 MM invited Female Health mega Expert, Maisie Hill, to show us how to take control of our monthly cycles and use our hormones to enable us to get what we want in life... benefitting our health, career and personal relationships. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we knew our bodies so well, could read the way our hormonal cycle makes us feel, that we could use it to accelerate us through life. Taking advantage of our oestrogen charged days to take over the world! I’m the first to admit that I have extreme rollercoaster highs and lows during my monthly cycles. Mother Nature is pretty clever, she obviously wants us to get knocked up as much as possible. She makes us ‘glow ‘during our pre ovulation / ovulation days, fills us with flirtatious and playful hormones and generally makes us more attractive to be around (especially to the men, we even smell different and get more symmetrical ... yep really!) She surges our bodies with oestrogen, making us feel energetic, happier and makes our skin glow. She wants us to get KNOCKED UP. To appeal to our MEN. So, when we don’t go out and get our little playful, flirtatious selves impregnated our hormone levels plummet and we are left feeling like a sack of shit during pre menstrual and period time. Maisie explains the female cycle as being like the four seasons Winter - Menstruation time Spring - Heading towards Ovulation Summer - Ovulation Autumn - Pre - Menstrual If we know which season we are in, we can plan our lives to fit in with how that ‘season’ makes us feel, empower our decision making and use the confidence of our ‘summer’ days to push ourselves and do our brave stuff!! Our body gives us pretty good signals, but if you have trouble tracking your cycle, the app CLUE is the one Maisie recommends. It seems all of us/ most of us can relate to feelings of rage, anger, stress irritability during our ‘autumn / winter’ We need to be a bit gentle on ourselves, practise some self love, give in to those feelings, take a quieter day and not plan so much, rest and retreat. Quite often, as busy women we carry on, not listening to our bodies and wearing ourselves in to the ground. Getting more stressed and tired, causing more stormy weather in our season. So try and schedule in some rest time, use it as a time to plan and ‘sow seeds ‘ ready for them to spring in to action in spring !! My family are going to get used to me saying, ‘Guys I’m in autumn, give me a break!’  We can all learn how to make the most from out hormonal, even just knowing what foods to eat to support our hormonal surges, or knowing that these crazy feelings we get at a certain time every month are completely normal, and to embrace them. We can take back control of our bodies.
I found this talk so interesting, I could write for hours, I just want to big us women up again to be honest. We are superhuman. Month in, month out it can be a real struggle for some of us, I recommend everyone get Maisies book, it’s out tomorrow on Amazon. Let’s start listening to Mother Nature and letting her guide our schedule, plan our life, help us set our goals and tell us what our body needs, most importantly pencil in some ‘REST DAYS’ Ok Babes, so I’m currently in summer sand I am off out now to take over the world and post some of my easy recipes on my insta page to change the world of mum cooking !! Have a great day all and remember #periodpower Get the book !!! Best £10 er you will spend this week xx
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 Mother’s Day Champagne Breakfast at Mulberry, 100 Regent Street with Mother’s Meetings & The FLOWERBXWritten by BECCI @one.busy.mother Thursday morning took some of us lucky mamas to the new global flagship Mulberry store, for a morning of champagne, canapés and some flower arranging.  Mulberry, the largest luxury leather goods company in the UK, opened its doors to 100 Regent St in September 2018. The first Mulberry store to be revamped by Johnny Coca, his aim was to create and showcase the British character of the brand and give a ‘Welcoming home’ feel to the store. Antique ceramics, tufty rugs and pebbled mirrors mixed with pastel pink walls and stunning collections, he’s certainly managed to create exactly that. We went downstairs to the room of the spring / summer 2019 collection. Colours popped everywhere, a mix of psychedelic swirls and minis inspired by Carnaby St in the swinging 60’s, mixed with English high tea party vibes, or even a little day at the races, George, Manager of the store told us that Johnny had drawn inspiration from British women and culture for this particular collection. Unique, eclectic and eye catching, I fell love with all of it. Don’t get me started on the sunglasses ( I so should have treated myself )  The smell of flowers filled the room and we were soon on our way to creating a tulip arrangement with the girls from FLOWERBX. I’ve always wanted to know how to create that ‘swirl’ and with the tips and demos I managed to perfect a little hand tied bouquet (alright I had quite a lot of help and realised I’m slightly heavy handed) but it looked beautiful and I got to bring home my vase of flowers, carrying it with great pride on the tube, it’s now sat pride of place on my kitchen table. I know exactly where I ll be ordering my flowers from now on. The FLOWERBX. creates the chicest of blooms that can be delivered straight to your door, they are reasonably priced and guarantee that the flowers will stay fresher for longer. They also offer a same day delivery option. You can also subscribe to a regular delivery of beautiful bouquets to your door. Lets face it, we all deserve beautiful flowers. Check them out. FLOWERBX are also happy to offer a Welcome10 discount code which offers £10 off any orders over £50.  