Parenting

Best Christmas lights events for teens in 2021

Best Christmas lights events for teens

Seeing Christmas lights is one way to engage with teenagers at Christmas, so we’ve compiled a roundup of the best Christmas lights events for teens in 2021

How to help your teen feel Christmassy

Does anyone else struggle to get their teenagers into the Christmas spirit? I’ve asked around and here are the tricks parents are using to make their teens feel Christmassy when they’re not in the mood.

Should I Worry About My Child’s Height?

How to monitor your child's growth

When I was pregnant with my son all his scans showed him to be an average sized baby. When he was born he was placed on the 50th percentile. By his 6-week check-up he was down to 2.5%. That’s when I started to panic – was I failing to nurture my baby properly? In this blog post I’m going to look at child growth and development from the experts’ point of view, and help parents figure out what is normal growth rate for your child. As new parents we all focus hard on every tiny development in our children. The …

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Stocking Fillers For Teenagers – 147 Ideas

Christmas stocking filler ideas for teenagers

Do you still give your teenager a stocking at Christmas? Now my kids are teenagers I’ve gently suggested that they’re too old for Christmas stockings, but they are having none of it! It gets hard finding stocking fillers for teenagers though so I’ve put together a list of 147 ideas for teenage stocking fillers guaranteed to make their Christmas morning special. Brilliant ideas for Christmas stocking fillers for teenagers I’ve never had a problem finding small Christmassy gifts for teen girls, with jewellery and makeup items frequently at the top of my daughter’s list. But I’ve always found it’s especially …

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Gifts For Teenage Girls For Special Occasions

I’ve never found choosing gifts for teenage girls tricky; even if they’re not hankering after the latest tech, it’s usually easy to find inspiration in clothes, makeup, or their latest music passion. But when it comes to special days – 18th birthdays, 21sts, or even a graduation gift – I feel like I want to push the boat out with a more memorable gift. Advertorial content: this post contains affiliate links to Newbridge, who have paid me for my time in writing this post. Words are my own. Irish lifestyle brand Newbridge Silverware got in touch with me recently to …

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How to Spot Teenage Anxiety and Support Your Teen

teenage anxiety that causes serious physical side effects

It took me a while before I actually went to the hospital, and I almost died How to deal with stress and anxiety in a teenager Are you worried about a teenager with anxiety? I’ve been thinking a lot about anxiety recently. I’ve had episodes of anxiety throughout my life, and I’ve tried to pin it on one or other lifestage. But in reality I think I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. I have no idea where it began for me, but I’ve always chewed my nails, from a young age. I have very early memories …

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Has your child been groomed?

Emma describes how she was groomed from the age of 12, and the impact it had on her adult life

*Trigger warning – episode contains references to sexual abuse. The crazy thing… was that I felt really guilty  Has your teenager been groomed? Or are you a young person experiencing grooming? In this episode Emma Cantrell talks about her experience of grooming from the age of 12 over a number of years. What does grooming mean? The NSPCC defines grooming as follows: Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them. Children and young people who are groomed can be sexually abused, exploited or trafficked. Anybody can …

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Parents Guide to GCSEs 2021: Practical Tips to Help Kids Get the Grades

Teachers explain how to get good GCSE results even during Covid-19

How do you get the best GCSE results you can during Covid-19? If your child was expecting to be sitting GCSEs in 2021 the chances are they and you have been been feeling quite stressed since the announcement that GCSEs will not go ahead “as normal” in 2021. Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash The uncertainty around how GCSEs will be graded has certainly caused some worry in our house as our daughter prepares to achieve exam grades based on something completely different to what she was expecting. And the lack of clarity over what exams will look like in the summer …

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