Teenage Kicks: Living With Grief After the Death of a Parent in Your Teens
How Mark turned his grief into a superpower
Teenage Family Meal Plan 07/09/20
Do you meal plan? I’ve always done a meal planner, but over lockdown I got into the habit of doing both lunches and dinners for the whole family. It was relentless, but I knew that if I didn’t my crew would end up eating toast all day, so I got into the habit of catering for everyone, just to make sure they ate properly. And actually, I loved having us all together every day for lunch. We watched a lot of films and did a lot of virtual quizzes during the pandemic, and our dinners as a result were often …
Teen Mental Health – How to Get Your Teen to Open Up and Talk
Advertorial: I have been paid for my time in creating this post for Compass Fostering. All writing is my own Have you ever tried to get your child to talk to you about something that’s worrying them? It’s like a bizzare (and much less enjoyable) game of 20 Questions, isn’t it? Try it with a teenager and you won’t even get Yes/No answers; you’re more likely to be on the receiving end of a couple of grunts, followed by a growl (or shriek) of outrage, and a door in your face. Am I right? During the pandemic I think teenagers …
Exotic Pets You Can Actually Buy
Owning a pet is a lot of fun. But most people go down the safe route, getting either a dog, cat, or hamster. The truth is that there are many more animals out there you can own as a pet. Some of them are domesticated; others are entirely wild. But they’re all totally adorable. Here are some of your options – they might surprise you! Runner Ducks Pixabay – CC0 License Runner ducks don’t look anything like your average mallard. Bred initially in India, these ducks’ hips are shifted forward, meaning that they stand upright as they shuffle along. They …
Teaching Your Kids In Different Ways During Coronavirus
The pandemic is a hard time for everyone, but especially for parents who have kids that are of school age. It can be difficult to keep up with all the requirements for the things you should be teaching them, especially when your kids are getting bored because they’re at home learning. Your child learns quite quickly that school is the environment for learning, and home maybe for a little bit of homework. But otherwise it’s for relaxation! That’s why you’ve got to come up with some creative ideas about how to teach kids right now, and that’s what we’re going …
Your Pet Doesn’t Care. And that’s what makes them so adorable.
As people, we go through our lives, dancing from one worry to another. We fear losing our jobs or that our partner will leave us. And we worry that we’re never going to get what we want out of life. Pexels – CC0 License As the years go by, we get this gnawing sense that we’ve somehow failed. With youthful exuberance in the rear-view mirror, there’s a grinding existential dread that grows within us. We wonder what it’s all about! Dogs, though, don’t seem to mind. They’re not concerned about producing a report by the next deadline or raising trauma-free …
A Level Results 2020 – Next Steps
From the moment 2020 exams were cancelled due to Covid 19 I’ve worried about year 11 and year 13 kids. I’m SO relieved that neither of my children have been affected, but the rug has been pulled out from under these teenagers’ feet so many times that I’m surprised any of them still have the energy to get up, never mind to move forward with their lives. But they must, and every new development in the A Level saga brings new processes to navigate, and new decisions to make. I’ve been chatting with Jemma from The Education Hotel, who is …
Could an Online Learning Platform Give Your Child the Edge in Key Stage 2?
