About
Hi! Welcome to Baby in a Backpack!
My name is Caroline and I'm Mum to two beautiful daughters, one aged 2.5 and a baby of 8 months, stepmum to three teenagers, and honorary foster Mum to two children in care. I am also the founder and director of Scheherazade Initiatives, a global organisation that uses participatory theatre to empower migrant, refugee and displaced populations.
I came to the parenting journey after a glamorous single-gal life living in China and travelling the world, where I set up my first non-profit, Hua Dan, working with China's migrant worker population.
After moving to Paris and meeting and marrying my soulmate in my late thirties, my life was turned upside down as I went from a glamorous life as an international entrepreneur, footloose and fancy free with no one to think about but myself, to a bubbly, lively household of minimum 5 children at any one time and a huge extended family spread across France, the UK and South America - all whilst continue to juggle my professional responsibilities.
Before I had children, when people would ask if I wanted a family, I would always reply - "Yes, a baby in a backpack". I craved a model of parenthood and family life that had the thirst for adventure and discovery at its core, away from the (gender) limitations that I often saw around me. Not for me the tired images of stressed-out motherhood, stuck at home with a screaming toddler and all semblance of adult conversation and professional purpose evaporated from my life. But I also knew that I would want to be as available as possible to my children, enjoy those precious growing up years and to help foster the growth of future generations which I consider to be a hugely important task, equal to but not greater or lesser than, my professional journey. I was tired of the conversations about the tradeoffs. In short, I knew I wanted to do things differently to much of what I saw around me.
But Baby in a Backpack is just as much about carving a life where adventure is still at a premium and having children is not a limitation but a blessing, as it is about the need to 'go lightly' and without baggage in marriage, step-parenting and with a work-life balance and entrepreneurial approach that enables me to continue to do my part in empowering all the worlds' children - both big and little - through my professional work.
Driving through both my work and professional life is a deeply-held belief that we all each have enormous potential and Baby in a Backpack is thus, at it's heart, about leading a life that empowers the potential of each member of the family, no one person taking away from the other, but a family life centered in love, life and possibility for each one of us.
None of us is perfect and this parenting journey is a rollercoaster ride of sometimes getting it right, often getting it wrong, but enjoying every twist and turn along the way. And with the cutest of smiles to keep you going!
I offer this blog with love and humility on this remarkable journey we all share, whether we parent our own children, others - or the world in other ways. Enjoy!
My name is Caroline and I'm Mum to two beautiful daughters, one aged 2.5 and a baby of 8 months, stepmum to three teenagers, and honorary foster Mum to two children in care. I am also the founder and director of Scheherazade Initiatives, a global organisation that uses participatory theatre to empower migrant, refugee and displaced populations.
I came to the parenting journey after a glamorous single-gal life living in China and travelling the world, where I set up my first non-profit, Hua Dan, working with China's migrant worker population.
After moving to Paris and meeting and marrying my soulmate in my late thirties, my life was turned upside down as I went from a glamorous life as an international entrepreneur, footloose and fancy free with no one to think about but myself, to a bubbly, lively household of minimum 5 children at any one time and a huge extended family spread across France, the UK and South America - all whilst continue to juggle my professional responsibilities.
Before I had children, when people would ask if I wanted a family, I would always reply - "Yes, a baby in a backpack". I craved a model of parenthood and family life that had the thirst for adventure and discovery at its core, away from the (gender) limitations that I often saw around me. Not for me the tired images of stressed-out motherhood, stuck at home with a screaming toddler and all semblance of adult conversation and professional purpose evaporated from my life. But I also knew that I would want to be as available as possible to my children, enjoy those precious growing up years and to help foster the growth of future generations which I consider to be a hugely important task, equal to but not greater or lesser than, my professional journey. I was tired of the conversations about the tradeoffs. In short, I knew I wanted to do things differently to much of what I saw around me.
But Baby in a Backpack is just as much about carving a life where adventure is still at a premium and having children is not a limitation but a blessing, as it is about the need to 'go lightly' and without baggage in marriage, step-parenting and with a work-life balance and entrepreneurial approach that enables me to continue to do my part in empowering all the worlds' children - both big and little - through my professional work.
Driving through both my work and professional life is a deeply-held belief that we all each have enormous potential and Baby in a Backpack is thus, at it's heart, about leading a life that empowers the potential of each member of the family, no one person taking away from the other, but a family life centered in love, life and possibility for each one of us.
None of us is perfect and this parenting journey is a rollercoaster ride of sometimes getting it right, often getting it wrong, but enjoying every twist and turn along the way. And with the cutest of smiles to keep you going!
I offer this blog with love and humility on this remarkable journey we all share, whether we parent our own children, others - or the world in other ways. Enjoy!
