Learning made fun

Would you send a sick child to school? Me neither

Guest post by Linda Jones

I've been scratching my head this morning - again. I'm quite often perplexed, baffled or incredulous -- and this is very likely to have been brought on by news of yet another survey connected with working mums. According to the media, you could think of many of society's ills and you would have to look no further than a mother attempting to hold down a job as well as raise a child for the cause.

Obesity, rioting, laziness, you name it, there's probably a poll somewhere that says working mothers (especially single ones of course) are to blame.  There's no mention of the dad of the household. Perhaps he is completely oblivious or blame-free, who knows? Whatever the reason, the papers don't tend to mention him, whether he has scarpered or not.

Flexible working - A Q and A with one of our franchisees

Moving on from the controversies surrounding working mums, and whether or not they can have it all, we've been catching up with one of our long-standing franchisees, and finding out that actually, here in the real world, it is possible to have a very fulfilling and challenging career and still have time for your wonderful family

Jo Weaving, our Musical Minis South Wales franchisee, who has been with us since 2003, explains how she has not just coped with running a business and having a young family, but thrived on it.

How confident are you?

Guest post by Linda Jones

Do you consider yourself a naturally confident person, or work hard to maintain an air of knowing what you are doing?

At work, do you find yourself shaking on the inside while everyone tells you how wonderfully confident you appear?

People who know me, say they can't believe how confident I am. Sometimes I can't believe it either. I think back to my childhood and how shy I was when I was really young and wonder how on earth things changed.

Sarah Jessica Parker? I don't care how she does it

Guest post by Linda Jones

I can't be the only mum to be irked by Sarah Jessica Parker in a seemingly relentless publicity blitz surrounding her latest film, I don't know how she does it.

Based on the book by caustic former Daily Mail columnist Allison Pearson, it's inevitably being marketed at mums - oh can't we all identify with the *hilarious* antics of the working mother? She wants to be the best at everything but ends up in a pickle...with rib tickling consequences.

I can't begin to tell you how patronised I feel at the thought of sitting through this critically panned film.

The book? I hated it. To now see a pampered Hollywood A lister being held up by TV interviewers as some sort of role model? Don't get me started. I care as much about what Sarah Jessica Parker has to say about being a working mum as I do about what Ryan Giggs can offer on long term relationships.

"A Son Is A Son Till He Takes A Wife, A Daughter's A Daughter The Rest Of Her Life?"

I was reminded of this Irish proverb the other week and have been left pondering over it since. As a Mum of 2 boys and 1 daughter I have brought them up the same but will I lose my 2 boys.

My boys are 23 and 21 and Rob and I like to think that we have a good relationship with them. Matthew, our eldest, has now finished University and is back living at home. Alex is going into his 3rd year at University but has until now, more often than not, come home at weekends. At the moment I do think the boys are close to us and hope this remains. They have had various girlfriends, some of whom we like some whilst others we don’t, but still family has been important to them.

New franchisee for Herts crowns a busy start to the month

Wow – it's been all go since we started classes again, and we're off to a flying start, I’m pleased to say.

Having just told you about our two new franchisees, I am thrilled to say we also have Sharon Stephens joining the team, having taken over classes in Hertfordshire.

Sharon is well-versed in the Musical Minis programme, having been a customer in the past!

Her son Monty, who is now 19 months ( and is pictured below with Sharon and dad Paul) is a regular at Musical Minis, and will hopefully now be delighted that mummy is running the group.

Sharon is responsible for the Central and East Herts area, and classes are now up and running, so please get in touch with her to find out what’s going on.

Sharon had been working in the public sector, but since the arrival of Monty, had been hoping to find a career which better fitted around her family, and was thrilled at the chance to work with Musical Minis.

She has seen first-hand how much her son gets out of attending the sessions, and is now very much looking forward to helping many other youngsters benefit too.

Despite being very familiar with our classes, Sharon has been through extensive training, as running the sessions is very different to attending them, and is now delighted to be leading her own groups.

Sharon already has plans to expand further into the Hertfordshire area and open new venues to meet demand – I wish you every success with the venture Sharon, and can’t wait to hear how much you’re enjoying being part of Musical Minis.

We were all extremely sad to learn that Linda Williams, who had been running the franchise since April 2008, had to sell because her son had become ill – it is a terribly difficult time for Linda and her family.  Please know we are thinking about you, and send the whole family our very best wishes.

Two new franchisees for Musical Minis

Phew! Is it that time already?  The summer seems to have flown by - I hope you have all had a fantastic time.

That said, I’m sure lots of little ones are champing at the bit to get back into their normal routine, and we certainly had been looking forward to welcoming everyone back to classes this week.

Something else I’m tremendously excited about is the fact we have been joined by two new franchisees over the summer, which is wonderful news.

Jo Johnston (pictured below) and Gill Turcan (pictured above right ) are now running classes in Gloucestershire and South East Dorset respectively, and we are delighted to welcome them to the team.