Empowering Mums Blog | Cheshire North West UK

Overcoming Childcare Guilt.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:00:54 +0000

Do you remember your childhood summer holidays, when the days were filled with a choice of fun-packed activities or long, lazy lie-ins? Now you’re a mum, it is much more likely that your children’s summer holidays are going to consist of a frenzied attempt at trying to juggle work commitments and fulfilling childcare needs. Top this off with a big helping of Guilt and your dread for this time of year begins!

The summer holidays can be especially difficult for mums trying to maintain a good work/life balance. Try to make a change this year and at the top of your overwhelming Summer Holiday To Do List write, “I am happy with my childcare decisions!”

If you are struggling to eliminate your feelings of guilt entirely, try to see if you can alter your working options. Many employers allow their staff to work flexi-time, allowing you to take time off during holidays in exchange for working weekends. You could also share out your time off with your partner: they could take the first week off, you the next and both together for the final week. That leaves just a short time left to fill with childcare options.

Whenever those pangs of guilt set in, just remember that women all over the world are in the same situation as you. You may be a working mum who missed school sports day due to an important meeting or you might be a stay at home mum who was late to collect your child from playgroup. Whatever your circumstances, life as a busy mum is not easy!

Deciding to return to work after having children is not an easy decision. This is also true of stay at home mums who choose to give up their careers to look after children full time. However you decide to lead your life, you must be happy with your decision. Try not to keep justifying your reasons for working or staying at home: whatever you decide to do will ultimately allow you personally to give the best to your family.

Should you need to organise childcare during the school holidays – or at any other time – you must remember that many studies have shown that the development of children does not suffer if their mother is not their sole carer. The best advice when choosing a childcare provider is to opt for one that understands and acts in accordance with your values. That way you will be able to consistently parent your children even if you are unavailable to do the school run.

Sometimes it is good to evaluate why you are feeling guilty about your decisions about childcare. By re-assessing your situation, you may realise that your childcare provider isn’t living up to the standards you expected they would. You may want to reconsider your work/life balance by opting to work flexi or reduced hours. Or you may be giving yourself a hard time by trying to live up to the expectations and ideals of other people. Aspiring to live according to other people’s values will leave you exhausted and completely unfulfilled, simply because you are not living the life you truly want to lead, but that of someone else’s!

At the heart of the issue of guilt is the fact that many women are trying to achieve Superwoman status. At Empowering Mums we know that a Superwoman status does not exist: it is an objective that is impossible to achieve. Mums should be able to accept that doing their best is good enough. Once you stop expecting so much of yourself, your guilt and any other anxieties will start to dissipate. Once you realise that you can enjoy a good, successful working life balanced with a happy, fulfilled family life these negative thoughts and feelings will vanish altogether, leaving you to look forward to simply enjoying quality time with your children at a time that suits you.

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

If you have enjoyed this article, Empowering Mums produces a free monthly newsletter, Empower, which aims to support mums on their journey towards achieving confidence, balance and joy. Please use the newsletter sign up box to the top right of this screen to subscribe to the latest issue of Empower.

Empowering Mums enables mums to live their dreams and aspirations, to become confident, balanced, fulfilled and happy women. We work by supporting and encouraging mums to take ownership of their lives, make positive changes, fulfil their potential and live their lives to the full, achieving life-long ambitions and goals in all aspects of their life. Become the woman you strive to be and live with intention, not regret! Contact Empowering Mums today on 01606 334 015 or visit www.empoweringmums.co.uk for more information.

Preparing For Holiday Excitement.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:00:47 +0000

The build up to the summer holidays can be overwhelming, especially when you are wondering what to do with your excitable children during the long annual break! Here are some great tips to help you contain your children’s excitement whilst keeping them entertained in the summer sun.

Set Up A Play Room Or Play Area
Children often go from room to room leaving remnants of a whirlwind in their wake. Trying to keep up with the tidying and all your other household chores can be exhausting, especially if you are also juggling other duties such as work responsibilities.

If you’ve the space, set up a play area or play room that the children can concentrate their mess, rather than spreading all over the entire house! Although they can leave games out in this room to continue playing with the next day, it is important you encourage them to put away toys with which they are no longer playing. A great time to have a tidy up session is before tea or bedtime.

