Category: News

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries and redefine the way we live, work, and communicate, one question remains at the forefront of parents’ minds: How do we prepare our kids for a world shaped by technology? While coding classes and digital literacy programs are becoming increasingly popular, the reality is that the most important skills in the age of AI have very little to do with technology itself. The child who will succeed tomorrow is not necessarily the one who can effortlessly work an iPad at five—but the one who reads widely, questions persistently, and plays unencumbered.

As stunning as AI is, it is still that—artificial. The next generation will be set apart not by what AI can do but by what AI cannot: human intelligence, emotional depth, and creative agility. Reading, curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration, and imagination are not throwbacks to an analog era but the foundations of a mind that is future-proof.

Picture two kids: One will spend hours swiping through programs, mastering the logistics of a touchscreen. The other gets lost in books, asks why, and constructs imaginary worlds in the yard. The latter, not the former, is the kid most prepared for an AI-driven world. Because flexibility—possibility of thinking radically and envisioning greatly—will always be worth more than mastering any one technology.

Curiosity Over Coding

There is a clear tendency to get children programming as soon as possible. But do we need to be rushing down this path in making every child a programmer? Programming is just a language, and languages evolve. The true superpower is curiosity—the ability to ask, ‘Why?’ and ‘What if?’ These questions drive innovation and advancement far more than memorization of syntax ever will.

Parents need to change the priority from getting their kids fluent in the newest tech to cultivating an attitude of questioning. A child who questions the world with a voracious appetite for learning, who argues with ideas, who questions assumptions—that is the kid who will succeed in an AI-driven world.

At a time when robots are taking over mundane tasks, human creativity can’t be replicated. Play—the very thing mocked as mere pastime—is, in fact, a vital development tool. In storytelling, role-playing, and group sports, children develop problem-solving, hardiness, and social smarts.

And let’s not overlook teamwork. The capacity to collaborate, communicate, and deal with human emotions will characterize leaders of the future. AI may analyze data, but it can’t inspire. It can imitate patterns, but it can’t dream. The future will be owned by those who can do what AI can’t: build, dream, and connect.

We are raising our children for a world we don’t yet understand. The velocity of technological changes means that this year’s valuable skills will soon be outdated. But the critical thinking, connection with others, and flexibility with the unknown? That will always be in.”.

So let’s, as parents, educators, and caregivers, reset our priorities. Let’s celebrate the bookworm, the playground adventurer, the inquisitive child. Because that child is not merely getting by in the era of AI—they are flourishing.

If there is one thing that single people can tell you, it’s that not every first date is magical. Some are actually very far from it.

Take me, for example, I once turned up to a date with somebody I thought I liked a lot, only to be told by him that he hated animals and giving to charitable causes. He also wore a t-shirt saying: “I was sober once, worst hour of my life.” It’s safe to say, we were not a match.

However, after reading through a recent Reddit thread, I’m starting to believe that my bad date was actually, by most measures, pretty good – and I got off lightly.

Posting on /r/AskReddit, i_like_maps asked: “What’s the biggest ‘wtf?!’ moment that you’ve had a on a first date?”, and the responses they received were… interesting to say the least.

One person’s hobbies were a little… too much 

User Addicus commented: “We met online, chatted a bit, and decided to meet. Now, this was not a hook up situation. We both were, and clearly stated that we were, looking for a long term situation.

“She was cute, seemed smart and reasonably funny. When we got to talking about hobbies and interests, I told her I liked to read, sail, was into motorcycles and playing music. She mentioned that she ‘enjoyed live music, the theatre and the occasional Saturday night gangbang’.”

Ah. Well. Good for her?

Another person had a bananas approach to snacking

Apprehensive_Flan88 recalled: “Took me back to her place asked me if I wanted a snack brought out two fully rotten black bananas and two spoons cracked hers open and started going to town on the compost banana goo kept looking up at me like expecting me to do the same.”

Bleugh. To each their own.

