Hello and welcome to my first blog.

I’m reliably informed that if I had been a boy I would have been called Gregory ….. but I wasn’t, so I’m not!

In real life my name is Glynnis, although I’m often referred to as Mrs Bizzy Wizzy for reasons that will, hopefully, become apparent as I share both mine and my family’s journey via this blog !

Wife, mother, dog feeder and business owner, Charity trustee , campaigner and Ambassador .  I love cooking, reading, gardening, travelling,  writing , tea, gin, good wines and spending my weekends sitting in a car park waiting for my windsurfing son to come off of the water ! 

Up until my husband and I met I’d love nothing better than playing tennis, hockey, cricket, badminton running or mucking about on or in the water.  Nowadays I exercise sporadically, my intention is to get fitter not fatter !  perhaps I’ll let you know how that’s going !

Its not (really) my husband’s fault that I don’t play as much sport as I used to, like many of us, once I’d met “The Right One” my priorities changed along with my address, some of my friends and my leisure time activities.

Despite being told I couldn’t have children our son arrived in 1999 and in the run up to the arrival of our second child I was Marketing manager for a well known Gardening brand and working on a garden for Chelsea flower show but all that changed in an instance on 17^th September 2002.

This blog is inspired by our daughter, Elke B Wisbey . who arrived in a hurry on that day and wasn’t expected to survive long enough for me to meet her ….. for some reason my daughter chose not to believe the experts then nor on some 19 occasions since.  She is a determined, resilient, funny and inspirational young lady unable to speak, walk or do anything for herself yet still knows what she likes and wants, and knows how to enjoy herself and somehow has mastered giving dirty looks to anyone that tells her that she defies explanation and shouldn’t still be here.

I am currently writing 4 books about various aspects of The Wonderful World of Wisbeys, and yes one at a time would definitely be easier, but I rarely take the easy path to anything.

I was born and now live, again, in Kent, UK and am married to my wonderful devoted husband, Matt, whom I often refer to as The Hunter Gatherer as he is a complete workaholic whether that be for his employer or whether its working on a project either in our garden or in his Mancave.. We are so very similar in that if we stop moving and sit down we tend to fall asleep …. This is in part due to the fact that the two of us have completely different tastes in TV viewing so if I’m watching one of my programs he will be designing something on his tablet or reading something on his phone or snoring ; and if He is watching one of his programs I will be reading a self development book , or grabbing my colouring pencils or, you’ve guessed it…. snoozing.

The past few months our son, Galahad, known as Little Legs and often referred to as “what’s for tea” and his girlfriend, Manon (nickname pending), who have been residing with us during lockdown, have been taking bets each evening on how long it takes me to fall asleep even in front of my own programs!

I blame them for introducing me to netflicks and a whole host of series I never knew existed such as Bridgerton, Call my agent, Picard, Criminal, and Lupin.  Not to mention the opportunity to watch Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock or sit through Death in Paradise from the beginning. 

In reality lockdown has been both mentally and physically exhausting for us as a family as we also have an 18 year old daughter, Elke “B” who is profoundly disabled due to the accident we had during birth and the past year has meant a complete reshuffle of support and responsibiliites not only due to the pandemic but also as she transitioned from services set up to support a family with a disabled child to adult services aimed at provision for an independent young adult , which sadly she will never be.

Perhaps at this point I should also mention the final member of the family, Wilbur, our daft doglet, a Bernese Mountain Dog, who joined the family as a puppy in 2019. He is crazy so fits in perfectly with the rest of the family.  Due to shielding Elke we have only been able to access the Golf Course behind our house to walk him for the past year …… we remain slightly concerned as to how he will react when he next meets another dog or is reunited with his best friend, our next door neighbours dog, with whom we used to walk regularly.

So that’s who we are, and my hope is that you will laugh with us at the things we have laughed at , and cheer for us as we continue our ongoing battle to get Elke the best support and equipment available and find opportunities, occasions and places to help her get the most from the days that she has with us. Primarily I want to share my determination to remain positive about our lives and to demonstrate how we have coped with a life altering birthing incident and still kept sane, normal-ish and with our sense of humour intact.

Work wise I actually regard Elke as my full time job, not that I spend ALL my time with her, but because of the constant need to contact and chase various doctors, hospitals, therapists and carers alongside running her to appointments, school activities and social events too. Aside from Elke I do have a couple of business interests which help and support families and I’m keen to share my learnings and our journey either via this blog, the books I’m writing, podcasts, webinars radio or other public speaking opportunities. 

Trying to find employment that fitted around my daughter’s commitments and impromptu hospital admissions was impossible. Impossible situations call for unusual solutions and I found myself building a flexible home based business. My first venture was with The Body Shop at Home, which I had great success with and enjoyed, until Elke had a six month stay in hospital which totally decimated my award winning team and my income plummeted …. I was disappointed in several aspects of that business’s demise but knew that this was the type of work i could shoehorn in to our hectic lives, i just needed to find one that had a regular income element within the pay scheme.

When we moved house in 2012 I found I had moved even further away from my Body Shop customers and my profits per party dropped making me question whether to continue.  Then Gemma, one of my team called to say her husband, Matt, had started a new business and that they had launched holiday to Paris that she wanted him to win, and could he come and show it to me so I could explain to him how to win it as I always won the body shop trips each year!

Hence Matt Howes, introduced me to UW, Utility Warehouse,  a unique UK based company that simplifies household and business utility bills, saving time and money and thus reducing financial stresses. Matt and Gemma had a great time together in Paris for their first UW holiday.

I’ve been enjoying helping some of my customers start their UW businesses and take their steps up the leadership ladder.

I am starting this blog to share the story of Elke from her birth , through childhood and into adult services. I aim to share our experiences of becoming a family supported by a Children’s hospice, therapies we have discovered to support Elke and to also support me with my increasing and diverse health conditions.  We also love sharing the hilarious adventure we have had as a family, places we have visited, and bizarre occurrences in our world along with our dreams and aspirations and the people hat have supported us in achieving them over the years.

I am hoping that my blog will appeal to those of you who are curious about our life, but predominantly that it will inspire and assist those who also have a medically vulnerable child or adult in their family; and to those people that either work with disabilities, hospices and therapies to help them understand both the joys and the difficulties that we face daily !

I love connecting with other families trying to juggle a work:life balance against impossible odds and possibly looking for support, and an outlet to share experiences. I also love connecting with business owners and so really enjoy attending networking groups where I can promote not only my businesses but also our family’s journey and how it aligns with the charities that I represent. I am a parent Ambassador for Demelza House Children’s hospice; a charity that has supported our family for 17 years. I am also a trustee for Choice Through Education UK, a charity which is supporting disadvantaged children in the Masaii Mara to obtain an education and provides support and development for the schools.

Is there anything in my blog that resonates with you?

Do let me know what you thought, and also feel free to ask questions or suggest topics you’d like me to write about. 

I’m hoping to post fortnightly and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

Glynnis x