A recent report* declared that working parents splash out £2,000 a year on ‘bribes’ for their children as it emerges that four in ten parents spend less than seven hours a week with them. Half of these parents buy guilt presents for their childre...
Before the days of mobile phones, texting, computers, internet access, game consoles and endless television channels what did people do? The answer is that they used to communicate face to face. They used to sit down and have a family meal...
With governmental changes to Shared Parental Leave there is a greater emphasis on fathers and the role that they play than ever before. However, with the pressures of work, being a father and having the time to engage with your children is not an...
Nobody has all the right answers when it comes to bringing up kids, let alone teenagers. As parents, we feel the pressure to turn out perfect children and be perfect parents – no such thing! Parents of teenagers often feel: Worried that they...
Sibling rivalry has always had bad press - think of Cain slaughtering Abel and Joseph being thrown down the well and sold by his brothers because they were jealous of his beautiful multi coloured coat! Sibling rivalry can apply to any child living...
Stepfamilies have a bad image. Single parents are either frowned upon or felt sorry for. Think of Snow White’s jealous stepmother, the unrealistically positive Brady Bunch or Princess Jasmine’s desperate single father. Of course real life is mor...
Posted on 05 January 2017
For many senior school children, their digital world might seem as important as the real world to them. They might spend their evenings chatting to friends on Facebook, texting, watching and uploading videos on YouTube or downloading from iTunes....
For young children, the internet and mobile devices are simply fun. 5 – 7 year olds might enjoy catching up with Peppa Pig, Bob the Builder or Ben10. Even if they are just for fun these kinds of devices and websites can help to teach younger...
Here Mandy Gurney, founder of Millpond Children’s Sleep Clinic and co-author of the sleep book "Teach Your Child to Sleep" lays out some strategies to help with children’s sleep problems. It is very rare for a child never to suffer any sleep...
Posted on 30 January 2015
Make One Change Monday 21 – Sunday 27 October Change for the better often happens by taking small steps. The Family and Childcare Trust’s theme this year is about the ONE change parents, businesses, employers and childcare providers could make to...
Posted on 22 October 2013
At this time of year emotions can run high as we fight the marketing battle that bombards us at every corner. What should we buy our children? Do they really need it? We open up the floodgates and ask children what they would like? We encourag...
Posted on 23 December 2013
“One day at a time – this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone: and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.” ~ I...
Posted on 23 January 2014
Young people today are growing up in a very different world to the one we did. But we can’t use that as an excuse to sit back and watch. We need to be as informed as they are and need to communicate to our children, even the younger ones, about...
Emotional Intelligence is a bit of a buzz work nowadays and people think they know what it means but aren’t really sure why it matters. Many of us value academic intelligence and encourage our children to work hard, exercise their brains and their...
From the 1 st April Shared Parental Leave will become a right for every UK worker. It is the most significant shift towards family-friendly employment rights in many years and should make it easier for both parents to take leave in the early stage...
Our children are among the most tested in the world. In state schools formal assessments begin in primary school with SATs in year two and six and the optional Eleven plus exam. At secondary school a potent mix of hormonal teenagers with exams...
It’s important to teach our children as young as 3 yrs to be safe and aware online. Learn how to teach them through a video webinar – now available to view, whenever you want, on demand. Log into www.workingparentszone.co.uk and click on 'webinar...
Join the webinar to learn how manage your family time View it anytime, on demand in Working Parents Zone . You may often feel that there's always too much to do - and never quite enough time to do it. Join our webinar ‘Spending time with your fami...
Confession time: during the recent half term holidays my children spent a good portion of each day playing on their iPads so that I could work. Recent reports suggest I wasn’t alone with many more working parents admitting to use Nanny McScreen t...
Are you looking forward to your summer holiday but not the journey there? Thought so. I too am one of the 62% of parents who confess to being happier without their children in the car and one of the 43% that admit to feeling anxious, irritable o...
Not knowing how to effectively discipline their children is “the greatest concern of parents today,” say leading UK and US child psychologists. This finding won’t come as a surprise to readers of this newsletter. We pay close attention to which...
We’ve all had to make the agonizing decision whether to return to work after maternity leave or stay at home to look after the children. Whatever choice we make it’s common to question whether it’s the right one for our children. Such doubts are...
Posted on 09 September 2015
As our children enter puberty, their minds and bodies go through huge emotional and physical changes. The first growth spurt in their brain occurs in the first three years of life, whilst during middle childhood their brains settle into a slower...
Posted on 30 September 2015
Just six weeks after starting secondary school I have done what I vowed I would never do and taken my daughter’s forgotten PE kit to school. As a result, she was spared a detention and unnecessary tears. But what has she learnt from this? Full...
Posted on 28 October 2015
As a parent, it’s easy to fall into the trap of spoiling your kids with lots of gifts, especially at Christmas. They may enjoy it at the time, but it isn’t long before they become greedy and start to expect presents rather than appreciate them. It...
