But, as I sat there at home reading my twitter feed and wishing I had been able to attend, I read something that made me stop and realise there are inspirational people all around us, not just at conferences and other events, and even those who are no longer on this earth can spur us on to make a difference. What was it that made me realise this? A simple tweet from one man in homage to his daughter who died six months ago.

If you’re not following @EstellaStar1 on twitter, you really should be. Estella’s story is a heartbreaking one – she was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and sadly, tragically, died eight months later – but she has inspired her parents to fight this terrible condition and ‘smash SMA’ for good. When you have a moment, please do head on over to their Smash SMA blog and take a read about the amazing things that they are involved with (but make sure you have a good stock of tissues ready when you do).

Elsewhere, the G8 summit will be taking place on 18-19 May. “What’s this got to do with health?” I hear you cry. Well, not a lot…until you hear about the work being done by the grassroots and advocacy organisation ONE to stop the malnutrition of millions of children and adults in less developed countries. This year alone, 178 million children – more than twice the number of children in the United States – will reach their third birthday stunted. Their brains and bodies will never fully recover, limiting their chance to learn and grow and this is a direct result of malnourishment. ONE are asking for your voice not your money and, as part of their Let’s Thrive campaign, are asking people to sign their e-petition to get the leaders of the G8 to commit to supporting agriculture plans in developinog countries, ending the cycle of poverty and hunger. I’m proud to be a “ONE Mum” supporting this cause along with Michelle from Mummy from the Heart, Jennifer from BritMums, Alex from Doing It All For Aleyna, Melitsa from Raising Playful Tots, Kate from Kate on Thin Ice and Michelle from The American Resident.

Meanwhile, over at Not Even a Bag of Sugar, we’re being reminded of the importance of skin-to-skin contact (also called kangaroo care) with newborns. In Hold Your Preemie – Kangaroo Care Awareness Day, Kylie recounts how important this sort of contact was for her and her son who was born 13 weeks prematurely and writes that an “estimated 444,000 babies could be saved by a programme of kangaroo care in developing countries.”

On a lighter note, Rhiannon over at A Hell of a Woman has decided to take on the NHS’ Couch to 5K plan (or, as she has called it, the “Grr Argh” challenge!). So, what was her inspiration behind getting fit? To be able to run around with her children? Because her body’s a temple? No, apparently it’s to survive the inevitable zombie apocalypse!

And lastly, a quick reminder to join BritMums and Dr Rob Hicks today between 1pm and 2pm for the #BootsWebMD Twitter chat. It’s an opportunity to share your experiences, and ask questions about, dealing with the most common childhood conditions. Dr Rob will be on hand to dish out advice so don’t forget to join in the party!

I think I’ve probably waffled on enough so now it’s over to you. As always, please link up any of your health-related posts in the linky below so we can all hop on over and take a read.

Everyone’s talking about how G+ how be a valuable part of your social media strategy. Geek mamma Rosie Sherry is a BritMums member and founder of  The Software Testing Club. Here she shares her tips on getting the most out of G+.

What to post on G+?

The last thing we probably all need is for everyone to post the same content that they do to other social networks.  The nature of G+ is that the amount and type of content that can be posted is very flexible.

I personally like to view G+ is the middle ground between Twitter and my blog.

I have conversations on Twitter, help people out and post links.

On G+ I put out short-ish thoughts and ideas of mine that are half baked and where I am looking for feedback.  I also post things that I like. Videos. Other blog posts. Infographics. Generally useful information that can be of interest to people who have me in their circles, but I also used it as something to refer back to in the future.

On my blog I put out more finalised content.

Of course it is up to you what you want to post, though I’d highly recommend thinking of your end reader.  Keep them entertained and participate with their updates too.

Google+ is not the same as Twitter

For me, G+ is the ideal place to hang out, I wrote a while back why I thought Google+ is better (http://rosiesherry.com/2012/01/5-reasons-why-google-is-better-than-twitter/).  And I still believe what I said stands.

Twitter is great and that’s where alot of people hang out, but it’s so hard to keep on top of all the Tweets.  And if you can’t keep up with them it becomes very hard to search what people have been talking about.

It doesn’t quite compare with Facebook either as G+ is open by default (everyone can see your updates), where as Facebook is closed by default.  This makes a huge difference.