One single had no time to waste when it came to babies

DatboyTeedy revealed: “First Date with a woman about 7-8 years older than me. Convo was going fine at applebees but then she asked me if wanted to go half on a baby. Then she told me her clock is ticking and she wants a kid with me. Needless to say that was the only date.”

Who doesn’t love a woman who knows what she wants?

A little criminal damage got in the way of this date

Joyofresh had quite the first date journey. They recalled: “Met a girl in a cafe, agreed to [a] drink later that week. Day came she didn’t respond. Whatever.

“Later she reached out to me again saying she lost her phone and we started dating. After a month she told me actually the day we originally agreed to a first date she was in jail for breaking into her ex’s apartment…”

I’ve heard some excuses in my time but that one is new even for me.

A third party slithered into this first date, unnoticed

Korar67 said: “Went out on a date. At the end we started making out. Something felt weird on my ear. I pulled back and saw a snake sticking out of the sleeve of her sweater. It was her pet snake. It had been in there the whole time.”

Sure! Why not!

Related…

Jadyn Mays has established herself as one of Oregon’s best track athletes. Holding a record personal best time of 11.01 seconds in the 100-meter and 22.19 seconds in the 200-meter, she has established herself as a track force. With her collegiate career winding down, fans are excited to find out more about the speed behind the athlete. While most are familiar with her accolades, there are some people who do not know that she is from a sporting family! Yes, especially when it relates to her father.

Who is Jadyn Mays’ father?

Even before becoming a wide receiver in the NFL, Jadyn Mays’ father, Damon Mays, enjoyed an equally commendable sporting career, including receiving a college-level football scholarship at the University of Missouri. Mays was born on May 20, 1968, to a family already deeply rooted in sports, stemming from Phoenix, Arizona, where his father had a well-known sporting reputation.

Damon’s brother, Muhammad Oliver, is heretofore known as the most famous alumni of the University of Oregon, later on going to the NFL himself. In the 1991 draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Damon at the 235th spot in the 9th round. He would then go on to join the Houston Oilers, where he played in the NFL from 1992 and 1993, and in 1996, he ended his career with the Washington Redskins. Damon’s daughter, Jadyn, equally trails behind, admiring him along the way as one of her most “dope parents,” to whom she concurrently attributes full respect.

 

Who is Jadyn Mays’s mother?

Though she has shared some details concerning her father’s background, there has been scant information made available regarding her mother. The identity of her mother remains unreleased and there is hardly any credible information available. As far as her mother goes, she is simply another ‘very dope parent’ in her life who, she implies, contributes towards her success.

Even with the lack of sociocultural public information, it can be said with confidence that her mother has inspired. Whether hidden in the background or visible in the stands, her mother has surely provided some encouragement towards making her the track star that she is now.

What is Jadyn Mays’s Parents’ nationality?

There is not enough information on what their nationality is. It is, however, known that Jadyn Mays’s father is American by birth and citizenship, spent his schooling days in America, and was part of an American professional football club as a player.

The off-the-field achievements of Jadyn Mays are not her coincidences; they are inbuilt. Coming from an athletic family, a father who is an NFL player, and a nurturing family has helped her grab the title of the fastest sprinter in Oregon.

In her post, she alleged that his mother found “the perfect place” and convinced him to split the cost because she “didn’t want to rent anymore.” She also claimed he justified his decision by saying she was “taking too long” to save, and his mother offered him a “faster way” to own property.

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She described her shock upon hearing the news, writing, “I just stared at him like… wtf?? And when I asked where I fit into all this, he goes, ‘Oh, well, you can move in too, of course!’” She claimed she was uncomfortable with the idea of moving into a home that his mother picked out, partially owned, and would live in full-time.

According to her, she told him she needed space and eventually decided she couldn’t marry someone who thought this was normal. However, she claimed her decision was met with backlash from his family, who insisted she was “being dramatic” and that “it’s just a house.” She also said her own parents felt cancelling the wedding was extreme.