Posted on 24 November 2017
As a parent, you have a central role in helping your child learn and develop essential skills. It's not easy sometimes helping your child learn how to tolerate frustration, or learn how to calm down and behave acceptably in society. The best way f...
Posted on 19 November 2018
Parents often ask me “How can I stop my children doing X?” The first step is to turn it around and think about how you want them to behave instead. Do they behave that way ever? How do you respond? Nine times out of ten, parents fall into the trap...
Posted on 27 January 2016
When it comes to children, no two parents in the history of this planet have ever had exactly the same approach to parenting. This is hardly surprising since co-parents have grown up in different families and have had different experiences of bein...
Posted on 05 February 2016
When was the last time you put your needs over that of your children? Do you spend your free time pursuing interests that keep you happy, healthy and sane or is that time spent largely on your child, driving them from one activity to the next,...
Last minute gifts can be nightmares, with crowded high streets and empty online shopping baskets; it can be difficult to find the perfect gift with the clock ticking. However for those family, friends, and even kids who are crazy about cooking...
Posted on 14 December 2016
Pleasant, carefree family-time to recuperate from a busy academic year. Or a grouchy trip complete with niggles, grumbles and the odd full-blown row? Family summer holidays have their highs and lows, but here are 5 steps to help avoid the pitfalls...
Long, lazy days, filled with day trips, late nights, and an ever-sliding routine are what make the school summer holidays. But as the days draw in and the autumn term looms, here’s how to tackle that tricky transition back to structured days and...
Friendship is one of life’s greatest gifts. For toddlers, early socialising establishes healthy patterns for solid friendships later in life and lays foundations for a strong ‘sense of self’. For older children, a personal support network creates ...
Posted on 12 September 2017
Whether you revel in All Hallows’ Eve or prefer to hide away, the goblins and ghouls of 31st October have steadily crept up on us all. We’ve rounded up some of the latest advice for parents on how to keep children entertained, happy and safe amids...
Posted on 25 October 2017
Enhance your child’s educational development with critical thinking skills Fake news, email scams, a workplace dominated by artificial intelligence these are just some of the reasons we need to ensure our children can think for themselves, with a...
Posted on 24 November 2017
Earlier this year we set out to support a petition to keep Childcare Vouchers open after the 2018 planned closure date and thanks to your contribution in signing and sharing the petition we have now reached over 110,000 signatures! This means that...
Posted on 14 December 2017
Is social media “ripping apart the social fabric of how society works”? These are the words of a former Facebook executive, who recently expressed regret and guilt over his part in building tools for the social media network that are “destroying h...
Posted on 24 January 2018
Some days, it takes the patience of a saint to parent a self-centered, moody and seemingly lazy teenager. In a nanosecond their mood can flip from one extreme to the other. What is going on with them? - And how should parents react? We’ve gathered...
Hey dads, did you know that you’re allowed to share 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay with your partner after you have a baby, thanks to Shared Parental Leave (SPL)? And did you know you’ve been able to do this since April 2015? If you didn’t,...
Say “Fortnite” to any child over the age of eight, and the chances are that the reaction will be much more than a flicker of recognition. If that child isn’t already playing the game, then a friend probably is. Since its launch in September 2017,...
It’s nearly Father’s Day, which prompts us all to remember the dads in our lives. Of course, many children now have a different experience than the traditional model of fathers coming home from work late, watching TV, and waiting for mum to call f...
When your kids argue, do you feel like the referee? If you are blessed with more than one child, then it won’t be a surprise to you that siblings bicker, pester and fight once in a while. Siblings don’t get along all the time. But when is it too...
There is no denying that being a new mum is incredibly physically and mentally challenging. However research has shown that many dads can struggle with issues like postnatal depression too. Some feel they cannot reach out for help, finding that...
With the school summer holidays just around the corner, most parents are mentally preparing (and booking) various activities to help the time go a little smoother. Whether you are working or not, the summer holidays are a time of earned relaxatio...
“I simply don’t have any time to myself”, comments a busy mum, rushing her child to the park with a buggy full of shopping. We’ve all been there. The kids are busy and they are getting busier. The food lists are growing and so is the washing pile....
Can parents really be friends with their children? Or is it better to be the ‘best’ mother or father you can, and leave being their ‘best’ friend to their actual friends? We’re not going to pretend there’s an easy answer; unfortunately there isn’t...
Whether they’ve started a new school, moved up to primary or secondary school , or even just moved up a year, this time often brings about a mixture of excitement and nerves for both children and parents. The fear of the unknown can be daunting bu...
Posted on 18 September 2018
Parenting blogs provide insight and tips from parents on a wide range of topics. There are, of course, a ton of good parenting blogs out there. Below you’ll find a handful of our favourites, covering everything from travelling with kids, adoption...
Posted on 22 October 2018