The Woolly Hugs Charity

The worst thing that any parent can imagine is the death of a child. It is the stuff of nightmares, the kind that wake us at 3am, and send us to give our children a quick kiss, and a stroke of their hair. Just to know that they are safe. It was a dream, just a bad dream.

Sadly, for some parents, this isn’t a nightmare. It is reality. When the worst happens to a friend, it is difficult to know what to do, what to say, as no words can make things better, or heal the pain. No platitude can lessen the heartbreak, but still we are often consumed by the feeling that we must DO SOMETHING! Anything. It was this feeling of helplessness and empathy that lead to the foundation of the Woolly Hugs charity.

Being a Role Model

In the past years, I’ve become aware of a growing trend, an ever increasing number of young mums are becoming entrepreneurs. Beyond the yummymummy mumpreneur stereotype (two words that make me want to spit, by the way, but that’s a topic for a later post!), there are thousands of women who are taking the scary step into self-employment.
For some it is due to the cost of childcare, as they can schedule their work around the sleeping and playing patterns of their children. For other mothers, the time out after the birth gives them an opportunity to re-evaluate their life and career path, and to take a different route. We spoke to Nisha Patel, co-founder of Natural Health Star, a new online health store, who has taken that first step.

Prepare Your Tween for Secondary School

The move from the slightly cosseted existence of primary school to the adventures of secondary (or high school) can be difficult for children to navigate, even with the transition programmes that many schools have in place. What can YOU do, to help the move go more smoothly, and best prepare your tween for secondary school?

8 Things Parents of Kids with Allergies Wish You Knew

Like all parents, I sometimes worry about my children when they are out of sight. Did they look both ways before crossing the road? Who are they talking to online? Are they really coming straight home from school?

Some parents have worries that go far beyond that, because the dangers their children face are seemingly benign … and yet they are everywhere. We talked with affected parents, and asked them what the main things are that they, as parents of kids with allergies, wish you knew.

Get the Most out of Therapy for Children

In times of limited health care budgets, it can be frustrating for parents and children, when therapy sessions are few and far between. Emily has some great tips on getting the most out of therapy for children.

‘I’m so cross.  I had a speech & language session with our local community speech & language therapist and she said she couldn’t see us more than every six weeks!  How on earth is my son going to be able to progress at that rate??  I mean, seriously.  He’s three and can’t talk yet.  Surely they can see he needs some serious intervention? Bloody funding issues but I think they actually just don’t care.  I’m furious about it.’

I’ve heard this all too often – about Speech & Language, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy…any kind of therapy for children.  Yes there may be funding issues, and the frequency of appointments might well be less than the therapist would ideally be recommending, but every six weeks can be enough to make the difference.

Allow Kids to Fail … and Watch them Grow

Following on from our Life Skills for Kids post, Dinah Turner, mum of three children under ten and director of Stepping into Business describes why we need to let our kids fail …