No longer is having a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper a simple activity. Shopping for yourself with little ones in tow can be more of a headache than the pleasurable endeavour it used to be. And forget about having an intimate dinner with your spouse or a night out with friends if you are a mummy to younger children, as preparing yourself and your kids for your night out can often be more of a hassle than it’s worth.

Many mums find it hard to achieve the daily beauty rituals that single women take for granted. From applying makeup to doing your hair, making time for basic self-maintenance as a busy mum is virtually impossible. Even small tasks, like remembering to change your Acuvue contact lenses, require a reminder. Most mums on-the-run fail to take care of themselves the way they take care of their families.

Here are a few tips that active mums can use to optimise their spare moments in order to create time for themselves.

Rise Early and Shine

Wake up an hour before your family and engage in a quiet, relaxation exercise like yoga.

Participating in yoga or any type of meditation activity allows you to workout both your mind and body. It also offers you the opportunity for some time to reflect and mentally prepare for your day.

Take a 10-minute Brain Break

Carve a least 10 minutes out of your day to do something that doesn’t require much thinking. Whether it be locking your office door and perusing fashion websites or taking a brisk walk alone, shutting your brain off for a bit is a quick way to de-stress and recharge.

Keep Track of How You Spend Your Time

Keep a journal of how you spend your time and what your most time-consuming activities are. Next, figure out how you can optimise your time in order to free up a few spare moments for yourself.

Use this extra time to partake in a favourite hobby, such as painting, which you couldn’t otherwise engage in. Implore the assistance of your spouse or other family members to pick up the slack for a bit so you can take delight in your free moment.

Create Your Own Calming Bedtime Ritual

Your children have a nighttime routine and so should you. After getting the kids settled and off to bed, you should take the opportunity to wind down yourself. Take a nice, long bath, go for a run, watch a movie, persuade your spouse to give you a massage, or call a friend for a lengthy chat.

No matter how you choose to spend your free time, it’s important that you spend it doing something for yourself or participating in an activity you enjoy and could not relish in otherwise. This will not only benefit you, but it will help you maintain a healthy relationship with your family.

Author bio: Allison Gosling is the proud mother of four, including three-year old twins. When she isn’t chasing after four toddlers, she enjoys rock climbing, hiking, SCUBA diving, and making sushi. Allison resides in London with her husband and four lovely children.

500 WORDS invites children aged 13 and under to submit their short stories of fiction to be judged by a panel of authors and celebrities including Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Richard Hammond and Charlie Higson.

Launched in 2011, the competition has been extremely well received. Last year’s competition attracted over 74,000 entries, with famous people such as Justin Bieber, Prince William, Wayne Rooney, and Radio 2′s own Chris Evans making repeated appearances in the stories, alongside made-up mythical creatures like the sharkbaragator (part shark, part bear and part alligator) and chocolateosaurus. And for the second consecutive year, the millions of words used by the young writers will be analysed by Oxford University Press to help shine a light on children’s use of language today.

The writers of the top 50 stories will be invited to attend a broadcast of The Chris Evans Breakfast Show that will be broadcast live from the Hay Festival on Friday 31 May, 2013.

The six lucky winners will be announced live on air and will get to hear their stories read out by a famous narrator.

The full judging panel is:

• Richard Hammond (presenter) [Head Judge]
• Frank Cottrell-Boyce (award-winning novelist and screenwriter, who scripted the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Games, and made Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fly once again for young readers)
• Malorie Blackman (literature and television drama credits include the Noughts And Crosses series)
• Dame Jaqueline Wilson (author of many books including the Tracy Beaker series)
• Charlie Higson (comedian and author)

A shortlist of 50 favourite stories will be picked from across two age groups – under 9s and 10-13s.

The 2013 competition will run until Friday 22 February. Details about how to enter are available on the 500 WORDS website.

Enter the Oi Oi Messenger Bag featuring a cool grey dot pattern over a black background, and available with either lime green or turquoise lining and accessories.

The bag comes with a large padded changing mat, insulated bottle holder, messy bag and PVC case for wipes.

The main compartment is covered by the bag flap and features a snap closure. Several internal pockets are designed for nappies, wipes, cloths and more. There’s also an external pocket for personal items and two insulated pockets.

Measuring 33 x 35 x 13 cms, it has an RRP of £79.99 and is available from the HappyBags web site.

The poster is available in a choice of two designs – the first depicts the iconic image of Peter Rabbit using the stories’ text to both frame and illustrate him. The second uses original sketches from the series to add colour to the print and appeal to younger readers.