Maintain Your Usual Routine

Just because children don’t have to go to school in the morning, they still need vital sleep. During the holidays, children play hard and will probably be worn out by bedtime. Although it’s tempting to allow them an extension to their usual bedtime, maintaining their usual sleep pattern – at night and in the mornings – is extremely beneficial to their overall routine and behaviour. Maintaining a normal sleep pattern will help you get back into the swing of term time come September.

Guard The Cookie Jar

It is sometimes easy to give in to children and ply them with biscuits and sweets during the holidays. However, foods containing high levels of sugar will give your children unnecessary bursts of energy that they find difficult to control. Both you and your children will find these bouts of high energy draining and this is when more demanding behaviour sets in. Try to limit treats to a routine snack time or after their main meal.

Have Fun!

All too often busy mums get stuck in a rut of telling their children to calm down, go and watch the television, or to be quiet. This usually happens when other jobs take priority, such as doing the laundry or vacuuming. Instead of trying to get all your jobs done during the holidays, consider keeping on top of the necessary hygiene jobs only and take a break to play with your children. The summer holidays should allow you to have fun as a family – embrace this opportunity and enjoy some quality time with your family.

Involve The Whole Family.

When planning activities for the summer holidays – from games in the garden to day trips out – ask each family member what they would like to do. Enjoying activities that everyone has chosen will ensure no one gets bored or stops having a good time. This will help prevent any wayward tantrums or unnecessary sulks from occurring.

Allow For Some Time Out.

At Empowering Mums we believe in time out for mums, but during the summer holidays it is important that your children take time out too. Don’t plan too many activities as this can drain the energy and spirits of you all. Instead plan to enjoy some lazy time with your family. You can even make chill out time fun by having a duvet day with the kids or by staying in your pyjamas until lunchtime. It’s not often we get the chance to completely wind down and this is a good time to do it with your loved ones. It also gives you a great opportunity to catch up on lots of cuddles!

Whatever you have planned this summer, try to maintain your regular routine as much as possible but more importantly, have fun and enjoy this great opportunity for quality family time!

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

Improve Your Well-Being And Confidence With Coaching For Mums.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:00:27 +0000

Personal coaching packages tailored specifically for busy mums offer great benefits that boost self-confidence, energy and well-being.

Many mums tend to focus solely on the needs and aspirations of their children. It is common for them to lose sight of the ambitions and goals they had for themselves before they had children. This generous act towards their children might be self-less, but it does little for the self-esteem, well-being and happiness of these women.

If this sounds familiar to you, it is quite possible that your life lacks direction, you often feel out of control and you experience high levels of stress. Personal coaching can help to improve your situation and support you to get your life back on track.

Personal coaching will help you to clearly identify your life-long goals, give you the tools to find ways to achieve them and increase your confidence so you can successfully live the life you truly want to live. By working closely with a personal coach, you will be encouraged to remove any self-doubt and overcome the limiting beliefs that are currently preventing you from attaining your personal goals.

The demands of motherhood often result in mums putting their own goals on hold and they therefore rarely get fulfilled. Personal coaching will give you the skills to re-prioritise your time so your own goals, needs and desires are considered as important as all your ‘motherly’ duties.

Coaching is not to be feared. A personal coach is highly trained and will support you in a non-judgemental manner. Your skills will be quickly identified and highlighted to boost your confidence and encourage you to use them effectively to achieve your goals with vigour and enthusiasm!

If you have a deep desire to pursue a life-long ambition, take up a new hobby, embark on a new career or launch your own business, but you don’t know how to go about incorporating any of these goals into your current lifestyle, personal coaching could be extremely beneficial to your life, success and happiness. With the help of personal coaching, you can renew your zest for life and look forward to a more fulfilled, happier you – and all this before the kids have flown the nest! Empowering Mums can help you to live a fulfilled and happy life. Please contact us today: we would love to support you on a journey that will bring confidence, balance and joy back into your life!

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

Happy Father’s Day!

Tracey Wall — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:00:44 +0000

Empowering Mums would like to send warm wishes to all dads this Father’s Day! We would like to thank you for the fabulous contribution you make to your families’ lives and the fantastic support you give your busy wives or partners.

We hope you have a fun, relaxing day and enjoy spending some quality time with your families on this special day.

Happy Father’s Day!

Make Self-Care A Top Priority!