Take a look at the post:

The post quickly gained traction, with many users supporting her. One person wrote, “NTA—He didn’t tell you, he didn’t include you, and he just expects you to live with his mom. You’re an afterthought.” Another user commented, “The kick in the teeth is that he made sure to take care of himself in terms of big-ticket assets, leaving OP exposed if they should ever split. And this idea of a 30-year-old being okay living with mom for the rest of his life? OP is right to bounce.”

One user wrote, “NTA it’s not just about the wedding. It’s about the life you are going to live with him. If he puts his mother first everything or makes important decisions like this without you it will cause a lot of conflict. And it’s not just a house, him buying a house with her means he won’t be able to buy one with his wife for quite some time.”

Also read: Elon Musk doppelganger in Pakistan spotted enjoying rice with friends. Video

Dear Eric: I am a 76-year-old man. My best friend is a woman who is 75.

A MUM was horrified to learn her seven-month-old baby suffered a fractured skull at the very nursery where she worked.

Kiera Young, 26, felt confident to leave daughter Lexie Hurles with colleagues at Primrose City Nursery in Glasgow after working there for around two years.

But on the tot’s third settling in session – which was just two hours long – she fell and suffered a skull fracture and brain injury.

READ MORE: Police ‘swarm’ Scottish town after warning to avoid area

Young from Hogganfield only found out when she saw her daughter in distress at the arranged pickup time but to this day claims she remains unclear about how it happened.

The Care Inspectorate upheld all three complaints over the incident and Lexie’s family has now settled a five-figure legal action.

Young said: “That nursery was the very place where I worked so I felt safe to Lexie there.

“It’s not because I expected my daughter to get special care or anything like that – it was simply because I believed in the staff having worked beside them for so long.

“It just makes it all the worse when your own colleagues and bosses let you down in this way.

“What happened to my wee girl just proves childcare workers cannot take their eye off the ball for a moment – we’re lucky Lexie recovered but it could have been so much worse.

“I just don’t ever want to see another parent go through this kind of thing and feel speaking out is all parents can do to look out for each other.”

Lexie’s injury happened on 24 March 2023.

After being taken to the Royal Hospital for Children in Govan, the infant was diagnosed with a skull fracture and mild brain injury.

She was discharged two days later but readmitted the following day after bouts of vomiting and fever – medics observed Lexie for another day before being confident with a medical discharge.

The tot continued to show signs of distress and discomfort for three months before finally being able to settle.

Young claims she was told two different versions of how the incident happened – one where Lexie was supervised and simply “threw her head back” which struck the floor, and a second account where the staff member moved away from her before she fell backwards.

Young – who to this day is unclear about what precisely happened – was unhappy with the nursery response and contacted the Care Inspectorate with three complaints alleging a lack in care, that nursery bosses failed to contact her quickly enough and that no copy of an accident report was provided when Lexie was collected.

The Care Inspectorate upheld all three complaints.

Young added: “Seeing your child like that… there’s no words… I was just horrified, terrified, furious… just thinking the worst about everything.

“It’s still a mystery what happened – I’ll never know for sure but the most important things are that Lexie is better, the nursery was held accountable and hopefully parents and nurseries learn something from this.”

Young made a nursery injury claim with Digby Brown Solicitors – agents for the nursery originally denied liability meaning a court action had to be raised.

However the nursery insurance company agreed to compensate the family with a five-figure sum in an out-of-court settlement.

Young no longer works for the nursery and is now focused on the future.

A Digby Brown spokesman said: “The pictures of Lexie’s injuries are shocking so one can only imagine how much scarier it must have been at the time for both mother and daughter.

“We’re pleased that Lexie recovered and that Kiera secured the outcome she sought.

“But this should rightly serve as an emphatic warning to childcare services everywhere – there are robust yet common-sense safety procedures for a reason and they simply must be adhered to if children are to stay safe.”

