IS there ever a time when flexible working is out of the news?
Mums are leaving the workforce in droves as the delicate balancing act between caring for a family and advancing a career seems an impossible dream. Partners and husbands can range from the incredibly supportive to the chocolate tea pot variety, so work outside of 'work' may also add stress levels. And for lone mums, the pressures are even greater.
Continue reading "Musical Minis - a permanent solution to flexible working?" »
OVER the next few weeks I'm going to blog about various places we visited in our recent one month holiday to Australia. I went with Rob my husband on a 'once in a lifetime' holiday to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed it so much it may be more than 'once in a lifetime' now as we have the travel bug! We arranged our holiday with Bridge and Wickers and flew Qantas.
Bangkok was a city full of surprises. After a tearful farewell to our three grown up children we set off on our great Australian adventure. It all seemed a bit surreal and both Rob and I were left with the feeling of "what have we done?"
En route we had a three night stop over in Bangkok. We loved it - but what an unusual city. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental which was very good. As Bangkok has just got over the floods and at the best of times has a mixed reputation, this hotel suited us down to the ground. We had less qualms about the water, food and sanitation although still only drank bottled water and had no ice. We were amazed to see people eating food from the street vendors. I am sure it's ok but it wasn't for us.
Highlights of Bangkok were the floating market (although this was outside of Bangkok), the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, the night market and a Thai massage. We didn't buy anything at the floating market but it was interesting to see. We had to do this with a guide because it is impossible to do this yourself, being 1 1/2 hours outside of Bangkok. Most of the market is actually not floating and it is therefore the 20 minute journey in a "James Bond" style tail boat that zips through the canals that make this fun. It was possible to go in a boat through the market and if you want to do this check that your tour operates this way.
We took a ferry bus from close to the hotel to the Grand Palace. You need to be careful as there are tuk tuk drivers outside who will tell you it is closed for an hour to take you on a tour of the local shops. This will undoubtedly not be the case. You need to dress modestly but if you have forgotten to do so there are clothes to borrow. It was a little confusing going around the palace but we found everything in the end. The highlight is the Emerald Buddah which is housed in a great big room but is itself tiny.
A short walk from the Palace is the temple Wat Pho. This houses the Reclining Buddah which is absolutely enormous. It is incredible to think anyone would have thought of commissioning something so big! Inside the grounds is the Thai School of massage. Prices are very reasonable and Rob had a half hour back massage for about £5.00. We had both had a Thai massage in the hotel the previous day which was brilliant, an experience not to be missed. We had a suite with a bath and steam room prior to the massage. We put on special outfits and were then massaged in unison by two masseurs. The massage finished with a ceremonial tea.
The night market was a really fun experience. On one side there were stalls selling all types of tourist products. On the other side were people trying to get you to go into their sex shows - usually under the title of "ping pong show". We bought nothing and didn't go to a show!
We were quite sad to leave Bangkok. This is a city that you should not take seriously if you really want to enjoy it.
THERE is now a new activity download on the Musical Minis web site. It's our Winter themed download with songs and cooking and collage activities to do.
Click on this link and enter your details to instantly receive the pack.
We would love to see photos of the finished activities in the pack. Please email them to us at enquiries@musicalminis.co.uk
Let us know how you get on with this download and any ideas which you may have for future ones. Are there any specific activities you particularly enjoy doing with your children? As well as being educational we primarily really want both children and adults to have fun
Merseyside Work Experience Invitation
Coffee Morning Friday 10th Feb 2012 10 am to 12 pm at Stoneycroft Children’s Centre Scotia Road L13 6QJ. Learn more about Musical Minis Work Experience Programme
Musical Minis Merseyside in conjunction with Stoneycroft Children’s Centre and kindly sponsored by Liverpool Mutual Homes is delighted to offer training and work experience based on the popular music group for babies and toddlers. Participants will be invited to attend a day’s training followed by work experience at weekly one hour sessions lasting ten weeks. The final session will include a graduation where participants will receive a certificate of attainment.
The course will offer people the chance to gain valuable, transferrable skills such as interaction with children and families/presentation skills. It will also cover aspects of health and safety and inclusion. We hope that participants will gain confidence whilst also having fun with activities based on child development through music.
To find out more contact Cathie Flynn on 0151 486 4735 e-mail cathie@musicalminis.co.uk
LOOKING back on 2011 there was one post on the Musical Minis blog, Learning Made Fun, that had more hits than all the others.