Tracey Wall — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:00:48 +0000

The role of ‘mum’ is certainly complex! It is a multi-layered function made up of a vast variety of unrelenting roles, duties and tasks. A good definition of the main role of a mum is ‘carer’. We care for the health, education, development, success, shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses of our children. We care about the cleanliness and tidiness of our homes. We care about the needs, happiness and worries of our partners. We care about the well-being of our extended family members. So why do we find it so difficult to care for ourselves?

Women tend to have many reasons for disregarding self-care but here are a few:

-          Lack of time.
-          Lack of self-worth.
-          Procrastination.
-          The belief that the needs of others are greater than our own.

These reasons may feel valid to you but do you also feel worn-out, under-valued, frustrated and unfulfilled? If you are honest with yourself, you are probably feeling a few of these emotions as well as a lot of other negative ones too!

Try practicing this as part of your new belief system: “Self-care leads to happiness. Happiness makes me a better mum.”

When you accept this as being true, you will quickly learn to value self-care and all that it can offer you. You must learn to prioritise moments of time out so you can fulfill your own needs and achieve your own goals.

Do not get caught in the trap of thinking you cannot leave the house else everything will fall apart! Rely on your support network: husband, partner, extended family members and babysitters who can all help to take care of your children while you take some vital time out to care for yourself.

Set aside some time in your diary to do something that will help you to relax, something that you enjoy or something that will help you to attain a certain goal. Ensure whatever it is you do with this time makes you feel good. Prioritise this time and do not cancel it to satisfy the needs of someone else. It is okay to put yourself first sometimes!

Looking after your own needs will invigorate you and restore your energy levels. Allow yourself to focus on your needs so you become a more content woman. A happier woman always makes a better, more loving mum – so what do you have to lose?

If you are desperately in need of time out and want to clearly focus on creating the life you really want, contact Empowering Mums today: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

Celebrate The Woman You Are.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:00:47 +0000

The key to enjoying life confidently and passionately is to celebrate the woman you are! You are many things – a mum, a wife, a partner, a friend, a daughter, a work colleague, a PTA member – and you should be proud of all the things you achieve for yourself and your family on a daily basis.

Being a mum is extremely rewarding but it can be exhausting. When you are so busy attending the needs of others, you can often forget about your own needs and quickly become resentful and under valued. It is important, therefore, to ensure you value yourself, your time and your qualities – doing this will ensure you make the most out of every experience in life.

Evaluate Your Self-Worth
You should ensure you value everything you do and everything about yourself, including anything you ultimately want to change about yourself. Embrace your qualities and acknowledge how much you do for others: this should make you feel very proud of yourself. Avoid worrying about what others might think of you and live life to your own rules. Consider who you really are and what makes you unique – these are the values you should celebrate!

Take Pleasure In Your Achievements
Mums achieve great and mini goals on a daily basis. Take pleasure in your achievements and reward yourself for all the things you feel proud of. You should be able to congratulate yourself with a treat, such as a night out or a few hours curled up with a good book, enabling you to recharge and re-energise yourself!

Live Confidently
Above all, live life according to your own set of values and beliefs. This will help you become a confident, happy and fulfilled woman. Enjoy everything you do and have fun doing it! This is the essence of life and can only be achieved when you are comfortable with who you are.

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

Change Your Mindset For A Healthier You.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 10 May 2010 05:00:29 +0000

With the onset of summer, many of us will be desperately trying out a huge variety of fad diets in an attempt to squeeze into our bikinis and swim suits. However, have you thought about how you want to look when you return from your holidays and beyond?

Changing your mindset about living a healthier life will help you maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, letting you enjoy every aspect of your life without worrying about how you look!

The most successful change will come when you start thinking differently about the way you look and feel. If you truly analyse your self-worth, you should see a successful mum who is managing to juggle a huge variety of roles to keep herself and her children happy. Shouldn’t this be enough to make you feel great about yourself?

With all the responsibilities we have to juggle, it is hardly surprising we struggle to find time to eat healthily and exercise regularly. However, by including all the family in your efforts, you should find changing your mind set about healthy living a fun and easy thing to do!

Healthy Cooking

Healthy cooking is a great skill to learn – for both you and your family. Understanding more about which food groups are good for you and creating nutritious, home-cooked meals can be exhilarating. It can also be fun if you involve the children.

Children love taking part in family activities. If you are making pizzas, for example, let them scatter healthy toppings such as peppers and tomatoes. Pasta and vegetable dishes are also easy solutions to family meal times and children can help with the preparations for these.