So Mulberry has been quoted as wanting to create ‘A place to rejoice, discover, learn and connect’ Well we certainly ticked all those boxes. The atmosphere and buzz was just amazing and once again Jenny and Mother’s Meeting brought together and connected a truly inspiring bunch of mamas. I couldn’t think of a better place to hold a Mother’s Meeting or a way spend my morning, it was a real treat. Junie Poonie (@junie_poonie) got us all asking Do you know how amazing you are ? With her beautiful welcome cards Well I certainly felt amazing after spending my time with you all. I would like to thank @mulberryengland , @theflowerbx and @Mothersmeetings for a perfect Mother’s Day treat I hope you all know how amazing you all are. #bestmumeventsever Ps Jen, I wasn’t joking about asking the hunky waiter to come to all the future MM events ! Seriously his ‘topping up’ was on point and I think the other mamas will appreciate his efforts, just saying :) Happy Mother’s Day all of you amazing mums, if you fancy treating yourself or your mum, Mulberry have kindly extended an offer for us all to take advantage ...see below for details See you all soon xxxx Becci @one.busy.mother A Mother’s Day Offer from Mulberry
Why not go beyond a bouquet of flowers this year and pick up a Mother’s Day gift from Mulberry? You’re sure to find something she’ll love at Mulberry as the brand’s leather goods have achieved iconic status for good reason. Don't miss the 60's inspired new season accessories and ready-to-wear featuring bold colours and modern floral prints. Plus, if you spend over £250 in store on the 30th or 31st of March and you’ll receive a luxurious Mulberry lambswool scarf in a heritage check, designed and made in the UK. A gift for her... and a gift for you!  MOVIN' TO MARBS BY JAZMINE BRAMHA
Imagine being at your best mates house, in the middle of practicing wedding hair styles, to then receiving a text from your husband saying there is a possibility we might be moving country, to then realise a week later it’s a definite and 2 months after that you would be arriving at your new destination, in the same year you had your first baby... Hello and welcome to my life! One year, two countries, a baby turned toddler, a career put on the back burner, new surroundings, two different languages; neither of which I could string a sentence together with, plus driving on the opposite side of the road... Oh, and of course trying to keep some ‘normality’ to everyday life in the midst of all of this. Yes, this is me, Jazmin, my life, my family and our current year having moved abroad for a new life, living out our dreams and doing so before our little boy grows to old to do so, allowing us time to adjust and hoping enough time to get settled. I love that word, ’settled’ I mean, are we ever? When I first arrived in Switzerland (our first location) I knew this was it and I had to make it work. Otis was 8 months old and from the day he was born, even before that when he was growing in my tummy, I was determined to be that ‘mum’ who loved to socialise and took her kid along everywhere she went. I was determined not to ‘hold back’ on doing things, seeing people, going places just because I now had a mini human to look after, so I kept this thought through the whole experience. I suddenly had... No comfort zones No friends No family No history with the place I was living A different language to learn, pick up on and understand New surroundings And even a new kind of supermarket that felt alien! So I took to social media and used it like a new dating app for ‘mamas who wanna be mates with me’ and started scrolling through and finding groups! Groups within groups, pages of group activities, language groups based around mums having kids, groups who went to soft play, groups who met in the parks, you name it, I found it. I introduced myself every where I became a ‘member’ of online. I became a name that would pop up, be commenting on posts I found interesting, to a point I had a few girls say ‘hey’ on a long lake walk I used to do (again to try hang at cool places and find friends; oh, that so makes me sound weird! Honestly I’m not! Ha!) until one day I had a message from another girl hoping to find a new friend too. We hit it off, our kids hit it off and jackpot, I had a friend. The summer became one to remember, our kids grew together, we explored more groups, made our own groups and tried new cool ways to bring mamas together across Switzerland. From here I created More Than Just Mothers - Inspired from MM of course! Sonny my husband, being a kick-ass graphic designer created me a look, image that attracted a vibe I was after. This then attracted a new bar with the what I can only describe as the best go-to parent and kids bar everrrr, who wanted us to hold our weekly meet ups there. Wow, they had started to ask me?!? From here, Fridays were ours! A morning, day, we all came together, kids played and mums chatted away over coffee, the best homemade chocolate chip cookies and on many occasions prosecco and wine! In and dated with new mums wanting to connect, More Than Just Mothers became a hit not just for expats, but local swiss mums also! Suddenly I found a new life in a town I classed as ‘boring’, yet it was me that just hadn’t met the right ‘group’ yet!  My name is Maria Evans and I coach and mentor teenagers. My Instagram account is @theteencoach.
