It’s that time of year again and I cannot believe how quickly the year has flown by.  I like to buy myself a week-to-view diary/journal and take time to write the important dates in it, transferring them carefully from my old diary.  It’s not hi-tech, not the most efficient use of time and there are [...]

Stress occurs whenever we feel that too much is being asked of us and we have no control over the situation, such as tackling a complex project with tight deadlines just as your colleague goes on vacation, or possibly juggling a dental appointment with the school Nativity play and the Christmas food shop all in [...]

Many people assume that stress is a fact of life – that children do not experience it and that occasional overbearing stress is just a way of adult life.  But is are these truths or myths? I say, myths. There are people who live relatively stress free lives.  These people can have the same harrowing jobs, [...]

Stress is largely a matter of perception.  That does not mean that you do not have real physical responses.  The stress fight or flight response is very real.  Rather the way you interpret stress is subjective and varies from one person to another.  You can change your stress levels by changing the way you perceive [...]

Every parent knows that children can always be relied on to listen closely to what they’re not supposed to and yet are completely deaf when you ask them to tidy up or anything else they don’t want to do.  But I was completely floored by what my 4-year-old came out with. “Don’t worry, mummy, I [...]

WooHoo!  I’ve survived Christmas! I’m with the crowd who thinks Christmas is the most stressful time of the year.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love Christmas.  I love the Christmas lights and the decorations, the cheery smiles that you get even from Londoners.  And I love Christmas food.  For us it’s goose.  It’s a traditional family [...]

“If you want to be happy, be” – Leo Tolstoy I have come to the conclusion that there are some people in this world who are just determined to be miserable and unhappy.  I don’t mean people suffering from clinical depressions or those fighting a seemingly never ending misery. No. I mean those people that [...]

Ever had one of those days when you really need to get something done and then you do something completely different for no good reason? I have just updated my blog to the latest wordpress version and it went almost smoothly (just two minor panics and one really major one!). Anyway, NOW it seems one [...]