Gaza City – On October 19, hundreds of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Hamad School in Beit Lahiya heard what everyone in the Palestinian enclave dreads.

“At dawn, we heard [Israeli] tanks encircling the school, and quadcopters overhead began ordering everyone to get out,” Amal al-Masri, 30, who had given birth to her youngest daughter so recently she had not named her yet when the tanks came, recalled.

People were already tense after shelling and explosions throughout the night – the adults too scared to sleep, the children crying in fear and confusion.

“Buildings were being shelled all around us,” said Amal, who lived in a ground- floor classroom with her husband Yousef, 36, their five young children – Tala, Honda, Assad, and Omar, all aged between four and 11, and Yousef’s 62-year-old father Jamil.

Amal had cradled the baby while Yousef held two of their youngest children. Together, the adults had prayed.

Now, it was dawn, and a recording of a male voice speaking in Arabic played through loudspeakers on a quadcopter circling over the school, ordering everyone to come out with their IDs and hands up.

The quadcopter shot at the buildings and dropped sound bombs, sending people into a panic as they rushed to gather whatever they could. Some fled with nothing.

Yousef, Amal and the children were among the first to get to the schoolyard – Yousef and the four children held up their IDs and their hands, while Amal held the baby in her arms.

In the chaos, Yousef lost track of his father.

“The quadcopters instructed: ‘Men to the school gate, women and children in the schoolyard,’” Amal recalled.

The pit

“There were soldiers at the school gate with tanks behind them, and more soldiers surrounding the place,” Yousef said.

He and other males aged more than 14 years, including some he recognised from nearby schools, were ordered by Israeli soldiers to gather at the main gate in groups, line up and approach an inspection passage with a camera, known as “al-Halaba”.

“Each man was ordered to approach a board with a camera on it, one by one,” explains Yousef, who thinks the camera used facial recognition technology.

After being registered by the camera, the man or boy was sent to a pit dug by Israeli bulldozers, he says.

Over the next few hours, some males were released, others were sent to another pit, while some were interrogated.

As for Yousef, he knelt with about 100 other men in a pit near the school with his hands behind his back all day.

“The soldiers were shooting, throwing sound bombs, beating some of the men, torturing others,” he said. Throughout, he worried about his family.

“I was deeply worried about my wife and children. I didn’t know anything about them,” Yousef recounted. “My wife had given birth a week ago and she wouldn’t be able to walk with the children. Without anyone to help, I was afraid of what might happen to them.”

When evening came, there were only about seven men left in the pit.

Yousef was hungry, tired and worried, then a soldier pointed at him. “He randomly chose me and two other men; we didn’t understand why,” Yousef told Al Jazeera.

“The soldiers took us to an apartment in a nearby building,” he said, adding that he thinks they were near the Sheikh Zayed roundabout.

The men were forbidden from speaking to each other, but Yousef had recognised them – a 58-year-old and a 20-year-old who were sheltering in schools near Hamad. Throughout, he said, the sound of shelling and bombing echoed around them.

“A soldier told us we’d be helping them with some missions and would be released after, but I was afraid they’d kill us at any moment,” Yousef said.

‘Using me for cover’

Yousef and his exhausted fellow captives dozed off at some point in the night, before being jolted awake by the soldiers and pushed out of the apartment and into the streets.

He soon realised that the soldiers were walking behind him, to use him as cover.

“The realisation that I was being used as a human shield was terrifying.”

When they reached a school that had been emptied by Israeli soldiers, he was ordered to open doors and go into each classroom to check for fighters who might be hidden there.

The heavily armed soldiers would only enter after his “all clear”.

The day continued that way, with Yousef being used to “clear” room after room, after which the soldiers would set the buildings on fire.

The whole time, Yousef feared a quadcopter would shoot him, or an Israeli sniper might mistake him for a threat and kill him.

When the day’s searches were complete, he was brought back to the apartment with the two other men and given the second meal of the day, a piece of bread and some water, just like the morning.

