Six Futures We Really Need To Plan More For

We spend a lot of our time wondering about the future. Many of us worry about the future, but not specifically.

We go through life with a set of small anxieties in the back of our mind that never really go away. Not unless we take action to take care of it.

For ourselves, our family and children, we need to think more about our future.

Here are six things we should be taking action over.

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Our finances 

We might try to be frugal and save money where we can. Especially if we want to put towards our savings. But our spending always has a way of creeping up on us. Particularly when the children are involved.

If you’ve been burned by overspending one time too many, it might be time to do it properly.

Prepare a budget as http://smallnotebook.org/2008/09/30/your-family-budget-step-by-step/ shows and stick to it. This budget should allow space for the nice things, but focus on the necessities.

Our parents 

When you grow more as an adult, if your parents are still with you they become a sense of worry. Or at least some apprehension about the future.

It’s a possibility that we should accept that in future they may need care. Care we might not be able to provide. Be prepared to talk to your aging parents about their retirement living and care.

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Our health 

A lot of us have followed the advice we’ve received about life to the fullest and seizing the moment in our youth. Whilst we wouldn’t take that back for anything, now’s the time we should focus more on our health.

As www.claybrooke.org.uk/high-blood-pressure-and-cholesterol-life-insurance shows, certain health risks can affect our life insurance. Our health no longer influences just us but how we can take care of others in our lives as well.

Our legacy

Speaking of the others in our lives, we spend a lot of time worrying about what we leave behind us for them. Not just in terms of the lessons we impart, but our legacy in value, too.

If we have valuable assets, we want to make sure they pass to the people we care about. The Money Advice Service can help you ensure everything’s prepared for them.

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Our children’s competence

Raising children is by no means easy. It takes hard work and a very keen eye to just feed, clothe and protect them. But we should also be preparing our children for life.

Competence and self-confidence are part of a self-feeding loop. Yet many parents only focus on one part of the equation. Make sure you take the time to guide your child with helpful skills.

Our guiding hand 

Making sure our child is able and confident isn’t the only thing we do for them, of course.

In a lot of ways, we act as their guiding hand.

One of the parts of our legacy we would like to leave behind is children who will do good in the world. But we don’t have to wait until they’re grown up.

Get them involved in helping people through things like volunteering early. That way we won’t have to worry quite so much about the future.

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How To Talk To Ageing Parents About Retirement Living & Care

Talking to your parents about how they wish to live and be cared for during their retirement is vital.

You understandably want to respect their wishes and make the later years in their lives as comfortable as possible. But that doesn’t mean that this is an easy conversation to have.

Some parents may not like the role reversal and some children may find it upsetting to talk about.

While it may be difficult, it’s essential that you take the time to do it now rather than later. To give you some much-needed advice, use the suggestions in this guide to help you.

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Be patient and understanding 

The best way of starting a conversation as important as this is by being honest.

Let your parents know that you are concerned about their health and well-being and want to help them get organised.

You may find they have made some initial plans or know how they want to be cared for or where they want to live. But you may also find that they are not currently willing to discuss it.

Be patient and don’t be too forceful. Remember that this is a sensitive issue for them too.

But now that you have set the ball rolling, it may make them realise they need to make necessary preparations. So don’t give up, but be gentle and understanding in your approach.

Know where their important documents are kept

Another way of starting the conversation is by asking where their documentation is kept. This should include wills, insurance details and their doctor’s contact number.

Explain that it’s important for you to know where they are kept, just in case they are in an accident or become ill.

This can give you the perfect opportunity to determine what has been arranged and what hasn’t.

For instance, you may find that your parent’s wills are no longer relevant and need to be updated. You can then suggest helping them get everything up to date and prepared.

This should then naturally start the discussion of how they want to spend their later years.

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Talk through their options 

Some elderly parents may not want to talk about retirement living and care because they don’t know what options are available to them. So visit informative sites like Churchill Retirement and show them the facilities and homes that are available. 

Or you could call care providers who could visit them at home each day or organise a consultation face to face. 

Gather plenty of information and talk through all of the options with them. They will appreciate the trouble you have gone to and the research will help them make a more informed decision. 

Ask them what they would like and listen carefully to their answers. Even if it’s not the answer you want to here, again remember to be patient. 

Whether it’s health issues, financial concerns or living needs, it’s always better to talk while your parents are still able. 

That way you can help them make the necessary arrangements that will make their lives easier and more enjoyable as they get older.

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How Do You Tackle The School Run?

For some reason the media seems a little bit obsessed with the morning school run at the moment. If they’re not reporting on parents being banned from wearing pyjamas at the school gates, they’re now musing about the time we spend getting the kids ready before the bell goes.

