Why I Created the Calm Kitchen Reset: A Working Parent’s Story

When I returned to work after having my first baby six years ago, I wasn’t chasing perfection.
I wanted to survive the evenings - feed my family, stay present and healthy and keep doing the job I loved.

What I quickly learned? Evenings with small children, tired adults and zero plan can unravel fast.
And food, which should be nourishing and connecting, often became a source of stress if I didn't plan ahead.

I needed a system.
One that would support me as a working parent, not overwhelm me with more things to do.

That’s where the Calm Kitchen Reset began.

Real life, not recipes alone

At first, I thought I just needed faster dinners and fewer dishes.
But as I adjusted to working motherhood, I realised what I really needed was:

• Quick, reliable meals (that didn’t require a culinary degree)
• Emotional support and mindset tools (because dinnertime isn’t just about food - it’s about feelings)
• A family-friendly plan for meals, food shopping and stress reduction

This wasn’t about becoming a super-parent.
It was about feeling calm in my own kitchen again even when life was anything but.

What changed once I became a parent?

Having a child changes your world, even when you think you’ve “nothing will change”

I truly believed I’d go back to work and life would pick up where it left off.
Spoiler: it didn’t.

Suddenly, everything - from meal planning to bedtime - had emotional weight.
I was juggling deadlines and sleep depreviation, career dreams and family needs. And underneath it all, I needed something most of us forget to ask for: psychological safety.

I needed my home and my evenings to be a soft landing.
Not just for my child. For me too.

Saying no to the noise

I heard a lot of suggestions during that time:
“You should cut your hours.”
“You should stop working - it’s too much.”

"You should not reduce your hours because you will get less paid and do the same amount of work".

My job wasn’t a 15-hour-a-week option anyways.
And I’ve always valued financial independence - not out of pride, but out of purpose.

So instead of stepping back from work, I leaned into building a system that supported both:
💼 My career
🍽️ My family life
🧠 My mental health

That’s what the Calm Kitchen Reset became.

Six years later: would I do it all again?

Looking back, I wouldn’t change the decision to stay at my company and take on a new role I loved while working with fantastic people.
But I have changed the way I do things now and that took years of learning, growth and letting go of outdated ideas of what parenting and working “should” look like.

The Calm Kitchen Reset isn’t about rules.
It’s about rhythm.
It’s not about being the perfect parent.
It’s about having tools that actually work — in real homes, with real families and real emotional rollercoasters.

Final thoughts for working parents

If you’re a working mum or dad trying to balance your job, your kids, your meals and your sanity - you’re not alone.

The system I built came from the mess, not the margins.
And it’s here to help you turn stressful evenings into calmer, more connected ones - one meal at a time.

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