What you need to know about Kaya Jewellery:

• Personalised children’s jewellery
• Personalised jewellery for mothers
• Silver and silver plated
• Finest quality pearls, crystals and gemstones
• Handmade in the UK
• Free and fast delivery
• Free gift wrapping
• Gifts include a luxury polishing cloth and matching greeting card
• Perfect for gifts, christenings, Holy Communion, birthdays, new baby, weddings
• 14 days 100% satisfaction guarantee
• Gives back – Kaya Jewellery gives part of their profit to charity through Eduki Foundation in the Netherlands

To enter this competition do one of the following (or all of them!):

1. Make a comment on this blog post
2. Comment on our Facebook page
3. Mention on Twitter using @BringingUpBrits

telling us you’ve entered our competition and you’ll automatically be in with a chance to win the £20 off voucher!

Hurry, competition ends Monday March 1st!

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Meghan Peterson Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits, co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs, co-founder and Director of Design and Web at Shake It Up Creative. And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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Whether you’re a busy mother or not, running a business is a full time 24/7 job. Your brain is always buzzing, you’re always ‘on call’, anything can be a business opportunity and everything is networking. In my line of business I depend on client communication, client information and content plus need to work to client deadlines. I have to be incredibly flexible, able to drop everything when someone calls and requests something urgently, fit in all the actual design work, be professional, network, collaborate, plan ahead, plus carry out all the day to day business jobs including marketing and social media. So how do I do this? Here are a few top tips:

• Schedule everything, even the emails that you need to reply to and keep your diary open on your desktop
• Stick to your schedule as much as possible – do not get distracted by your surroundings
• Set reminders that will alert you so you don’t forget stuff
• Have set office hours so you’re not taking calls after 3pm
• Get up early (or do this in the evening) and organize/plan your day/schedule social media/prepare emails etc
• Do quick requests immediately – don’t bother sending an email saying “I can get to that next week”. Just do it there and then (obviously if you are able to), if not, then schedule it in
• Answer calls and call people back immediately (this will alleviate the pressures of having too much to get done)
• Plan for events that require child care ahead of time
• Buy work clothes that don’t need to be ironed
• Establish a good support network(s)
• Through these networks, find businesses you can sub-contract to or collaborate with
• Hire an admin person to help with office tasks (virtual office assistance is perfect for small businesses)
• Use Google alerts and Bloglovin so you have a constant supply of useful articles and info to post about on social media that is relevant to your industry
• Use helpful tools such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to help you with social media marketing – save time, be efficient
• Set up an auto responder so people know when you will be replying to them
• Make sure you have a dedicated space in your home to work and make it a proper ‘home office’
• Dress like you’re going out to work – makes you feel more efficient and productivity will increase
• Get on Facebook for business and network online with local businesses (this is also a great way of keeping up to date with events and networking opportunities in your area)
• Take online courses and do online tutorials to help keep costs down, save time while still keeping abreast of your industry news, current business trends, and technology
• Do not work at the weekends (or if you work on the weekends, keep two days per week free for R&R) Work hard, play hard
• There is so much more!

And if you have babies, a lot of this can still work, you’ll just be taking more breaks. I started my business with a 20 month old and a one week old. Both still in nappies at the same time! It was hard, but that’s how I learned to multitask.

Whether you have a job or not, being a busy mother to three children is a full time 24/7 job. Especially when all three children attend three different schools! Because I work from a home office, I have the benefit (or maybe it’s not a benefit?) of being able to drop everything if the school calls, if the washing machine blows up, or if I suddenly realize there’s no food in the house. Children are demanding by nature, they need stuff, they need help, they need their mother, they also do clubs and activities and need help with all of that, the schools they attend need parental engagement and commitment. So how do I do this? Here are a few top tips:

