Women Blog

This week, I’m off for a little break with little junior who is having his school holidays. As a work at home mom, my ‘holidays’ tend to synchonize with my kid’s holidays. So this requires me to plan my time and schedule so that my productivity won’t get affected.

Though I’m away from the home office, I’m still doing some research work for our new online business. Few days ago, DH had showed me a report by some internet marketer and it was about marketing via Facebook. I believe most of you who are reading this post has a facebook account. Besides using it to network and connect with your family and friends, what else do you use it for? Do you know that Facebook has become an effective tool to market your online products too?

I must admit that I haven’t started to explore the marketing potential in facebook but I know it has worked for many work at home moms. The best part is, it is free too, though you can pay for advertising spaces in this popular social networking site. Somebody was telling me how he started marketing his credit card processing information via facebook an the response has been positive.

So I’ll be exploring more about this social network and see how it can help to expand my reach in my internet marketing business. So it’s not much of a break when you are a work at home mom, isn’t it? I’m not sure if it’s just me but it’s just so normal to continue working when you are traveling with a laptop and an internet connection!

Bullying a Major Concern for Kids

New research reveals that while most dads (61%) feel comfortable giving advice to their children about bullying only 1 in 5 (17%) children trust their dad’s advice on this topic. However 6 out of 10 (59%) children would trust their mum’s advice.

Research conducted by Relate for Parents, a website dedicated to helping parents with their family relationships, reveals that bullying is a major concern to over half of children (51%) surveyed, with more boys (59%) worried than girls, and this issue is ranked higher than relationships (20%), drugs (17%) and sex (11%).

The survey also reveals that 74% of children consider their mum to be a role model and 58% of children see their dad as a role model.

Lin Griffiths, Family Counsellor at Relate for Parents, said: “It’s very encouraging that dads feel comfortable talking to their children about bullying, and children are willing to seek advice. However it is a concern that children don’t trust the advice they are hearing from their dads. Like most parents, dad’s are bound to feel protective of their children. It is possible that the advice that some dads give – “stand up for yourself”; “tell your teacher”; “I’ll sort him/her out”; “give as good as you get”; although well meaning, could be seen as another pressure on their son or daughter. Despite this lack of trust, 58% of children still look up to their father as a role model.”

With children turning to the internet for advice on personal issues, less than one in five dads (18%) know if their children are seeking advice online, despite 74% of dads saying that they would rather their children came to them. However, with only half of dads regularly making time to talk to their children, the first step for some fathers may be for them to dedicate more time to talking with and listening to their children.

To help parents with their family relationships, Relate for Parents has launched the new Relate for Parents website, http://www.relateforparents.org.uk, which provides online support and expert help for parents and families.

Top five tips on giving advice to children:

Listen to your children. Really listen to their problems and individual concerns. You might know that it’s part of teenage life to break-up  with friends and have fights, but for your child it is a real experience happening to them and they will want to know you are taking them seriously.
Be consistent in what you say and do. It sounds obvious but say what you mean and mean what you say. Children are very good at noticing when you don’t follow through on your own advice. However that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. In fact it is good for your children to see you admit your mistakes and don’t be afraid to apologise.
Make time. Sitting down and talking to your children shouldn’t just be reserved for the big things, if they feel they can talk to you easily about the small things, this might help when they have big concerns.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Children remember broken promises and this is something that can damage their trust in you. It is better  to make no promises at all than ones you think you might break.
Your children will not love you less if you don’t have answers to all their difficulties. They will feel supported just by the fact that you have listened and understood their struggle.