We Just Happen To Be Mums
Nicky Crosby and Ellie Fanyinka 4 episodes Nov 10, 2026
A podcast for women who are mums but whose lives stretch well beyond motherhood. Friends Nicky Crosby and Ellie Fanyinka talk honestly and often humorously about raising children and everything surrounding it: the invisible mental load, the pressure to get everything right, shifting friendships, changing bodies, turning 40, ageing, desire and reinvention. Some episodes are just the two of them, while others feature guests with professional expertise or lived experience, covering topics from sleep coaching and gut health to raising autistic children, single parenting and redefining success. There are no perfect answers and no judgement, just two women saying what listeners have probably thought themselves. New episodes appear every Tuesday, with full video versions on YouTube.
Episodes
Home Education vs School: Is the System Failing Our Kids?
Nicky has never told anyone this story, not even her husband. Her last day at the gym ended with her stripping off, bottoms first, in what she thought was the family changing room. Then it gets real: every school has said no to her autistic son George, and the two of us ask whether the school system is actually working for our kids at all.In this episode:The David Lloyd changing room story we will
It's Not In Your Head. It's In Your Brain. (Endometriosis & PMDD Explained)
It's not in your head. It's in your brain.We asked you about living with endometriosis and got more stories in 24 hours than we could read out. Neuroscientist Dr Emilė Radytė (Harvard, Oxford, former emergency medic and co-founder of Samphire Neuroscience) joins us to explain the three levels of pain, why surgery doesn't always end it, what PMDD does to your brain, and why research int
From Phone Sex Operator to Dominatrix to Coach: Lady Velvet on Ditching Shame
Teenage single mum. Phone sex operator. Professionally trained dominatrix. Award-winning coach. Grandma of four. Lady Velvet, the Mistress of Choice, has lived many lives, and she’s done hiding any of them.She tells us how a conversation on a bench by Tower Bridge led to seven years of phone sex work to feed her boys, what thousands of calls taught her about what men really want, and the moment sh
Rejected for Being “Too Much”: Autism, EHCP Waits & Home Ed
Two mums, one very real week. Nikki opens up about her son George, who is autistic and minimally verbal, being turned away from a home ed class and a mainstream school in the same week, the long wait for an EHCP, and whether school is really for the kids or for the parents.Then Ellie tries a period facial (yes, really), we ask why we’re still calling it menopause, and we imagine we’re on the gover
Toddler Sleep Without Cry It Out: A Child Sleep Specialist Explains
Is your child’s bedtime a nightly battle? We sit down with Gemma, a child sleep specialist and former children’s nurse, to talk honestly about cry it out, co-sleeping, dummies, night waking and what really helps when you’re running on empty.We play Bin It or Bed It with the sleep trends all over your feed (melatonin gummies, magnesium, white noise, the SNOO, blackout blinds, lavender and the bath
Am I Enough? Single Mum Resentment, EHCP Battles and a Red Fleece Nightie | We Just Happen To Be Mums
Nicky and Elle are back for episode two, and it swings from tears to stitches and back again.Nicky is fighting for her son George, who is six, autistic and minimally speaking. She's working three jobs, homeschooling while the family waits on an EHCP, and asking why getting your child into school can take a tribunal and two years. She also gets through a day of sickness with a kitchen knife, a
Ex-Pat Living vs UK Living, Botox Routine & Period Facials | We Just Happen To Be Mums
Is life as a mum actually easier abroad? This week Nicky and Ellie compare ex-pat living with raising a family in the UK, what you gain and lose when home is somewhere else.Then things get personal. We talk about Botox, plus period facials and why you might want to try it.🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Tuesday🎧 Watch on YouTube: @happentobemums📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/happentobemums🎵
