How to add value to your home?
The average Australian lawn is 130m2, so you should pay around $1000-1500 for new grass without any labour costs. Based on around 130m2, you are looking at $2.50-3/m2 for installation if you don’t do it yourself. The cheapest option is to do the work yourself. The only thing it will cost you is your time. Do realise it isn’t simply a case of plonking the turf down and walking away.
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Women and Super
I was recently having a chat over coffee with a group of other Mums in business (truthfully I was doing a bit of market research) and I asked them if they felt that they had less super savings than they should have considering their ages and stages. A conversation then followed about the gender pay-gap, taking time out of the workforce to raise a family and finding yourself sole breadwinner due to either illness or relationship breakdown.
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Top 10 things to buy before your first baby is born
As I write this, I am almost 19 weeks pregnant with my first child. So I know how you feel. Even for someone super organised, who loves spending hours doing research, Excel tables comparing the pros and cons, it is overwhelming. And if I was given $1 for everytime someone well-meaning told me “you have to get this type of pram, you can’t call them that or you must do this”, my unborn child would have a very healthy trust fund.
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Flying with expressed breastmilk
The last few years there have been a few highly publicised cases of women being made to discard or taste test their hard pumped liquid gold breastmilk when travelling through security or customs when flying. The vast majority of mum’s encounter no issues but its best to educate yourself on your rights as a breastfeeding/ pumping mother and the rules of travelling with expressed breast milk (EBM), so you are confident if you come across any problems.
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People Pleasers are Not Kind
Are you a people pleaser? Do you make decisions because you are afraid of what other people might think? People pleasers think they being kind but they are not being kind to themselves and sometimes not even or others. People pleasers hold back the truth.
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LET'S TALK ABOUT POST NATAL DEPRESSION
How often do we hear stories of pregnancy, birth and early parenting all going exactly to plan? More often than not, the ideas we have in our minds of how things should be, do not merge with the eventuating reality, even if it is the second, third or fourth time around. Every pregnancy, birth, and baby is different and this can have a significant influence on how we feel about ourselves, our baby and about our early parenting experiences.
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Self-Care For Mums
Exercise, even for just a short time, clears the head (and helps our sanity!) Walking, swimming, tai chi. Even dancing around the house has proven fun benefits – watch out, though, as the family may want to join in.
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It Takes A Village To Keep Kids Safe
After recently completing the very informative and at times confronting Child Safety Training from the Office of The Children’s Guardian (OCG) I am even more compelled to ensure child safety is put at the forefront of my dance school and encourage other dance school owners to do the same.
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Your Kids Should Not be the most Important in the Family
I saw an article titled “Your Kids Should Not be Most the Important in the Family” and it made me feel lots of things. Defensive, angry, upset but I also agreed with the statement. Parenting doesn’t come with a manual. I’ve tried to follow a few cheat sheets - attachment parenting, conscious parenting, the Montessori approach… No matter how hard I tried, how hard I researched, I never felt like I was the best mum I could be. I just needed to try harder. Right?
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What To Wear For Your Family Photo Shoot
Clients often ask me what to wear for their family photo shoot. Above all else, I want you to wear something that represents you, as a family. There is no use buying clothes that do not suit you and your style. You do not want to look back at your photos in 2 or 10 years time, and cringe, remembering that time you all wore "those clothes” for some family photos.
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What Guitar Should I buy?
Most our students start with a 3/4 size guitar. We have many in our studios.
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7 Tips to Improve Your Child’s Difficult Behaviour
Try to be calm when a negative behaviour arises. If you react to your child’s misbehaviour, you will either have a big fight on your hands or your child will learn that if they get a reaction to a specific behaviour, they will repeat that behaviour next time. To diffuse rising tension, turn towards your child and talk in a quiet and firm voice.
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5 easy ways you can add exercise into your day
Human beings are routine based animals. We love structure, consistency and making things as easy as possible. So why not start your morning routine off with exercise? To do this I suggest making your environment supportive of this endeavour by setting up your workout clothes in an easy to see place as soon as you wake up, leave your gym shoes close to the front door, set a reminder on your phone.
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Perfection. Is it Paralysing You?
Just notice how often you don’t start because you are scared that it won’t be perfect. How often you feel angry or frustrated because things are not going perfectly.
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What is Canine Myofunctional Therapy by Pet Nurture
Sometimes your best efforts can't prevent an illness or injury from throwing him out of balance. Perhaps you have always relied on conventional veterinary medicine to deal with problems but lately you're drawn to the world of holistic care and hands-on therapies (Allegretti & Sommers, 2003).
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How to Deal with Loneliness in 3 Step Process
Loneliness is a feeling that we try and avoid. The most intense feeling of loneliness I remember was as a child sitting in a classroom full of people. I vividly remember the feeling scared by its power. From that day onward I tried to avoid any negative emotions. But now I understand what created that feeling of loneliness. I know some tools to relieve some of that emotional discomfort and I have learned how to move forward when I feel lonely. I’m going to teach you these things today.
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Baby Massage - a way to get to know your baby
Over the past few years I have worked with loads of mums & dads who recognised that they struggled with getting to know their baby! There is so much emphasis placed on getting everything ready for baby; all the material things that may be needed like cot blankets, bumpers, nappies, bottles, dummies, formula, clothes, etc. Then the books and don't forget googling the different colour baby's poop could be and if it is normal, the different skin rashes, etc.
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Story time – when books trump technology
We’re hearing more and more lately about the importance of reading to and with children; and its impact on language and literacy. Whilst more concrete evidence now exists of the impact on a child’s cognitive skills and the associated flow-on effects throughout their lives, it has been no secret that reading to and with children is a good idea. However, an abundance of technology, combined with the increasingly busy lives of families, mean that many simply aren’t finding the time.
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When should my child learn to read?
Learning to read is an essential part of a child’s development, if they are to function comfortably in today’s society. Many people ask: At what age should a child learn to read? How young is too young; and what are the risks if I wait too long?
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How To Measure Ring Size: Two Methods To Try & One To Avoid
Another great way to measure ring size: ring sizer tool This is nifty, if we do say so ourselves! The ring sizer tool will take the guesswork out of finding your ring size, and it reduces the risk of pesky problems arising from the pen-and-trace technique mentioned above. Instead of tracing an existing ring, it uses a cable tie to measure the width of your finger.
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