How can I help my daughter decide what to do with her life?
12 HRS AGO - You say it’s OK for your daughter not to find her way yet, says Annalisa Barbieri, but do you mean Expand
12 HRS AGO - You say it’s OK for your daughter not to find her way yet, says Annalisa Barbieri, but do you mean that?My 19-year-old daughter (the youngest) is anxious and disheartened that she doesn’t know what to do with her life. She took a gap year and went travelling, but found this quite stressful; she thinks she’s not good at making friends (she is) and her experience didn’t seem to measure up to those of her friends on social media. We explained that people only post the good bits and that others would also be feeling homesick, lonely etc. She also had some amazing experiences, however, and came back feeling more positive than she had been for a long time.On her return, the university cancelled her course, because it was undersubscribed. This was a shock but as she wasn’t sure she wanted to go to university anyway, it was an opportunity to rethink things. Her father and I have always said that she shouldn’t feel obliged to go to university, but I think she feels pressure as her siblings Collapse
Must-see family friendly West End Shows for all ages and budgets
2 DAYS AGO - From Christmas to birthdays, finding the perfect gift can be difficult, whatever their age
How can I teach my child resilience when I'm too nervous to let her go?
3 DAYS AGO - It’s easy to look at a newborn baby and imagine you can protect them from everything, writes Expand
3 DAYS AGO - It’s easy to look at a newborn baby and imagine you can protect them from everything, writes Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but you can’t, and that’s OKI am 30 years old, married to the most exceptional person I have ever met and have a six month old baby girl. Since the day she was born I have been consumed by an overwhelming love for her, which sometimes feels almost hard to bear. I find myself always wanting to hold on to her, nervous to take her to public places, and most nights I only half sleep, worried that something might happen to her. My impending return to work date is looming over me, and the idea of an eight hour day during which I can’t touch her, soothe her, hold her, feels like ... well I don’t even have the words. I want to raise her to be resilient and strong but I don’t feel like I am modelling that at all at the moment. I don’t want the volume of love in my life to change at all – I just want to have the strength to wrestle with it a bit more.Sometimes when fear starts Collapse
Elf on the Shelf ideas 2019: Brilliant places to hide Santa's little helper
4 DAYS AGO - Frosted window pains, candles gleaming inside, that cheeky Elf on the Shelf - make sure you're Expand
4 DAYS AGO - Frosted window pains, candles gleaming inside, that cheeky Elf on the Shelf - make sure you're hiding him in the best places for your favourite loved ones to go find! Collapse
I haven’t seen a healthy version of marriage': children of divorce on the lasting impact
6 DAYS AGO - First it was taboo, now it’s commonplace: how the Divorce Reform Act has shaped family life over Expand
6 DAYS AGO - First it was taboo, now it’s commonplace: how the Divorce Reform Act has shaped family life over the past 50 yearsI’ll never forget the day my parents told me that they were getting divorced. It was the late 90s, I was 11, and I had returned from school clutching an oil pastel copy of Picasso’s Woman In A Hat (Olga), 1935, which I had made in art class for reasons now lost to the mists of time. I was excited to show it to them. Instead, they told me I should sit down, and that their marriage was ending. It didn’t seem appropriate to show off my picture after that.Seven years later, I saw the painting in real life at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, learning, in a twist of synchronicity, that Picasso had painted this sad, unflattering portrait of his first wife shortly after their marriage had collapsed. Olga left Picasso, and my mother left my father, though it was Dad who moved out of the family home. It broke my heart.A cookery teacher asked why I had no ingredients. I said, 'My mum's Collapse
Singing the blues: how music can help ease postnatal depression
7 DAYS AGO - Melodies for Mums singing class uses songs specially chosen to improve confidence and bondingIn Expand
7 DAYS AGO - Melodies for Mums singing class uses songs specially chosen to improve confidence and bondingIn the snug warmth of a children’s centre a group of mothers sing with their babies. But there is no Wheels on the Bus, no Wind the Bobbin Up. Instead, the women work their way through folk songs, lullabies and gospel, switching from Spanish to Hebrew to Igbo and Zulu and deftly following the group’s leader as she introduces rounds and three-part harmonies.This is a singing class designed not to entertain the babies – though they are perfectly happy as they chew on miniature maracas – but for the women themselves. Melodies for Mums, run by the not-for-profit social enterprise Breathe Arts Health Research, aims to help new mothers with postnatal depression (PND), or those at risk of it, combat their symptoms by singing songs specially chosen to improve confidence and help them bond with their babies. No musical experience is necessary. Related: The culture cure: how prescription art is Collapse
Once-a-month contraceptive pill developed by scientists
04/12/2019 - Gelatine capsule could prevent unplanned pregnancies caused by errors in daily pill useA Expand
04/12/2019 - Gelatine capsule could prevent unplanned pregnancies caused by errors in daily pill useA contraceptive pill that needs to be taken only once a month has been developed by scientists.The gelatine capsule, which has so far only been tested on pigs, dissolves in the stomach to a release a six-armed star-shaped polylmer structure that sits in the stomach for at least three weeks and releases synthetic hormones to prevent pregnancy. Related: Revealed: pill still most popular prescribed contraceptive in England Related: Long-lasting pill that releases drugs for two weeks a 'game-changer' Related: From super-pills to second skin: meet the Willy Wonka revolutionising medicine Continue reading... Collapse
Single parents: did you rediscover your sexuality after your children left home?