On Saturday 9th July, the post on 'how to have a baby girl............or not' (originally published in 2010) had more than 3,500 hits. Since then the hits have continued, although at a slower pace. The success of the post was linked to the Beckhams' baby daughter, Harper Seven, being born after 3 boys. BBC news quoted the post as a feature on the health pages on Saturday. The article by Helen Briggs titled 'Sugar and spice and all things nice' was popular remaining as one of the most read articles for the whole day - even more so than the phone hacking and space launch articles, which were current at the time. My blog was a featured link and led to blog hits soaring.
The second most read post on the blog was my response to my experience of appearing in the Daily Mail also in July. The Daily Mail made up quotes and wrote a totally different article to what I had expected to be a positive piece on my 25 year marriage. If you missed it you can read my post 'Don't believe everything you read: My experience of appearing in the Daily Mail'
At number 3 in the most popular posts was the post published in June on Politically correct nursery rhymes. This seemed to strike a cord with many of the blogs readers.
Number 4 was a guest post by Linda Jones in September on Sarah Jessica Parker? I dont care how she does it. This post was in relation to her film and being a working Mum.
As a suprise the 5th most read blog post in 2011 was one in a series we had written about 'Where do nursery rhymes come from' and this one was in May about the song London's burning. This was also written by Linda Jones and at the time, although it was read, it wasn't a popular post. However, in the London riots last Summer, Londons Burning, was a popular search and a total new bunch of readers found the blog!
If you missed any of these posts at the time please read them and comment on them if you can. Thank you to everyone was has read, commented or shared a post on the blog in 2011. Anything you would like covered in 2012 just let me know.
Everyone at Musical Minis and the Learning Made Fun Blog wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Enjoy the festive break and we look forward to seeing some of you in 2012.
LAST month I went to an event at Libertys in Regent Street to find out about Give As You Live. I was amazed to hear how we can all be raising money for charity when shopping online and not have to pay extra to donate as the money is given by the retailer. It is such a simple concept and if charities can earn from my shopping then I certainly have nothing to lose.
Everyclick is a fundraising technology company that enables people to give to any of the UK’s charities through everyday online activity, such as online shopping. No extra money needs to be donated. The company was set up in 2005 by Polly Gowers, after she recognised the enormous potential of the internet and technology to do good. The technology developed by Everyclick is different from other fundraising initiatives, such as Just Giving, as people do not need to make a conscious donation and it supports any of the UK’s charities.
Everyclick’s flagship product is Give as you Live, which allows supporters to turn every pound shoppers spend online, into funds for their cause. Give as you Live enables a supporter to raise funds for any charity of their choice every time they shop online, without having to pay anything extra. It represents an additional £1.25bn in potential unrestricted revenue for the charity sector. Over 1,500 leading retailers are already on board, including supermarkets, travel agents, fashion brands, and more are joining daily. From classic family gifts to the hottest new gadgets, every online purchase can raise significant funds for UK charities and not cost the purchaser a penny more – as it’s the retailer that makes the donation.
Give as you Live’s new ‘Wish lists’ functionality enables shoppers to create lists for themselves, friends and family, to ensure they get exactly what they want for Christmas this year. Users of the Give as you Live Wish Lists can both choose their favourite gifts from over 1,500 retailers, and choose who to support from 220,000 UK registered charities. With many people opting to go online in the search for those perfect Christmas gifts, Give as you Live represents a great opportunity for shoppers to give charities that much need funding boost this Christmas. Collectively, this festive season, online shoppers have the potential to raise £170m* for UK charities through Give as you Live. From the nation’s most famous department stores Harrods and Selfridges, to much-loved retail outlets including John Lewis and M&S, to Christmas favourites like Hamley’s. Give as you Live works with over 1,500 UK retailers, offering over 15 million products and covering 80% of the UK’s top 100 retailers, working with each to raise money for deserving causes at no cost to the shopper.
I think this whole idea is great - not just for Christmas but for birthdays and even regular shopping. If you are shopping online, for example from Tesco's, it is great to raise money for charity at the same time - you still earn ClubCard points so have nothing at all to lose. I had a bit of trouble when just trying to buy from a site I accessed from the Give As You Live site so I think it probably is easiest to create an account with them. This is how you do it:
The simple instructions are:
1. Visit http://www.giveasyoulive.com/ and create an account by signing in on the top right hand corner.
2. Choose a charity to support with all of your shopping. If you don't want to choose one your donation will be sent to Give As You Live charity of the month - although I couldn't see what this was.
3. Shop and raise money for your favourite cause from over 1500 leading retailers You just click on stores and choose where you want to shop.
