Family holidays most stressful events for mums

Far from being an enjoyable prelude to a relaxing break, planning the family holiday is likely to leave mums feeling stressed and tempted not to go away at all, according to new research from Holiday-Rentals.co.uk. The survey of over 1,000 UK mums has revealed that 84% are left to plan the family holiday by themselves, with 60% finding it a stressful experience. The problem has reached such an extent that many have considered not going away at all due to the stress of trying to plan the perfect getaway.

The research has found that, behind moving house and preparing for Christmas, planning a family holiday is the most stressful event in most mums’ lives. To help ease the pressure, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk has developed the “Mums’ Holiday Guide”, offering advice on everything from choosing the right location, to packing and how to get the rest of the family involved in organising the holiday. The Mums’ Holiday Guide is free to download from www.Holiday-Rentals.co.uk/MumsHolidayGuide and has been created with advice and top tips from real mums, allowing everyone to benefit from the nationÂ’s collective experience!

The survey found that the journey to and from the holiday destination is the most stressful part of a family holiday, with almost a third (29%) of mums stating that long flights, cramped car journeys and claustrophobic ferry trips cause anxiety. Making sure that everyone has packed the right things and organising passports and paperwork also top the list of holiday hassles.

Although it is overwhelmingly mums (84%) that organise the family holiday, many do get a helping hand from the rest of the family once they arrive. When on a self-catering holiday nearly half (47%) of mums share tasks with the rest of the family, compared to a mere fifth (22%) when at home. Typically Dad lends a hand by barbequing, helping to prepare meals and washing up, while everyone helps to keep the place tidy.

Accommodation also proved to be a major bone of contention, with many mums complaining about inadequate facilities or arriving to find they hadnÂ’’t quite got what they booked!

One disgruntled mum commented, “My worst holiday ever was when we arrived and discovered, having booked two interconnecting rooms, we hadn’Â’t got them. My two-and-a-half year old daughter was put in a room on her own with double doors to fire escape which didnÂ’’t lock and the heating didnÂ’’t go above 17 degrees!Â’”

Another said, ““Don’Â’t assume anything! We thought going to a well-known family holiday camp would be fun. How wrong we were; the caravan stunk to high heaven, the camp was tacky and the entertainment was awful! We wonÂ’’t be doing that again!””

With its easy to use website listing over 45,000 properties worldwide, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk makes finding the perfect accommodation easy, and has created the Mums Holiday Guide to help make the planning process smoother for busy mums too. With advice on destinations and tips to take the pain out of planning, the guide contains everything mums need to make sure they enjoy their holiday too!

Greg Grant, UK MD for Holiday-Rentals.co.uk said, “Based on the results of our research, it’Â’s not surprising that mums can find holidays stressful! We can’Â’t force other members of the family to help mum more on holiday, but we have done everything we can to help take the pain out of planning with our Mums Holiday Guide.””

“Renting a holiday home provides families more space, privacy, comprehensive facilities, and the flexibility to take time out for themselves. Unlike hotel rooms, holiday homes give kids space to breathe and parents freedom to relax in another room, but everyone is still under the same roof.”

With a wide range of accommodation available, users of Holiday-Rentals.co.uk can choose the type and size of property they want for any destination theyÂ’’d like to visit. The website is easy to navigate and all properties have at least four colour photos and a detailed description of what guests can expect.

Modern working practices strain family relationships, particularly women’s

A new piece of research has discovered something that many busy mums and dads are already all too well aware of.

Modern “human resource management practices” – or in other words, how employees are expected to work, what monitoring systems are in place, and how they perceive their jobs – are placing a significant strain on family relationships. And it’s particularly bad for women.

The strain on relationships has been measured as equivalent to working an extra 120 hours a year. That’s over two hours extra per week.

Employers are finding new ways of attempting to increase productivity, such as team-based forms of work, performance-related pay, individual development, and automated surveillance of how much employees work.

Strain is particularly high in more administrative roles, where monitoring is the standard, such as in call centres.

