The 20 Milestones of Childhood

Time moves so fast and part of life's deal is that as soon as you become a parent it speeds up.

So that got me thinking, if we know that there's likely to be certain events in our children's lives then we should use these to remind us to cherish time a bit more and store the happy memories as they happen. The message is clear 'Take a step back as often as possible to enjoy the now' as it'll be gone before you've realised.

Here's my version of the 20 Milestones of Childhood, but just think of all the good times inbetween:

1. Baby on the way
2. Kicking
3. Birth
4. Sleep through
5. Giggle
6. Crawl
7. Clap
8. Walk
9. Laugh
10. Toilet!
11. Talk
12. Nursery
13. Friends
14. School
15. Swim
16. Homework
17. Exams
18. Boy/Girlfriend
19. Holiday
20. Uni

Online Baby Journal

As you may know there's a new and exciting online business just launched called imemoryboxes and I happen to be the founder!

As a key stepping stone to defining our offer we conducted some heavy research into the hassles and regrets of parents. A strong theme came out of the findings and helped us to create our fresh and innovative way of recording life's special moments.

Here's a taste of what we learned:

Treasured photos are not easy to find

Audio recordings are rarely listened to but when they are they are the best way of remembering special times. They trigger the mind's eye much better than anything else.

Traditional ways of collecting memories and recording events are too time consuming and dull

The best thing about memories is sharing them with loved ones - not so easy to do the traditional way

It's difficult to keep keepsake records tidy and presentable

There's lots more (you'd expect me to say that wouldn't you!)

So, there's a little insight into why parents of any age should look after their cherished memories with imemoryboxes.

visit www.imemoryboxes.com

When Children Know Best

As parents we often think we know best, don't we?

Well, take yourselves back to when you were growing up and the number of times you thought you were right and your parents were wrong, especially in your teenage days.

The good news is, you were probably right lots of times.

Here's the type of things children know best and I'm telling you now I'm right!

• How to use social networking sites
• What the latest fashions are
• What's cool
• The lyrics to new songs you think you know the words to
• How to text quickly
• Words that had a different meaning in 'the old days'
• Green issues
• To get news as it happens
• To get information fast

There's probably lots more so just add to the list

Be Happy in Business

Before I started my new business www.imemoryboxes.com, I sought the opinions of fellow business people for their top 3 business success factors.

My thinking was 'if I could build a business that ticks all the boxes, then I'd be onto a winner'.

I was soon reminded that 'success' means different things to different people and how important it is to define and commit your own clear definition to paper.

So, if you are starting your own business or working for others may I suggest you do the same and take some inspiration from this list:

The 8 Factors for 'Being Successful'

• Enjoy what you do
• Do it amazingly well
• See mistakes as lessons
• Smile and laugh as much as possible
• Respect the people who work with you
• Listen
• Pay attention to detail
• Take time out to review and plan