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The research on bullying highlights the need for parents to be vigilant when it comes to their children and bullying as many children do not tell their parents they’re being bullied. As a loving parent you might be thinking. Why wouldn’t my child tell me?” (64% of bullied children do not report it)* There are many reasons children don’t tell their parents including: “I don’t want to worry my parents.” “If my parents get involved it will make it worse.” “My parents won’t understand.” “There’s nothing anyone can do anyway.” It is important to keep a watchful eye on your children and if they start behaving in a way that isn’t usual, then it could be time to sensitively ask the right questions and find out what is going on. So what are the signs your child might be being bullied and not telling you? Our children are unique and so are their responses to adversity, but here are some of the common signs: Uncharacteristically spending a lot of time alone, coming home with more bumps and bruises than usual and blaming it on clumsiness or sports, loss of appetite, more moodiness especially after school or after being on social media. It is not always straight forward to read the signs, as children can be good at hiding things from their parents – especially if they’re busy trying to manage the many challenges of daily life. However, parents need to be alert because bullying can have detrimental physical and psychological effects on a child and can result in isolation, depression and even suicide. It’s time we bust the myth that parents should just instinctively know how to raise happy, healthy and capable kids. There are few if any jobs in the world that require no education, training or experience, yet when raising our most precious children we are sent home from hospital and expected to navigate highs and lows of parenting on our own. The more parents know about helping their children eat well, sleep soundly and manage life’s challenges, the more confident they feel. *SOURCE: Petrosino, A., Guckenburg, S., DeVoe, J., and Hanson, T. (2010). What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools are associated with increased reporting of bullying to school officials? (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2010–No. 092).

5 WAYS TO HELP KEEP THE PEACE Are you sick of screaming at the kids? Here are some strategies to create more peace at home. 1. Calm starts with you… Mum’s often feel guilty about taking time out for themselves, but if you’re tired and stressed then any little thing can set you off! So, now you can have guilt-free time to yourself and know you’re supporting peace for the whole family. 2. Say ‘yes’ more often… Saying “no, no, no” all of the time doesn’t make for a happy household and could be just the thing that triggers another argument with the kids. So try and accommodate a yes where you can. Here are some ideas: for your youngster “can I have a biscuit?” Yes, yes…you can have a biscuit for morning tea but right now we’ll have breakfast first. Let’s put the biscuit on the bench ready for morning tea at 10.30!” For your teen. “Can I go out tonight?” “Yes, you can go out on the weekend and tonight you are doing homework”. If that’s not enough, then… 3. Make time to talk… By spending one-on-one time with your children you show them they are important and that you care about their position. If there are ongoing issues around wanting to go out on week nights and/or eating sweets for breakfast then you can listen, talk about them calmly and come up with a solution! By working things out quietly, there’s less chance of a screaming match! 4. Leave plenty of time… Have you noticed that when you’re in a hurry or running late the kids play up more and things tend to go wrong which makes you even later and more angry? Well get up 15 minutes earlier, or do some of the preparation the night before leaving you with enough time to absorb the unexpected and avoid having to yell “will you hurry up we’re late!” 5. Delay your response… OK, the kids are driving you crazy, the house is a mess and you need to cook dinner - all you want is some peace, order and help! Don’t yell at them…take yourself away and calm down. Yelling is only going to result in war. Once you calm down - you’ll see a better way out. So when you feel the scream rising up in you - delay your response and go back to step 1! “When there’s more peace in your house, there’ll be a happier home for all. Best of all you’ll be role-modelling and teaching your children essential life skills.”

Are you the kind of parent who seems to have time for the kids, your partner, your family, friends and your work … but no time for yourself? This is a common issue busy working parents face but it’s not good for anyone. Have you noticed how snappy, intolerant and irritable you can be when you don’t take care of yourself? You don’t need the research to tell you that if you’re tired, feeling unappreciated, and doing everything for everyone else and not taking care of your body, mind and spirit then you’ll end up unhappy, unfulfilled and even drive yourself to illness. So what can you do? Instead of putting yourself last, why not include yourself in the mix of things you do. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Can you find time to: go for a 15 minute walk in nature by yourself? close your eyes and take some time to still your busy mind throughout your day? book a massage once a week, or fortnight or month? have a regular meet up with a friend/mate for a chat? All of the above? Making time for yourself will mean you’re in a much better state of mind and body for your family.