Both men and women may become anxious about childcare arrangements when they’re under pressure at work, but women are less likely to get help at home from a male partner if the men are under work pressure.

“Computers and IT systems are bringing surveillance to most workplaces. Now for the first time we can see how this development is damaging employees’ well-being,” said Michael White, who co-directed the research study.

(Via NewKerala.Com)

75% of British mums find organising child’s party stressful

According to recent research from the children’s party organisers Les Enfants, three-quarters of UK mums find organising a child’s party stressful, while 26% feel pressured to arrange bigger and better parties each year.

Of the respondents, full-time working mothers find party organising most stressful and feel the most pressure to throw better parties each year, in comparison to stay-at-home mums or mums who work part time. Full-time working mums are also more likely to spend more on parties and theyÂ’’re least in favour of party bags.

The survey revealed that the average cost of a child’Â’s party is in the region of £200. Given that 64% of respondents said they hold birthday parties every year and 70% had more than one child, the costs start to add up. Most parents (44.9%) spend between £100 and £200 per party while 35.8% spend less than £100. However, 11% spend up to £300, just under 5% spend up to £500 and almost 3% are willing to fork out up to £1000 per party.

Read more

Two books aim to cut down the Christmas stress

Dare I say that it’s just a little over two months until Christmas Day, with the preparations – and stress – likely to start well before that.

Small surprise, then, that two books have been publicised on the same day, aiming to beat down some of that stress and get things in perspective.

Charles Linden has written “Stress Free in 30 Days”, which seems to focus on Christmas but could no doubt be a useful resource at any time of the year, particularly if you’re juggling a busy family.

“Christmas is a key stress trigger due to the high expectations people often put on that one day! Pre-planning and budgeting can ease the pressure for many, or learning how to deal with volatile family situations can turn a fraught Christmas into an enjoyable one!” Linden says.

“It is not always about removing the stress from your life, but more about how you deal with it that is the key to feeling less stressed”

Stress Free in 30 Days costs £17.99 and is available in Waterstones, WH Smith and Amazon.

Meanwhile, “The S.U.M.O. Guy”, Paul McGee, author of “S.U.M.O. Your Relationships”, says, “YouÂ’’ll be better placed to deal with the festive season if you can get it into perspective. Christmas Day, for example, is only one day out of 365. Stop thinking everything has to be ‘perfectÂ’ and try to plan how you can simplify Christmas as much as possible, and get friends and family to help you! For example, if you’Â’re planning to host a Christmas party, ask your friends to all bring either a mystery sweet or savoury dish – theyÂ’’ll be happy to help and it will be fun to see what everyone brings! Cease thinking you have to ‘be all, provide all’ – that can make for a very dull and frazzled hostess. Encourage others to step up to the proverbial plate.””

He also offers up some tips for staying sane this Christmastime.

1. Be Careful Who You Talk To!

The phrase ‘a trouble shared is a trouble halved’ is an important principle, but not always helpful. Some people have the ability to make you actually feel worse and more troubled after you’ve spoken to them and will end up telling you all their worries – or they’ll tell you they’ve finished all their preparations and “don’t understand what all the fuss is about” –not helpful.

2. Be Careful How Many People You Talk To During Hippo Time!

Repeating all the stresses of your ‘terrible afternoon’ to everyone you speak to will not actually make you feel any better as you’ll just end up in replay mode. Sharing your day’s woes with more than one person can actually be one too many be choosy who to include during your Hippo Time.

3. Do Something You Enjoy!

There are perhaps cheaper and healthier ways to spend your time wallowing, but if eating a little chocolate, or having a few drinks in a bar works for you – why not? Do whatever helps you to relax. Alternatively, it could be a walk in the park with the dog, or a long wallowing bath.

