Nannyjob blog

Yesterday here at Nannyjob towers, we came across something utterly fantastic – this video, that was flagged up through the powers of social media (our Facebook page!).

To say that this really got us thinking would be a huge understatement. The narrator, the late Alan Watts, takes us through the video, asking the listener to consider something  that they may possibly have never really considered before – what they would REALLY want to do with their life, if money didn’t matter.

So, as I’m sure you can imagine, when the Nannyjob team comes across something as thought provoking as this, it leads to a big discussion about how these principals apply to children. We all pretty much agreed that encouraging a child to follow their heart and gravitate towards what they love doing, rather than what might be a ‘sensible’ option, was incredibly important for their long term happiness.

There are still many parents out there who push their child into doing what they themselves think is most beneficial to get them a ‘good’ career. A recent example is a parent I came across at a local private school, who is a surgeon (as is her husband). Clearly a very clever couple in so many ways you might think, although I was utterly flabbergasted at their response to their 10 year old’s new found love of archaeology: “We’ve told him that it’s ok to like it now, but not to get too interested in it, as it wouldn’t be a good career choice”.

Oh. My. Goodness. Me! This child is TEN for God’s sake! And he REALLY ENJOYS archaeology! Apart from this, if they’re concerned about future financial successes for their LITTLE boy, surely some of the world’s leading archaeologists are onto a really high earner? Needless to say, Nannyjob was very confused (and a little sad) about this.

It appears that for many parents, this is the chosen approach. Very often the children are denied what they love doing, and are steered in the direction of something they aren’t remotely interested in, or naturally good at. The parents are then surprised when their child grows up and rebels, or even worse, spends their entire career totally miserable. Of course, this is not always the case, as many children in this position actually start believing  that this approach is the best, and that denying themselves of a degree and potentially a job in archaeology, art, dance, or whatever they actually enjoy but were told wasn’t ‘sensible’ is more beneficial to them. But I bet my last nannying pound that they turn around one day, even if it is in retirement, and say ‘what if I’d done what I really wanted….’.

So our advice is to most definitely follow the late, great Mr Watts’ advice after you watch this video, and to do what you REALLY want to do, and encourage your children the same. They will thank you for it, we promise….

To watch the video Click here!

 

 

Brrrrrr. It’s cold here at Nannyjob. So cold that we’re cranking up the heating to full, fishing out our thickest thermals and drawing the curtains before the 6 o’clock news (have you sussed yet that we’re possibly Summer peeps?!). It’s not all bad though, the Coca Cola train and John Lewis ads have started sweeping that annual feeling of nostalgia into our living rooms, and we’re enjoying cosying up together talking about what Santa might bring.. BUT, just one very wintery problem to sort out first –

COLDS GALORE! As usual in Winter, we have little ones here with sniffles and colds, so as well as the saviour of all things that is Calpol coming to the rescue, this year we have decided to give some of the old wives tales of cold and flu relief a go on our little ones to find out which really work, and which are plain, well, silly.. and as always, we’re sharing our best bits of advice with our lovely readers!

– Chicken Soup.

Something of an icon of cold relievers, this one brings back memories of my childhood, where any sick days from school always meant a large bowl of the good stuff whilst watching lunchtime Neighbours and Going For Gold. I seem to recall it always working (rose tinted childhood specs?!). Apparently heat is the key, so any soup will work to a degree, as it promotes airway secretions and has a calming action on inflamed throats. But chicken soup’s combination of fats, spices, and water seems to work best when it comes to breaking up mucus.

Nannyjob effectiveness rating – 7/10

– Hot Toddy (minus alcohol!).

Now, again, my childhood memories of cold relief seem to include a cheeky teeny tiny drop of brandy in a hot toddy at bedtime. Not only did I feel very grown up, but I slept and felt rested (it was the 80’s and my family are Irish!). Of course, we DO NOT advise alcohol in this one for kids, but it can be done without. Mix 1 tsp of honey with a good squeeze of lemon juice, and hot water in a mug. The honey soothes, and the hot fluid has a demulcent and soothing action, with slightly bitter flavours such as lemon it is particularly beneficial.

