A while back I gave a little talk at school to various parents about what their children got up to online, and how to go about keeping them safe. It’s not exhaustive, but I thought it might be an idea to share the slides here. (Some of the fonts got a little messed up during the transfer, but the aquamarine bits are clickable links)
I was at the Baby Show in Earls Court, London today handing out business cards to help spread the word about Little Legends. All the people I met were really interested in what we are doing here and I made some great contacts with other working parents.
If you met me today, or just have one of the cards, and are wondering how you go about obtaining free promotion for your child-related business, here is a quick summary:
1. Sign up to Little Legends and log in
2. Go to your user page
3. Add a link to your website and a bit about yourself and your business (and don’t forget your postcode!)
4. On the top right hand corner of your user page you will see “Add a Place”
5. Click on this and add the details of your business
6. Remember to add a photo as well as a general description in the notes
7. The best way to be found is by including your postcode – so feel free to add a separate entry for each class
8. You can then help others find your entry by going to your listing and clicking on “Bookmark this Page”. Then you add relevant tags, such as Baby Massage Classes Raynes_Park
If you get stuck then just give us a shout and we can help you 
Also, a good way to create more interest in your area is to add a few comments or places you know about.
We are working on other ways for you to promote your businesses, so watch this space!
Welcome to the first Carnival of British Parents. Today, we have on offer the following select articles:
LittleMummy Discusses The Age of Crimininal Responsibility by Erica at LittleMummy.com
Tomato Sauce? – I Guess Not by Amanda at The Good, The Bad & The Mischief
Forward Planning by Beta Mum at Keir Royale
Would you like a freebie? by Vicky at ManicMama
Unfortunately the other entries were not from British parents and so do not meet the submission criteria.
Well, that concludes this edition. Thanks to everyone who took part. I think it is a pretty good effort for a brand new carnival
If you are a British Parent Blogger reading this and you want a free link to your blog, submit your best article to the next edition of the Carnival of British Parents using our carnival submission form.
The next carnival will be taking place here at Littlelegends and the deadline will be 11pm on 18th September 2007.
Seeing as there are a growing number of British parent bloggers I thought it would be a good idea to start a Carnival just for us
For those of you who don’t know what a blog carnival is, it is a type of blog event, dedicated to a specific topic. The host asks readers to submit relevant articles and then publishes links to them on a regular basis.
If you want to join in, all you have to do is send in a link to your best post about life as a parent in the UK. All links must be sent to me using this form. Only one submission per blog will be accepted.
The deadline for the first Carnival is Tuesday 4th September at midnight GMT and the entries will be published on the next day.
Please help spread the word about the Carnival.
PS Please note that I will not publish anything that I consider to be spam / adult / blatant promotion of a commercial site etc
Erica, of Little Mummy fame, has recently contacted me to tell me that she is setting up a new blog ring for british parent bloggers.
The aim of the ring is:
to find other british based bloggers, for us to find more like minded people and increase our community
If you are interested then read her blog post here.
The criteria for joining are:
a) Blogging regularly on a topic that relates to parenting (others will be accepted on a case by case basis, ie splogs and spammers need not apply)
b) A Parent
c) Living in Britain
d) You must display the blog ring HTML on your site
NB This blog ring is not open to shops and splogs!
Life has been pretty busy here at Little Legends recently. I have managed to connect with several other UK Mums who are busy running their own businesses and as a result I have found some more UK Parent blogs:
Chelltune – a great place to find out about Sign Language for Babies and Children:
Signing comes naturally to babies and children. From a young age they will use gestures to wave bye bye or put their arms out to indicate that they want picked up. As parents or carers we can build on these skills by teaching our babies some basic signs for the things that are important to them. For younger babies you might want to teach them the sign for milk. For a child who is potty training the sign for toilet could be useful if they aren’t yet able to make a verbal request to go to the toilet. Early communication will mean that your child is less likely to become frustrated.
Baby Banana - One Mum shares her experiences of Baby Led Weaning
Doula Mama - Talks about being a Doula. The blog explains:
The word doula comes from the Greek language, and refers to a woman who personally serves another woman. Today it means an experienced mother who supports a pregnant woman (and/or partner) emotionally and physically before, during and after birth. A doula believes in ‘mothering the mother’ helping the expectant woman acheive the best from one of natures most amazing gifts, new life.