Are you organised for the school run?

Hitting the headlines recently has been a debate about the ultra organised, which appears to have first stemmed from this Australian blogger’s post about her personal approach to school organisation, which involves setting up a special headquarters in her home that’s exclusively dedicated to school prep.

It’s a rather nifty idea that many other mums and dads across the globe also seem to have put into action into varying degrees and as articles about the post gained momentum, parents started sharing their own hints and tips for tackling the school run more smoothly.

Feeling inspired? This post will explore the age-old problems that cause parents stress on weekday mornings and offer simple solutions to help you triumph.

Setting up a school station

Setting up a special zone where you keep kids school bags, coats and shoes along with other items such as letters from school, reading books and brollies might at first seem a little extreme. But be honest, how many times have you been late out the door because someone’s shoe had gone missing?

It is of course possible to get everything ready without having a special area of the house dedicated to it, but designating a space to that particular purpose will hopefully stop the chaos spreading and encourage responsibility among children to keep their kit in order!

If you don’t have a dedicated porch or utility room to convert you consider sectioning off a segment of your hallway. You could do this simply with a curtain or install some internal bi-fold doors then if things do start becoming a little bit messy, at least you can close things off.

Ultra-organised mums recommend dividing kids school kit into separate shelves or lockers or using hooks at different levels to create special spots for each child to get ready to leave the house. These IKEA shelves have little cupboards already built in.

Labelling each child’s shelf or hooks and putting up a simple schedule that shows their activities for each day of the week will remind them what they need to back on what day, which should mean less time spent chasing children with PE kits.

Along with their regular weekly routine, you could also include a place where they can record ad hoc weekly activities such as school trips or non-uniform days.

The school run rules

Do you have particular rules that you follow as a family each morning or evening? Perhaps each child is responsible for their own packed lunch? Does homework have to be checked and transferred to schoolbags before bedtime? Do smartphones stay off until everyone is packed up and ready to go?

Maybe you have a quick chat with your little ones before bed to make sure everyone is on track for a fuss free exit? Or perhaps you all have set bathroom times?

We all have little rules that we try and stick to, sometimes they work and others they go out the window but how do you make sure they’re drilled into everyone? Would you go as far as having them printed and put on display?

How much help is too much?

While ultra organisation undoubtedly saves precious time in the mornings and might prevent a row or two also, there has been some debate over just how much of a head start you should give kids with getting ready.

By putting together rules and regulations and specialist school stations, are we taking responsibility away from children and stopping them from developing their own solutions and strategies?

There’s definitely an argument that time saved getting ready means more quality time as a family elsewhere and there’s got to be something said for having parents that are less stressed too.

Technically, a lot of the responsibility for getting things ready could still fall with the kids, leaving you to check things over before departure, but does ultra organisation stop kids from thinking for themselves?

Oh to be organised!

What do you think? Does it pay to be super organised in the morning? Do you already have your own school station in place in your home or perhaps a set of published rules or a timetable for getting ready? What works for you and your kids?

*collaborative post

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It's School Holiday Time - Will You Avoid The Grimness Of Soft Play?

It struck me the other day whilst thinking of ways to entertain the kids over the Easter Holidays that I have reached a watershed in parenting.

The kids are now at that age when they are a bit too big for soft play - both in age and size.

Previously in my parenting career, soft play centres were a necessary evil - the location for many a loud and boisterous child's party coupled with the chance to be ignored by the various tribes of school mums in a completely different location.

Still, there was usually WiFi and coffee.

Leaving aside the small mortgage these places seem to demand for the privilege of risking anything from a verucca to a moderate personal injury claim, these are my top gripes.

There's never enough staff to supervise.

Once your kids' shoes have been chucked into the grubbiness of an ancient IKEA plastic bucket, you're on your own.

The age range of the kids is always 'variable'

I swear some of the kids I've seen in our local soft play centre have the beginnings of stubble or breasts.

Is a soft play centre really somewhere for pre-teens to hang out?

Discipline is a dirty word

Should you dare raise your voice to your child you are regarded balefully as someone who must be on a social services register somewhere.

You have to sort out any bullying

Equally, should your child be picked on, the parents will be so attached to their phones the chance of them removing their child are zero.

Which you do at your own risk....

On the other hand, if they do notice, you can bet it will be your child who is at fault.

They polish the slides

At least our local centre does.  I once unwisely joined Ieuan on the slide and came down it so fast I nearly ended up back in reception.  (See I told you some of the 'kids' had breasts).

A word to the wise - a little bit of limp netting at the bottom of the slide is not going to stop an 140 lb adult at speed.

