Coping Strategies for the 21st Century Mum

There is no better time for mums to resharpen their mothering skills than in the Mothering Month! 

Happy Mother's Month to all the gorgeous and fabulous mums and hope you were spoilt rotten on Sunday?

It appears the 21st century mum is one whom the school gives detailed explanation of the curriculum and expectations and then expected to shoot for the moon. You are expected to practically teach and guide your child based on homework and other deliverables from school. You then wait until the end of the term/year, as the case may be, to get 'your' report; evaluation of how hard you have worked! 

If you are a new mother, your guess is as good as mine - you will need a lot of preparation. So gear yourself up. If you are like me who didn't  like drawing at school, you might as well start falling in love with artwork now. Those skills will especially be handy in Grade R.

A lot more is expected from parents these days, it will take a lot of intentionality to avoid burnout. Be sure to take those much needed power naps (10-15 minutes) in between assisting your child with homework and making supper, if you are a light sleeper. This might be a good time to give your little one a break, you don't want to bombard them with too much work either, else they won't look forward to doing their homework. Most importantly, your dedication to 'me-times' and hangouts will keep stress levels down and help maintain a peaceful atmosphere at home. 

Visit Mum's Mail and Parents24.com for useful mothering tips in and around South Africa. 

Also see Parenting Toolkit for parenting advice across the globe. 

Lest I forget, you will need early preparation for sports, explore Child Development and Parenting Skills.

This piece of advice here - from a 21st century Principal, will equally be helpful.

Visit the learning community, it is definitely worth checking out too.

Keep head above water! #KeepGoing #StayStrong

Above all, you can never go wrong with #Prayers in the #WarRoom

The Cost of Social Change

Social scientists are often caught in a web of intentionally influencing or changing perspectives to address underlying social problems. Ad hoc change in belief systems does not necessarily translate to a change in a problem. 

Efforts targeted at intentionally altering belief systems can be cosmetic and tend to produce momentary results which may look good on reports but too short-lived to make significant impacts which contribute to sustainable development. The will to change therefore rests in the hands of change agents or organisational members who possess power and agency to surrender their will to the mechanisms of social change. I foresee a very near future where social scientists devote substantial efforts on unstructured social learning for social change.   

Reflexivity is one of such mechanisms which will not only promote well-being and livelihoods but also lay a solid foundation for incorporating the sustainability agenda into core organisational practices and ethos. Reflexivity demands that agents be intuitive and critical of own way of thinking and ways through which thinking evolves into practices. What we consistently do is a reflection of our thoughts. How much power do we accord our thoughts to transcend into the very finite details of what we do? There is need to consistently resist thoughts which perpetuate despair and jeopardise peace and safety.  

Another mechanism is the willpower to relinquish self-interest for the social good. The human mind is naturally selfish. Intentionality is one the mantras of change agents. Show me a man who has the power to deny himself of 'pleasures' for the social good and I will show you a Protagonist. What is your threshold of sacrificial living? How much of what you do saves you time and money but negatively impacts your community and society? There is need for a system which puts practices in checks and balances. This brings me to my last and most important point: Lifelong-learning.

Every master thinks like a beginner. A change agent is one whose purpose is centred on lifelong-learning. The learning cycle can be very eventful but liberating. We often learn in tiny bits and pieces which later make a whole. Lifelong-learners often learn so little at a time and are tremendously amazed how wrong they have been for so many years. The learning process gets more intense with consistent drive for knowledge, which if combined with reflexivity, will be a key cornerstone for promoting social change and transformative learning.

This is a call to action, a call to amplify:
#Sustainabilityagenda 
#Sustainabilityeducation 
#corporatesocialresponsibility 
#CSR
#Socialchange
#Sustainableliving
#Sustainabledevelopmentgoals

Abosede Ijabadeniyi (PhD)

Researcher: Consumer Insights and Value Proposition