• Put important stuff on the fridge or on a board in the kitchen or in a central place
• Diarize regularly
• Teach your children and husband to diarize
• Hold frequent but brief family meetings to keep everyone up to date with what’s going on
• Save time by doing grocery shopping online and get it delivered
• Shop online as much as possible to save time
• Plan ahead so things are not last minute and therefore hectic or stressful
• Set chores that each child knows they are responsible for (such as feeding pets or emptying the dishwasher)
• Have a set day/time to do laundry and ironing
• Stock the freezer and either mentally plan the week’s meals or schedule them out on paper
• Get a slow cooker (crock pot) and a few great cookbooks
• Prepare or prep or simply plan in your head evening meals before breakfast
• Teach your children to cook (when they are old enough) and get them to prepare dinner once in a while
• Create a folder for each child to put their school work, club information, award certificates etc in
• Get a cleaner (seriously, I never thought I’d do this, but after my third child was born, it became a necessity)
• Set alerts on your phone for remembering things like car MOT or renewing car stuff or insurances and birthdays
• Set alerts on your phone for just about anything that you need to remember!
• Don’t fret about how busy things are and how much you have to get done – breathe – and take things one step at a time
• Automate as many things as possible so you’re not having to spend ages paying bills or renewing policies
• Get online banking APP on your phone and any APP that helps to organize things and save time such as The Train Line App or JustEat (for those impossible days – at least you won’t starve your family)
• Establish a good relationship with an IFA so if you need to ask any questions, you have someone to call
• Flag or Star parent mail and color code for all the different schools
• Set a regular time in the evening the same day parent mail comes in to look through it, print out anything important and talk to your children about upcoming school stuff
• Have a stock of birthday presents and cards on hand, order an extra item when shopping online and save it for a present or mufti day contribution
• Establish the best places to get school uniforms, school supplies etc and don’t waste time trying other things out – if it works, use it (until it stops working)
• Spend time waiting at swimming/dance/football/clubs filling out school papers, diarizing, organizing, reading, planning etc

I’m sure there’s more…

And if you have babies, a lot of this can still work, apart from the cooking and chores of course! And, you won’t have all the school stuff to deal with.

I’m not saying I’m the perfect mother, seriously I’m so not! And things will always crop up, stuff will go wrong – that’s what happens in life. I got the parent mail from the schools mixed up last term and tried to show up for my daughter’s parent’s evening two weeks late. Er. Not good.

Anyway, hope this helps or at least inspires you in some small way. Life is hard, but there are things we can do to make it easier and enjoy it all.

Trophy awarded to me by one of my design clients

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Meghan Peterson Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits and co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs with Heidi Mulligan Walker. Meghan is also the Director and Chief Designer at her own design company, White Ochre Design Ltd. And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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The joy of living by the sea in England really comes to light during the summer months. It’s been an incredibly busy time with work and this past weekend was jam packed both days! Didn’t get any R&R but I did manage to enjoy a few minutes on a lunch break to sit quietly and enjoy the sea view from Hove beach in Sussex. Truly spectacular.

As the children grow older, their interest in the beach and ability to love it instantly without getting bored is quickly becoming a benefit of the past. As someone who didn’t grow up near the seaside, I can never take the location of our ‘now’ home for granted. I suppose that will be different for my children who are growing up by the seaside. And an English one too! Lord, what have we done! Fish n’ Chips, tacky fairground rides and smoky archaic arcade games will all be a part of their childhood history. I’d love to interview them now as if they were adults and see what they really thought of their years of pebbly beaches, windy picnics, and ‘mandatory’ Sunday afternoon beach days. Of course we also have the countryside on our doorstep too. The beautiful Sussex Downs.

I wonder if my children will feel they missed out on city life growing up. I grew up in small cities mostly but lived in the suburbs. I remember one time as a young teenager, going out in Toronto with my much more worldly and grown up cousin. I was amazed at what existed for kids my age and couldn’t believe there was this whole other world that I had never known about before.

Here, if we did live in a city, we would probably live in the city. We are very centrally located here but Worthing is a town, not a city so much quieter and very tame (aka boring according to my eldest). However, when we go to London, my daughter comments on how big and overpowering everything is. She doesn’t like this. It’s interesting because she’s never said that about America even though it feels much bigger and everything is literally much bigger. I suppose we’ve never taken her to New York City…. yet. I’m curious to know how much our choice of location and environment will influence their choices when it comes time for them to set up house…. and where that ‘house’ will be.

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Meghan Peterson Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits and co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs with Heidi Mulligan Walker. Meghan is also the Director and Chief Designer at her own design company, White Ochre Design Ltd. And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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Our photo shoot with Jenny happened during the first week of October, catching the last of the summer sun (we’ve had an amazing Indian summer this year), on Shoreham beach in Sussex. It was Jenny who suggested the location and she even picked us up because I didn’t have the use of our car that day. She then spent the next hour with my children as they played around on the beach and climbed on the rocks. She had some great ideas like using the beach huts and getting some action shots.