The text is printed at 4pt size which, while small, is readable.

Carl Pappenheim, founder and Managing Director of Spineless Classics said, “The Peter Rabbit series sells two million books every year which shows just how popular it still is over a hundred years later. There aren’t many books that can boast this kind of longevity and I am delighted to have this true children’s classic in Spineless Classics format.”

The colour poster measures 50 x 70cm and is priced at £39.99. The black and white print measures 70 x 100 cm and is priced at £44.99. The prints are available from the Spineless Classics online store.

All Spineless Classics are printed on heavyweight paper in sharp, lightfast ink which will not fade.

Your kids may look as if they’ve been admitted to a rock concert, but they probably won’t mind wearing one of these funky single-use bands and you will have the peace of mind that should they become lost, ill or injured, they can be quickly helped and reunited with you.

While the front of each band features a cool design, the back has space to write pertinent information such as contact name and mobile phone number, plus important medical details such as allergies. They are waterproof and tear-proof and can only be removed by cutting with scissors.

Available here at £3.50 for a pack of ten.

From Monday 21st January, Fleur will post her first chapter at www.thestoryadventure.com and invite kids to answer questions and complete real-world activities, with the best ideas being added to new chapters published every Monday until 13th May.

The project and associated activities have been devised with the help of primary school teachers to ensure that it fits into the KS2 curriculum. Children who offer outstanding contributions to the project will earn a place on the Star List and have their names included in the book. There will also be an opportunity to win a school visit from the author for the most active school. The book will be available for pre-order on the site, as well as tickets to the book launch party.

The author said, “I spent a lot of time working in schools, and realised that children were bubbling over with great ideas, so many of which never got the chance to come out. When Hot Key proposed the Story Adventure it seemed the perfect way to let children have their say and explore the possibilities of their incredible imaginations. I can’t wait to get started.”

Hot Key Books Editorial Director Sara O’Connor said, “Fleur’s notion that children’s ideas are not often listened to has exploded into this fun and interactive story shaping project designed to celebrate reading and writing for pleasure and get children excited about reading books. It is an ambitious and admirable project for any writer to take on, but Fleur is the perfect author to do it.”

www.thestoryadventure.com

A 12-year-old boy, twice banned by his father from using Facebook, has created his own social network designed exclusively for children.

GromSocial was created by Zach Marks of Melbourne Beach, Florida, after asking his mother for permission to build a ‘safe’ site for his friends and siblings to use, and borrowing $2,500 from his older brother to fund its development.

After four months, Zach’s work so impressed his father that the whole family pitched in to get the word out.

“After seeing Zach interacting on Facebook, with older kids and adults that were using language unsuitable for any child, I wanted to take control of the situation and eliminate my children’s exposure to unprotected social platforms. Amazed by what Zach put together we began contacting schools in the area and passed out material promoting the GromSocial network and getting about 500 members overnight,” said Zach’s father Darren Marks.

“Parental approval is an integral part of the site and is required before a child can begin experiencing the many wonders of the site. We built an environment that not only gives parents continued control but encourages safety and allows kids to be themselves. We have anti-bullying, anti-drug and anti-smoking sections. Educational videos are available in the Grom tutorial section for grades 1-10, in addition to places where kids can comment on current events and of course games and entertainment. We wanted to create a safe and secure place that benefits kids’ lives and we are hearing back from parents that it is doing just that.”

The site now gets over 25,000 daily visitors from as far afield as China, India, Indonesia, Australia, Russia and Europe as well as the United States.

Visitors are quickly converted into “Gromers” a term coined on the site by kids after a few short visits. The word Grom is an Australian slang term for a young surfer which Zach translated into “a promising young kid, who is quick to learn”.

GromSocial.com

Bernard Cribbins will return to children’s TV as he portrays Old Jack, a fisherman with many tall tales to tell.

A mix of live action and animation will see Old Jack and his canine companion, Salty, reminiscing about times on The Rainbow fishing boat.

Episodes, including two written by Russell T Davies, begins with Jack wandering through the streets of Staithes in North Yorkshire, saying good morning to all his friends, and then meeting someone who sparks a story idea.

The story always begins the same – with “Once upon a twinkly time, the Rainbow set off from Staithes, waved goodbye to Whitby and disappeared over the horizon…”

Then the storytelling comes into full force. Jack tells an increasingly tall tale that features him as a central character. Using props scattered around him, he acts out dramatic moments from the story that mixes live action and animation. He could be under the sea or floating high in the air but wherever he is he always meets interesting characters along the way. And they are often very familiar – very much like his friends from the town.

