Unbeliveable Tradegy - The Victorian Bushfires and how we can all help

When you read the news reports from the Victorian Bushfires over the last few days the size of the destruction, the loss of life, property and the impact on the wildlife and animals is just too large to comprehend.

The threat of bushfires lingers over many communities across Australia every year ...It is something that is always in the back of your mind ... is it going to be this year .. is this year the year for the big fire ... is my home going to be under threat ... is it my friend or nieghbours turn ... but I know within my own comprehenstion I would have never imagined something this big.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that lives or has loved ones within the fire zone ... My thoughts and prayers are also with all of the CFA and other firefighters, the SES, Police, Ambulance, the Armed Services that are assiting, the Salvation Army, all medical and nursing staff ... and just everyone that is helping in the efforts in Victoria

For those that want to help there is alot that can be done ...

• Red Cross Call 1800 811 700 or go to redcross.org.au
• Salvation Army Call 137 258 or go to salvos.org.au
• NAB relief fund call 136 622 or visit www.nab.com.au for more details
• RSPCA Victoria www.rspcavic.org
  
• To donate through Myer, visit a store's service desk
• Donations of clothes and household goods to the Salvation Army, Brotherhood of St Laurence, St Vincent de Paul or the Red Cross

Sydney Bike Trails - Good for Prams and Strollers

How many of you have driven or walked signs indicating one of Sydney's bike trails and wondered where do they go ... is this something for me? ... My answer to those questions is that they go lots of places and that they are a great, if under-utilized, resource and are great for parents and children.

Sydney Bikes Trails are one of this cities hidden treasures. Whether you be on 2 wheels (and maybe using a Wee Rider - See my earlier post on them ... great for taking the little one out on a ride) or on 3 or 4, depending on your pram or stroller, they are a great way to get out and see our beautiful city.

Once you know a place to start, you'll be amazed at how many enjoyable rides/walks there are to explore. The majority of the paths are along dedicated bike paths, free of traffic, and pass through parks, along beaches and rivers, and via breathtaking lookouts. Some even have wonderful historic features, such as the Sydney Olympic Park track through Newington Armory and the Fernleigh path near Newcastle.

Most routes are clearly signposted but I think that it is worth checking out the RTA website and downloading the maps to plan your adventures.

I have done of a few rides and walks along some of the cyleways and I recommend them to you ... have any of you done walks on the cyleways and what do you think ... or do you have something similar near you ... I would love to hear.

RTA Cycleway Maps

Parent and Baby Care Room Awards - Australian Breast Feeding Assocition

Once again the Breastfeeding Association has come up with a program that is incredibly practical and useful ... The Baby Care Room Awards. I know that after my son was born I found that my relationship with shopping centres and really all venues outside of home changed based upon my changing needs. One of those needs was for for Parent or Baby Rooms. I found it became an obect of interest to me (and something I would discuss with my Mother's Group) he difference in facilities and the difference it would make in a journey or outing. What became very obvious is that some places didn't have them at all, some appeared to be a small afterthought and others were extremely well thought out and planned.

It appears that my interests were similar to those held by the Breastfeeding Association. They have a national campaign to award rooms that provide facilities to enable mothers to feed and change their babies and toddlers when they are away from home.

The Baby Care Room symbol is awarded to a premises with:

• a convenient, quiet place to feed in privacy
• comfortable seating (armchair style is preferable)
• cleanliness
• somewhere safe and clean to change nappies
• hot and cold water and hand drying facilities
• waste disposal
• a smoke free zone
• no advertising of artificial formula or toddler follow-on formula
• preferably access for fathers who need to care for infants without interfering with the privacy of breastfeeding women

Other features that are highly desirable to consider during the design of a baby change and feeding facility include: Brothers

• easy pram (stroller) access, including twin prams
• doors should be light to push and have the ability to be propped open for pram access, but not automatic
• the room should be clearly marked and easy to find
• food preparation area separate to nappy change area, with bottle warming facilities
• hot water thermostat regulator on taps
• change bench within arms reach of taps so baby can remain attended
• dispenser machine to buy disposable nappies
• dispenser machine for paper cups
• toddler toilet with low mirror, low wash basin with automatic cut off taps, no automatic hand drying facilities and a door able to be pushed open from the inside

A Baby Care Room is always a safe, comfortable, convenient and welcome place to go. A 3 star Baby Care Room is a great place to go, and a 5 star Baby Care Room is fantastic!

I have been to (on more than 1 occasion) 2 venues that have the 5 star rating and I would agree that they are fanatastic. If you live near check out both the Rhodes Shopping Centre (that also has a great Mum and Bubs Club) and the Foster Stockland Shopping Centre (Toddlers will also love the car shopping trolleys).

Check out the list on the ABA website for details of great facilities near you .. .

Baby Care Room Awards and Lists of Venues

Australian Competitions and Free Stuff - Lottos.com.au

Lottos.com.au has the largest list of competitions and free stuff for Australians. There is normally over one thousand different competitions that can be entered for various prizes including cash.

The list of competitions include phone and sms competitions, online based competitions, magazine & newspaper competitions and in store competitions throughout Australia. They have an extensive forum where you can interact with other users and discuss all the latest competitions.

The website also includes lists of members that have recently won prizes.

