Wii Need To Get Kids Outside & Involved

A few years back, the Nintendo Wii was being touted as a great form of exercise, especially for kids who would rather play video games than head outside. The games, such as Wii Sports with bowling and boxing, appealed to most everyone from toddlers to adults. Nintendo recognized the success and continued to build upon it. Next was the birth of Dance Dance Revolution and Just Dance. Then came the Wii Fit and Xbox Kinect—these new console add-ons allowed you to take a yoga class or go skiing in your own living room. Indoor exercising had officially become a craze!

Now, the thing about a craze is that it could just taper off into what was once a fad or it could have long lasting effects on culture. This craze is one that we may need to say goodbye to for a variety of reasons. Besides the very obvious lack of fresh air, US researchers are now finding that these games do very little in the way of physical exertion. In fact, the games deemed active (such as Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution) result in no more physical activity than those thought of as passive (Mario Kart or Disney’s Sing It). Another issue that has been addressed by experts is the lack of learning experiences children have by getting outside and being part of a team. Kids Sports NSW owner Steve Gordon commented to Fox News, “With real sports you also need to learn how to work with your teammates and you learn the life skills and social skills of how to play in a team.”

So if your kids aren’t getting the benefits of fresh air, exercise or social skills, should you just delete your Mii and call it quits on your love affair with the Wii?

Well, maybe not yet! While it may be lacking in some areas, the Wii can still be a great way for your family to bond and a perfect rainy day boredom buster. The solution is to define the Wii as a fun game to play on the side and ensure that your kids are getting enough fresh air, exercise and exposure to teamwork with relying on Nintendo’s popular gaming system.

Work/Life Balance: Just Say “NO!”

“If a 2-year-old can do it, why is it so hard for a grown woman?”

Oprah was talking about saying no. 

Though we know the answer to this question already, it really does help frame the problem. If you don’t have time to do something, say no. If you don’t want to do something (and it isn’t really necessary anyway), say no.  If you feel like you’re being taken advantage of, say no. If you’re simply exhausted, say no. It seems so easy! But we all know it’s not. It’s hard to let other people down and even harder to feel like you aren’t competent of doing everything, and doing it all at the same time. But there’s a reason that you can’t do everything. It’s because you’re probably overextended and no matter how badly you want to be, no one is Super Woman.

So in our opinion, the best way to say no is to ditch the over-the-top excuses. In most cases you don’t even need to offer a “why”; so unless it’s absolutely necessary don’t disclose the reason you’re saying no. A simple “Sorry, I can’t, I have a conflict with that” will suffice the majority of the time.

Remember, saying no to the monotonous duties that you pour on yourself will give you more time to spend advancing your career AND enjoying your family creating a better work/life balance.

Can You Juggle Your Family and Your Professional Life?

Juggling different parts of your life is a difficult thing for any parent to achieve. Finding harmony between enjoying your home life and bolstering the success of your career or professional ventures can seem like a somewhat impossible task. But it doesn’t have to be impossible, or even improbable. The key to having it all is balance. This concept is often referred to as “work-life balance” and is becoming quite a popular subject for speculation and debate online, in print and on television and radio programs. Web MD features an article on this balance that has been reviewed by doctors. In this article, it is recommended that parents consider if any household chores or errands can be outsourced? This is why The Philadelphia Nanny Network has made a commitment to helping families in and around Philadelphia find household staff to assist in creating this balance. Visit our website to learn more about hiring and making the balance a possibility!

Some additional tips from WebMD can be found below.

5 tips to achieve a better work-life balance

1. Build downtime into your schedule
• In addition to scheduling meetings and appointments, also include date nights, outings with your kids and nights out with your friends
2. Drop activities that sap your time or energy
• Limit your time on social networks or talking to the office gossip
3. Rethink your errands
• Enlist help or outsource for household tasks and errands
4. Get moving
• Try to carve out some time to exercise once or twice per week--it will improve your mood and maximize your energy
5. Remember that a little relaxation goes a long way
• Never underestimate the importance of taking 10 minutes daily just to relax!