Nine golden rules to effective communication at home, work and in business
Posted inChildren & Relationships Work and career tips and advice

Nine golden rules to effective communication at home, work and in business

Everyone has at least one thing that they are good at in life. Some are good at making others laugh, others are natural organisers, and some are fantastic communicators. All these skills, however, are essential at some point in our lives – and if you don’t know how to communicate effectively, it can have a damning effect on many areas of your life.

Here are nine golden rules for effective communication that you can use in your home, workplace and business:

Hate commuting to work? Top tips on how to stay productive – and sane
Posted inCareers Coach Blog Children & Relationships

Hate commuting to work? Top tips on how to stay productive – and sane

Commuting to work can be a real waste of time…if you just commute and do nothing else. While some employers have women up to the fact that you can get a lot more out of employees by letting them work more efficiently (from home, for example), others haven’t.

Top tips to avoid feeling burnt out that every busy working mum should know
Posted inChildren & Relationships Staying sane

Top tips to avoid feeling burnt out that every busy working mum should know

Being a working mum may be the best job you’ll ever get, but it can be hard, sometimes…ok a lot of the time! You’re on call 24/7, and when you go on annual leave, you still have the same responsibilities.

Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips Things to do with the kids

How to help your child develop a love of reading

With World Book Day just complete last week, many children have find memories of their favourite book character – or how much they enjoyed dressing up and getting into all the fun their school had prepared for them.

Posted inChildren & Relationships Money - how to keep it and how to make it

Top tips for budgeting with children

Having children can be expensive, especially for parents with several mouths to feed, shoes to buy and school outings and uniforms to pay for, not to mention holidays, birthdays and Christmas.
Keeping up with everything can be difficult, making it so easy to get into debt. Luckily, there are a few steps and clever budgeting methods you can use to ensure you can still afford the things you want without spiralling into debt.

Take inspiration from these women: unsung entrepreneurial success
Posted inChildren & Relationships Real mums

Take inspiration from these women: unsung entrepreneurial success

Hands up anyone who can’t by now, after several series of The Apprentice, recite exactly, Karen Brady’s business career almost as well as Alan Sugar’s? Who doesn’t know about the nerve and willpower of Margaret Thatcher as she took on the Old Boys’ Network and won? 

How to help a child that’s falling behind at school
Posted inChildren & Relationships What's in the news?

How to help a child that’s falling behind at school

Let’s face it, with all the best will in the world, not every child is going to be like Einstein (and neither should they!), but you as a parent will know when your child is falling behind at school.
So what can you do about it? Here are some tips:

coffee burns fat
Posted inChildren & Relationships What's in the news?

Could you survive the Slim.Fast challenge?

Now that the weather is warming up (a little), the reminder that summer isn’t far off is not far from most of our minds – especially where those jiggly bits are concerned.
Losing weight can be such a chore, so we’re always up for finding ways to make it as easy as possible. Here’s what one of our reader’s found a week’s challenge, compliments of Slim.Fast:

Online tutoring: a convenient and fun way for children to learn
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips Things to do with the kids

Online tutoring: a convenient and fun way for children to learn

We all share a desire to give our children the best possible opportunities to succeed and to reach their full potential – it’s just that juggling the commitments of our own work and of current after-school activities can make this hard to achieve.

Adding more activities to your child’s schedule can mean losing out on something in your life, or your child may miss out on some much needed downtime.

How to save money on the cost of childcare
Posted inChildren & Relationships Family life Money - how to keep it and how to make it

How to save money on the cost of childcare

Make savings on your childcare costs
Going back to work after having a baby can be a hard decision. Do you go back full time or part time, will your employer let you alter your working hours to do the school run and what will you do for childcare? 

Going on a date this Valentine’s? Here are some tips for dressing for a double date
Posted inRelationships tips and advice

Going on a date this Valentine’s? Here are some tips for dressing for a double date

New Year is the perfect time to refresh your outlook and provide motivation for positive change.

It’s a great time to put action next to your plans, and if you’re single and hoping to meet someone special that will no doubt involve getting familiar with the dating game!

Is it a good idea to buy your child a Kindle, iPad or any other tablet?
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

Is it a good idea to buy your child a Kindle, iPad or any other tablet?

Children these days know technology like no other. Just give a toddler a phone or tablet and, somehow, they know how to work their way around it effortlessly. This has its pros and cons, and that’s another article altogether!

The question is, however, should we buy children Kindles, iPads and other tablets?

Don’t let parenting stress you out – here’s how
Posted inChildren & Relationships Family life Relationships tips and advice Staying sane

Don’t let parenting stress you out – here’s how

If I had a pound for every time someone told me how tiring parenting is, or how much hard work it must be to juggle working with raising a family, I’d be quids in. The truth is, everything has it’s challenges, but that doesn’t mean it is an impossible task – and parenting is no different. It really does not always have to be a stressful job.

How to prepare for being a single parent
Posted inRelationships tips and advice

How to prepare for being a single parent

With the dawn of a new year, many people start making changes in their lives – new job, new body, new home, new attitude…and divorce, according to research.

If you’re facing the possibility of being a single mother, you’ll be thinking about a lot of things – your finances will probably be somewhere high on that list. Watch the following video to find out how you can prepare yourself financially for becoming a single parent:

New year, new school? How to prepare your child for school in January
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

New year, new school? How to prepare your child for school in January

With schools starting back next week, many children will start school in January.

If you’ve been struggling to get them mentally prepared for the experience, this video will help:

Is your family really benefitting from you working at home?
Posted inCareers Coach Blog Children & Relationships How to cope with problems at work Relationships tips and advice

Is your family really benefitting from you working at home?

It’s time to take stock: is your family really benefitting from you working from home?

It’s easy to get buried in the needs of your work when you work at home. A little bit of planning, however, can go a long way towards making working at home a wonderful experience for all. Your family is why you decided to work at home, so don’t let the stresses and demands of work put a dampener on that.

Top 8 divorce myths and the truth
Posted inChildren & Relationships Relationships tips and advice

Top 8 divorce myths and the truth

I have been dealing with relationship breakdown for many years now, and during this time the myths that people believe in still have not changed.

Posted inChildren & Relationships Foodie Fridays

Foodie Friday: how to make a Moroccan lamb tagine

Finding diverse but healthy meals that children will enjoy can be difficult. By expanding children’s pallets at an early age you help to eliminate fussy eating habits, which will give them the best start in life.

Cyber bullying: how to help your child through it
Posted inChildren & Relationships Family life

Cyber bullying: how to help your child through it

There have always been bullies, but the internet has opened up a whole new realm of bullying – cyberbullying. Cyber-bullies are people (children included) who harass other children online.

While this is not officially considered an online crime, it can be detrimental to your child’s self esteem and there have been many reports of children who have committed suicide as a result of bullying.

Can you ever repay a grandparent back? Here’s one thing to consider doing
Posted inChildren & Relationships Family life

Can you ever repay a grandparent back? Here’s one thing to consider doing

For many people, some of their most cherished childhood memories are of their grandparents.

Having a grandfather and grandmother is something that no child should be deprived of. It adds to the strength of the family unit and helps give your child a much stronger grounding in life.