working mums

LeapPad Explorer, Moshi Monsters or Lego?

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

One for my parent pals…

One of my clients – Hitwise – has taken a look at search volumes for the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) predictions for the top 12 must-have toys this Christmas.

The TRA didn’t rank the top 12 toys in any particular order, but using the top 10,000 search terms driving traffic to the Experian Hitwise Toys and Hobbies category in October this year, we can see the most popular toys by search clicks:

Christmas 2011 top toys search volume.png

Old faves were missed off the list – such as Lego, Playmobil and Barbie and as Hitwise noted:

Barbie, Playmobil and Scalextric were all more popular than any of the top 12 toys listed above. Barbie in particular received four times as many searches as the LeapPad Explorer.

We’re planning on getting the LeapPad for our 5 year old although given the amount of time my daughter spends “borrowing” my iPad, I am not sure if this will be seen as an acceptable alternative! With less than 50 days left, better get a wriggle on with the shopping anyway.

 

one working mum’s guide to sanity #2

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

Find a group of working mums with similar interests to you who can you can learn off and support each other.

Often networking events etc. are in the evenings which make it tricky for a lot of working mums to attend.  Find the areas that interest you and if decent high profile stuff doesn’t exist, start your own group.

Better still, do it at lunchtime or after the school drop off in the morning so it doesn’t eat into the work day or mess up your childcare arrangements.

A friend and I have done just this and there seems to be a genuine and growing need for more networking opportunities for working mums.

Mothers Work! by Jessica Chivers

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

A new book coming out next month, aims to look at how you can make working motherhood work for your family, your employer and yourself.

The author, Jessica Chivers, is an inspirational speaker and uses her coaching capability and psychology background to help women and employers recruit, retain and manage the balance of work and family.

In her own words, the book is:

“65,000 words on what it takes to make working motherhood, work by Jessica Chivers coming your way from Hay House, June 2011. Inspiring, energising, practical and filled with the experiences of over over 150 real mothers. This is the book any confused and tired mother who’s wondering how the hell she’ll manage going back to work needs to read before she does. Clarity and confidence will be yours at the end of it, that’s my promise.”

More info at the Facebook group, Twitter feed or website.