Are We Overworking Our Children?

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Frostie

Shattered kids are ‘working’ for over 46 hours a week, according to a new survey.

The shock research shows that parents are over-timetabling their children with extra-curricular activities in addition to their school commitments.

This means exhausted children are actually working harder than the average parent who only completes a 37.5 hour week at work.

The average child already completes 30 hours and 50 minutes a week at school Monday to Friday, as well as seven hours and 51 minutes of clubs and homework each week.

Actively reading with parents daily accounts for a further five hours and 49 minutes a week.

And finally, the Center Parcs study of 2,000 parents found the average child also helps with housework for up to an hour and 37 minutes each week.

In response to the findings, Center Parcs has commissioned Channel 4 child psychologist Dr Sam Wass to develop a Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Free Time – which equates to three hours and 51 minutes every day.

The RDA, which was inspired by the government guidelines we use for fruit and vegetables, is based on three hours on a week day and six hours a day at the weekend, calculated using time needed for a variety of free-time activities which will allow children to use their imagination and develop their creative thinking.

Dr Sam Wass said: “Many parents are desperate to do the right thing for their children – we shuttle them back and forth from school, to football, to an after-school club, and then get them home and sit and ensure they do their homework.

“But in fact, research suggests that it’s much more beneficial for children if their time is not always so structured. It’s the down-time, when there is not such much going on and the child has to entertain themselves, when they do their best learning.

There is a huge amount of research that suggests that this child-led, unstructured free play is vital for stimulating imagination and creativity, as well as helping the child to become more self-sufficient.”

The poll reveals 54 per cent of parents feel it is important to encourage children to participate in as many clubs as possible to give them the opportunity to excel at what they like.

A further 44 per cent think it is important to further their children’s learning, while 53 per cent say clubs give their kids essential social skills.

A quarter of parents questioned simply like their children to be busy – and as such the average child will have experienced swimming lessons, football, gymnastics and either brownies or cubs.

Researchers for Center Parcs also polled 1,000 children aged six to 11, to find out their views on how much they have to do in a day – it shows 44 per cent of kids reckon they do more in a day than their own parents.

And a quarter of kids questioned admitted they only take part in after school activities because their parents tell them to.

In particular, children most dislike swimming lessons, followed by football and foreign language lessons.

Colin Whaley, Marketing Director for Center Parcs continues: “This report shows that parents are really going above and beyond to do what they think is best for their child. As a parent myself, I was initially taken aback by the suggested recommended daily allowance, but it gave me food for thought about whether or not my own children currently achieve it.

“Clubs and sport play an important role for their development and life skills but creating a balance with some more simple time out together is clearly very important.”

AVERAGE CHILD’S WEEKLY TIMETABLE

Activity

Time/week

School

30 hours 50 minutes

Clubs & Homework

7 hours 51 minutes

Reading

5 hours 49 minutes

Housework

1 hour 37 minutes

TOTAL

46 hours 7 minutes

Frost Loves Tiny Trolls of Norway | Perfect For Christmas

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

Tiny Trolls of Norway immediately caught my eye. The outfits were so cute, but they also looked functional. The right outdoor clothes are important for children, it is a must that they are dry and warm. My expectations were not dashed when the cute onesie and hat arrived at Frost HQ. I could tell immediately that they were well made and warm. When I put them on my son not only did he look super cute- but I could tell he liked them too. In fact, the hat is the only hat he has ever worn which he has never tried to pull off. High praise indeed. People also commented on his outfit a lot. Always a good sign. We are huge fans of Tiny Trolls of Norway.

Tiny Trolls of Norway create functional and attractive outdoor wear for children aged 1-8. All items are made to the highest specifications and feature beautiful detail. The Tiny Trolls of Norway range is created with children and parents in mind. Clothes can be washed again and again without losing any quality, and rainsuits are 100% waterproof. From beautifully subtle pastel colours to the vivid Get Urban fuschia and turquoise, there is an outfit here for every child. Parents will love the durability and practical designs while kids will just adore the colours and cute embroidered troll logos. Ideal as a Christmas Gift, and essential for every child’s winter wardrobe – these are clothes kids really want to wear.

