Welcome to my little piece of the internet.
You might not find perfection here, but what you will find is a whole lot better.
My name is Laura and I am the face behind HarassedMom.
I grew up in KwaZulu-Natal, started studying law, but ended with a diploma in Hospitality Management. (The story of how that happened varies depends on who you ask!)
While I was studying I was fortunate enough to work in the Kruger National Park and discovered my first true love – the African bush. But it was a tumultuous relationship and through some bad life choices I found myself back in the Joburg working in the dreaded Corporate. It was a long 10 years that saw a marriage, two kids, a divorce and the birth of one more kid.
Leaving a corporate 9-5 was probably the best and worst thing I have ever done – it depends on the day you ask me. Leaving the certainty of a pay check, the stability of a job was incredibly scary but it has been 12 years and I know for certain I could never go back to that life.
In those 12 years I got remarried, had another kid and started and failed a few businesses along the way before settling on my own Social Media Consultancy business that now helps to put the two older kids through tertiary education.
About 4 years ago I decided I had had enough of traditional schooling in South Africa so I pulled the younger three children out of school and started our homeschooling journey. I am now deep in the homeschool trenches with Jack and Emma and (depending on the day) we absolutely love it.
At the same time, I decided to really embrace my inner hippie and we started on our sustainable living journey. We made some drastic changes and are still making those changes every day to live more sustainably.
Why HarassedMom?
I started blogging when I was a single mom, living with my parents, trying to navigate single life with two kids and a challenging ex-husband.
When I had to create a blog with a domain I was knee deep in single mom life, fighting my ex and trying to adjust to our living situation – it was a tough time for us all. I felt harassed a lot of the time which is how HarassedMom was born. I was literally a harased mom!
HarassedMom now houses the story of my life. My divorce, my marriage, my journey as a mother and everything else in between. It is more than just a blog, it is the story of how I grew up.