Of course it will take a while for G+ to continue gaining traction, but the more we all use it consistently, the faster we will get there

Here, she shares her advice as both beauty writer and mother of teens for how to approach skincare for your teen.

TOP TIPS FOR TEEN SKINCARE

Start early

Ideally, children should start looking after their skin by the time they go to secondary school, since all skin – dry and oily, male and female – will benefit from gentle, regular cleansing and moisturising   – and the younger they start, the better their skin will look as it gets older. A regular routine will also help ‘normalise’ skin.

That can be a tough call, though, as most teens are blissfully unaware that they might need to look after their skin until disaster strikes, usually in the form of spots (see below), so the ‘in real life’ answer to when to start is, whenever they are ready.

Keep it simple

Alice with her teens

Teen skincare doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. In the evening, cleanse by massaging on a gentle cleanser, then wiping this off with a flannel wrung out in hot water. If skin feels dry afterwards, give it a dab of moisturiser. In the morning, a quick splash of water and a layer of light moisturiser with an SPF15* is all it needs.

Unless your child has a problem with their skin, that’s plenty. They can exfoliate – gently – once or twice a week, and use a face mask if they like, for fun, but the less you muck around with young skin, the better.

Take action on spots

Reassure your teen that spots are a side-effect of the hormonal surges of puberty –not the result of eating the wrong food or staying up too late (though stress certainly doesn’t help keep skin clear).

If they are already cleansing regularly, move onto using special anti-spot products; look for face-washes that will reduce skin oiliness without stripping the skin, and anti-spot gels to pop onto offending blemishes. And if that doesn’t help, get professional help. Your GP can prescribe stronger antibiotic pills or lotions to tackle spots, or can refer you to a dermatologist for further help. To a doc or a derm, spots are not something that you need to put up with; they’re a problem to which there’s a variety of solutions.

(*I’m a firm believer in the need for SPF, all year round, particularly on the face, since it is low-level, everyday exposure to UV rays that stacks up over a lifetime to give us age spots and wrinkles by our 50s, and can raise the chances of developing skin cancer. If you want to make sure you get enough vitamin D, which is made by the body in response to sunshine, show the sun your arms and legs for a few minutes three times a week during the summer months but protect your face).

The BritMums carnival has been entertaining readers for nearly four years. Hosted every other Tuesday by a different blogger, the carnival is a great way to find new blogging buddies and new posts to read.

Follow past carnivals and find out more about hosting one of your own.

Much as I love a bit of crafting, it’s not my only interest, so my blog is quite generalist.  I think this is why I’m drawn to similar bloggers – those that write about all manner of things with the tempting tit-bit of craft thrown in every so often.

My first recommendation for your delectation is Lulastic and the Hippy Shake.  A stylish and chic modern day womble (I hope she won’t mind me calling her that!), she’s always making good use of the things that she finds.  Check out her hilarious skip-diving tales and see the end results of her upcyling projects.

Next, can I draw your attention to the glue-gun slinging, crafty crocheting cow-girl that is Chris Tea and Cakes.  What she can’t crochet ain’t worth crocheting – from fox stoles to rude words. Self-taught she’s an inspiration and you won’t get ideas like this at the WI.  She’s also a cupcake maker extraordinaire.

 

 

Another of my fellow crafty thrifters is Faith Hope and Charity Shopping.  She’s just started up a new linky called ‘Ta-Dah Tuesday’ so go give it some love and link up a make that you’re particularly proud of or a project you’ve finally got around to finishing.

 

 

If like me, you’ve got caught up in the all consuming time sucker that is Pinterest, you really should check out the Pinterest Challenge posse.  It’s all too easy to pin something that you maybe/possibly/someday may get round to having a go at for yourself, and these ladies help give you a gentle nudge to actually give it a go.  Post up the original pin that inspired you and share your finished results – the good the bad and the ugly.  There’s prizes too, so what could be better incentive?  Join in on the first Monday of every month.

 

If all this crafty loveliness has inspired you, don’t forget to link up your makes over at While Lily Green and her Handmade Thursday posts each week.  It’s the perfect excuse to take some time out, leave the kids’ finger-painting and do some grown-up crafting.