On Becoming a Mother When Your Own Mother Lives Far Away

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

While becoming a mother brings on a tsunami of new emotions, becoming a mother when your own mother lives in another country (or kingdom in my case, I live in London, my mother lives in Scotland), adds a tornado to the mix. I remember walking around The Baby Show while heavily pregnant, trying to bury down the melancholy because it seemed that every other woman was there with her mother.

My mother was there for the birth of my son. Not in the room, but she came down for the week. Unfortunately I was in labour for five of those days and she barely got to see her grandson before she had to head back up to Scotland. He was born in April and she didn’t get to see him again until January and is only seeing him again now, in October. It is slim pickings indeed. It hurts as she misses the milestones. It hurts that she doesn’t see him on a regular basis, get to cuddle him and breathe him in. We FaceTime and that makes a difference, but as the months go by it just isn’t enough.

It has been hard being without my family a lot in my life, but it is so much worse after you have a child. My brother has childcare whenever he needs it, day or night. My mother saw my nephew grow and become the 5-year-old he is today. I missed seeing my nephew grow up. When I saw him after a 6-months or 12-months gap I would not recognise him at first. Such was the incredulousness of this little boy being the baby that was my nephew. My mother even missed my son’t birthday weekend. We both felt that.

I only saw my mother once when I was pregnant and by that time I was six months gone. I had an awful pregnancy and missed having my family around me. I wish I could take my mother to the park with my son, have lunch with her, see him cuddle her and take her by the hand. It has been almost ten years since I moved to London. I always knew the move was permanent, but I was so young getting married and having children didn’t enter my head. Raising your own family so far away from your own can feel like a stake to the heart. I miss my family everyday, but more than that; I miss them seeing my son grow up. I guess the upside is that when we are with them we make the most of it. It is all the sweeter for being rare. It is a small consolation.

Should People Who Don’t Have Children Be Allowed To Tell You How To Raise Yours?

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

Before I was married and had children I would always say that people who weren’t married should not give advice to people who are married, and that people who don’t have children, shouldn’t give advice to people who have children. Now that I am married and I have a child I can tell you that my belief has only hardened. I know that is controversial. I know some of you might want to slap me right now. I am worried that some of you may even thing I am coming across a bit Andrea Leadsom. But this is not a smug parenting thing. It is not an us versus them: it is simply the fact that parenting looks very different from the outside, and that unless you have been in the trenches, you have no idea what it is actually like.

There are some anomalies: live-in nannies, childcare professionals and the like. But if you don’t have extensive childcare experience, and you don’t have any children of your own, then don’t tell me how to raise my child. You would be surprised how much this happens. There is one specific person who criticises or makes a negative comment about my son, and how my husband and I are raising him, every time we see them. It takes everything I have to not point out to this person that they have never been around a child in their life and should therefore STFU. It is not even that this person has a point. Each criticism is something they have to seek and is nonsense: a comment on how our son is dressed etc.

General unsolicited advice is infuriating at the best of times, but when it is people telling you how to parent it is especially annoying. Being a parent is hard. There is no day off, no breaks, and certainly no sick days. I once worked on a film, a West End play and organised the launch party for Frost all in one month. It was brutal and relentless, but it was still nothing compared to parenting. To go back to my point about parenting looking different from the outside; before I had a child I would hear a baby crying, or be in a restaurant wondering why people were just letting their children run around. Now, there are still some days where I think what are you doing? (because I am human), but the thing is, that parent has probably done everything they can to stop the crying baby. The parents in the restaurant are just so tired they can’t move. You don’t know what lead up to that point or what that person is feeling. They are not doing nothing, they have already done what they can.

So don’t tell people what there child should be wearing or eating. Don’t tell them to shut their child up. The child has just as much right to be speaking as you do. Don’t be that person rolling your eyes because there is a baby crying on the bus (like I was!), because until you become a parent, you have no idea how hard it is and if you have one of your own you will feel very guilty indeed.

So should people who don’t have children be allowed to tell you how to raise yours? No. I am trying to swear less now I am a mother so I will use an acronym: that person should STFU.

Teresa Mills’ Mosaics Review by Margaret Graham

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Margaret Graham

At Frost we love to see something just that bit different, and Teresa Mills’s products certainly fit the bill.

Teresa is the author of four best selling books on mosaic art which I found interesting even before I laid eyes on the Pixelated Mosaic Kits, because I have had a fascination with mosaics ever since I saw my first Ancient Roman floor. But wouldn’t Teresa’s kits be a fiddle? Wouldn’t any child end up having a tantrum as they struggled to cut and grout the tiles?