A summary of Atom Learning’s adaptive service
How to Make Glasses Cool
(Image Credit) Getting children to wear glasses can often be a challenging game. Not only will they find it uncomfortable when they first get started, but it can also be hard to escape the fact that most of their friends won’t wear them. They may not know it, but even young children are drawn in by fashions and trends, and this means that they won’t want to wear something if they don’t think that it’s cool. Thankfully, this post has everything you need to get started on making glasses seem cool to your child, giving you an excellent opportunity …
Teens and Pets: The Perfect Match
Pixabay – CCO Licence Welcoming a new pet into the family is always an exciting time. From puppies and ponies to reptiles and rats, animals inevitably make life fun and fulfilling. There are numerous benefits associated with pet ownership, regardless of your age. For teens, however, owning a pet can be particularly beneficial. If you’re unsure whether or not to give in to your teen’s requests for a pet of their own, take a look at the benefits it could offer: Constant Companionship Even in today’s digital world, being a teenager can be lonely at times. When you have …
10 Tips to Teach Your Kids Responsibility
Image credit All parents want to raise responsible children. They want to be able to trust their kids when they go out for the day, and they want to make sure they have all the tools they need to succeed in life. However, responsibility is not something that comes naturally, at least not to everybody. Instead, responsibility is something that kids need to learn. If you’re a new parent or at least one with young kids, you might not be sure where to begin. But don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to teach your kids the responsibility they need. …
Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle with a Tight Schedule
Picture Credit We’re all aware that we need to eat well and that we need to exercise thoroughly and regularly in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is a given and something that has been drilled into us from childhood. But when you have kids of your own, you can quickly begin to find that maintaining and managing a healthy lifestyle alongside an often hectic and cramped schedule is a lot more difficult than it sounds. So many of us slip into bad habits – skipping workouts, opting for junk food or convenience food to cut down on cooking …
Should you get private tutoring for your child when schools go back?
How are you feeling about your kids’ schoolwork right now? I don’t mind admitting that – despite friends telling me not to worry, that Covid 19 lockdown is unprecedented, that just surviving and staying happy is the most important thing – I have spent a little bit of time wondering how my children will fare when they go back to school. Have they done enough schoolwork to keep on track for their GCSE’s? I have teenagers, so you can imagine how well it would go down if I offered to sit next to them at their desks and have …
Six Lessons Learned in Lockdown
Image Pexels CC0 License If someone had told you a year ago that people would be wandering around Tesco in face masks, and that your hairdresser would need to don full PPE just to touch up your roots, you undoubtedly, and quite rightly, would have thought that they had lost the plot. In fact, you would probably have smiled politely and backed away slowly so as not to provoke this clearly insane stranger. But, here we are, living through a time that resembles a disaster movie, but with no sign of the credits rolling anytime soon. There is nothing like …
Reminding Yourself Of What Matters In Life
Whenever we watch the news or take a step outside our front door, it’s easy to be reminded of the unpredictability and chaos of how things can go. However, despite the news, or despite the difficulties that you may face, it’s important to note that you can always take refuge in the things that matter. Does this mean we need to become wilfully ignorant in order to be happy? Of course, it’s impossible to completely avoid real life, yet many of us can find some kind of relief and comfort in remembering what actually matters in life to us …
Glampervan Adventures: 7 Ways To Add Luxury To Your Camper
It’s no secret that each year millions of people enjoy traversing the length and breadth of the British Isles and beyond in a campervan. That’s because it’s a fun and affordable way to explore new places with family and friends! Plus, it’s way better than camping with a tent! As the UK’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions begin to ease, more folks are thinking about taking a break and getting out and about in their campervans. You’re likely here reading this article because it’s something you’re planning to do as well. Image Credit The only trouble is some people’s campers are devoid …
Why kindness matters if you want more White people to speak up about racism
Kindness matters, whatever your argument Why we must reclaim the Be Kind message “Be kind.” It doesn’t seem to be a popular message at the moment. There’s a devastating social justice crisis happening, and anti-racism work is absolutely the most important thing any of us could be doing right now. But there’s a large section of the White population who aren’t doing the work, and it’s not because they don’t believe in it. It’s because they’re scared. Why? Because all too frequently, as people try to do right, and inevitably get it wrong, they’re faced with recrimination and shaming …
Creating a Pinterest Worthy Home When You Have Kids
Do you love looking through Pinterest and Instagram at beautiful interiors, and find yourself wondering how it’s possible to make your own home look as good? The images we see of interiors on social media are taken by real people in their actual homes, and while they’re often staged they’re much more real than what we tend to see in home magazines, and so although they look incredible it shows that it can be done. Whether you want to impress guests or just to enjoy your home as much as possible, here are some ideas for going about it. …