They will get stuck at the highest point on the climbing frame.

From which location they will remain tearfully mute and petrified until you crawl up the three flights of frame to get them, knocking smaller children aside in your haste to rescue your offspring and discovering your bottom seems somehow too large to fit through the entry points.

Once you get there said child will be totally fine and leave you there like a breathless lump.

The loo roll has vanished by 10 am

I suspect there are some kids who have started their own black market trade in ultra thin loo roll, along with other basic necessities such as paper towels and door locks.

Changing Mats

I don't know why they both buying these in any colour other than brown or off yellow because that's invariably the colour they turn.

You will face the terror of the vending machine

Stickers and those strange plastic things in eggs will tempt your child to ask for £1 at approximately 10 minute intervals until you give in.

There's candy floss

Why,  I have no idea.  Whoever thought it a good idea to let kids work themselves up into a lather and then go home on a sugar high is either not a parent or is at war with Jamie Oliver.

But there's zilch for you to eat

Our local centre will charge you a £1 for a frankfurter sausage slapped in the middle of a dry hot dog roll.  No butter.  No garnish.  Not even a slice of tomato.

The Husband says I'm weird for buttering my hot dog rolls but you have to eke out some miserly pleasure whilst your tinnitus is screaming and you are having an anxiety attack because you haven't seen your kids for the last 15 minutes (since they asked for a plastic egg and candyfloss).

The music is loud enough to make your ears bleed

Why?  Do they not know about protecting kids' ears?  Or mine come to that.  Having to listen to "Let It Go" for the millionth time at a volume which makes a pneumatic drill seem like a chirping cricket is sheer pergutory.

On the plus side though at least you can let your kids run free with their mates in an environment where any spats of a more violent nature can be dealt with.

Despite the fact the coffee would normally dissolve metal, at least you can get a caffeine fix and plan the rest of your week.

Unless there's a zip wire.  In which case the next two hours will require you to stand sentinel like and fully alert in case of the inevitable health and safety incident.

And that's just the Husband.

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4 Types of Social Media Kiss You Should Probably Stop Giving xxx

I found myself the other day adding a kiss to a tweet to a company with whom I was trying to develop a professional relationship.

Pucker up - but not on your timeline

Actually, it would be truer to say I was unable to stop myself from doing it.

We use them everywhere don't we?  Those little xxx appear like chicken pox spots and once they start appearing, it's very difficult to curb the rash.

It seems to be women who are the main culprits.  Men don't seem to feel the urge to express their undying love for someone who is about to sell them double-glazing or fix their tyres.

And why do we do it?

I think there are 4 types of social media 'kiss'

1.  The "Look-At-Me" Kiss
2.  The "Please-Like-Me" Kiss
3.  The "I Have No Clue How To End This Message" Kiss
4.  The Passive Aggressive Kiss

The "Look At Me" Kiss

There are those who style themselves as the most popular people on the internet and have to adorn every message with a row of x-kisses - using an exciting blend of upper and lower caps just for effect.

These are the social media fans who will generally include more emoticons than words in their message so that if, like me, most emoticons are a bit of a mystery (apart from the poo one), you really haven't a clue how they are feeling.

Your general impression is that they are crying their eyes out next to a glass of wine and a poo whilst the weather in their area is quite sunny.

 The "Please Like Me" Kiss

These people use x-kisses as subtext for " I am really a very nice person and you should follow me / like me / stumble my post on Ancient Peruvian knitting techniques".

X-kisses pepper their conversation in the most odd ways and are usually spotted in random Facebook status updates and tweets.

"I am now going to send my gas meter reading to the gas board.  How about you?  xxx"

These people also post lots of pictures of puppies and kittens.

The "I Have No Clue How To End This Message" Kiss

This one is particularly dangerous because if you are not paying attention it can appear in your professional emails.

"I feel I am eminently qualified for this position as I have designed a unique gadget to recycle solar energy in greensheds" xxx

In fact, I suspect I sometimes type it automatically.

"Please can I reschedule my dental appointment on Tuesday because the kids have locked me in our spare room?" x

The thing is, it looks a bit, well, lame outside of the touchy-feeling, multi-photo-posting world of your family and friends on Facebook.

But "yours sincerely" and "yours faithfully" don't seem to fit either.

The Passive Aggressive Kiss

Ah, the one you really need to look out for.  Do you ever find that, even though you could be seething at someone, you still have to add a 'x' at the end of your message just in case.

Just in case of what is the question?  Just in case you upset them?  Just in case you are unjustified in being annoyed?