No, actually, that’s the beauty of the kits. The tiles fit the pixelated design exactly without cutting and grouting so absolutely no need to run screaming from the room with grout in your hair, pursued by your child, or grandchild who has been driven to fury by the fiddle of it all.

These tiles are a manageable size, and the quality is excellent. My favourite (because I like them) is the butterfly. Everything comes in a cotton bag, the base board is wooden, and the tiles are glass, glitter and silver.

Megan Cannell, who edits our Young Voices thread, had a go. She is 15 but you’re never to old to be creative and she found, as did I, that the tiles are not too small, and are easy to fix. The colours are vibrant, and we felt they’d be just right for Mabel, who is eight, or for a young lad we know.

I do like quality products and I hope that Teresa is on to a winner here, especially with winter and Christmas not too far away. Grannies, who seem to do a fair bit of child care these days, will welcome these kits with open arms. I just feel that anyone, young or old, who produced the finished article would find a sense of satisfaction – a piece of creative craft well done. Let’s face it, it must encourage the creativity that lies within everyone, and that is always a good thing.

These Pixelated Mosaic Kits are handmade in the UK, and the team at Frost highly recommend them. They are reasonably priced too. The three above are £11 each.

Available in a variety of designs, from insects and animals to shapes and letters, they are an ideal way to delve into the wonderful world of mosaics. Each kits contains all you need to make your very own mosaic masterpiece. Handmade in the UK from high quality materials, each kit comes in its own beautiful cotton bag with the design printed on the front. They are suitable for all ages and are perfect for keeping the kids busy or as a boredom buster.

For more details: www.teresamillsmosaics.com

Great Fire of London 350th Anniversary by Margaret Graham

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Frost Magazine is always concerned about the safety of children and felt we must share this with our readers. It’s 350 years since the Great Fire of London broke out, and educating our youngsters about fire safety has certainly come a long way since then. It’s so important that children know what to do in an emergency, outside of the home as well as in.

In honour of their 150^th year, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) have teamed up with much-loved toy brand PLAYMOBIL to teach young children about fire safety through play. Free station open days are being held throughout 2016, with limited-edition LFB versions of the PLAYMOBIL fire engine and a catchy sing-a-long fire safety video available to watch and play along at home.

Does your child know what the Brigade can help with outside of the home? LFB have recruited a specialist crew of firefighters to ensure children know who to call when they are in danger with a fun sing-a-long fire safety video, available here: http://bit.ly/PLAYMOBIL_LondonFireBrigade_Video. Why not settle down to watch it with your little ones and play along with our special quiz?1. What is the second emergency our PLAYMOBIL firefighters are called to?

What do the firefighters use to put out the fire at the outdoor campfire?
What catches fire at the PLAYMOBIL castle?
What is the name of the colourful clown last to be rescued by the Brigade from the road accident?

What really happened during the Great Fire of London? Find out how much your budding little heroes really know about what happened during the Great Fire of 1666, with our online quiz here: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Flash/great-fire-of-london-quiz.asp

Can you spot the fire hazards? It’s important to teach your children how to spot hazards just as well as you do. Get them started with this interactive game: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Flash/EscapePlanningGame.asp

Play firefighter at home: It could help your children to learn what firefighters do if on their next birthday, granny could give them Limited-edition LFB versions of PLAYMOBIL’s fire toys created for little ones to learn through play at home. 10% of proceeds will be donated to the Brigade’s charities of choice.

Toys available to purchase at the LFB open days, online at Kerrison Toys and from PLAYMOBIL customer services.

Top 20 most Stressful Things about Parenthood

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Frostie

The answer to this could be everything. No, we jest. A recent poll of 2,000 parents has revealed the Top 20 most stressful things about parenting. The nightly teeth-cleaning battle, the bedtime routine and the dreaded school run are among the most stressful things about parenthood, a study has found.

The average mum and dad spend almost two hours a day feeling stressed, with trying to keep the house tidy the most common cause.

Others feel the strain at bath time, while trying to get children to behave in public and shopping for new clothes with the youngsters in tow.

