The Juggling Act

Like a lot of people, I’ve spent the past three months wearing nothing but uggs and trainers, so the idea of putting heels back on is just painful - in so many ways. I have a couple of pairs of flats that I wear but I really struggle to find shoes that are comfortable and don’t rub at the back. The struggle is real people. Then I came across an amazing Melbourne based mum, Katrina Verso, who the same issue and decided to do something about it. When she was on mat leave with her first child she quit her job, took the leap of faith and started her own shoe business, determined to make the perfect, comfortable flat!   

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I want to talk to you about school and daycare, and when you should get involved if you see some bad behavior from other children. My eldest has been in daycare for about 18 months now, and absolutely loves going. That was until about a month ago when I noticed a mouth shaped bruise on his arm. It was definitely a bite mark. No doubt about it. I asked him and he calmly revealed that one of the kids had bitten him. He didn’t seem worried so I let it go, and in all honestly I thought biting was just part of kids being kids. The problem is that this biting was suddenly a big issue for us… and growing bigger by the week. I was quite literally struggling to get William to go to school. They are a small organisation and fabulous educators and carers… but what are my rights as a parent, to get involved?   

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Tax time is fast approaching and I don’t envy people working at the ATO right now! July 1 also means that the government can start the process of balancing family assistance payments. What that means is that they take a look at our Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and now Child Care Subsidy (CCS) payments to make sure families got paid the right amount during the year. Yeah, hurts my head too. So I put in a call (and didn’t wait on hold for an hour) to Services Australia General Manager, Hank Jongen to explain everything that we need to know.  

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I’ve been seriously lacking in energy since working from home. Every day I put on my activewear in the hope that it might trick my brain and body into being you know, active. But most of the time it doesn’t work. I keep telling myself I’m going to go for a run. Okay, a walk. Or do an online workout. But something else always (conveniently) pops up that’s more urgent. I’m also eating more of the kid’s snacks that I wouldn’t normally touch when I’m in the office. So the Covid kilos are slowly creeping on! I need help. So I reached out to Sam Wood to get some ideas on healthy practises for the whole family that are easy to achieve when you just don’t have the time.  

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My 8 year-old daughter hacked my Instagram. She got into my phone and shared a delightful video of herself and her friend, welcoming everyone to ‘her’ Instagram page. Honestly, this generation are so digitally savvy and it feels like they’ve become even more so during Covid when we’ve been on screens more using technology to stay in touch with family and friends. While I thought I could stay on top of this quickly changing landscape and know the difference between Tik Tok and Musical.ly, I feel like their knowledge is quickly surpassing mine. They’ll be rolling their eyes at me as I try to video call someone on Roblox in no time…So with Facebook’s kid's messenger service taking off and kids wanting to start their own YouTube channels or play Fortnite, how do we keep them safe and help them make the right decisions about their digital footprint and who they can talk to online? I put in a call to Colin Anson, the CEO of pixevety, a leading child image protection app developed in Australia for some advice.  

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Today I wanted to talk about second children (and thirds and fourths and fifths – if you’re really game). I’m keen to know if we really are more chilled with each kid, or if we are just being lazy? Like most parents, I am bloody knackered. It’s nothing unique, but since the kids arrived my husband and I have pretty much slept terribly and aged dramatically. I use this as a justification for most of my parenting and life fails… leaving the hand-break on when driving, letting my kids wear clothes from the dirty laundry pile… serving weet bix for dinner… I was told things would be easier with multiple kids because you’re so much more relaxed than when you have your first, but I’ve started to worry that my version of chilled, is just plain lazy.  

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Working from home in my track pants and slippers, eating and drinking more than I should and letting the exercise routine slip has left me feeling pretty meh. Kidding, I never had an exercise routine. Anyway. I think iso has left us all feeling a bit squishy around the edges and not our best selves. Or maybe that’s just me?! I tried out a new burlesque workout at home recently and while it was actually really fun, I was about as far from JLO in Hustlers as it’s possible to be. It was not sexy. So I reached out to mum-of-two Melony Cherrett, the founder of the burlesque-inspired workout Fitesque for some tips on how we can get our confidence and sexy back after iso.  

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Many of us have now got the taste for working from home. And while I personally struggled in the beginning, now, I kinda like it. Obviously there’s the slippers and trackies element, but removing the commute time has also meant I can walk my kids to school and daycare  each day AND sleep later (if they let me), hang out a load of washing, prep dinner so the kids don’t tear my face off when they walk in the door, and juggle life admin much easier (come on, I’m not the only one who has ducked out for appointments during the day…). Now that restrictions are easing and some workplaces are opening their doors again, how can you convince your boss to allow you to continue working from home? I got two career experts to share their tips to help you swap your suits for sweats on an ongoing basis.  

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Over the past couple of months on this daily Corona pod, I’ve spoken about feeling like I’m having panic attacks that I’ve never experienced before, and generally heightened levels of stress and anxiety. I know it’s something a lot of working parents have been feeling and are still feeling to varying degrees. So I’m officially declaring today ‘stress-free Friday’. Yup, today, you are not allowed to stress. Stress be gone. You have my permission to tell stress to eff right off. No space for you in our lives today. To help you do that, I put in a call to meditation and mindfulness teacher Luke Mcleod and asked him to share some calming practices and some quick things to do to help recognise that you’re starting to feel stress and how to bring those stress levels down. If you feel like your muscles are tight, your breathing is shallow and your forehead is scrunched up, then pop yourself down somewhere quiet and comfortable, and take these next few minutes for yourself.  

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We all know how tough the isolation period has been, and look, screen time rules have well and truly slipped in most households. Homeschooling combined with parents trying to work from home, has meant a LOT more Minecraft and endless episodes of My Little Pony. I know I’m not the only one… But now that restrictions are lifting, it’s time to take back control and swap all that screen time for some green time. There’s no doubting the benefits of kids getting outside in nature. It can enhance their creativity, lower stress, improve their mood, mental sharpness, well-being and productivity, help them build better social connections, and promote physical activity. It also has helps children learn, probably a lot more than watching Spanish kid’s unwrap stuff on YouTube… So, I’ve found some ways to help you get your kids put down the device and head out into nature’s classroom.  

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