How about you? Please add your craft posts to the Linky below so we can all come and read them

Join BritMums and Dr Rob Hicks (www.drrobhicks.co.uk) on Thursday 17 May from 13:00 to 14:00 for the #BootsWebMD.com Twitter chat. Come and share your experiences dealing with the most common childhood conditions. Dr Rob will be tweeting with us, to discuss your experiences and answer your questions.

Tweet your question or experience using the #BootsWebMD hash tag and you could win the top prize of £250 worth of Boots gift vouchers or one of four £25 worth of Boots gift vouchers.

#BootsWebMD
Thursday 17 May, 2012
13:00 – 14:00
with Dr Rob (@DrRobHicks)

The chat is sponsored by BootsWebMD.com. BootsWebMD.com is a collaboration between Boots, one of the UK’s leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailers, and WebMD, one of the world’s leading online health information sites. The BootsWebMD.com children’s health centre provides an overview of the basic facts and information you need to understand what’s happening in the life of your baby and child at all ages and stages of development. You can also find a WebMD Symptom Checker* and a Medicines and Treatment Centre on the site.

Mark your calendars and join us for an illuminating and helpful Twitter chat!

Please note that the BootsWebMD.com Twitter chat will discuss medical conditions in general terms and will not offer specific medical advice or answer specific personal queries. The Twitter Chat provides the opportunity for you to learn more and discuss common childhood conditions.

* THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for general information purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and should not be relied on to make decisions about your health. Never ignore professional medical advice in seeking treatment because of something you have read on the Boots WebMD Site. If you have an urgent medical problem please call your doctor, or NHS direct, immediately or in the case of emergencies dial 999.

Don’t forget to read the Terms & Conditions

Expat Life - Swings and Roundabouts

So. You’re moving abroad. You’ve either been thinking about it for a long time, and you’ve finally set the ball rolling, or your other half has come home from work and announced that his job is moving, and so are you. That’s what happened to us in any event…

In September it will be three long years since I stood weeping outside my London terraced home and waving all our worldly possessions off in a ginormous lorry that blocked our small, friendly and much-missed street for a couple of hours. We weren’t that popular that day I can tell you.

I will never ever forget the final goodbyes with family and friends. Or the trip to the airport that day we departed, hands clenching passports and one-way tickets to Kobenhavn… My husband in his infinite wisdom had kept all other important documents together in a brief case that he had found in the attic. A briefcase he had been given as a Christmas gift as a teenager by his optimistic Grandmother, and one that hadn’t seen the cold light of day for many years. A briefcase that (we found out afterwards) contained a set of darts from his university days. The customs and excise staff were very understanding, but when you are feeling slightly emotional anyway, it’s these little extra stresses that will set you off, believe me.  But, dear reader, you will be pleased to hear I have just about forgiven him!

And before we knew it we had arrived in the land of bikes and terribly expensive famous jumpers. A land that was to be our first foreign home for the next two years. And a mind-widening, mostly great experience it was too… We must have enjoyed it, as we wanted to do it all over again and have now lived in Munich for 6 months!

And what tips would I give to those about to embark on their first foreign “postings”?

Do your research. Insist on a pre-visit (if you are with a company), and check out all the different areas before you commit to a house. It’s worth seeking out a good relocation agent. I employed one for our Denmark move, and I also found one for the German move as well. The Danish relocation agent proved invaluable in helping us find a house. She had her inner-contacts and knew of private houses available not yet advertised. The German relocation agent is now a good friend, even if she did make me look at 15 houses in one day on nothing more than a cup of coffee (and I had already chosen the first house I saw)!…

Go with your gut feelings on things. Looking back, there are things I would have changed about our time in Denmark. But as a first time Expat you aren’t sure about the way some things are done. If you aren’t happy with something question it. If it’s something as important as school for example, look into the alternatives, however daunting it may seem. For a move to be successful, everyone in the family has to be happy.

Meeting People… When you first arrive in your new country, it’s so important that you start getting to meet people and begin to make friends. I know I have said it before, but say yes to everything. If you are a parent then get involved at school, seek out local groups and don’t just stick to the Expat circle… When we first arrived in Munich, we were invited to an English speaking group here. When we arrived I found out that we were in fact the only English people. Everyone else was German learning to speak English. We felt like celebrities and had a great evening, and I have made some good local friends out of it. We take turns having brunches at each other’s houses. I made them eat Marmite. They did actually invite me back.