Source: longdistgramma@flickr
To my surprise, this blog has turned out to be extremely popular So, I have decided it is time to share a bit of that love around by creating a new category called UK Parent Bloggers. Posts in this category will have links to the most useful, interesting and entertaining posts by bloggers in the UK on anything to do with parenthood.
If you want to let me know about your blog, then just join the UK Parent Bloggers Group
This article made me wonder what is the current acceptable age for parents to let their children do activities on their own eg walking to school, going to the local shops, playing outside?
I remember walking to school by myself aged 10 or 11. When I was not much older than that I would also pick up my younger brother from his school, walk him home and give him a snack until Mum came home about an hour later. I also spent many evenings hanging out on the street with other local children, playing games and riding bikes.
My parents gave me a huge amount of freedom and I would consider myself to be very responsible (even then). Now I wonder whether I will be able to give my children the same level of independence. I certainly hope so.
Parents are very paranoid these days and even more so following the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Will tracking devices on kids now become the norm?
Most parents decide when to let their children take the next step towards independence on an individual basis. This is wise because some kids are bound to be more mature than others. Also, a gradual withdrawal of supervision is possible in some situations. Take crossing a road as an example:
1) You cross together
2) You ask your child to help you cross the road
3) You watch from a distance as your child crosses on their own
4) Finally you let your child cross the road unsupervised.
It is usual for parents to struggle with giving their children independence, and it is always necessary for them to consider the risks, but at some stage every child must learn to look after themselves.
These look like a great idea. [thanks Tom for the link]. The same notebooks that Picasso, Hemingway and others used has now morphed into a DIY city guide.
Each notebook features a key map, which gives you a brief overview of the city of your choice, along with 36 pages of zone maps, which provide large scale maps the city centre. A 96 page tab—separated personal archive keeps hotels, shops, addresses, places of interest and facilities neatly organised. A further 76 blank pages let you jot down thoughts, stories and memories.
Various things struck me about them.
First, they’re perfect for people like me and Vicky (when we’re out and about) for jotting down places or comments we think should go in LittleLegends. They’ve only got London in the UK at the moment, but perhaps that’ll change.
Second, and more interestingly, they might be something to look at as LittleLegends grows. What if we could export a quick hardcopy booklet for a city (London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Little Missenden …)? It might just be a printout in the first stages, but would you find it useful to have a quick guide to the city based on what other people have suggested? Best rated shops, shops you recommend, places to go etc?
Do let us know your ideas!
What is the attraction to parents of joining online communities or regularly reading parenting blogs? There are so many parenting sites online that it is interesting to consider why some sites have a much higher readership than others. I suggest the following reasons:
1) First impressions count, so the design of your site will have an effect on whether or not readers hang around for longer than 5 seconds. Easy navigation is essential and the reader will usually want to find out quickly about the author, aim and background of the site. This is why “about” pages are so popular. Personally, I am always attracted by people’s photos because it makes the websites less anonymous.
2) Fresh, entertaining and regular content will catch the reader’s initial interest and keep them coming back for more
3) In the case of blogs, an insight into the character of the writer is very important. The style of writing will give the reader an idea of the writer’s personality and whether or not they are someone who interests them. With websites, forums will help to give readers a flavour of the type of member who belongs to the site and readers can then decide whether or not they would like to strike up a conversation with them or join them.
4) Readers often want to gain an immediate idea of what the purpose of the site is eg is it a personal blog or a place for working mums to network? This way a reader can quickly judge if it is the type of site they are looking for
5) Parenting sites and blogs are most often visited when readers are looking for information, advice and entertainment related to family issues. Parents usually agree that the experts on family issues are other parents who have had to deal with similar situations.
6) Finally, many parents are stuck at home with the kids and the amount they go out is restricted. By joining a community or commenting on a blog, readers can air their points of view and make their voice heard.
Online communities are all about striking up conversations and connecting with other like-minded people across the net. Therefore, unless a reader can relate to your site in some small way within the first few seconds of visiting it, they will probably click another button and be gone for good.