03/12/2019 - We want to hear from single parents who have gone through a sexual reawakening following their Expand
03/12/2019 - We want to hear from single parents who have gone through a sexual reawakening following their children flying the nestEmpty nest syndrome refers to the feelings of grief and loss parents can feel when their children leave home. Some parents enjoy the increased freedom and use the time to rekindle their relationships with their spouse, family and friends. Continue reading... Collapse
The one where I turn baby Joey into a Christmas bauble
02/12/2019 - Advertisement feature in association with Funky Pigeon I’m going to be completely honest Expand
02/12/2019 - Advertisement feature in association with Funky Pigeon I’m going to be completely honest here and say that in my younger days I would have found the idea of personalised Christmas gifts a little tacky. I say ‘my younger days’ like I’m referring to the 1870s or something – I just mean when I was maybe in my early twenties and still clinging to the illusion that if I just tried hard enough, and walked with enough nonchalance, that I could be COOL. Obviously I can’t – I have a collection of Nancy Drew books and the Inspector Morse box set – but the lovely thing about getting older is that you don’t actually care any more. I love that sassy girl detective and you can like it or lump it.…
The post The one where I turn baby Joey into a Christmas bauble appeared first on Slummy single mummy.
The one where I turn baby Joey into a Christmas bauble was first posted on December 2, 2019 at 10:01 am. Collapse
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Tell us: have you had to decide between pregnancy and your US military career?
16 HRS AGO - We want to hear from women who were discharged from the military for being pregnant – please share Expand
16 HRS AGO - We want to hear from women who were discharged from the military for being pregnant – please share your experienceThe US air force gave her a choice: your baby or your jobThe first woman to have a child while on active duty was US Air Force Captain Susan Struck, who got pregnant in Vietnam in 1970 while working as a nurse. She fought the a regulation which automatically discharged pregnant women from the Air Force – and won.However, women have been allowed in the US military since 1948. Between then and 1976, when the entire military ended the policy, thousands more women may have been discharged. We want to hear from them. We want to understand how many women this affected and how this impacted their lives, and we want to tell their stories. We hope to receive enough responses with contact information to continue reporting on the stories of women impacted by this coercive regulation. Continue reading... Collapse
Mums slam 'disgusting' LOL Surprise dolls for having 'detailed as f**k' penises
2 DAYS AGO - Parents are vowing to boycott the popular LOL Surprise dolls after discovering that the male ones Expand
2 DAYS AGO - Parents are vowing to boycott the popular LOL Surprise dolls after discovering that the male ones have 'detailed AF' genitals Collapse
Why I tell the truth, but not the whole truth
3 DAYS AGO - Honesty has always been incredibly important to me. That sounds kind of obvious, but when you Expand
3 DAYS AGO - Honesty has always been incredibly important to me. That sounds kind of obvious, but when you start to pay attention it’s amazing how many little lies we let slip through just in the course of a day – excuses for not wanting to go out in the evening, white lies to children – it all adds up. The older I get, the more I try to avoid these little lies, even if they feel like they might not do any harm. It might feel easier to tell a friend you can’t come out because you have a headache, but is it really any harder to just say ‘you know what, I really do want to see you, but today has just been exhausting and I know if we go out…
The post Why I tell the truth, but not the whole truth appeared first on Slummy single mummy.