You can normally spot these passive-aggressive little kiss-bombs a mile off - for example

"I just thought I ought to let you know that you have used a semi colon incorrectly in line 5 of your blog post"  xxxxx

"That looks a very nice lipstick shade but I think a neutral would make you look much younger" XxXxX

There's little doubt that recruiters and employers are seeking employees with a good command of their native language - written, rather than texted.

The unfortunate leakage of "LOL" or the completely unhilarious "ROFL" and acronyms such as IUSWIM (if you see what I mean) or AIBU (am I being unreasonable) really don't belong in professional correspondence either.

It looks even weirder if you are no longer a teenager.

And, even though we social media addicts feel compelled to "share the love" with our little keyboard kisses, there's a time and a place.

You can't imagine Ariana Huffington or Anna Wintour ending a message with kisses, can you?

XxXxXxX

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New Releases/Free & Bargain Books Link-up 25 March 2016

Sharing the Love of Books
Enjoy our selection of New Releases / Free & Bargain Books this week

Click HERE for this week's awesome selection.

Authors please feel free to add your own books
Readers please free to add your own finds
(any genre except erotica welcome)

This weekly link up is hosted by Beck Valley Books & these awesome book loving blogs...
Monday
 Life as Leels | IrishdaisylovesRomance | Book Babble | All Romance Reader
Tuesday
It's My Side of Life | Celticlady's Reviews | First Time Mommy Adventures | Bound 2 Escape
Wednesday
Beck Valley Books | A Library of Reviews | Cinnamon Hollow Reviews
Thursday
Miki's Hope | Taking Time for Mommy | Nicki's Nook
Friday
Ebook Addicts | I Love Romance | A Bit Bookish | Mother Distracted | Colorimetry
Saturday
Totally Addicted to Reading | 3 Partners in Shopping | Angie's Angle | I Creat Purty Thangs | Wishful Endings
Sunday
Lynchburg Mama | LibriAmoriMiei | Ali - The Dragon Slayer | Wondermom Wannabe | My Bizzy World |  Deal Sharing Aunt 

For Pre-orders post - PRE-ORDER / genre / title /author

For New Releases post - NEW / genre / title / author

For Free Books post - FREE / genre / title / author / end date 

For Bargain Books post - SALE / price / genre / title / author / end date
(Strictly no Erotica please.  Steamy romance is fine but watch those covers people, incase any underage child is viewing it!)

Click HERE for this week's awesome selection.

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The Easter Bunny Springs Into Action At National Trust & Win A Family Weekend Pass

The Easter Bunny has kicked off his 2016 schedule in style, with the National Trust unveiling a show-stopping giant topiary bunny at Stourhead, in Wiltshire.

The Easter Bunny makes first stop at Stourhead to kick off the National Trust’s nationwide Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts 

The topiary bunny has been created to celebrate the ninth year of the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts.

The hunts will be taking place at 271 National Trust locations over the Easter weekend (25-28 March).

He is set to deliver 362,592 chocolate bunnies to 271 National Trust places around the country. 

Families are invited to unleash their inner explorer at these adventurous hunts taking place across the country.

Stourhead, known to many as the location of the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice, played host to the Cadbury Easter Bunny’s first destination this year, as he begins his nationwide tour to generate excitement ahead of the upcoming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

The iconic gardens and Palladian mansion, given to the conservation charity in 1946, is just one of the locations providing a beautiful backdrop for an Easter day out.

At a towering height of 8ft, the frame of the impressive topiary bunny, celebrating the Cadbury Easter Bunny’s visit, took a whopping three days to create. If laid flat, the length of the steel wire used for this creation would be that of two football pitches!

His accompanying 4ft friends used the combined talents of a team of four over a five day period, using enough wire to cover the length of a further five football pitches in the process.

Hoping to delight children and families alike this Bank Holiday Weekend, the smaller topiary bunnies will be on display at Wimpole, Stowe, Killerton, Castle Ward, Fountains Abbey, Hardwick Hall and Tredegar House.

The Easter bunny has been very busy indeed, delivering an impressive 362,592 Cadbury Dairy Milk Bunnies around the UK. Visitors to National Trust places across the Easter holiday weekend will be able to take part in special Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts, with every child receiving a Cadbury chocolate treat for getting involved.

With over 270,000 people getting involved in a Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt last year, and over 3 million people welcomed to participating National Trust places over the Easter weekend, the charity is hoping for another great turnout.

You can find your nearest hunt here: Cadbury.co.uk/Easter or check the list of participating properties below.

Scroll down and you can also find out how to win one of two Family Weekend Passes.

