When your children need you less

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You experience a decade of being the absolute rock for your child.  They rely on you for food, shelter, nappy changing, cleanliness, getting where they need to go, when they need to go there.  You play with them, dry their tears when they fall, patch them up and help them get back on track.  You get completely used to thinking for them as well as you.  Your diary is full of their activities (not so much your own).  Life, if you also have a paid job, becomes an endless round of time management genius.  From meetings, to school pickups... on and on it goes.  It's thrilling, but exhausting.

During this time you occasionally wish they didn't need you so much.  Their call of 'muuummmm', starts to become more grating and less cute.  They seem to lose things constantly, and require your input so much that you rarely get to drink a cup of tea whilst it's hot, nor go to the toilet uninterrupted.

How to sell your parenting skills in the work place

Parenting versus Managing

There isn't a day goes by that I don't use skills at work that I learnt through being a parent.

Whether I am being encouraging; or expressing my disappointment at someone who should know better; managing conflict and assisting with calm authority, denying gossip; managing good and bad performance; managing relationships (and ensuring the team don't kill each other); teaching office manners, where it's OK to smoke - but "I really wouldn't because xyz", that "please", "thank you" and "you're welcome" are not optional extras, and finally, teaching that punctuality is a key measure by which you'll be judged.

Over and over again I find myself having the same conversations in work as I've had at home talking to my girls as they grew up.

And actually, teaching and training and managing the 6 and 8 year old is often much easier than doing the same with a bunch of adults who all think they know better. Some of which have never been taught how to spell. Some never got into the habit of saying 'thank you'. Some are learning new things and getting frustrated by the slowness of their learning. Many (oh goodness FAR too many) gossip and argue in the same way you'd expect on a playground.

 

Sell your parenting skills to interviewers

So if you are trying to get back into the workplace after having children you can absolutely sell your newly learnt skills in parenting as management skills.

Is there an actual magazine for real women?

20 years ago I used to regularly buy women's magazines.  Cosmopolitan, Red, Company, Elle.  I've bought all of these and more on many occasions.  But as I got older I become less and less enamoured by them.

None of them now talk to me.

On my latest summer holiday I thought I'd pick up a magazine to read on the plane.  A quick look through them in the shop told me they hadn't changed in 20 years.  Still as irrelevant to me - in fact more so!

And I wonder whether there's a huge gap in the market here? Are there loads of people like? Or am I just really weird?  You be the judge.  I'll tell you why I don't like them...

#Spooktacular Warwick Castle is The Haunted Castle!

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We were lucky enough to get the chance to visit Warwick Castle this weekend.  I've always been interested in the site; anyone interested in the Kingmaker and the War of the Roses will visit just for the history.  But this Halloween Warwick Castle becomes The Haunted Castle with new attractions designed to scare and thrill right up until 9pm.  So we were interested to see if there's something for everyone this half-term.  There was!  It's a great day out anyway, but this half term in particular there are some new attractions and Halloween themed thrills!

We arrived at 10am opening time, as we like to maximise our day trips.  Our girls are now 8 and 10 years old.  Their favourite parts of the day were, and I quote; "The Flight of the Eagles show because the birds were HUGE", "The Horrible Histories Maze because you win a prize" and our 10 year old really liked starting the day with the Grand Tour, because "although you didn't go inside the castle, it was good to learn about the history of the castle itself and how and why certain bits were built".

Amazing! The new magazine for 7+ readers that teaches the curriculum in a Horrible Histories style! Plus Give-away!

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 Kids love disgusting! 

"Uuuurrrrrrggghhhhh!!! That's DISGUSTING!" were the first words from Princess Peppa, my 9 year old. (I may need to rethink her blog pseudonym now she's waaay past loving Peppa Pig). "That's COOL!" was the response from Little Miss George, the 7 year old. 

They couldn't be more different, but they both laughed, giggled, and uurrrggghhhed their way through our sample copies of Amazing! Magazine. From how to make your own edible bogie's; Yes; Really. To a guide to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; (it's not limiting itself this one); the magazine takes a fresh look at information we want our children to learn and presents it in a fun, clever, humorous and yes, quite frankly often disgusting, way. 

It's designed to link to the primary curriculum. Want to know if you'd survive as a Roman gladiator? Find out in the Ancient Romans edition. Want to learn where and when the first false teeth are made? Check out the Human Body edition.