Why I tell the truth, but not the whole truth was first posted on December 10, 2019 at 12:25 pm. Collapse
From re-used teabags to sunshine and luxury – what’s not to like? | Séamas O’Reilly
5 DAYS AGO - A short trip to a spa, away from the chaos of family life, proves tougher than it soundsLast week Expand
5 DAYS AGO - A short trip to a spa, away from the chaos of family life, proves tougher than it soundsLast week I spent my longest time yet apart from my son, when I was sent to Spain to review a spa for this very paper. My account will be out in due course, so I’ll say nothing save that it was so fancy that at one point Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem sat down in front of me at lunch, all real and gorgeous, and presumably wondering why they’d sat so close to the palest and most bewildered man in Spain.Getting to go to spas, or do photoshoots showcasing my favourite socks, is a nice perk of a sometimes unsteady job. Some people might have been torn up at leaving their wife and child for four days, but I was ready to embrace the upsides: uninterrupted sleep, sunny skies, a lack of viscous fluids on every surface. Besides, things like this are not merely pleasurable in and of themselves, they also pay my bills. Memories of such gigs also help a writer feel smug and important during those more idle Collapse
My daughter and I share T-shirts and a RuPaul devotion': a single mother’s guide to style
6 DAYS AGO - After I divorced, my six-year-old began honing the way I dressed, taking inspiration from the Drag Expand
6 DAYS AGO - After I divorced, my six-year-old began honing the way I dressed, taking inspiration from the Drag Race starThis summer I took my daughter to a Kylie Minogue concert in Edinburgh and, as a reward for a good school report, let her choose what I’d wear. She put me in a fit and flare polka-dot dress and black Dolce heels studded with lipsticks. I couldn’t explain that I didn’t want to wear their clothes any more because they dress the Trump women and so she was dismayed when I wore brown wedges, both PC and wrong with the outfit.Walking up the cobbled streets to the castle, she kept urging me to go back to the room and change so Kylie wouldn’t see and have to stop the show. Related: Emma Forrest: ‘I have a shelf just of the books my exes gave me’ Continue reading... Collapse
Tech companies monitor schoolkids across America. These parents are making them delete the data
05/12/2019 - As families worry for their children’s futures, a district not far from the CIA headquarters has Expand
05/12/2019 - As families worry for their children’s futures, a district not far from the CIA headquarters has instituted a yearly data purgeParents at a public school district in Maryland have won a major victory for student privacy: tech companies that work with the school district now have to purge the data they have collected on students once a year. Experts say the district’s “Data Deletion Week” may be the first of its kind in the country.It’s not exactly an accident that schools in Montgomery county, in the suburbs of Washington DC, are leading the way on privacy protections for kids. The large school district is near the headquarters of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. It’s a place where many federal employees, lawyers, and security experts send their own kids. Related: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: life for US students under constant surveillance We don’t want any of this stuff hanging out and then being used against kids when they apply to collegeIf Collapse
TikTok – a guide for parents
04/12/2019 - Advertisement feature in association with TikTok When I mention TikTok to anyone over the age of Expand
04/12/2019 - Advertisement feature in association with TikTok When I mention TikTok to anyone over the age of about 30, the usual response is a kind of blank stare. ‘What’s TikTok?’ they ask, saying ‘TikTok’ in the same slow, confused way that my mum says ‘mobile data’, sounding out every syllable with equal emphasis, like it’s a foreign language. Chances are though that even if you don’t use TikTok, your young adults do. As we all know, responsible parents take internet safety very seriously and definitely don’t just watch Gardener’s World pretending not to have noticed that their teen is an hour over the screen time limit. Seriously though, it is important to at least have an understanding of what TikTok is about, and how to use TikTok’s safety and security features, even…
The post TikTok – a guide for parents appeared first on Slummy single mummy.
TikTok – a guide for parents was first posted on December Collapse
Chrissy Teigen shuts down troll who mocked her for having 'chefs and nannies'
02/12/2019 - Teigen previously said family employs 'daytime help, nighttime, weekend
Time Lived, Without Its Flow by Denise Riley review – captive to the present tense
02/12/2019 - A grieving mother’s account of life after her son’s death is exquisitely expressedThis small, blue Expand
02/12/2019 - A grieving mother’s account of life after her son’s death is exquisitely expressedThis small, blue hardback, with lines of gold coursing down its front cover, might – from the outside – be mistaken for an exquisite book of prayer but it was written by the poet Denise Riley in response to the death of her adult son and is not about conventional consolation. The book will be appreciated by its readers precisely because it resists false notes. It was clear from Say Something Back (2016), Riley’s unforgettable poetry collection, which included a poem about the death of her son, that she has, emotionally, perfect pitch.It was apparent, too, that she is an out-of-the-ordinary narrator – approaching her son’s tragedy crab-wise. It is only halfway through this new book that we learn that Jake was found dead in a still-running bath, having possibly died of a heart attack. These facts are offered not to satisfy our anxious curiosity but noted almost incidentally as Riley pores over his Collapse
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Parenting expert explains how to make Christmas merry for kids after divorce
