Life as a single mum can be challenging and exhausting, especially around this time of year when all the shops are filled with heart-shaped balloons! Here are some top tips to help you improve your confidence and take control of your life and its direction.

1. Congratulate yourself for doing an amazing job under difficult circumstances. Children bring us endless pleasure but bringing them up alone can often be demanding and overwhelming. Acknowledging everything you do to ensure your child is happy and content should make you feel proud.

2. Ensure you are happy about your self-image. This do...

It is often the case that mums feel like life is one long treadmill of chores, work and planning. We forget to enjoy many aspects of life such as finding time to spend with the family and taking much-needed time-out from the grindstone!

It is also true that mums don’t give themselves enough credit for the good work they do and the success they achieve in life. So here are a few typical events in life that call for the occasional ‘Time Out Treat’ (in no particular order):

• Getting the housework done on the day you planned to do it. TREAT: a cup of tea and your favourite biscuit with your fee
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1. Commit to your goal
Choose what you really want to achieve and believe that you can accomplish it.

2. Be realistic
The key is continued motivation. If you set the bar too high, you risk failing.

3. Write it down
A simple yet powerful technique that generates commitment and drive. Write your goal on a piece of paper and stick it where you’ll see it daily.

4. Make an action plan
Decide how to achieve your goal. Write down all the steps you aim to complete in order to conquer your ambition.

5. Be flexible
Not everything will go to plan. Don’t be too rigid else the first minor obstacle may ...

As Big Ben chimes in the New Year, many of us will be making resolutions in the hope they will change our lives for the better. So how can we make certain that such aspirations will be achievable and enable us to live life according to our own set of needs, desires and values?

Effective goal setting is the key. The first and often hardest step is to identify realistic goals that you believe will change your life for the better. A tip here is to consider all the life-long aspirations you have held but never pursued due to lack of time, self-confidence or both.

How realistic are your aspiratio...

As the year draws to a close, many mums will be finding that their schedule is becoming more and more hectic. Does your ‘to-do’ list look a little something like this?

• Make the Christmas cake
• Order the turkey
• Find an angel outfit for Alice’s nativity
• Find a suitable teacher’s gift for less than £5
• Dissuade the kids from spending too much on their friends’ Christmas presents
• Find a suitable Secret Santa present for the boss…
• Review savings for Christmas presents
• Write Christmas cards
• Ask Aunty Nell what colour slippers she would like this year
• Buy de-icer
• Fix windscreen crack befor
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Are you one of the millions of 21st Century mums on the quest to become a Supermum? Are you so desperate to achieve this astounding status that you have absolutely no time to fulfil your own pleasures in life?

Let’s consider the concept of the ‘Supermum’. The title does sound very grand, aspirational and positive, doesn’t it? However, not only is the vision of lycra-clad, cape-wearing mums standing by a school gate hilarious and yet some how horrifying, the concept of such social standing is even more ridiculous.

The term Supermum generally brings with it connotations of ‘having it all’ and ...

As mums, we are forever instilling independence into our children and delight in their individuality. As young, single women, it was important to identify our own individuality and we thrived from it. However, as the role of ‘mum’ is adopted, we automatically forget about the things that we personally enjoy and quickly learn to disregard our own individual needs and desires.

When you have young children, life begins to get hectic and daily challenges quickly define your role as The Mum. However, if you continue to be consumed by this single position in life, you will soon start to feel resent...

Do you often feel as though you are on an endless treadmill in a life full of work and family related duties, which lacks any time for yourself? It is a very common situation in which to find yourself.

Work might be going well, with a promotion on the horizon, and you’ve got the family routine running perfectly, but when was the last time you took some much-needed time-out?

If your work and family duties seem never ending, it is more than likely that you are not truly fulfilled in life. This is because you haven’t given yourself enough care; instead you have neglected your own needs.

To rec...

Fun and enjoyment should be vital to everything we do in life – otherwise what would be the point of the exciting adventure called life? Happiness comes from yourself but as a busy mum, the likelihood is your fun-time is at the very bottom of your list of priorities. Being a fun mum will make you a happier, more fulfilled woman who is in control of life and all its challenges!

A mum’s work is never done. Between keeping the house clean, doing the laundry, making meals and shuttling the family around to football practice or ballet lessons, mums have got their work cut out for them! But what ab...

Returning to work after having a baby can be a harrowing time. Since April 2007, many mothers have been able to enjoy a full twelve months maternity leave, during which time a great bond forms between mother and child. The guilt about leaving your baby when it is essential for you to return to work is compounded by the need to place them in childcare.

According to a recent survey, an estimated 3.25 million UK families place their children in childcare. Although the environments are safe, loving and educational, almost half of these parents worry about the long-term effects childcare may have ...