On the fourth day, Yousef and the 58-year-old man were ordered to go to a nearby school and the Kamal Adwan Hospital to deliver evacuation leaflets to people sheltering there.

They were given an hour and told that a quadcopter would be hovering overhead. As they handed the leaflets to people, quadcopters were announcing the evacuation over loudspeakers.

Escape

Yousef decided he would try to escape that day by hiding in the hospital courtyard.

“I was afraid to go back,” he explained. “I wanted to escape and find out if my family was safe, as I had overheard soldiers instructing women and children to head south to Khan Younis.”

He decided to get in a line of men being forced to evacuate, waiting anxiously as time dragged on. The soldiers had said they should only be gone for an hour, and it had been several.

The line of men was advancing. “I was praying they wouldn’t recognise me,” Yousef said.

Then a soldier sitting atop a tank shot him in the left leg.

“I fell to the ground. The men around tried to help me, but the soldiers shouted at them to leave me,” Yousef recalls.

“I clung to one of the men, then a soldier said to me, scolding: ‘Come on, get up and lean on this man and head to Salah al-Din Street.’”

Despite the pain as he hobbled away, Yousef was in disbelief that the soldier had not killed him. “I expected to be killed at any moment,” he said.

A little further on, he was taken by a Palestinian ambulance to al-Ahli Arab Hospital for treatment.

Reuniting

Amal, who had taken the children to the New Gaza School in al-Nasr in the west of Gaza City, heard one day that Yousef was at al-Ahli Hospital.

She rushed there, relieved after having suffered through days of conflicting reports as some people said they saw him detained, while others said they had seen him elsewhere.

She had barely made it to al-Nasr, she told Al Jazeera over the phone.

On the day the family was separated, she says, the women and children were kept in the schoolyard for hours.

“My children were terrified. Many kids were crying. Some were asking for food, water. Mothers pleaded with soldiers for food and water, but they just yelled at us and refused.”

In the afternoon, the Israeli soldiers moved the women and children to a checkpoint with a camera.

“They told us to walk out five at a time,” Amal said, describing how her 11-year-old daughter Tala was held back to join the group after her.

“She started crying and calling, ‘Mama, please don’t leave me,’” Amal recounts, her voice shaking.

They were eventually told to walk south on Salah al-Din Street.

“The tanks surrounding the school were overwhelming – I thought to myself: ‘God! A whole brigade of tanks has come for these defenceless civilians.’

“My body was exhausted – I had given birth only a week earlier, and I could barely carry my baby, much less the few belongings we had.”

As tanks rumbled around them, they kicked up waves of dust and sand. “With all the dust, I stumbled, and my baby girl fell from my arms onto the ground,” Amal recalls, telling how she screamed and the older children cried when the baby fell.

Eventually, she left all their belongings on the road; she was too weary to keep carrying them. She needed to get her children somewhere safe.

“My four-year-old son didn’t stop crying: ‘I’m tired, I can’t do it.’ We had no food, no water, nothing.”

Early in the evening, she reached New Gaza School with other displaced people from the north.

Amal, Yousef, and their children are together now, in a classroom at the school.

Yousef spent two days in the hospital and, after 13 stitches, walks cautiously with a limp.

Yousef’s father Jamil has been missing since the day the soldiers came to Hamad School. He heard from some people that his father had been taken prisoner, but he does not know.

Their baby daughter, unnamed when they were forced to leave northern Gaza, has been named Sumoud, “steadfastness”, a symbol of their refusal to leave.

A mother of a young boy with additional school needs said she is at ‘breaking point’ over what she described as the ‘deplorable treatment of the State’s most vulnerable children’.

Jessica Dowdall spoke out following her attempts to secure a place in a specialist education unit for her eight-year-old son Sam, who has a developmental language disorder and is severely dyslexic.

