


When we chose the small village primary school for him we wondered if we were doing the right thing, would he get the same opportunities and experiences as he would if he went to one of the bigger schools nearby? I am so glad we went with our gut instincts - the school has given him so much - a great environment, great friendships, amazing teachers and staff, a sense of security and a protection from some of the challenges he may face in the future.


He has learned well - even with the challenges of lockdown - and he ends his primary school years having achieved the highest outcomes in his core subjects which will give him the best possible start in September. However, more importantly to me, as I look back through all of his school reports from reception year to year 6 they all have the same theme - he is a thinker, he is kind, he is caring, he is compassionate and a great friend.


We are so proud of what he's achieved and while I feel a sense of sadness this morning I am also so excited to see what the next 5 years of secondary school bring and how the roots that have been planted between home, school and his fabulous childminder, sprout and grow into an equally kind, caring and compassionate young man ❤ ❤

4 years ago | [YT] | 138

The Family Seesaw

The last year has been tough on this "little" rascal - lockdown for an only child comes with an extra layer of challenge. He missed school, he missed "the tribe", he missed rugby, he missed football, he missed family, he missed holiday, he missed days out and he lost some of his sparkle. He had to grow up a little faster than we'd have liked to help us manage the dilemma of no school but both parents expected to be at work (but not key workers).
Homeschooling during those 2 and a half terms had real ups and downs - some days he'd be absolutely 100% switched on, other days getting him to pick up a pencil was a challenge. Some days he was doing school work at 6am and other days it was 6pm. We had tears (both of us) but we also had love, laughter, silliness and lots of family time.
I've never felt so challenged as a parent - hoping that whatever we were doing wouldn't knock him off progress in this important transition year or damage his already fragile introvert nature further!
Somehow, whatever we did worked. Had a fabulous parent's evening discussion with his teacher - he's quiet, he's quirky, he's a thinker but he's also an achiever! Progression in all the key areas since September and his current scores (in the UK we have a standard testing benchmark for primary children) are in the upper tier across the board.
So proud of him - and excited to see where the journey he'll begin in September takes him. ❤ ❤ ❤

5 years ago | [YT] | 93

The Family Seesaw

Wishing all of our SeeSaw Family a safe and happy Easter - the sun is shining in the Fens this morning before the big chill that's forecast for tomorrow xx

5 years ago | [YT] | 48