Nannyjob effectiveness rating – 8/10

– Vitamin C.

Your child should have a good all-year-round supply of this good stuff to help ward off nastiness. According to a large review of clinical research at Helsinki University, regular doses of vitamin C may cut an adult’s cold duration in half and a child’s by a day. Now, in our experience vitamin C is a better deterrent for colds than a cure once one has begun, but it’s never a bad thing to add an extra dose when little one has a cold. As well as giving them lots of fruit and veg, our favourite vitamin C supplement for kids is from Haliborange (www.seven-seas.com/Haliborange).

Nannyjob effectiveness rating – 9/10

– Garlic.

The Nannyjob jury is out on this one. Yes, it may be beneficial, but how many children do you know who would happily drink a mixture of warm milk and crushed garlic without feeling sick? Our advice – add a little bit extra into your evening meals so little one gets an edible dose. Allicin, an active compound in garlic, is known to act as a decongestant, and garlic is known to have high antioxidant properties, so it’s worth getting your Italian cookbooks out whilst you have a cold-ridden child!

Nannyjob effective as rating – 6/10.

– Fresh air.

Again, we know this is a great boost to the system in many ways, but we’re a little dubious about sending our little ones out into the garden to play when they’re poorly. If you’re going to try this one, make sure they’re really well wrapped up and don’t stay out more than 10 minutes when poorly. According to Thomas Weidner of Ball State University, light exercise in fresh air can ease a runny nose, sore throat, or sneezing.

Nannyjob effectiveness rating – 6/10.

 Do you have any other old wives tales that work? Make sure you share your gems of knowledge with us if so! Now, back to what Santa might bring…. 😉

Feel free to comment on this blog, or let us know your own ideas for cold and flu relief on our Facebook page.

So, the difficult decision of ‘staying at home for the first few years’ was made whilst pregnant… the satisfaction of being there for first teeth, first steps, first day at school was achieved over those years… You’re getting a fantastic nanny lined up through Nannyjob for when you have time to go back into work… Everything seems to have fallen perfectly….

And now it’s time to get back into the big wide world of work…. Simple, hey?! Well, not always, actually. As well as the economy altering drastically, many companies now require far more innovative techniques, international networks, cost-saving approaches and collaborations – all leading to suggest that those few years at home, although great for you and your child in so many ways, may actually lead at best a real struggle to find the kind of position that you felt over qualified for before you left work to be a mummy. Or at worst to career suicide.

Continue reading “Career Re-Entry for the At-Home Parent”

We all know that if you have one or more children in your care for any length of time, feeling like being consistently positive about their behaviour (instead of tearing your hair out and yelling like a banshee) can be a real mean feat.

The experts tell us that ‘positive parenting’ – i.e. encouraging positive traits a child might have when you might normally want to pull them up on a misbehaviour, is actually the best way to train them into behaving. Becoming angry is generally not an effective way of disciplining a child. But how easy is this in reality? When you’re at the end of a long day and your patience is being tested by a naughty little one, could you really just be positive?

Continue reading “Positive Parenting Techniques”

Keeping up with and supervising children’s online activity can be challenging, especially when they have their own computers, smartphones and tablets. www.getsafeonline.org helps us give you a guide below to understand the risks.

The Risks

• Inappropriate contact: from people who may wish to abuse, exploit or bully them.
• Inappropriate conduct: because of their own and others’ online behaviour, such as the personal information they make public. They may also become either targets or perpetrators of cyberbullying.
• Inappropriate content: being able to access sexually explicit, racist, violent, extremist or other harmful material.
• Commercialism: directing aggressive advertising and marketing material at children.
• Children gaining access to your own personal information stored on your computer.
• Children enabling viruses and spyware by careless or misinformed use of your computer.

Keeping Children Safe Online

There are a number of online age-appropriate educational resources available to parents/guardians and teachers, and children themselves, covering every aspect of online safety for children.

You should also take the following measures. Remember that these factors will change as children grow up and should be reconsidered regularly.