Is there anyone talking about teenagers on the ‘gram? Just shout if you need anything else! There is no doubt that Instagram is a life-line for parents of young children, There is so much support for the challenges that parenting little ones throws at us. Whether you are looking for tips on breastfeeding or how to wean a dairy-intolerant infant, you only need to search the right hashtags and there will be a whole hosts of accounts waiting to support you through the next step on your parenting journey. This is not always the experience for parents of teenagers. It can be difficult to find people talking about the challenges of parenting teens on these squares. There are many reasons for this; teenagers aren’t always that ‘instagrammable’, teenagers are also online themselves, and would quite rightly object to you broadcasting your parenting woes to the rest of the world. My account @theteencoach is all about parenting the teen years. When asked about the one thing we can do to make this stage in parenting manageable and even joyful, I always reinforce the importance of finding their spark. Find their spark – what does that mean? Your teen’s ‘spark’ is the one thing they have that they care deeply about, that fires them up. If teens have ‘it’ then everything else falls into place. They have a reason to be motivated, they find a sense of purpose and belonging, they care deeply about something, they show up and are committed. Having a spark can also provide opportunities for kids. Recently ran a workshop on healthy relationships with social media to a group of teenage girls from various local dance schools. It didn’t take them long to figure out what their spark was-they had been dancing since they were little. When I asked them what this provides for them that social media could not I was inundated with answers; working with young children, starring in productions, traveling the country, keeping their body and minds healthy. These girls have had a wealth of opportunities because of the joy they have found in dancing. When I worked in secondary schools I would often come across kids who did not have any hobbies, interests or strong beliefs about anything. These were the kids who watched too much TV and spent hours on games consoles. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe kids should be allowed to watch TV and spend time gaming, it’s important for kids to keep up with their peers and have cultural capital. Most young people want to fit in as it makes them feel safe in this often vulnerable stage of life. But when too much time is spent on screens there is little time for anything else. What’s more, there is little desire to DO anything else. How has my experience with teens impacted myself as a parent? I am on a mission to give as many opportunities to my kids to enable them to find their spark. It’s difficult (but not impossible) for teenagers to take up a new hobby. They often start to feel shy and self-conscious when starting something new. However, if you catch them when they are younger they are often bolder and don’t really consider being the new kid as a problem. So yes, I am a chauffeur for my kids. I take them to various clubs and activities after school most days. We subscribe to First News, a weekly newspaper aimed at young people, to help our eldest get used to reading and learning about current affairs (a year’s subscription was a birthday present from his grandparents). He doesn’t always read it willingly, and would be happy to skip to the puzzles at the end, but we have it built into our routine now that when we are waiting for his brother and sister at their ballet class we read through the articles together. I do strongly believe that kids just want our time and there are so many ways we can give it to them. I have 3 children so it does require a lot of ferrying about, and it is expensive. I am very aware that we are in a privileged position to be able to do this; I work from home and we have the resources to be able to make this part of our rhythm. But there are loads of things parents can do that don’t cost anything. Cost effective ways to find their spark Helping your kids find their spark does not have to be expensive. It could be that a strong belief about something is the thing that fires your child up. It could be that they really love animals and care deeply about animal welfare. How can you keep that spark alive? Talk to them about it, help them do some research. Perhaps they could get involved in an organisation that campaigns for animal rights. Other things we do include taking them places at the weekend and we always try to keep costs low. We go to our local beach to play football, swim if it’s warm, and we always try and encourage them to do a five-minute beach clean and talk about why that is important. They love doing various arts and crafts projects. They love helping me and my husband cook. I struggle to keep my cool with these sorts of activities because of the mess that it inevitably involves, but I try my best to keep calm (this doesn’t always happen) and let them carry on as it is all part of the bigger picture- finding their spark. This may sound like we are the perfect parents. We are not! I am aware that this post may sound like I am a super parent. I assure you I am not. It has taken us a long time to get to where we are with this, and it hasn’t been an easy journey. There are many days in school holidays for example when I know my kids have had too much screen time because I have needed that break to just get through the day. My kids watch TV and play on the iPad every day when I am cooking dinner. They often have TV in the mornings when my husband and I are getting everything ready for the day ahead. Our culture likes to make us feel guilty about all the things we are doing and not doing as parents. When something goes wrong with a young adult, the parents are often the ones we blame. The guilt we feel about getting it right can be overwhelming; we can all be super hard on ourselves. All we can do is what is right for us and our families. Time away from screens and being shown other ways to pass our time is always a good idea. Life is always better offline Providing opportunities for our kids to see that life does exist outside of social media and screen time will show then that actually life is better offline. So if you have younger children then think about how you can lay those foundations in the early years in a way that fits best for your family. And if you have teenagers and you are still unsure of whether they have a spark then don’t lose heart. Keep insisting on that family time and talk to them about the things that matter to them. The spark is there, it just might need a little oxygen and fuel from you to get it burning brightly. Superdrug X MM |
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January 2020
CategoriesAuthorWe have a lot of fab new Editors writing for us!!! Which we will be introducing you all to very shortly!!! Super exciting!!! |
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