It's the final episode of the Parenting NI Podcast for 2019! This month Emma is joined by Parenting Education Manager, Shirley to talk about how the festive period can often cause conflict in a lot of households. We explore how to cope when family conflict arises and also look at ways we can look after ourselves when January comes around and we might be feeling a bit blue. 

Thanks for all your support of the podcast this year, we're looking forward to being back in 2020 and chatting to you more then! Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year! 

Off the back of Anti-Bullying Week, we talk to the NI Anti-Bullying Forum Chair, Gillian Cuthbert and National Children's Bureau Assistant Director, Deirdre McAliskey about concerns parents have around their children being bullied. This episode explores what bullying is, how to identify it, online bullying, what do to if your child is being bullied at school, and how you can help your child with strategies to deal with bullying and promote their confidence and self-esteem.

You can find out more about the NI Anti-Bullying Forum here: http://www.endbullying.org.uk and to get more information on the competition click here.

If you are concerned about your child and bullying you can contact Parenting NI for free on 0808 8010 722 or visit our website. 

It's Parenting Week! Our favourite week of the year, and this year it's a double celebration as we mark 20 years of running the annual initiative and 40 years of supporting parents in Northern Ireland. We chat about what all we've been up to to celebrate and have a special interview with Pip Jaffa, who has been involved with the charity since it's beginnings in 1979. Pip gives insight into what it was like in the early days when the helpline first started, how things have changed for families and what support she'd like to see for parents and families now. 

Ahead of World Mental Health Day, we meet up with our friends at Tinylife and chat to 2 mums about their experiences around mental health and having a premature baby. You can find out more about the Positive Minds for Premature Parents project by calling freephone 0808 8010 722 or visit Tinylife's website.

You can read our latest parents article looking at what research says about parental mental health here.

There's not long to go now until young people pick up their exam results! This can be a tense and nerve wrecking time for parents and young people, so this month we're chatting about how to manage your expectations and other options for your young people other than the traditional academic route. We also talk to Young Enterprise about investing in young people's entrepreneurial and employability skills. 

The kids are off for summer, which we are unbelievably halfway through! This month we're discussing ideas for beating boredom over the holidays. We also explore whether boredom can ever be a good thing for children and the importance of play.

You can read our accompanying article for more on the research and activity ideas: www.parentingni.org/blog/summer-boredom.

Happy Father's Day! This month is all about dads, Hear more about the Dads Project, chat about being a 'real' man with Conor McCafferty from Zest - Healing The Hurt of Self-harm and Suicide, inspiration and affirmations from Glenn Hinds Motivation & Coaching Consultants, and we talk to dads about having support for dads means to them.

After our stint in the Belfast City Marathon, this month is all about exercise and discussing the positive impact it can have on your mental health. We catch up with the Families Together Walking Group in St Mary's Primary School Strabane, hearing how walking brought them friendship and we also hear Thomas Walls from Grosvenor Community Centre and his inspirational journey with fitness and exercise.

This month we're talking all about reading and the benefits it has for children's development. We also have a chat with Libraries NI about some of the services libraries provide for families in Northern Ireland. Alongside the exciting news of our app and how we'll be running in the Belfast City Marathon Team Relay to help raise funds to continue the development of it. If you would like to donate we'd really appreciate it! You can do so here: https://localgiving.org/appeal/teampnirelay/

Happy Mother's Day! This month we're focusing on the challenges of balancing motherhood and a career following our special event for working mums at Belfast Castle. We discuss employee wellbeing, work life balance and ask mums about their experiences.