Learning the Lingo… Do it. Book yourself some lessons as soon as you get off the plane. Just being able to say “hello”, “goodbye”, “no I really have no idea what you are saying” and my general life-saver “and you” which can be used for a variety of situations! “Have a lovely day” – “and you”… “Have a great weekend” – “and you” “Your driving is terrible” – “and you”… See? It honestly makes all the difference.

Skype. If you haven’t got it already, download it now. It’s invaluable for being able to “see” and speak to loved ones at home.

And on a note about loved ones… Plan your time sensibly when you visit home! Organise an afternoon in a pub or restaurant and get people to come and see you. That way you get to spend valuable time with all of your wider circle of loved ones, and not exhausting yourself by rushing around all over the place (when you could be spending time in Waitrose – I’m joking – slightly).

Get your Cook Books Out… Your longing for food stuffs from home will have you giving Nigella a run for her money. I am not lying about this. Tough times call for desperate measures, and you never know, you may discover some hidden talent!

Change the sign on the door to No Vacancies… Don’t underestimate how many guests you will have in your first year somewhere (and some requests from people you haven’t heard from in years – cheeky beggers!). Do not let yourselves get overbooked. You need time as a family to get to know your new lives, constantly entertaining people is not conducive to this, believe me!

And do you know what? There are times that you won’t be so enamoured with your new life, that you will be desperately homesick and just need someone to understand you for once… But then there are days that you realise how lucky you are to be given such an opportunity, what a valuable experience it is for your children and how much you will learn about yourself.

And perhaps most importantly of all, until you have lived abroad, you will never ever understand how good a decent cup of tea and an M&S hot cross bun can taste when someone’s smuggled them in for you!

Enjoy. Bon Voyage, and the very best of luck!

We snapped a load of pictures (below), chatted with regular BritMums contributors including @maris_world, @michelloui, @IamWitWitWoo, @motherwifeme, @nickie72 and @actuallymummy, and also ran into @cazroz, @mummymummymum, @KarenCannard, @gigi_itpr, @kerryjeanlister, @christinemosler, @ChelseaMamma, @mammasaurus, @swhittle, @Mum_inthemadhouse (rocking an arm sling), @nataliemlue, @R2UK and many more (apologies if I’ve left off your name here!).

We had a lovely carpet picnic with @domesticgoddessq at lunch and we caught Julie Hall’s WordPress session. If there’s anyone who can get you excited about your widgets and plug-ins, it’s Julie. (She’ll be doing an Advanced WordPress session at BritMums Live! as well as dispensing design advice for beginning bloggers in Beginning Blogging: Essentials 2.)

Lots of folks told us they’d see us at BritMums Live!, coming up in 6 weeks (yay!). Until then, here’s who we caught up with. (Some with very pink lighting!)

Rosie Scribble and Peggy Poyser

Loved the outfit Sabina aka @mummymatters wore

Jacqui Patterson and Maria from Mixed Up Mummy (with chaperone)

Snuggle Bubby and Tired Mummy of Two

Purple Mum and Domestic Goddesque at lunch

Mari's World and Jenography.net (aka me)

With Mum on the Brink

With Karen The Daily Mum and Mother Wife Me

Michelloui and me

Love this pic of Snuggle Bubby and Anna Moss with their winnings

Over on my blog this week I talked at some length about the fluid nature of parenting in a post about Athletics and Academics, which goes someway towards explaining my own views on the child/parent relationship as they hit the teenage years.  Suffice to say there is no one size fits all solution to bringing up children, we all have are own methods and views, which is just how it should be.

One of the dads with a new arrival in the house is Lewis who writes Babber Blog, a great collection of thoughts about being a parent for the first time.  I have been enjoying looking back at the early stages of parenthood through his eyes and have to say that he appears to be coping far better than I remember doing the first time around.  He also seems to have got a handle on some of the less publicised advantages of having a baby in the house, as his excellent and amusing post Excuses shows.

James at Here’s Daddy is a bit further up the parenting ladder, with a thirteen month old son, and also seems to have things very much under control.  In fact he seems to be coping so well that he also has time for other activities, including dealing with the garden, something that I am still struggling with after fourteen years.  His recent post about purchasing a set of secateurs really struck a chord though, a gadget and cutting stuff down, that’s proper dad material.