I am absolutely blown away by the quality and beauty of these photos. We love them so much – my husband could not believe it when I showed them to him. I really could not be happier! While I was looking through them, I actually started to cry at just how beautiful they are. I love the way Jenny edited them, they are something very special indeed and my parents and Nick’s parents are in for a real treat with these photos. Here is a small selection:

Before I sign off, I want to mention why I had Jenny take professional photos. I think it is so important to make the effort and invest in professional photos. Children grow up so quickly and before you know it, they’ve grown and changed and we forget how they were, how they looked. Having photographic evidence of this isn’t just about the photos, it’s about keeping the memories and history alive forever. My daughter recently asked me what I would try and save (other than people and pets) if our house burned down and I automatically said photos of you, Sam and Jonah and Dad.

Beautiful, high quality professional photos of my children are like gold to me. And today I feel so rich. Thank you Jenny!

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Jenny of Jenny Rutterford Photography is based in Sussex and specializes in beautiful and natural wedding photography and also family portrait photography. www.jennyrutterford.com

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The Lunch Project believes all children should have a chance to succeed and that the key to prosperity and growth for individuals and communities is education. We further believe in fostering a sense of philanthropy and global awareness in all people.

The Lunch Project’s goal is to provide long-term financial support to enable Tanzanian mothers to cook and serve a nutritional meal to schoolchildren in Tanzanian primary schools so children will be better equipped to learn. The Lunch Project also seeks to educate children in the U.S. about global philanthropy.

The Lunch Project provides the fuel to learn and the education to serve – one bowl at a time.

I was so inspired by what Rebecca is doing that I’ve signed my company up to sponsor them on a monthly basis. I provide lunch for 900 children once a month. My own children are so proud of me that I do this and my daughter, Anna Grace has already asked me how we can write to them because she wants to know more about their lives and their school. My 12 year old son said when he’s older and can work, he wants to support charities like this too – he has a nutritious and filling lunch every day at school and says that all children deserve to have the same. Jonah doesn’t exactly understand at the moment, but he is only 4 so that’s OK. And eventually he will understand it. My only wish is that I could provide even more lunches. However, as that’s not possible for us, I’d like to encourage other families and parents in Britain to sponsor The Lunch Project as well and in doing so, we’re not only supporting The Lunch Project but we’re also raising awareness about global philanthropy.

Right now, it’s USA to Africa and Africa to USA. Let’s help make it UK to Africa and Africa to UK too!

Watch this video and listen to Rebecca’s story and learn about The Lunch Project – you will be inspired. And find out more about their work here. There are many ways to donate and support The Lunch Project. You don’t have to do what I’ve done, you can make a one-off donation if you like. Even simply spreading the word would be really helpful to them because the more people they reach, the more support they will have and the more awareness we will create about it in the UK. Like them on FB so you can help spread the word.

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Meghan Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits and co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs with Heidi Mulligan Walker. Meghan is also the Director and Chief Designer at her own design company, White Ochre Design Ltd.  And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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Mind the gap

Flickr.com/photos/limaoscarjuliet/3305886294/

It should come as no surprise, then, that the latest crop of studies have also found that students who attend summer schools can avoid this setback. Research carried out by academics at Bristol University, for example, claims to have uncovered a significant “summer school effect”, finding that 76% of children who attend a summer school will get in to an elite university, compared with just over half of children with a similar profile who do not attend such a school over the summer break.

Not all summer schools are the same

If you are thinking of investigating an English summer school to bridge that learning gap here are some tips for choosing.

Given all the factors there are to consider when choosing a summer program, many parents don’t look beyond the location, facilities, and activities on offer. While these are Important things to consider, there are other fine points that make the difference between an average summer school and one of the most powerful educational experiences your child may ever have.

Whilst you can gain a lot of information from a source like the Skola website, there is no substitute for first-hand experience. If you are to find out more you will need to dig a little deeper than your browser will allow.

Talk to the people who run the school

Speak to the school to find out about its philosophy and approach. Find out how it motivates children, measures and rewards their success and encourages their personal growth. Delve deeper into how the school handles mixed abilities and how it deals with any conflicts that may occur.