4. You can create a wish list and share it with your friends and family.
You can Download Give as you Live so you can shop directly at all of your favourite retailers and raise money for your selected charity. Whenever you shop online Give As You Live will pop up and your chosen charity will receive money. If charities can benefit from our shopping, with no change to our shopping habits or at no extra cost to the shopper then there really is nothing to lose!
Happy shopping!
MY children's nativity plays were always one of the year's highlights. They were something I wouldn't dream of missing and luckily being my own boss I could gear the Musical Minis term around my own children. I suggest to our franchisees that they should finish classes early at Christmas time so they make sure they have time to watch their children's plays. This is a great advantage of having a flexible business.
I have enjoyed all the school plays my children have ever been in but a few stick out as being really memorable. My all time favourite was when Alex, my middle child, was 3 years old and he was a donkey in his nursery's nativity. Alex was guarding the crib in the stable with a boy called Bruce who was a sheep. The 3 wise men came and left their gifts, which apparently were left in a position slightly different to the one expected. This resulted in the sheep and donkey having a fight on stage struggling to put the gifts in the exact correct place! Alex won and the sheep was so fed up that he went to sleep and had to be woken up at the end. Little did we realise then, that Alex would end up studying drama at University and obviously exact staging was extremely important to him!
Matthew, my eldest, when he was 3 years old was Joseph in the nativity. The cast then performed the Christmas Alphabet and he and Mary (a girl called Imogen) had 'M is for the mistletoe where everybody kissed'. It was really sweet watching these two 3 year olds kiss on cue. I still love the song and made sure it is on our Musical Minis Christmas lesson. Another one of my favourites when was Matthew was at primary school, aged about 6 years old. They were performing a rock nativity and Matthew managed to lead his whole class off stage at totally the wrong time - they all followed him!
The nativity that sticks out in my mind with Emily, my youngest, was when she was about 3 years old and at nursery. One of the scenes was with a girl, called Georgina and a boy, who I can't remember, doing 'I'm a Barbie Girl' with the rest of the nursery dancing around. I still have no idea why they were doing this but it was really sweet. At primary school, when Emily was 5 years old, she was given the task with a few others of playing percussion instruments to accompany the play. Her years of Musical Minis training paid off!
I would love to hear your nativity play stories with your children. They are a very special part of being a parent and I appreciate all the teachers' hard work in putting on a performance, with such young children, that can be remembered for years to come.
Photo by Flickr jrwi
Christmas products are readily available on the high street and it is relatively easy to find products to match the budget you want to spend. The amount you are happy to spend may be guided by how many years you want the items to last. Poundland sent me a few novelty goods to try out and review. I actually thought they were good fun and worth the £1 they cost, however, I expect they won’t last long and are a bit tacky.
This snowman is available in pink or blue. It is battery operated and lights up to bring a bit of festive cheer to any space such as a desk or shelf. There is an on /off button so it doesn’t have to flash all day. I’m not sure how long the battery will last for.
These Christmas playing cards are ideal as a stocking filler. They come in a Santa or snowman design.
Get into the spirit of Christmas with these light up assorted musical ties. Available in tree, Santa and snowman designs. There is a button on the tie to press to start the music and the flashing. Once started you can’t stop it but it only lasts a few seconds. I’m not sure how long the battery lasts.
Hanging Christmas characters make Christmas decorations come alive. These are fun fabric made character hanging decorations. The cord to hang it up actually looks as though it may break but can be replaced with string.
Count the days to go to Christmas with a chalkboard. This also hangs up but the cord looks as it will snap soon and needs to be replaced with string. It would have been great if it had a piece of chalk with it.
This large Santa stocking is about 50cm in length and is made of cloth. It has a handle. It is ideal to fill with small Christmas presents.
I was also sent reindeer headbands and elf headbands. These are always fun to wear for a short time. Another item I was sent was, I think, a Santa toilet lid cover made of felt. I did try to fit it to our toilet lid but it didn't fit. I'm not sure what else it could be though!
These novelty items were fun and for £1 each they are reasonable. I'm sure they won't last more than one Christmas but what really can we expect for £1.
AS the countdown to Christmas has begun we have come up with a few fun ideas for you to do with your children.
There is now a new activity download on the Musical Minis web site. It's our Christmas themed download with songs and activities, including colouring and cooking, to do from the warmth of your own house. Click on this link and enter your details to instantly receive the pack.
I would love to hear from you as to how you get on with this download and any ideas which you may have for future ones. Are there any specific activities you particularly enjoy doing with your children? As well as being educational I primarily really want both children and adults to have fun
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