Hippo Time provides a useful ‘mini breakÂ’ from life and relieves us from our day-to-day pressures. Time out during Hippo Time also helps you S.U.M.O (Shut Up, Move On) with what you really need to do, and get life in perspective. Remember when things donÂ’t go as planned, ask yourself: ““Where is this on a scale of 1-10?” (where 10 equates to death)” or ““How important will this be in six months time?”” You’Â’ll realise itÂ’’s not worth really worrying so much.

Easier said than done, perhaps, but worth bearing in mind.

UK mums get 23 minutes “me time” per day, dads 4.5 hours: how to unwind

A recent research study by the online games company PopCap (the relevance of which will become apparent in a moment), in association with The Stress Management Society, suggests that British mums get, on average, just 23 minutes of “me time” each day, whereas dads enjoy around four-and-a-half hours of leisure time daily.

I’m sure this isn’t true across the board, but the study suggests that dads get plenty of time to enjoy such stress-busting activities as going to the gym, taking a leisurely lunch hour (they obviously never worked in the offices I did), watching TV, hobbies such as football or golf, or just reading the newspaper whilst going to the loo.

Mums, on the other hand, use the sub-half-hour break to grab a cuppa or a quick swig of wine, smoke a cigarette, or eat a snack. The study suggests that this type of break can actual be counterproductive, because the amount of time and actual activity doesn’t allow for mum to unwind from the daily stress.

PopCap would like to suggest that, as well as physical exercise which can reduce stress levels, pressure, and anger, and activities such as yoga which can stretch both mind and body, a five-minute “cyber-break” with one of their online games can help lower stress levels, by reducing blood pressure, and slowing the breathing and heart rate.

Cathy Orr, European PR Director at PopCap, said, “The disparity in down time between mums and dads is staggering. Even if mums can’t change their quantity of ‘Me time’, they can still positively affect the quality of the time they have available. A recent study in association with The Stress Management Society showed that playing casual games on sites like www.popcap.com for as little as 5 minutes a day has stress relieving benefits. If time-poor mums replace their cuppa with a quick PopCap session, it will help relax, recharge and refocus their minds to face the rest of the day.”

Don’t underestimate the power of a cuppa, though.

76% of mothers will sacrifice purse, phone, or chocolate, for a “Me Zone”

A recent survey, by Glade Flameless Candles of all people, suggests that over three-quarters of mums would sacrifice their favourite purse, mobile phone, or chocolate bar, if it meant that they could have a few moments alone in their “Me Zone”.

The “Me Zone” is not only about creating time for mothers, but also a place for them to enjoy it (hence the candles, presumably).

Read more

Over half of new mums have gone 24 hours without sleep

A UK survey has shown that over half of new mums have gone for a full 24 hours without sleep. Many have reported a feeling of loneliness as the social life drops away, and some have even started to lose the bond with their baby through lack of sleep.

Around three-quarters (72 per cent) of the women surveyed said tiredness put a strain on their relationship with their partner, causing arguments for half of them.

Sleep deprivation can cause depression and a weak immune system as well as the more immediate problems of irritability and difficulties with concentration and co-ordination.

Almost half (44 per cent) of the 796 mums surveyed for Johnson’s Baby, said they don’t like talking to anyone due to exhaustion, 65 per cent don’t leave the house after asleep less night and nearly one third of mums (31 per cent) suffered loneliness.

More worryingly, for 17 per cent of new mothers, the sleepless nights have had a negative impact on their bond with their baby.

Read the full article

Stress hormone does funny things to teens

If you’re looking for a reason why teenagers suffer with mood swings, researchers may have found the answer:

Researchers have discovered that a hormone produced by the body in response to stress, which normally calms adults and younger children, instead increases anxiety in adolescents.

They conducted experiments with female mice focusing on the hormone THP that demonstrated this paradoxical effect, and described the brain mechanism that explains it.

If, as the scientists suspect, the same thing happens in people, the phenomenon may help account for the mood swings and anxiety exhibited by many adolescents, they said.

Read (via The Age)

Why parents kill their children

The New Straits Times has written an article on Why parents kill their children based upon the recent tragic events in Malaysia.

Read more