What kind of friend are you?

Dec 14, 2014

There are many types of friends out there, but for the sake of this blog, I am only going to list 5 types. Choose which friend you think you are and send this blog to your friends and see what they think.

How do I talk to my teenager?

Dec 7, 2014

Communicating with a teenager can be like banging your head against a brick wall. The parent/teen rivalry has not changed from when I was a teen, but accepting that being a teenager today is different from years ago and so too is the way we communicate. Communicating with your teenager doesn’t mean you have to go out and learn all the new slang (although sometimes that does help a little), it is understanding where they are coming from so the communication between parent and child stays alive.

When you think your teenager won’t listen to you, or you have tried everything to make your teen listen, and things are still not working, maybe it’s time to take advice from the teen’s themselves. Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg has often talked about teens wanting to be treated with respect, wanting to be treated like adults and often feel that they are not being listened to. This of course, must go both ways for a successful connection.

Sunday Morning Envy

Dec 7, 2014

Nothing worse than waking up Sunday morning, checking out social media, only to find everyone you know had a much better night than you.

Yet Another Anti-Bullying Campaign

Dec 1, 2014

It’s true, mum and I have been floating on cloud nine after this happened last night:

https://twitter.com/BarsAndMelody/status/538970020118659072

A few days after we posted our blog Not Just Another Anti-Bullying Campaign, the boys we wrote it about (Bars and Melody) tweeted a link to the blog. Well we flipped obviously! It’s not everyday you get noticed by someone famous. After we got over the initial shock of being tweeted to over 200,000 people, we got more excited when we considered why we would be tweeted about.

Bars and Melody promote anti-bullying, and they’re famous for it. After their performance on Britain’s Got Talent, they went viral. Since then, they have moved on to travelling the globe spreading the word about how bullying affects so many people daily. The fact that these boys who have made it their life mission to support the anti-bullying campaign think that our blog about the topic was worth reading, is amazing.

These boys are really making a positive difference in the world and it feels really good to know that they think our post might help. Mum and I are so excited to know we have so many new readers who are willing to support Bars and Melody (and us of course) in the movement to stop bullying on a global scale.

As a teenager myself, I am surrounded by people who try and tell us their own bullying experiences and telling us to speak up if we are being bullied. As hard as it is to listen to these stories, there is always the thought that they are older than us and my generation doesn’t do that. However, when you hear a boy who is your age say that he was beat up for being different is a real reality check.

It’s really hard to imagine moving on from something like that but Leondre didn’t just move on, he went on to become a huge sensation that works towards stopping things like what happened to him. Well, I can say it’s working. Listening to all the girls talking after they spoke to us at my school, it was obvious that what they had said really stayed with them and probably will for the rest of their lives.

Bars and Melody are following the leads of other famous people who are taking a stand against bullying too. Some of these stars who feel just as strongly about the issue of bullying are Victoria Justice (star of Victorious), Demi Lovato (star who has faced bullying in the public eye as well as in private) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark from the Hunger Games trilogy). As well as these individuals my favourite TV cast, Pretty Little Liars, has come out against bullying.

These particular people stand out to me as people that are doing similar work to Bars and Melody. This is because all of the solo people I spoke about have done TV and radio interviews to promote anti-bullying and have joined organisations devoted to the end of bullying. The Pretty Little Liars cast is different. The entire TV series is devoted to bullying and the impacts it can have on the lives of everyone involved. Its a great TV show to show the effects (whilst extreme) of cyber bullying.

After hearing Bars and Melody talk about bullying, sing their self written songs (did I mention they are 14 and 16 and have written their own song. Can you say talent?) and then have them tweet about my blog post, I can safely say that these two boys are doing a great job to stop bullying. If you haven’t already, I would suggest checking out their audition for Britain’s Got Talent, it really is an inspiring video.

Ciao, Ash

Advice to your mum…

Nov 30, 2014

Here are the best five pieces of advice I can give any mum on how to raise a teenage daughter;

Advice to your son

Nov 23, 2014

This blog is dedicated to a mother/daughter experience. However, after writing a couple of ‘Advice to your daughter’ posts, I have been asked to involve the beautiful boys in giving out advice.

I have two boys, aged 11 years and almost 8 years. Both of my boys are extremely different in all aspects of life – from size, academics and personality. What I would do for one of my boys, I would never consider doing for the other. For example, the 11-year-old remembers everything (not only in his life but in everyone else’s) so I would never spoon feed him information as he would look at me like I was strange. My nearly 8-year-old has blocked ears (I think anyway) as he hears nothing EVER. I need to tell him at least 4-5 times to do something and even then he forgets. Parenting is not an easy job.

So the advice is general, some relates to me, some advice I have received from beautiful friends of boys and other advice is based on research.

My Best Friend

Nov 21, 2014

 

http://www.PreciousMemoriesByNatalie.com.au

Would read this to your BEST FRIEND?

Hot or not??

Nov 20, 2014

Recently I took the family to the races to spend the day with friends. It was a beautiful sunny day, the track was gleaming, the horses were looking powerful and the punters ready to spend up big.

As we settled down in our little spot for the day, I began watching the crowd mingle with each other but more importantly, I was fashion watching. I love to not only see what people are wearing (I try to stay up with fashion) but the way in which the inner fashionista comes out.

Mum or Friend?

Nov 18, 2014

For those of you who love to read our blog, you will clearly see that Ashlea and I are great friends. We have lots in common and for most of the time we get on extremely well. This isn’t hard as Ash is a great kid (or young lady) and easy to communicate with. However, there are times when I need to put my parenting hat on and I am finding this more and more difficult with her.

Advice to your daughter – (No.2)

Nov 16, 2014

As a mother of 2 teenage daughters ( and 2 younger boys but I will get to them later), I have noticed that parenting is getting harder and harder as they age. When I had 4 children 6 and under, I thought it couldn’t get any harder. And that was the case at the time – it was physically exhausting. However, as my children have grown, so have their needs, mainly emotional needs and I need to be there for them more now than ever.

I am living through this stage but I have also done extensive research about helping other parents survive the teenage years. I have devised another 5 tips on keeping that parallel connection with your daughter.