I’m teetering on the edge of controversy here! so here’s the scenario. It’s 6.15 on monday morning and you just heard your childcare plans for the day have just fallen apart. Who do you call? Natch Riverside Nannies is your first port of call! But lets say you go down the other route and ask the super heroes that live amongst us mere mortals. You ask your mum/dad or mum/dad-in-law. You know the scene, you pick up the phone trying to suppress the rising anxiety in your voice. Ring,ring, do you start with Helllpppp I’m in trouble or do you go for the more casual – do you by any chance fancy throwing your clothes on, grabbing a polystyrene cup of tea and taking 3 trains followed by a walk for the very fit in order to get to my home by 7.30 so I can still go to work today? And here’s why the super heroes are just that – they say ‘of course I will’ and arrive on time. You come home half hoping that as well as doing the childcare stuff your super hero also felt inclined to knock up some supper, run a wash of countless baby grows and leave the sink free of dishes.

So why the controversy?  have you ever thought to check about their actually ability (that’s aside from the presumption of them having oodles of love to offer – for the sake of ease lets take that as a given) are you all on the same page when it comes to whether a baby should be settled on its back or side, what happens if the baby doesn’t settle down for the mid morning nap… you get it ….lots of areas where views can be profoundly different. Asking for help and then being fussy about the type of help you are getting is hard to manage without appearing to be ungrateful/untrusting especially if you add into the dynamic daughter and daughter-in-law.

We’ve been racking our brains how to help and we’ve devised a series of sessions to help where mum and family helper can attend together. Different topics are covered and there is the option to take this in combination Paediatric First Aid – can anyone seriously justifying leaving your child with someone who hasn’t done this these days? Plus on-line course which you can do together (what a great way to use this as a springboard for discussion. The on-line course is available world-wide.

Love to hear your stories and advice

Over on our Facebook page we’ve just posted a piece about what your smile says about you – check it out at http://www.facebook.com/nannytraining . I’m always interested in body language with my interview technique hat on.  The impression you make in those first few minutes – actually first 4 minutes profoundly effects how the interviewer perceives you. What that impression gives is an incite to your attitude and general demeanor. Your CV tells the technical stuff – knowledge and skills. Your body language is a window into your attitude. The interviewer is  unlikely to be a student of body language but they will innately get a vibe about you – positive or negative, and that will colour the whole interview and their ultimate decision.

I’m really keen on body positive stuff – and no it’s absolutely nothing to do with dress or suit size!  If you are interested in a small group or one to one training session, knock us an email and we can tailor-make something for you.

riversidechild@btconnect.com

Our headlines have been full recently with tales of racism, petulant behavior by what should be role models of the english game and court cases. But football really can be the beautiful game. Recently I came across a Unicef initiative which reminds us about the best the game can be. I wanted to share this with you.

Unicef together with FIFA have created a meaningful campaign supporting children who live in some of the worlds most troubled and dangerous places. We all agree that every child is entitled to a life of peace, health and dignity. In what has become the largest pledge campaign for children in history, people both young and old have declared their support for 10 imperatives for ensuring a better world for children and young people.

The initiative is called ‘Say Yes for Children.It has identified the most urgent issues facing children in countries such as Sudan, Afganistan and Liberia, with education and HIV/AIDS ranked among those most critical.

The convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right to play and recreational activities to all children. However, according to Unicef, millions of children are denied this right, never experiencing this vital aspect of their development because of war, disease and poverty.

Unicef is also targeting ‘hard to reach’ young people – driven from their homes by war, using programmes involving football to help them to reclaim their childhood.

Football can help with build self-esteem and encouraging teamwork which is so invaluable when attempting to build a meaningful peace.

Just tweeted a neat article about why we don’t look like our siblings- there’s a really neat explanation for why one child might be a freckly red head and another black haired with a different skin tone. I love it when things are explained in ways a layman can understand

Yesterday was holocaust memorial day. The United Nations held a special memorial service I was privileged to attend which particularly focused on the 1.5 million children who perished. The two hour ceremony was a mixture of speeches and music and included some stories of individual children. As our focus on this blog is children and the welfare of children and families I am adding a link to the webcast of the event. Do try and watch at the 50 minute mark a Child Psychologist who was hidden as a child with a christian family. It gives an incredible and deeply moving insight to the traumatic effects of being hidden as a child. Here’s the link

http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/2012/webcast.shtml

The UN is also launching a series of publications and material about a boy called Peter Ginz a 13 year old boy from Prague who wrote in his diary of the better world he dreamed of. Aged 14 he was separated from his family and sent to a transit camp and aged 16 he was sent to Auschwitz where he was immediately murdered. Peter’s writing is a powerful glimpse into how a young person trys to grapple with a world turned upside down and where he and his family have no control.

http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/2012/educational_petrginz.shtml

Having spent a lifetime of taking vitamin pills only to hear they may not be all they are cracked up to be, I now discover Placenta Pills otherwise known as placenta encapsulation.The companies that create these capsules suggest that they help in a variety of ways including warding off post natal depression. Honestly I don’t know what to think. If you’re brave you will google placenta encapsulation and then click Images – that well and truly sorts out the would be chefs from the faint-hearted.  Tell us what you think and natch any  recipe suggestions will be seriously considered.

and it appears there’s even a must buy for a baby shower item The Placenta Cookbook

http://nymag.com/news/features/placenta-2011-8/

It’s a sort of literary version of what not to wear!

Don’t:

Use Colour it doesn’t always react as you wish when printed or up on a screen

Use jokes

Use photo’s of you or anyone else what ever their age and however cute they are

State your age – some HR departments simply will not read your CV for fear they may unwittingly discriminate

It’s such a dilemma – you hated your last job and it didn’t end on a good note. Your employer probably won’t give you a glowing reference unfair as it may be as you did work hard. So what do you do on your CV – lie? leave the job out?  no your instinct is right – the truth is the best way  - why…. well you could forget that you forgot about the job on your CV and somewhere way down the line you might slip up and mention the job or someone who knew you turns up and unwittingly tells your new employer. The only thing that looks bad then is you. Be brave and frank at interview. Of course you are up to a point bound by confidentiality about how another setting works so you could say the job did not go well but make clear there were not any safety issues or disciplinary measures,just an unhappy time in the wrong job. And remember somewhere along the line we all have had a job we didn’t like – its the facts of life and any reasonable employer will understand that.

Loved this cartoon says it all about those very special days at work!!