Anisa Lewis - Positive Parenting Coach

Myth: good parents enjoy every single moment of the summer holidays.

No, they do not. Good parents get bored. Good parents get touched out, overstimulated and tired of being needed every five minutes. Good parents can love their children deeply and still find long stretches of summer genuinely hard.

The problem is not your honesty. The problem is the pressure to perform summer as if it should be six weeks of joy, gratitude and wholesome family magic.

Your children do not need you to enjoy every minute. They need you to repair when you snap, to model what it looks like to feel tired without shaming yourself for it, and to keep showing up with enough warmth and honesty.

That is good parenting. Not perfection.

Share this with a parent who needs the reminder because I promise they are not the only one feeling it.

If you are parenting across two homes, this free clinic is for you.

On Sunday 15 June at 12 noon, I am hosting a free 30-minute Parenting Clinic on co-parenting and parenting between two households.

This is for parents navigating separation or divorce, and also for anyone trying to support a child who moves between homes and needs things to feel calmer, safer and more settled.

No pressure. No information overload. Just practical support, clear thinking and a space that feels steady.

If this is your reality right now, come and join us. You do not have to figure it all out alone.

Send this to someone who needs it, or use the link: https://anisalewis.as.me/theclinic to grab a place.

A lot of parents are dreading the summer holidays, and not because they do not love their children.

They are dreading the noise, the endless snack requests, the sibling friction, the screen-time negotiations, and the invisible pressure to make six weeks feel magical. And underneath all of that is something we do not talk about enough: parents are tired.

So before summer begins, I want to offer you a different starting point. Your children do not need a perfectly planned summer. They need a parent who is not running on empty.

That means your needs matter too. Rest matters. Simplicity matters. A slower rhythm matters.

Instead of asking, “How do I make this summer amazing for everyone else?” try asking, “What would help me feel steadier, calmer and more able to cope?”

That question is not selfish. It is wise.

Save this for the first week of the holidays, and tell me in the comments: what would make summer feel more manageable for you?

Today my daughter sat her last A-level exam.

I am not sure I have words for what this week has felt like (& we are only on Tuesday!).

She has worked so hard. And she has navigated so much alongside the studying. Life does not pause for exams.

Watching her walk out the house today, I thought about all the times I had to resist the urge to fix things for her. All the times the right thing was to be steady and present rather than to solve.

That is the hardest part of parenting older children, I think. Knowing when your job is to step back and trust them.

She did not need me to do the work for her. She needed to know I believed she could do it herself.

Today she proved she could. 💛

To every parent in exam season right now, holding your breath alongside your child: you're amazing.

Bedtime battles do not mean you are failing as a parent.

Bedtime is one of the most common things parents bring to me. The resistance, the negotiations, the curtain calls, the child who cannot seem to switch off.

And almost always the parent arrives at the conversation feeling like they have failed at something basic.

They have not.

Bedtime is hard for a lot of children, particularly those with busy minds, big feelings, or neurodivergent wiring. The end of the day is when the nervous system is most depleted, both theirs and yours.

What helps is not a stricter routine or a firmer voice. It is understanding what your particular child needs to feel safe enough to settle.

For some that is connection. For some it is predictability. For some it is less screen time in the hours before. For some it is more movement earlier in the day.

There is no universal fix. There is only understanding your child.

If bedtime is ruining your evenings right now, I would love to help you change that. https://anisalewis.as.me/quickchat

As your child gets older, what is one thing you are learning to let go of?

Not because it does not matter. But because they are growing, and sometimes love looks like loosening your grip just a little.

Take your time with this one. I will be reading every response.

If the thought of the summer holidays already feels a bit overwhelming, this is for you.

The structure disappears. The routines go out of the window. The children are home and loud and everywhere, and somehow you are supposed to be present, patient, and enjoying every moment of it.

I created The Gathering for exactly this, to combat Summer overwhelm before it hits, or perhaps so it doesn't.

It is an in-person morning on 19th June at the Devonshire Arms Hotel and Spa in Bolton Abbey. A small group of parents coming together to get into the right headspace before the summer holidays begin.

We will talk about what you actually need this summer, what your family needs, and how to approach the weeks ahead feeling grounded rather than braced.

It is warm. It is practical. It is a beautiful setting. Most of all, it is a chance for you to feel calmer, clearer, and more supported before summer begins.

Tickets are just £57 and spaces are limited.

If this is calling to you, comment SUMMER and I will send you the link to book your place.

The conversation you keep avoiding may already be costing more than you think.

The boundary that has not been set yet. The behaviour that is being quietly ignored because addressing it feels too hard, too big, or too likely to cause a scene.

I understand it completely. Avoidance is not laziness. It is usually exhaustion, uncertainty about how to handle it, or a very human hope that it might just resolve itself.

But here is what I see happen time and again. The thing that felt manageable to avoid in January becomes the thing that is running the household by June.

The earlier we have the conversation, the smaller it is. The longer we wait, the more weight it carries.

If there is something you have been putting off, ask yourself honestly: what is the cost of waiting another month?

Sometimes naming that is enough to take the first step.

If you want support in taking that step, my diary is open. Don't put it off any longer, book the call: https://anisalewis.as.me/quickchat

My daughter turned 18 this week, and I do not think I was ready for how much it would stop me in my tracks.

I have been sitting with that for a few days now, trying to find the right words.

There is so much joy in it. Watching her step into herself, becoming more her own person with every passing month. That is everything I have ever wanted for her.

And there is something else too. A quiet shift that I think only parents at this particular threshold really understand.

The job does not end. It just changes shape.

I have spent years coaching parents through the hard moments of raising children. The tantrums, the big emotions, the sleepless nights, the teenage years that arrive like a weather front.

What I know now, more than ever, is that the work we do on ourselves as parents, the curiosity we bring, the connection we build, the way we communicate, that work echoes forward into who our children become.

She is 18, and she is extraordinary. I will take a little of that.

To every parent in the thick of it right now, the hard seasons are worth it. Keep going.

What milestone has stopped you in your tracks recently? Tell me below.