Mornings – complete with getting the children out of the door for the school run, persuading them to finish their breakfast and clean their teeth – are the most stressful time of the day, claiming five of the 10 top stresses.

Dr Linda Papadopoulos, who has been working with belVita Breakfast to help relieve parents, particularly in the mornings, said: “The stress and challenges of parenting can feel overwhelming – especially when we feel under pressure to get a lot done in a short space of time.

“Morning can be especially challenging and it’s key to develop a positive, convenient routine in the morning as it sets the rhythm for the day.

“When it’s ‘back to school time’, trying to get everything done and leaving the house on time is at its most pressurised so developing strategies that you give you and your family a sense of control is really important.”

The study by belVita Breakfast of 2,000 parents of school-age children, found that staying on top of the house chores is the biggest cause of stress for mums and dads, while getting the children to do their homework and the bedtime routine are also big triggers.

Researchers also found the average parent spends one hour and 48 minutes of each day feeling stressed, with 63 per cent going as far as to say the majority of their stress is parenting related.

Mornings are the worst time of day for parents with the average mum and dad having at least one day a week where they struggle to get out of the front door on time for school and work.

The children taking too long to do things is usually to blame for the family’s lateness, followed by youngsters not doing as they are asked and not getting out of bed.

But as a result of the frantic mornings, one in five parents has dropped the kids off at school after the bell and the same percentage have ended up late for work as a result.

Others have given the children lunch money instead of a lunch box, sent them to school in dirty or un-ironed uniform or with wet hair.

As families prepare for the dreaded ‘back to school’ week, it’s not just kids who bear the brunt of the ‘morning madness’, with over a third of parents forgetting breakfast and 38 per cent having a fight with their partner over who takes on the most in the morning.

Eighty-seven per cent even said they look forward to the weekends when they don’t have to worry about the school run and leaving the house on time.

It also emerged that 66 per cent of parents believe mums bear the brunt of the morning and back to school stress, with half admitting they often argue with their partner about who gets the raw deal.

Top 20 most stressful things about parenthood

1. Keeping the house tidy and the chores up to date

2. Getting the children ready and out of the door in time for school

3. Getting back into a school/morning routine after the school holidays

4. Getting children to do their homework/reading

5. The bedtime routine

6. Getting children to eat certain foods

7. Getting children to clean their teeth

8. Making sure my children are well behaved in public

9. Getting back into a school/morning routine after the school holidays

10. Getting children out of bed in the mornings

11. Meal times

12. The school run

13. Entertaining children on a rainy day

14. Remembering everything they need for school

15. Shopping for new clothes

16. The back to school period

17. Getting children to sleep through the night

18. Getting children to eat their breakfast

19. Juggling your children’s different after school/weekend clubs schedule

20. Getting children dressed in the mornings

THE RIGHT DRIED FRUIT SNACKS CAN FILL NUTRITION GAPS, REPORT REVEALS.

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Sadly, it appears that the five-a-day health message is failing and we are falling short of the latest guidance on fibre, according to a new report.

So maybe it’s time to rethink healthy-eating messages and look for fresh strategies to ensure children, in particular, eat their five-a-day and hit the fibre targets^.

A review just published in the journal of Complete Nutrition suggests one simple step would be to swap a sugary snack for dried fruit or a fruit-based snack, which doesn’t seem like rocket science .

Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist, mum and one of the report authors agrees: “Putting the new UK fibre guidance into practice will not be easy. This is why brands like Fruit Bowl have looked at how children in particular can increase their fibre and indeed their fruit and vegetable needs.

They have just introduced the new Picked and Pressed range which provides a natural source of fibre and counts as one of our five-a-day. So, simple changes such as replacing one item of confectionary with a fruit-based snack such as Picked and Pressed will provide an immediate benefit in terms in increased fibre consumption.”

It seems to Frost Magazine, and one of the high points of the Fruit Bowl snack is that it has no added sugar, which seems to be a bugbear in many lunchboxes.

As well as fruit in the snacks, there is milled flaxseed which is rich in fibre, and doesn’t overlay the flavour of the fruit.

The Picked and Pressed Bars are available in three flavours, strawberry, orange and apple and pear. And for the grown up, only 60 calories per bar. Can’t be bad.

Fruit Bowl® Fruit Bites (RRP £2.00 for a pack of 4 individually wrapped 19g packs of Bites)

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