Despite his condition, Jessica has been refused a place in three special units she visited, as they are already oversubscribed. She has also called several other specialist facilities but said none were able to accommodate Sam.

This week, Jesesica wrote about Sam’s plight on social media in a post that was viewed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris. The country’s two most senior politicians advised her to contact Education Minister Helen McEntee, which she did, as well as writing to 20 other political representatives to highlight Sam’s case.

Sam has attended the speech and reading unit in St Marnock’s school in Portmarnock, North Dublin, since 2023. However, two years is the maximum currently allowed by the Department of Education. And Sam – who is due to finish at St Marnock’s in June – has currently nowhere else to go come September.

Ms Dowdall, who works as a hairstylist, stressed she has nothing but praise for the ‘fantastic’ staff and facilities at St Marnock’s.

She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I can’t thank them enough for what they have done for him, the speech therapists, the principal, everyone. But two years is all they are allowed for the whole of their lives as there are only 15 such units in the country.’

She added: ‘It’s a disgrace how little value the Government puts on our children’s lives. It’s heartbreaking; by letting down the most vulnerable and denying children like Sam their Constitutional right to an education, the Government is setting them up to fail.’

Jessica works as a creative hair director on high-end photoshoots which allows her the flexibility to cater for her son’s needs outside school.

‘Before that I worked full time but with all the uncertainty, I had to cut back on my working week. I also spent thousands of euros on speech therapies because what Sam and every child with additional or special needs are entitled to by the State is totally inadequate.’

A single parent, Ms Dowdall said she would be lost without the support of her own parents.

ALSO READ: Stress can make you anxious about harmless things: Study reveals how it alters fear memories

Parents need to support children in coping with stressful situations. Stress is obvious in life, but how one deals with it makes a difference. Adults develop better stress management skills with emotional growth over time, but for kids, it’s still novel and can feel overwhelming.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Prakriti Poddar, Global Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing at Roundglass Living, a holistic wellbeing app, shared a comprehensive strategy for parents on how to support their kids when they are stressed.

Techniques to calm down

Prakriti mentioned that stress isn’t just mental but also affects the body. This is why stress needs to be regulated through sensory hacks.

Prakriti shared these techniques:

• Cold exposure: Splash cold water on the face or hold an ice cube for an instant reset.
• Movement hacks: Jumping jacks, spinning, and somatic shaking all help break up stress and trigger the body to release endorphins.
• Deep sighing: Long exhales activate a calm response.
• Humming or chanting: Controlled breathing, meditative focus, and physical vibrations soothe the vagus nerve.
• One-minute resets: Solutions can be small. Micro mindfulness techniques, like finger counting breath, can help at the moment.
• Self-talk: Help kids choose their own positive, grounding mantra to repeat to themselves. For instance, “I care about doing well, and that’s a strength.”
• Playlists: Certain sounds and music have a scientifically proven ability to regulate the nervous system, for example, binaural beats, brown noise, or nature sounds.

Memory and learning techniques for students

Exam preparation is one of the major sources of stress for students. They suffer from anxiety and intense stress during examinations. A lot of factors add to this stress, like pressure to perform well, cover the big syllabus, and write the exam in the hall. The inability to recall the learned material is another reason for stress. Children may forget, feeling more stressed. Lack of proper sleep also causes their minds to black out.

All these can be tackled by ensuring students follow the right learning memory for optimal retention and recall. Prakriti shared these techniques for students:

Retrieval practice

This one is simple. The act of remembering something strengthens that memory by reinforcing the neural connections holding it there. This makes it easier for children to recall that memory in the future. A good example of this is asking what children learned in school that day. When you ask, you help them retain those lessons better.

Concept mapping

This tool is especially powerful for visual learners. By putting concepts into space—on a whiteboard, for example—visual learners have a much easier time learning new concepts and the relationships between them. Some children benefit from a mental version of this technique, too. By imagining themselves “storing” information on the imaginary shelves of the library in their minds, children can return to that same shelf to easily access the information.

