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Bringing up a child today is full of dilemmas. We are blessed with a multitude of information, choice and options for our children – more than any other generation has experienced. But has all this choice resulted in us overloading our children?

From birth, there are endless activities and toys for your child. From baby swimming classes, to baby gym sessions, tiny tot music classes, jolly jumpers and tummy time contraptions, swings and rockers with lots of colourful toys – our children are spoilt for choice. And so are our wallets!

One year old birthday parties have become almost like organizing a wedding! From bouncy castles, to personalised, handcrafted invitations to clowns, an animal farm or a magician, it is no wonder the parents are often exhausted and sometimes poorer for the experience.

It seems that in the never-ending quest to keep up with society, our children are being exposed to so much more than their parents or grandparents ever were. And this gets worse as our children get older. After school activities may include music lessons, sports and art classes. Weekends are spent ferrying our kids back and forth from various appointments and gatherings. School excursions are a trip to France or Japan – gone are the days where they would be a simple night away in your local area!

Where are the quiet times at home with the grandparents, or just enjoying family time together?

Do our kids need to be stimulated or exposed to so many experiences all the time?

Whatever happened to just “growing up”; playing in the park and family game nights?

At the end of the day, what is important is the family unit and family values. The best gift we can give our children is the values of respect, love, honesty, integrity and responsibility. And time together.

Here’s hoping that in all the “noise” of our modern day lives, these core values don’t get lost.

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I was thinking about this the other day, after listening to more economic news: what sorts of industries thrive in a recession?

1. Fast food: this is a no-brainer. People will visit restaurants less often as they are trying to reduce their discretionary spend and will substitute this with take-out. It is no wonder that Dominos, KFC etc are showing revenue growth in this climate!

2. Entertainment zones: Timezone, pinball palours and the like will do well as people reduce their spending on movies and turn to cheaper forms of entertainment.

3. DIY: what better way to save money then to fix things yourself? The hardware industry should be reaping the rewards of people deciding to try some DIY

4. Home based business ventures: people that sell home based business start up kits should do especially well in today’s climate. It is not surprising that more and more people are looking for new ways to make money.. and whilst we are on this topic…

5. Internet marketing: definitely! With people either being retrenched, disilluioned or with more time on their hands, they are turning to internet marketing in droves.

6. Hobby businesses: businesses that are started and run from the kitchen/study/garage are exploding right now. With people losing their jobs, more and more are starting up small hobby businesses at home.

7. Businesses supporting hobby businesses: from people creating websites for new home based businesses, to technical support and business advice, these businesses should do well off the back of the hobby businesses.

8. Franchises: People want to be more in control of their destinies and franchises fulfil this desire by providing an established business model with a recognizable brand.

What other industries do you think do particularly well in a recession? And if you are in one of the above industries, how has the recession affected you?

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I have recently discovered the wonders of Outsourcing – it is truly an amazing thing and makes me realise how much technology has evolved and crossed boundaries.

We have been liaising with an IT company in India to develop our website for our new educational product and have been using Skype to discuss and send information over to them in real time.

We had been struggling to find someone local to develop a website for us that:

1. Was not flat out or too busy to return calls (I still can’t get over the lack of customer service in today’s world – but that is a topic for another post!)
2. Did not charge us exorbitant amounts of money for a simple website.

So thank goodness for outsoucing sites like: Odesk, elance, rent a coder etc which allowed us to find someone at a reasonable price and with a great turnaround.

For those that haven’t though about outsourcing, here are some things that you may be interested in knowing that may set your mind at ease. Our website was outsourced to an IT firm via Odesk.

1. You have complete control over the project. Odesk has a great facility whereby you can see the time spent by your contractor – you can even view their screen shots!
2. You can specify whether your assignment is a fixed price or hourly assignment. If it is an hourly assignment, you can cap the number of hours they work a week.
3. Communicating with them isn’t expensive – in fact, if you both have Skype then Skype to Skype calls are free! (This is how we have been communicating with our IT contractor)
4. You can assess a person’s skills by tests that they have done, you can view their portfolios and feedback from prior customers.

Obviously, it helps if you can afford to outsource – if not, then it is not really for you, but you may be amazed at how cheaply you can get things done.

Embrace outsourcing – it will make your life a whole lot easier!

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More manners please? Yes, sir….

Is anyone else wondering what has happened with our manners in recent times?

How did society move from the genteel mannerisms and courtesies of the olden days to the crassness and rudeness of current times?

Every day we seem images of bad language, slang and general disrespect for authority and our elders. And it seems to be getting worse and worse every year. Pictures of drunken brawls, swearing and cursing and rudeness seem to be commonplace.

Being a new mother, I have become extremely conscious of this and will do everything in my power to ensure that my child is brought up to respect authority and her elders, know her basic manners and demonstrate courtesy and politeness in all situations.

Though I think society and environmental influences have a part to play in society’s general disregard for manners, I believe that it is the family unit that has the biggest influence on how a child is brought up. It is the family’s responsibility to teach the children the basics of common courtesy and respect and it s the family’s responsibility to ensure that their children carry these lessons on in their lives.

Without the family unit taking responsibility for their child’s upbringing, society will descend deeper and deeper into the dark ages where violence, rudeness and crassness will rule.

So how do you bring your child up to observe common courtesies and manners?

I am the first to admit that I am definitely not an expert in this – I don’t have a PHD in psychology or childhood education, but I have been a child, I am currently a mother and I have travelled and worked in the business world so here is my two cents worth:

1. Lead by example – if you don’t observe common courtesies and manners, then why should you expect your children to?
2. Be consistent – don’t make concessions and make sure you reinforce the message constantly and daily
3. Educate them in other ways – I am not a huge arts/music fan, but I believe if you open your children’s eyes to other worlds, then this will help in making them a more well rounded and respectful individual. And this doesn’t have to be expensive – your art gallery, or local markets are often free.
4. Limit box time – Don’t have the TV on 24 hrs a day and definitely not in bedrooms. Kids get exposed to too much violence as it as and the TV stops intelligent, engaging conversations.
5. Eat dinner together – make it a rule to have dinner together, around a table and with the TV off! You will be amazed how much you will get to know your children if you do this.
6. Take time out – these days we are constantly bombarded by commercialism. Taking time out and away from the hustle and bustle is great food for the soul.
7. Read to them – books are great for helping them learn and appreciate the English language. It expands their vocabulary and grammar.
8. Spend quality time together regularly – whether this be going to the zoo, picnics or family gatherings, a strong family unit fosters respect and appreciation for values.

So what are your thoughts on this topic? Do you have any tips on how families/parents can foster manners in their children?

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I love stories like this – check out this blog from Income Diary which has pics and a short story about how 14 of the biggest internet businesses of our day started.

Check it out here: where-14-of-the-top-internet-businesses-were-started

So where are you blogging/posting/running your business from?

I’m working out of my lounge room. We don’t have any space for a dedicated study so all my work is done on the couch with a laptop on my lap! The printer is in the nursery and our dining table is permanently cluttered with files, paperwork and other "non-dining related items".

I live on a daily fix of chocolate with a must-have cup of coffee in the morning. Multitasking has become my best friend and I live through Outlook!

So what is your work area like?

Do you have a dedicated work space or are you working surrounded by washing, laundry and toys??

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