10 Easy Ways to Relax in Just 10 Minutes

 When we entered lockdown back in March, everyone talked about having so much free time, but this wasn't the case for everyone. We might have been home more, but educating children, working from home, and other new unforeseen demands all meant that for some, life never really slowed down. Now we're back in another lockdown, and it's worse because many are still at work, but the kids are getting sent home for isolation, so there's that, Christmas needs preparing for, with pressure to make this Christmas special to make up for the rubbish year (especially for me, because my son's birthday was the first day of the first lockdown and it sucked!) and it's all so stressful!! Here are ten ways to relax in just ten minutes. I'll be over here, under a blanket.

Five Fun Long Distance Lockdown Date Ideas

 

“If the two halves of a couple are currently in separate households, ideally they should stay in those  households… for quite a significant period going forwards, they should test the strength of their relationship and decide whether one wishes to be permanently resident in another household.” This was Dr Jenny Harries, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, answer to a question on whether couples who lived apart could socialise under new restrictions. My heart sank when I heard her answer, not for us, but for the couples who are just starting out, who might still be showing their best side only, not daring to fart in front of the other and now their very new, shiny relationship is about to hit a mountain size road bump, completely out of their control.

How to Make this Christmas Extra Special

 

This year more people than ever are finding themselves separated for long periods and long-distance relationships are becoming unavoidable. This means that Christmas shopping habits may be a little different, with the focus on items that are digital or easy to post. It's easy to think that Christmas will be less of an occasion this year, because of all the restrictions in place, but I hope it can be an opportunity to do things a little differently and embrace traditions that have been lost to commercialism over the years. If there's one thing this year has taught us, it's that we have a lot to be thankful for and we can often make the best of our situation and find joy in the small things. Here are some ideas to make Christmas extra special this year, despite what December has to throw at us! 

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Four Tips to Thrive with Chronic Illness

 

Today I am welcoming guest poster Patti Kaye to the blog, to talk about living with Chronic Illness. She  has been a huge inspiration to me and is just an all-round lovely person, so I hope she can inspire you too, whether you live with a chronic illness yourself, or know someone who does and want to learn more about it. She lives in British Columbia, Canada and has lived with the effects of MS for twelve years. Whilst this caused her to have to give up her teaching job and was devasting at the time, she has resolved to approach life in as optimistic and high spirited way as she can, which I think is a brilliant outlook to have and something I really aspire to do myself. 

Review of the Mindscreen Experience for Children Part 2

In my first review of the Mindscreen Experience Toolkit, I covered my first impressions of the site and my thoughts on the early stages of the Mindscreen process. Today, I'm going to cover the first four sessions, including the lesson plans and organisation of the program. All opinions are my own and based on our experience. The lessons are not long, or difficult, but my son is 14 and generally allergic to anything that resembles learning or education, so he is not the most willing of subjects, but there is lots of guidance to help with keeping children motivated in the parent guides and I've included some tips to get your unwilling participants participating fully in the activities.  

Inexpensive Chidren's Bedroom Ideas

A big financial challenge when raising children is keeping up with their interests and, dare I say it, 'fads'. It's not unreasonable to expect a child to go through their interests quite quickly, as they change from being little children to almost-adults in a few short years. There's a lot of pressure from their peers, too, so subjects that were once everything to them can suddenly seem babyish and uncool. So how do you create a bedroom that will stand the test of time without needing completely revamping every time they go through a new phase? Having raised a couple of teenagers now, I've put together some inexpensive children's bedroom ideas to keep things current without breaking the budget or creating a lot of work for yourself.