1. Set ground rules about use of the internet, email and texts. They should learn to take responsibility for their own actions and develop their own judgement.
2. Make children aware that online contacts may not be who they say they are.
3. Children must keep personal details private.
4. Ensure that they use a family email address when filling in online forms.
5. They must never meet unsupervised with anyone they have contacted via the internet.
6. Get children to report concerns about conversations, messages and behaviours to you or another known and trusted adult. Encourage them to share their internet experience with you and make it a shared family experience.
7. Get children to report bullying online, by text or phone immediately to you.
8. Use the parental control settings on your browser, search engine and internet security package.
9. Alternatively, consider buying specialist parental control software.
10. Block pop-ups and spam emails.
11. Consider enabling online access from only a family computer located in a shared room.
12. Always sit with younger children when they are online.
13. Consider choosing a child-friendly home page in your browser settings.
14. Learn the language of chatrooms and log on yourself so you know how it works.
15. Consider setting up a family e-mail account which can be used specifically to register for websites, competitions etc.
16. Tell your children not to illegally copy copyrighted content such as music, films or software.
17. Ensure that your children do not have access to your logon account so that they cannot access, alter or delete your files.
18. Take care to limit children’s access to credit card and bank information. Similarly, ensure they cannot gain access to an online shop or other website where your details are stored.
19. Set limits on when they can use the computer, and for how long.
20. Remember that a lot of the above advice also applies to your children’s use of mobile phones, tablets and games consoles.

Further Help and Reporting

If you suspect a paedophile may be grooming or trying to befriend your child – or your child is being stalked or harassed – contact the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) or your local Police.

Source: getsafeonline.org

 

 

 

A 21 year old British female soldier gave birth while serving on the front line in Afghanistan while not realising she was pregnant – even despite an 8km run as part of her training! Although born almost 5 weeks early, mum and baby are both in a stable condition and are due to be flying home in the next few days.

Yes, if you’ve ever given birth, this is REALLY hard to imagine! Most of us put on at least a couple of stone, and by the end of pregnancy feel very much as though it is dominating our entire being, so it is difficult to imagine how anybody could get to the later stages of pregnancy and not realise it. Surely she felt SOMETHING, right?! Well, in some cases women do not show a bump and continue to have periods for the duration of the pregnancy.

Research conducted in Germany in 2002 found that 25 out of 475 mothers did not realise they were pregnant until they went into labour.

‘How can this be?’ we hear you ask…. As ever, the Oracle that is Nannyjob comes to the rescue with the most common reasons this might happen:

• Body weight

The extra pounds associated with pregnancy may not be as noticeable for women who are already overweight. Excess body fat, especially around the stomach area, can help hide the presence of a baby – even from its mother. It’s also important to note that not all pregnant women carry their unborn babies similarly, which influences how large and round a woman’s belly may appear. If baby is growing tucked high under the ribs, or settles in a breach position, it can be much harder to detect pregnancy.

• Few side effects

Most pregnancies induce morning sickness, tender breasts, headaches, food cravings, back pain, soreness and weight gain. Since the hormones related to pregnancy affect different women in different ways, it’s not surprising that some experience different pains and sensations, and rarely some experience barely any at all.

• Irregular menstrual cycles

Occasionally, pregnant women continue to experience period-like bleeding, which deceives them into thinking they’re not pregnant.

• Stress

Stress can negatively affect a woman’s attitude toward pregnancy. Immense pressure and distress can push even the healthiest of women to deny the reality of pregnancy. Stress can affect the regularity of a woman’s menstrual cycle, so a woman who misses a period because she’s pregnant may falsely attribute her irregularity to stress

• An inactive baby

Whether the baby rests in such a way that makes its movements hard to detect or it’s simply less active than others babies, movement in the womb — or lack thereof — can shape a woman’s perception of her pregnancy.

• Mistaking pregnancy symptoms with another health issue

In some circumstances, a woman might not know she’s pregnant because she believes her pregnancy symptoms are caused by some other health problem. Women with a history of ovarian complications such as tumours or cysts may attribute discomfort or pain to their previous condition.

Source: Discovery Fit & Health

Here at Nannyjob we wish the British soldier and her new baby all the very best, and a safe journey back to their family in the UK.