The protégé effect

This effect boils down to “Teaching is learning, too.” It proposes that when students explain their study material to others, it reinforces their understanding of course material, which helps them remember it for longer. It doesn’t matter if they’re teaching parents or other children; it is effective either way.

Lexicographical and mnemonic learning

Writing things down and using mnemonic strategies, acronyms, chunking (or grouping), and rhymes can build up your working memory. Acronyms can be used as cues to remember complex formulas, chunking or grouping smaller numbers can help you remember a larger number, and using rhyming words and repetition enables children to recall longer poems, stories, etc.

Healthy snacks during exam time

Stress is an intense feeling, so sometimes students may indulge in binge eating unhealthy snacks. It’s important to be mindful of eating habits during this time. Prakriti mentioned that the brain is the body’s top energy consumer—a caloric bonfire that uses up to 25 percent of the energy from the food we eat. This means that what we feed our children directly affects their focus, memory, and energy levels. Put another way: food equals mood. The right snacks can be game-changers, helping children absorb and retain information more effectively during study sessions.
Prakriti suggested these nutritious snack options:

1. Fresh fruits: Berries, apples, and bananas for a quick yet steady energy boost.

2. Berries: Packed with antioxidants that support memory and brain function.

3. Nuts: Walnuts, almonds, or pumpkin seeds for healthy fats that enhance concentration.

4. Protein Sources:

• Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey
• A boiled egg
• Chickpea hummus with carrot sticks

5. Hydration:

• Drink plenty of water
• Herbal teas or coconut water as a flavorful natural alternative

What to do if your child is panicking?

During stressful times, a child can have a panic attack. Prakriti explained that panic attacks are episodes of intense fear or apprehension where a person feels as if they are choking, experiencing a heart attack, or even dying. The cause is the sympathetic nervous system’s alarm bells are blaring.

Prakriti shared some tips to help your child when they are panicking:

• Recognize the symptoms: Sweating, a racing heartbeat, and shortness of breath.
• Deep breathing: Help them take long, deep breaths. (Watch this video to understand how best to use deep breathing for instant relaxation.)
• 3-2-1 technique:

1. Observe three things they can see.
2. Observe two things they can touch.
3. Observe one thing they can smell.

(This sensory mapping helps shift the brain from the emotional centre back to the present moment.)

• Mindset shift: Treat these moments not as crises but as opportunities to build up the emotional resilience of your child.

General healthy lifestyle habits to teach kids

In conclusion, stress can be managed over time with the help of proper habits that parents should teach their kids. Prakriti listed some of them:

• Healthy diet: Eating nutritious, balanced meals.
• Active lifestyle: Engaging in regular physical activity.
• Strong social bonds: Building and maintaining meaningful relationships.
• Moderating screen time: Using digital devices mindfully and setting limits.
• Adequate rest: Ensuring proper sleep and relaxation.

ALSO READ: Pet and play with a dog to reduce your stress: Study says it benefits our furry friend too

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

Carly keeps a watchful eye out the window of Babyshed’s headquarters in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

With items like nappies, formula milk and baby wipes available, the charity has become a lifeline to mums in the area. Reaching out for help for the first time can feel daunting, however.

‘We want people to come in and not feel judged,’ Carly, Babyshed’s coordinator, tells Metro. ‘There was one lady who sat in the car for half an hour crying her eyes out because she was so embarrassed to come in. People shouldn’t feel scared to ask for help.

‘Sometimes you see people literally shaking as they come in, they never thought they would be in this position. It can be very unexpected, like when a woman has a baby then her husband leaves. Nursery costs are so high which means they might not be able to go back to work, or they might not feel ready to.’

When Metro visits Babyshed on a crisp, cold day, there’s a steady stream of new mums passing through. They gather around a play mat as their babies gurgle and giggle. The temperatures are due to drop this weekend, so there’s a selection of winter jackets on display alongside more usual items like baby food and nappies.

