Ibtisam Al-Wardi received her PhD in early childhood education from the University of Warwick. Her research interests include school readiness, parent–child dynamics, and the impact of inequality on early years. She has a decade of experience as a speech and language therapist, working with preschool children in Muscat, Oman. Ibtisam previously hosted a podcast on parenting and continues to write about parenting and motherhood in Arabic.