At the end of the story he and Salty leave the boat and walk back through Staithes. They again bump into the friend they met earlier and the story that was set up at the beginning of the episode is resolved. Then, Old Jack sets off back through the town to the Mermaid Cafe for a well-earned cup of tea or back to his house at the top of the hill.

Together with the TV programme will be interactive online stories voiced by Bernard Cribbins.

Other well-known actors and comedians taking part in the show include:

• Freema Agyeman (best known for playing Martha Jones in Doctor Who);
• Paul Hawkyard (Casualty, MI High)
• Helen Lederer (Absolutely Fabulous)
• Janine Duvitski (One Foot In The Grave, Abigail’s Party)
• Nadine Marshall (Random, Casualty)

Dates and times for transmission to be confirmed.

Published in the journal Pediatrics, the survey found that 30% of teenagers reported having ‘offline’ meetings with people they had initially met on the Internet and whose identity had not been fully confirmed prior to the meeting.

Abused or neglected teenage girls were more likely to present themselves online in a sexually provocative way, thus drawing attention to themselves.

Research shows that high-risk online profiles are more likely to lead to offline meetings.

“If someone is looking for a vulnerable teen to start an online sexual discourse, they will more likely target someone who presents herself provocatively,” said Dr Jennie Noll PhD, a psychologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “Maltreatment poses a unique risk for online behaviour that may set the stage for harm.”

The study of some 251 adolescent girls aged between 14 and 17, of which about half were victims of abuse or neglect, found that having Internet filtering software at home made no difference in the association between maltreatment and high-risk behaviours.

Such behaviours include intentionally seeking adult content online, provocative self-presentation on social networking sites, and receiving sexual advances online.

On the other hand, “high quality parenting” and parental monitoring helped reduce the association between adolescent risk factors and these online behaviours.

As you might expect, during the research Dr Noll uncovered some chilling stories about the real dangers of meeting up with people first engaged with online.

The Pediatrics study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Continuing work is funded by a five-year, $3.7 million (about £2.3m) federal grant to gain deeper data about high risk Internet behaviours.

Favourite duo Dick and Dom will be investigating the lives of people who had genius ideas and helped shape the modern world.

Absolute Genius will be a fun, irreverent, fact-laden, explosion-filled journey to explore the work of some of the most important inventors and scientists in history. From da Vinci to Watt and Archimedes, this series will fuse thrilling experiments and animation to explore the theories and inventions that have shaped the world we live in.

Fierce Earth will explore the true power of planet Earth using a mixture of on-location and archive footage, plus experiments, experts and personal stories. Kids will find out about such powerful phenomenon as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and lightning.

Super Human Challenge will see presenter Tim Fitzhigham searching the world for people with real life super powers.

With the aid of the Mission Doctor, Dr Megan John, he pits himself against them to find out just how super they really are. Using animation, science and technology this show astounds viewers with just how amazing the human body is and what it can achieve. These are real life Super Human that defy science with super strength, extraordinary stamina and other unbelievable physical abilities.

Junior Vets will give six school children the opportunity to become the first ever juniors to enrol at Edinburgh University’s high-tech Vet School. They’ll work alongside the school’s top vets, treating poorly pets, wounded wildlife and farm animals that are feeling unwell.

Deadly Mission: Madagascar takes eight young teenagers to the front line of conservation to discover for themselves the issues faced there, and work directly wit the scientists and conservationists at the forefront of research. They’ll meet endangered wildlife from Humpback Whales to Bamboo Lemurs, plus get to know the generation of kids growing up in rural Madagascar.

Younger CBeebies viewers will be glad to see new series of Nina And The Neurons, Mr Bloom’s Nursery: Get Set, Grow! and Octonauts.

Nina And The Neurons: Go Engineering sees super scientist Nina (Katrina Bryan) and her young Engineers travel the UK in search of engineering wonders from towering skyscrapers to really long bridges. With the help of Nina’s five animated sense Neurons, they explain how things work and discover how science and engineering have built the world around us.

Mr Bloom packs up his Compo Car and head out across the country to set up a travelling village fete for thousands of Tiddlers. Mr Bloom is, of course, joined by his loveable team of Veggies who are thrilled to discover about life outside the Nursery from a hydroponics farm to an amazing maize maze.

Exact dates and times of broadcast will be revealed in due course.