Find out about its staff

Of course the ratio of teachers to students is important but so too is the maturity and experience of the staff. How long do teachers stay at the school? What is their background and how are they trained? Make sure you are as happy with your summer school as you are your term-time school.

Talk to parents and children who have been to the school

Perhaps the best way to evaluate a school is to speak to those who have experience of it. Find out how children developed during their summer school and how they enjoyed it. Were there things they did not like?

See for yourself

Flickr.com/photos/usaghumphreys/6075007410/

Whilst there are language schools, sports academies, schools for computer skills, literacy and numeracy the only real way to tell if they do what they say on the tin, or even if the tin is the right one for your child, is to visit them in session. Think about whether your child will like the activities and whether they fit their interests. Is the school too big or small for your child? Are there too many older or younger children? Will your child buy into the school’s approach and ethos?

Choose carefully

If you choose the right school, your child will have the summer of their life and return to school refreshed, ready for the next challenge and raring to go. Learning gap? What learning gap?

This is a guest post. I hope you find this information useful.

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“Very very interesting. Even though not directly relevent to me it made me much more aware of how my 2 close friends from Kansas & the Phillipines must find it to be living here and the things they must find frustrating.” – Lucy, British mother

I think we just carry on with life no matter what, but these are emotions that we may have in common at varying degrees. This story touched me and made me realise there are other parents out there who also struggle to fit in and to make friends. Also made me feel thankful for my own family and my British husband who tries very hard to support me.

Please, if you have a story to share, get in touch with me.

Daniela, a German expat mother of two.

My story is that I came over to England from Germany at 18 years old to
learn English and I married my british boyfriend. We have 2 children,
aged 7 and 10. Unfortunately the marriage didn’t work out for various
reasons, even though we managed to be married for nearly 20 years, but
one of the reasons for the split was the emotional issues that came
with being a foreigner and not having the support network of family and
friends after the birth of my sons.

It was difficult for him to understand how I felt, even though he
always encouraged me to go home to visit my family and didn’t mind
taking care of the children for a few days while I was visiting,
however this didn’t really help me in everyday life here in Britain. I
made friends initially after the birth of my sons, but soon found that
being accepted was hard because I was different and the other mums
didn’t understand how it feels to be foreign and not really knowing the
rules etc…something they took for granted , and also having family
members (usually their mum) supporting them.

I have found the experience of being a foreign mum very lonely indeed,
and it has been harder than for the average person. I have not really
found anyone who truly understands, or has at least cared enough to TRY
and understand how it feels. A lot of people could have made a huge
difference to my life by choosing to make the effort with me, but
unfortunately it didn’t happen for various reasons and it has
contributed to the breakdown of my marriage, because I got very
depressed indeed. I am not blaming anyone, nobody did this out of
malice, but more out of ignorance and maybe prejudice, perhaps?!

I was judged a lot, without anyone truly talking to me and trying to
find out about my feelings and experiences and I wasn’t really fully
aware of what was happening to me, I didn’t really understand it
either, it just made me very sad and depressed, which of course
affected my marriage and made it not a very happy one, because I wasn’t
happy.

It has taken a lot of effort to try and understand this culture and its
people, too. We are all different and unique of course, but I suppose I
stand out particularly and I have found a lot of people who refused to
accept me and often misunderstood and judged me.

I don’t mean to sound negative, but these are the experiences I have
had in general, however I have managed to find friends now, and they
are my support network and like me for who I am regardless from where I
am from or how I conduct myself (I am a nice person , so that is what
they would find out if they made the effort to get to know me, I
approach people in a friendly and open manner, I care and try to be a
good friend).

I do love living in Britain, it is a beautiful country and the people
are generally polite and friendly, somewhat reserved at times but that
is just how they are.

I have been here 20 years and am almost a native! Living in another country
has brought many advantages, it has made me a  more tolerant and open person,
more confident and proud of myself.

Even though we are divorced, my exhusband is still very much part of my
children’s lives and we share custody, and he gives me guidance on how
things work the British way, I may not always like it or agree with how
things are supposed to be done, but I do live here and have to fit in
at least to some extent!
Thank you Daniela for sharing your story. For more stories, get your copy of  Bringing Up Brits

Please, if you have a story to share, get in touch with me.

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