Participating Properties

Castle Ward, County Down
Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt at the Easter Fair, 27 – 28 March, 12pm – 6pm

There’s a mystery to be solved at Castle Ward and we need your help! The Easter Bunny has hidden clues all over the front lawn, can you solve the puzzle? You’ll be rewarded with a tasty Cadbury chocolate treat at the end. Stick around afterwards for a whole day of fun at the Easter Fair. Visit Phil's Farm, take part in the chicken run race and tuck into some delicious local food. Price: £8 per adult, £3.80 per child (normal admission charges apply) www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-ward 

Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, North Yorkshire 
Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, 25 March – 10 April, 10am – 4pm

I spy with my little eye… an Easter bunny! This spring at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal little bunnies have been hoppety-hopping around the estate. Head over bridges of the river Skell, explore around every corner of the Abbey ruins, and follow the waterways of the Georgian gardens to find them and get a yummy Cadbury chocolate treat. There’ll be lots of family fun along the way too, including crafts in Swanley Grange and a brand new adventure playground. Price: £2 per hunt (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01765608888 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fountains-abbey

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire 
Cadbury Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt at Hardwick, 25 – 28 March, 11am – 4pm

Get outdoors at Hardwick Hall this Easter and grab a trail sheet for the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt. See if you can follow the clues that will lead you around the house, garden and Lady Spencer's Wood, and then collect a delicious chocolate treat at the end. After you’ve had your fill of chocolate why not seek out more adventures with the ‘Famous Five’-inspired trail or try your hand at some special Easter crafts. Price: £3 per hunt (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01246 850430 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hardwick-hall

Killerton, Devon 
Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, 19 March – 17 April, 11am – 4pm 

Visit Killerton this Easter to explore the estate in search of mysterious clues left by the Easter Bunny. The egg hunt will lead you along winding paths through wild woodlands and blooming orchards to find the Bear's hut, ice house and chapel. There’s a yummy chocolate treat to tuck into at the end, so what are you waiting for? Price: £2.50 per child (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01392 881345 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton

Stourhead, Wiltshire Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, 25 - 28 March, 11am – 4pm 

Take a trip to Stourhead this Easter where egg hunters can explore through towering trees, by mystical grottoes and past a glittering lake. Make a day of it and bring a picnic, best enjoyed on the rolling lawns with views that stretch across the Wiltshire countryside. Afterwards, keep the family fun going and play giant games in the garden. Price: £2.50 per hunt (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01747 841152 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead

Stowe, Buckinghamshire 
Stowe’s Sleeping Beauty Quest - Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, 25 - 28 March 10am-4.30pm

This Easter embark on a quest to awaken Sleeping Beauty from her slumber, and in return claim your delicious chocolate treat. Fairy-tales, myths and legends have been weaved through the garden, where chivalrous knights and courageous princesses will hunt for clues. The quest will take you past mystical lakes and deep into the Sleeping Wood to claim your egg and finish on a happily ever after. Price: £2.50 per hunt (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01280 817156 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stowe

Tredegar House, Monmouthshire 
Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, 25 – 28 March, 11am – 4pm

The Easter Bunny has been up to his old tricks again at Tredegar House. He's left a trail of clues around the garden for you to follow. Solve the puzzle to claim your chocolate treat, then why not explore the rest of the estate? There’ll be loads of other Easter crafts and activities to try your hand at. Price: £2 per hunt (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01633 815880 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/tredegar-house

Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire 
Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, 25 March – 8 April, 10.30am - 4.15pm

Take a trip to this beautiful country home complete with a working farm and resident bunnies. Rhyming clues will lead you on an egg hunt around the gardens, but to claim your chocolate treat you’ll have to find the hidden magic word. Price: £2 per hunt (normal admission charges apply) For more information, please call 01223 206000 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wimpole-estate

The National Trust is a conservation charity founded in 1895 by three people who saw the importance of our nation’s heritage and open spaces, and wanted to preserve them for everyone to enjoy. More than 120 years later, these values are still at the heart of everything the charity does.

Entirely independent of Government, the National Trust looks after more than over 600,00 acres of countryside, 775 miles of coastline and hundreds of special places across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Over 20 million people visit every year, and together with 4.5 million members and over 62,000 volunteers, they help to support the charity in its’ work to care for special places forever, for everyone.

For more information and ideas for great seasonal days out go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

I have two free Family Weekend Passes (2 winners) up for grabs for you and your family to enjoy at your convenience (though please note this would not be redeemable on a Bank Holiday weekend).

Entry is via the Rafflecopter widget.  UK entrants only and terms & conditions apply.  One entry per household.  The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm on Friday 8th April.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and happy egg hunting!

More free competitions at www.theprizefinder.com

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