2 DAYS AGO - Attempting to have a wonderful Christmas after a divorce can be tricky, but there are ways to make Expand
2 DAYS AGO - Attempting to have a wonderful Christmas after a divorce can be tricky, but there are ways to make the holiday period a little easier for the whole family Collapse
Travel baseball: a world where eight-year-olds are treated like pros
2 DAYS AGO - Swearing in the stands, long days of travel and night games. Sometimes junior baseball looks more Expand
2 DAYS AGO - Swearing in the stands, long days of travel and night games. Sometimes junior baseball looks more like the big leaguesA baseball player strikes out. Disappointed, he turns to the stands where he makes eye contact with a man who yells, “WHAT A WASTE OF A SPACE.” The player slowly walks back to the dugout, his head hung low, a routine he seems familiar with. He is isn’t a major league superstar like Anthony Rendon, George Springer or Mike Trout, accustomed to the wrath of impatient fans. He is an eight-year-old boy and the disgusted fan is his father who, based on his body language, might as well have yelled, “What a waste of a life.”This happened a month ago in a midst of an under-nine tournament as we waited for my son’s game, which happened to be against the kid with the angry father. I wanted to hug that kid or at least compliment him in front of his dad. That wasn’t necessary. His team demolished ours and the boy walked away with his father, who looked a little less incensed than Collapse
Parents are swearing by the 'four present rule' this Christmas
3 DAYS AGO - If you've left your Christmas shopping until the last minute, don't panic, there's a very simple Expand
3 DAYS AGO - If you've left your Christmas shopping until the last minute, don't panic, there's a very simple way to make sure you cover all the bases when getting gifts for your little one Collapse
Gifts that keep on giving: a guide to preloved Christmas shopping
6 DAYS AGO - A cashmere jumper, spider brooch, trendy trainers: secondhand presents can still be special – you Expand
6 DAYS AGO - A cashmere jumper, spider brooch, trendy trainers: secondhand presents can still be special – you just have to know where to find themJust as we are getting to grips with trying to live less wastefully (carrying reusable cups, eating less meat, flying less and buying less) along comes Christmas. The festive season is a frenzy of spending: in 2018, according to a survey by Deloitte, we spent an average of £299 per person on gifts in the UK, many cast aside on Boxing Day.There are signs that shopping habits are changing. This year, more than 60,000 people pledged to take part in #SecondHandSeptember, a campaign promoted by Oxfam, which estimates that more than two tonnes of clothing are bought in the UK every minute, generating the carbon emissions equivalent to driving a car round the world six times. Extinction Rebellion’s Boycott Fashion group has more than 18,000 followers. Hashtags such as #buynothingnew, #lovedclotheslast and #secondhandfirst are sources of inspiration. This Collapse
Record number of over-45s giving birth in England
7 DAYS AGO - More than 2,000 women in this age group had babies last year, ONS figures showThe number of women Expand
7 DAYS AGO - More than 2,000 women in this age group had babies last year, ONS figures showThe number of women aged 45 and over giving birth is at the highest level since records began 80 years ago, figures show.The number of live births in this age group rose from 1,619 a decade ago to 2,366 in 2018. In 1938, when records began, there were 2,085 births to women over 45, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Related: The agony and ecstasy of becoming an older mother Continue reading... Collapse
Why do some men consider talking about pregnancy ‘too much’? | Terri White
05/12/2019 - Being pregnant is the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. But I broke some kind of code when I Expand
05/12/2019 - Being pregnant is the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. But I broke some kind of code when I wrote about it on social mediaWhen I read the message from the man on Twitter, I felt the instant inching of shame. It wasn’t what you would call rude. If he was asked, he would probably have called it “helpful”.“You mention you’re pregnant way too much on here these days,” it said. He only came to my account for the “film stuff” – not beyond reason, given I am the editor of a film magazine. Nevertheless, as well as “film stuff”, I also talk about poverty, politics and domestic violence. I have sent a staggering number of tweets about cheese triangles. None of these topics warranted comment or were “too much”. But this was clearly different. I had breached a code. Continue reading... Collapse
Does growth equal success?
03/12/2019 - It’s 10 years ago now since I gave up the nine to five and became self-employed. Bee and Belle Expand
03/12/2019 - It’s 10 years ago now since I gave up the nine to five and became self-employed. Bee and Belle were fourteen and seven at the time and I made the decision for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I may have been drunk. Secondly I was sick of wasting my time for not much money – it felt like I was spending hours at my desk and often accomplishing very little. Not (always) because I was being slack, but because there’s always so much down time, waiting on decisions, waiting on management. There has been a lot of research in fact into the amount of actual WORK that people get done on the average working day and most of it, like this study, concludes than in the average eight hour day…
The post Does growth equal success? appeared first on Slummy single mummy.
Does growth equal success? was first posted on December 3, 2019 at 4:23 pm. Collapse
Most 'Marmite' baby names ranked in UK top 20 - which people either love or hate
02/12/2019 - A baby names expert has pulled together a list of those most likely to cause an extreme positive Expand
02/12/2019 - A baby names expert has pulled together a list of those most likely to cause an extreme positive or negative reaction from friends and family in a 'Marmite' ranking of the UK's most controversial names Collapse
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