Bitesize bits of news, reviews and information for new mums
Parental Guilt
The time spent in the boardroom seems to have had an adverse affect on the family home according to recent research. Over half of working parents in the UK feel guilty about the lack of time spent playing with their children, and a quarter find it hard to switch off from the office when they get home to concentrate on family time.
Parents would like to spend more time with their children, but stress, along with a lack of time and energy have all been cited as reasons why they don’t play with their children more often. This is coupled with their child’s preference for watching television or playing on their computer.
“For working parents, it is a real struggle to find quality time to play and have fun with your children. There is always too much to do, not enough time to do it and definitely never enough mum or dad to go round” says parent coach, author and chief executive of The Parent Coach Academy, Lorraine Thomas. “Most working mums and dads say they are desperate to be fun parents but because of the stressful demands of combining family and career they end up as frantic parents instead and ultimately end up feeling guilty.”
It’s not all bad news though, when parents make time to play with their children they find it enjoyable, with almost half describing it as fun. So it’s high time we put down the BlackBerry and picked up the Crayola!
All in the family
Childcare is an expensive commodity, so it’s hardly surprising that a recent survey by findaproperty.com found that 84 per cent of parents need to use their own parents for childcare at least once a week. The survey also highlighted that families were more likely to live closer to maternal grandparents (55%) then paternal grandparents.
Despite the fact that many parents are forced to use grandparents for childcare due to financial reasons, there are concerns about the generational differences in bringing up their children, 35 per cent of respondents felt the main drawback of this was the different rules or standards implemented by their parents for their children. “To avoid fall-outs, ensure that your parents are aware of your values and routines,” says Psychologist Donna Dawson.
Parenting the parents
A recent poll commissioned by National Family Week, the UK’s biggest celebration of family life, explored the perceptions of kids and parents and the issues facing the modern family in the UK. Astoundingly, the results showed that children seemed to have a better idea of what parenting should be about than their parents! The most important aspects of parenting differ greatly from children and adults – for example, children placed being a role model as their parent’s greatest priority, while the parents underestimated it. The poll also highlighted the fact that children are more committed to traditional family values than their parents!
Family time
Family time has topped the polls in a recent survey by Merlin Entertainments Group Fun Days. The survey, sampling over 1200 respondents showed that over 85 per cent of the British public would like to spend more time with their family and close friends, while over half spend their days out with extended family.
Time well spent, according to the survey, is time spent with people you care about, with nearly half of Brits ranking spending time with people they care about the best thing about a day out.
The recession seems to have had a positive, rather than negative, affect on family time, with people relying on family support more than ever – people are choosing to spend quality time with their family and friends. Although families are keeping an eye on their purse strings and look for value for money on their outings – with 60 per cent considering themselves ‘really careful’ when looking for value for money.
Psychologist Cary Cooper believes these results dispel the common belief that the family doesn’t play as central a role in our lives any longer. “This is extremely important, because when times get rough, your investment in your family, through shared experiences and activities together, means you have an important social support system available to provide psychological support, counsel and help.”
Did you know?
• As your milk starts to come in, your breasts can gain up to five pounds.
• The average woman will drop about 10 pounds after delivering her baby, placenta and umbilical fluids.
Secondhand smoke
A report from the Royal College of Physicians has warned that secondhand smoke causes 15,400 children between three and 16 to develop asthma. The report went on to outline that it also causes 20,500 children aged two and under to develop chest infections, and a further 121,400 under 16s to suffer from infected middle ears.
Prof John Britton, the group’s chairperson, outlined that while a ban at home would be “unenforceable”, changes in public behaviour need to be made.
Thieving toddlers
Parents beware of what’s lurking in your child’s buggy! Research conducted by MyVoucherCode.co.uk has shown that 62 per cent of parents have admitted that their light-fingered children have taken items from shops, unbeknownst to them.
Almost a quarter of parents saw their toddler or child taking something from the shelves as ‘innocent’, and under half of all parents (43 per cent) said they’d take something their child stole back to the shop.
Boys are more likely to take an item off the shelf, but it seems there was no specific product that their child would take for the most part, 31 per cent of the little mites were most likely to grab sweets and chocolate and just seven per cent would make a grab for an item with their favourite TV show or character on it.
For an unlucky nine per cent f parents, the first thing they knew about the theft was when the alarms went off in the store, while 12 per cent of children presented the stolen item after they had left the shop.
Parenting expert Matthew Clifton of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk said of the results, “It isn’t uncommon for toddlers to pinch things in shops, as this study shows. At least we can take comfort from the fact that they probably don’t know the seriousness of what they are doing!
The cities the most prolific ‘toddler thieves’ are from:
1. Liverpool – 76%
2. Newcastle – 72%
3. London – 70%
4. Glasgow – 67%
5. Coventry – 65%
Numbers game
• 671,058 – the number of live births in England
• 29.4 – the average age of women giving birth in the UK
Birth rate drops
New figures released from the Office of National Statistics have shown that the birth rate for England and Wales has fallen by 0.2 per cent to 671,058. The average age for giving birth has risen marginally (from 28.4 to 29.4) and the number of women giving birth over 40 has almost doubled (14,252 to 26,976).