Downside is that it costs $44 per year. However if you are interested you can try the site for free for 3 days to see if you think it might be worthwhile.

If you are into your competitions and freebies ... it looks like it is worth a look

Childcare options and Find a Babysitter

When things started to really get going with my business I needed to find a suitable childcare solution to help me balance between looking after my son and completing my work. I was tossing up more traditional childcare options (Family Day Care and Childcare centres) with the idea of in-house care by either a Mother's Help or Nanny.

I found that this was both a very interesting journey but one also that was filled with trepidation. I wanted to do what was best for my son and was concerned about the the effects of putting him into care for only 1 day a week. Most of the Family Day Care and Childcare providers I spoke to actually recommended that if I was going to put him into care (at his age) that I should do it for a minimum of 2 days a week to minimize the disruption.

At the same time I started looking into Mother's Help or Nanny options. For me as I am working from home I preferred the idea of keeping my son at home with someone to look after him. That way he could keep his routine and have very little disruption.I found that Find A Babysitter site was really easy to use I liked the search criteria and details provided on each candidate that allows you to filter prospective candiates based upon things that are important to you. I also really liked the upgrade option to get SMS messagig to potential candidates (where you cans send inquiries to potential applicants phones via SMS).This is a really quickly build up a short list and start interviewing.What I found that was really useful was the service

Find a Babysitter (FAB) is an introduction and job posting web-site that helps Australian families find nannies and babysitters in an efficient an affordable way. It has over 30,000 current babysitters and nannies registered across Australia. Profiles of the carers online show details like their qualifications, experience, availability and hourly rates. Parents can email selected carers from this database. They can also use job postings on FAB to attract applicants.

I was very lucky and found my Nanny very easily and was very happy with findababysitter.com.au. From my experience if you are looking for a babysitter, Mother's Help or Nanny then Find A Babysitter is worth a look ... and also by doing so you are supporting another mumpreneur ... which is also always good.

Returning to Earning Grants - A Victorian Government Iniative

I was reading this morning about Online Study for return to the workforce Mums and came upon this Victorian Government Initative and thought it was worthwhile sharing.

The Returning to Earning program provides support to parents to return to work after an absence caring for children. Grants of up to $1000 are available which can be used to cover any costs associated with approved training.

The grant can provide for:

• Course fees
• Payment of Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) fees for the first year of a university course
• First year Higher Education student contribution
• Child care to cover the parent’s attendance at training
• Broadband access where the participant is studying by remote access (distance learning)
• Transport costs incurred to attend training where there is demonstrated need
• Course materials such as prescribed books and software required for the course or other prescribed tools and equipment required for the course
• Uniforms required for specific training e.g. hospitality uniform.

From the website they say that they are not extending any more grants for 2008 but to keep an eye on the website for 2009. I suggest that if you are interested to call their enquiry line on 1 300 303 413

What a great initiative. I really hope that they look at both returning the program and expanding on the number of grants .. or maybe this would be better for the Federal Government to take up and expand to make it available to all Australians. Either way great work Victoria!!!

Breastfeeding Friendly Venues & the Breastfeeding Welcome Here Sticker

A "Breastfeeding Welcome Here" sticker and kit has been produced by the Australian Breastfeeding Association to improve community acceptability of breastfeeding in public through the accreditation and promotion of breastfeeding friendly businesses.

Accreditation criteria for breastfeeding friendly venues that display the sticker or folder are:

• Welcoming attitude from staff and management
• Smoke free environment
• Room to move a pram

Please note the ABA list is derived fromt their list of venues that have successsfully registeed for the sticker and therefore the list is incomplete. However the ABA encourages all venues that meet the criteria to apply for the sticker and get some free publicity from their directory.

I think that this is a great idea. I know that when I was breastfeeding that especially at first I was very conscious of going places that were supportive of breastfeeding and that this little sign is a easy way to help with that. I wish more places that are breastfeeding would join in this program.

Have a look at the website and check out some of the venues that support breastfeeding ... also if you don't see one of your favourites that you know supports breastfeeding ... let them know about the free program.

BreastFeeding Welcome Here Program
List of Venues
Australian Breastfeeding Association

Introduction to Online Paid Surveys

Are you interested in earning money taking paid online surveys but tired of all the scams out there? The truth is that paid online surveys can earn you some extra spending money, but they are not intended to be a replacement for a full time job. Market research firms are not looking for professional survey takers; they are looking for a diverse group of panel members with some spare time that can offer their opinions on the latest products and services. If this sounds interesting to you, than continue on ...

Whatever you do ... Never Pay for Online Survey Panels

Like any good thing, there are those that will always try to manipulate it, and use it to con unsuspecting individuals. Any site that charges for paid survey information should be avoided. These sites make money by charging you for list of paid survey panels that are free to join anyways. Worse, many of these sites inflate their listings with paid to try offer sites and other survey listing sites.

The bottom line is that if you are looking for real paid market research opportunities, you need not pay a dime. They are all free to join.

If you are interested in exploring Paid Survey Panels further some relevant Australian ones are ...

• Lightspeed Consumer Panel
• Australia Survey Panel
• Great Australian Survey
• The Survey Doctor
• RewardsCentral
• Opnions Matter