‘I came into the country from Nigeria as a student with my husband,’ one mum, who prefers to stay anonymous, tells Metro. The 31-year-old has a six-month-old boy and lives in the town centre of Stevenage. ‘When I gave birth I was still studying so my finances weren’t okay. We had to pay bills, school fees, payments – it was a lot. As the baby grew, it became hard to afford new clothes.

‘I went to Bedfordshire Foodbank to get some things and the staff there told me about Babyshed, it was much closer to me. My first time here, I remember I stood outside and felt really scared about how they might treat me. But then I came in and knew I didn’t need to be scared. I was treated with love. They are so supportive. I’ve got things like nappies, wipes and toiletries here. Sometimes I forget to ask for things and they go “oh, do you need this as well?”’

‘This is my fourth time here,’ another mum, 31, explains as her eight-month-old plays nearby. ‘It has been a lifesaver. Whenever I need anything I think “Babyshed.” Without it, I would find a way to survive, but it would be very difficult.’

Babyshed was launched following the Covid-19 pandemic by Stevenage Vineyard Church to support families in need. The charity has gone on to become vital for nearby refugees housed in a local hotel, with volunteers making a dedicated trip each week to offer support. 

Carly heads through a set of doors to a vast warehouse where donations are stored. Shelves of nappies stretch down the room, new prams are illuminated by the winter sun and boxes of baby food are neatly labelled. There’s also drawers for more specific items, like breast pads, nappy cream and cotton wool. Carly wants to give mums as much autonomy as possible.

She continues: ‘Just because someone is in a certain section of their life, it shouldn’t mean they lose the ability to choose. I think things like, does this mum like Disney? Would she prefer frilly outfits? Will this family be outdoors a lot? The same baby clothes don’t suit everyone. We also don’t mind second hand donations, but we want good quality. I wouldn’t want to give something out which I wouldn’t feel comfortable using for my own kids.’

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In one heartbreaking incident last year, a police officer informed Babybank staff he had been forced to arrest a woman who stole formula milk. He took a leaflet from the charity to give to her. Babyshed – which is backing Metro’s Formula for Change campaign that aims to improve access to essential items like formula – want mums to feel empowered to reach out for help.

‘Everybody is one short step away from poverty,’ Carly adds. ‘If your life circumstances have led that way, it doesn’t make you any less of a human being or a good mum.

‘We want to help facilitate people to be the best parents they can be, we’re non-referral so anybody can come here. Come, see us, have a hot drink, have a chat, have a cry.

‘It might look like we’re just giving someone a pack of nappies, but it’s much more than that. It’s a vehicle for change. Some of the mums we support actually come back and give us donations once they’re back on their feet. It’s always really special to see that. If you throw a stone, it causes ripples. We want ripples of kindness to spread as far as they can.’

There are ten volunteers at Babyshed and extra support from the local community vital. Bags of sweets have been delivered from Tesco this morning while staff from GSK, a pharmaceutical company in Stevenage, recently visited the charity to paint the walls.

Babyshed has also received several vouchers from a local trampoline park, which means parents they support will be able to treat their child to a special day out they might not otherwise have been able to afford.

When Ann arrived for her first volunteering shift at her local baby bank, she could never foresee just how much of an impact she would have. The mum-of-three had previously helped with a foodbank run by Stevenage Vineyard Church, where she had been pastor. 

‘Some people just want someone to talk to,’ Ann tells Metro. ‘They might not have their own support system or a mum of their own to help. I remember one woman walked in through that door and just burst into tears, it turned out she was pregnant and her husband had just left her. 

‘One day she said, “I thought I could do this by myself, but I can’t. I know this is a really big ask, but would you be with me at the birth?” Of course I said yes. I cut the baby’s cord and cuddled him, it was absolutely wonderful.

‘His mum still tells me “when he hears your voice he looks for you in the room.” She doesn’t come back here a huge amount, because she’s back on her feet now with a new job and a council house.’

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