Active Living

Exercise needn’t be a drain on you or your finances. Typically when we think of exercises, we assume we must join a gym at great cost. This is simply not true. You should find some active pursuits that you enjoy and ones that can be shared with the whole family. These include:

Family walks in the countryside
Swimming at the weekend
Walking to school
Cycling together
Playing football or netball in the garden
Dancing in the living room to your family’s favourite tunes

The list is endless and you can have lots of fun thinking up ideas as a family. You might find out more about your children and the interests they have by the ideas they have for activities.

Above all, make the change to a healthier you fun! Enjoying activities and healthy food will ensure you maintain this type of lifestyle. The best bit of all is that you will be spending far more quality time with your family than ever before – that’s an extra bonus to the way you’re going to feel about yourself and the confidence you will radiate!

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

Tips To Maintaining A Clutter-Free Home.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:00:59 +0000

If you have de-cluttered your home but are left wondering how you will ever maintain such an organised environment, these tips should help:

1. Avoid bringing more clutter into your home. Purchase only items you need and know you will use.

2. Avoid moving items around your house: put it away in its rightful place immediately or throw it away!

3. Ensure your family takes part in your efforts. Instil in them these essential life skills so they become organised and in control of their surroundings.

4. Tackle one room at a time when cleaning and tidying. This will help you to avoid becoming overwhelmed with any time-consuming tasks.

5. A mini de-clutter at the end of each month or season is a great habit to adopt. It will help you maintain the organisation of each room of your house without allowing the clutter to re-accumulate.

Finally, congratulate yourself on your success in maintaining such a fabulous home and enjoy your spacious surroundings!

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

Empowering Mums Enjoys Cheshire Mind, Body and Spirit Fair

Tracey Wall — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:47:23 +0000

I would like to say a big thank you to all those ladies who came to visit and support Empowering Mums at the Cheshire Mind, Body and Spirit Fair at the Northwich Memorial Hall on Saturday. It was great to meet you all and discuss your individual situations and needs.

Many signed up to our complimentary newsletter Empower, which is packed with topics relevant to mums, how to overcome life’s many challenges, personal development tips, Empowering Mums latest news and special offers.

Look out for your April issue of Empower in your inboxes this week! The next issue of Empower for May 2010 is imminent so keep an eye out for that too as it contains a fabulous Special Offer for all Empower subscribers. Thanks go to all those who purchased the Empowering Mums e-Book’s and booked our Empowering Mums At Home parties. I hope you benefit greatly from the information, techniques and exercises contained within the e-Book’s and I’m very much looking forward to providing a super party for all your friends.

Thanks once again to everyone who came along and supported Empowering Mums. I very much look forward to seeing you all again in 2010. For those who just can’t get enough of us, we will be at the Nantwich Mind, Body and Spirit Fair this coming Saturday 24th April at The Civic Hall, Nantwich – see you there!

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.

De-Clutter Your Mind.

Tracey Wall — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 05:00:45 +0000

When we think of de-cluttering, we tend to concentrate on the physical nature of clutter. However, it is often the emotional impact clutter has on your life that makes it so unbearable.

If your home requires attention, you are probably experiencing feelings of guilt and embarrassment, such as:

How did I manage to accumulate so many unwanted things?
How much money have I wasted?
Why can’t I maintain a tidy home?

The first thing to do when addressing your clutter is to rid yourself of the negative thoughts you are harbouring about your situation. All mums know just how easy it is to get in a mess! Why should your home be any different?

There are many tips Empowering Mums can offer to help you de-clutter your home, but it is essential you acknowledge the affect it is having on your life – your confidence, your self-esteem and your happiness.

Once you have realised how emotionally tied you are to your situation, you can move forward to put it right. Clutter in our homes is usually accumulated for a variety of reasons, including:

Sentimentality
Monetary value
Lack of time
Lack of organisational structure
Associations from the past

The important thing to keep in mind is the question of whether you need a specific item and what it would mean to you to reclaim your space! Once you have cleaned and sorted your home, you will begin to enjoy a harmonious environment, where you can reap the benefits of calmness and tranquillity. It is simply amazing how de-cluttering and becoming organised can make you feel!

For comprehensive help to de-cluttering your home and therefore your mind, Empowering Mums has produced “De-cluttering. Clear Your Space: Clear Your Mind”, a self-study guide. For more information, please visit http://www.empoweringmums.co.uk/Shop/Self-study.php.

Start your journey today – achieve confidence, balance and joy.