A different take on garden hobbies comes from John over at RJR Daydreamer who, amongst other things, has an interest in model railways.  Now I have to admit to being a Scalextric kind of guy on the whole, but it seems that I may have been missing out.  It may just be me, but the idea of a railway in the garden sounds rather appealing, particularly one which appears to be able to triumph over all obstacles, including snow.

Cooking is something that is close to my heart, but I stand in awe of Marcus of Country Woodsmoke, who can do a bit more than just rustle up a few cakes.  Here is a chap who regularly produces fabulous looking meals, many of which are prepared outside.  That’s right Marcus has a wood fired oven in his garden, which he appears to have built himself as well, and he appears to be capable of cooking almost anything on it.  You can get an idea of what he gets up to here with his characterful pizza, probably a good place to start before discovering how much he can really do outside the comfort of a modern kitchen.

Finally this month I thought it might be nice to highlight one of the most influential and helpful blogging dad’s that I have come across.  I am of course talking about the previous author of this post Keith who pens the eloquent and informative Chronicles of a Reluctant Housedad.  Many of you will of course be well aware of his existence, but in case you have been living in an Internet free cave for the past few years, make sure you get over and check him out.  There is always something worth reading on his blog, food, parenting, ironing or in this case how the arrival of a crane led to a temporary escape from housedad duties, don’t miss it.

I know there are plenty more dads out there, but in case you are not on my radar please add your links below, just to give me a fighting chance of working my way through everyone, thanks.

The expat book I am working on is for people who are struggling to enjoy their life overseas. I’m writing it because I know there are a lot of people like this and I know that whether you’re overseas for a year or a lifetime, you’ll have a much better experience if you can find strategies for enjoying it.

One thing that helps me a lot when I’m feeling a bit down about living overseas is reading other people’s enthusiastic, passionate blogs about their life overseas. I also like to share the positives I have found about my life overseas (sharing helps me focus more on the positives!).

I recently wrote a post about my house—it’s locally well known for two reasons, and it’s one of the things I think is fun about my life overseas. I haven’t always loved where I’ve lived in Britain, and there are things I don’t like about my current house but I have found some aspects that I can focus on to make my home a much more entertaining place to live in.

In my expat round-up I much prefer to focus on specific posts but in this round-up I’m going to make an exception. Fergus Miller is a new discovery of mine and reading his About Me page alone is enough to feel the energy of this expat. This New Zealander has lived in Britain and now Switzerland and loves living overseas, loves taking advantage of his location to travel from his home.

One of the fun things about living in another country is discovering the things they have that your home country doesn’t have, even if they’re kind of scary/odd (let’s hope these are never needed). Check out the unusual extra rooms in Swiss houses at Three Years and One Stone then Home.

Another blogger who has a passion for her host country is Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal. She has discovered the best hot weather food in the world (in my opinion, and very likely hers) and I can almost guarantee that she won’t find anything like this in her home country!

Now I’m back to recommending a whole blog. This time it’s because it’s a brand new blog! A Vicar’s Wife is written by an American married to a vicar—no she will not make you tea and scones, but yes, he will entertain you with her funny, honest writing. Go check her out and welcome her to the expat blogging community!

One of the best ways to love living where you do is to find something beautiful about it—whether it’s the little flowers that take root in the cracks in the pavement or the majesty of a wild coastline. Take photos of it, paint or draw it, or simply write about it. And if you have a blog, share it with the world as Crumpets in Camelot has done in one of her recent posts, celebrating the beautiful coastline in Cornwall.

How do you find ways to love living in your host country? Consider this a post prompt! Write a post on it and come back and add it to the linky below—or, if you’ve already written on it (no matter how long ago) leave a link below.

Oh, and before I go, if there are any expats reading this who are attending the BritMums Live! Conference 22-23 June, there will be an expat dinner on Friday 22^nd June, after the Brilliance in Blogging awards party and ceremony, at about 8.30 pm. If you’re interested in going, just contact me and I’ll add your name to the list! My twitter handle is @Michelloui and my email is theamericanresident (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Next month I’ll look at the more frustrating aspects of living overseas.