As a parent, you want to live a long and happy life so you can watch your kids grow to become healthy and happy adults and have their own families. All parents want to be good role models for their children BUT many parents have grown up NOT having a healthy relationship with food themselves. Does any of this this sound familiar to you? “I can’t have chips, chocolate biscuits, ice-cream in the house, because I’ll eat the lot”, OR “I know that sugar, carbs, deep fried foods are Bad and only fresh organic veges are good BUT I always go for the bad stuff…especially when I’m upset”. OR Are you on the never ending cycle of diet, lose weight look and feel good… increase weight then diet again? Or Do you start all kinds of different diets looking for the magic one and give up after a few days and feel like a failure? We know DIETS don’t work long-term – what you’re looking for is a sensible, achievable and easy healthy lifestyle for the whole family. YOUR FAMILY’S HEALTH AND WELLBEING STARTS WITH YOU. Parents are the role models and the visionaries for their family and so your family’s health starts with you. First, if you are healthy and happy then you have the positivity and the energy you need to manage busy family life. Second, as you move forward on your health journey, you become a good role model for your children. LEARN SIMPLE STEPS FOR HEALTHIER DAY-TO-DAY LIVING Small changes can make a world of difference in your home. By changing your negative beliefs about food and making incremental changes to your daily health habits you’re on the way to a healthier family life. Take care of yourself and why it’s so important to your family’s wellbeing. Start your healthier eating journey from a place of kindness and curiosity rather than stress and disappointment. Discover how your food rules from childhood can help or harm your attitude to food today. Uncover your relationship with food. Plan how you would like things to be. Move forward in small steps and over time create the healthy family life you LOVE!

It’s time we bust the myth that parents should just instinctively know how to raise happy, healthy and capable kids. There are few if any jobs in the world that require no education, training or experience, yet when raising our most precious children we are sent home from hospital and expected to navigate highs and lows of parenting on our own. As a parent, we would never send our child to a school where the teachers aren’t qualified educators. We would never let a doctor without a medical degree treat our children yet, as parents we are expected to raise happy, healthy children without any education or training. So it makes sense that many parents today are looking to learn more about parenting, because the more parents know about helping their children to eat well, sleep soundly and develop their mind and body, the more confident they feel.

Were you bullied as a child? If so, then you know how frightening it can be. As a parent, you want to do everything you can to protect your children from bullies so they never have to experience that horrible feeling of being picked on, laughed at, excluded or physically harmed. If you found out that child is being bullied, would you know what to do? If you’re like most parents you’d probably say one or more of the following things to your child: Pretend it doesn’t bother you; Tell the person how you feel; Tell the person to stop; Do nothing, walk away; Solve the problem yourself; Stop “tattling”; Make plans to get them back; Remind yourself it’s not your fault; Hit or fight the bully. But, according to a 2010 research study, these are among the least effective and least helpful things to support your child if they are being bullied. Source: Youth Voice Research Project: student’s perceptions about strategy effectiveness to reduce peer mistreatment. Survey 11,893 grades 5-12. From the research we know that bullying can have detrimental physical and psychological effects on a child and can result in isolation, depression and even suicide. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. The latest research into bullying shows there is a lot that parents can do to support their children to overcome and to prevent bullying. You can learn how you can help your child learn the skills they need to be bully-proof. What bullying is and what it isn’t. The prevalence of bullying and its many harms. Why your child might not tell you they’re being bullied or that they are a bully. Practical approaches for parents to help their children overcome bullying. Empowering your child with life skills so they become “bully-proof”. Bullying is prevalent in schools, online and in workplaces and it can even happen at home where one sibling bullies another. As a parent you can make a huge difference in your child’s life, by helping your child to develop the right attitude and mindset and learn the life skills to help your child to become bully-proof.

Many parents struggle to get their children off technology and feel unsure about how much time on technology is good for their kids. Many parents have the feeling that their kids spend too much time but don’t know how many hours their kids actually spend on technology and the recommended guidelines for safe use. Quick quiz: Do you know the actual number of hours your child spends watching screens? Do you know the recommended guidelines for safe use of technology by children? If you answered no to one or both of those questions then here’s what you can do Step 1 is to do a screen time audit, say over a week. When you add up the hours your child is on screens, make sure you include: television, videos, phones, tablets and computers – including how much time they spend on a tablet or computer at school. Research studies have shown that parents tend to underestimate the hours their children are on technology. Perhaps you’ll be the same when you work out how much your child actually engages with screens on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis and how much you thought it was. Step 2 is to find out about the recommended guidelines so you can make informed decisions about how much time your child is spending on technology. The challenge is that the recommendations are not clear cut as there are differences between recommendations across different countries and the research is still emerging on technology and kids and the experts are still learning about the harms that can occur as our children engage with more and more technology.