This month we are introducing a slightly different newsletter and blog post to go alongside the popular WFRDB (Watch. Follow. Read. Do. Buy.)

Remember, If you want to receive our newsletters automatically, sign up via the link on our website and we will plant a tree as well as making sure you get a jam packed newsletter every month. 

This is a bit of a behind-the-scenes round-up of the goings on at HOW HQ. Because someone recently asked us 'What are you up to at the moment?' and we realised sometimes it isn't always obvious from our current newsletter. 

So, this is a snapshot of what we are up to.

The main projects we are working on with links on how to get involved or how to sign up.

This week we have 4 things we'd like to tell you about:

1. Mindset and Mindflex Workshop for girls 11-16 years old: Monday 13th June 7pm

Last week, we attended TEDx Swansea and one of the speakers said… "Wouldn’t it be good if children were...

Love it or hate it phones, social media and the digital world is here to stay.

There is no avoiding it.

We all need the connectivity that has been created over the last 30 years.

This is an education piece. The importance comes in helping our pre teens and teens  how to live with and develop good habits when using these brilliant advances in technology.

Forty percent of 10-11 year olds are spending at least 30 hours a week on their cell phones. Nearly two days worth of screen tech time.

All of this often comes without learning, guidance and instruction. As parents we often cross our fingers and hope for the best while checking occasionally.

Would we hand our car keys to a 17 year old without a few lessons first?

The introduction of phones can cause havoc with friendship groups, group chats, constant checking and FOMO particularly those at the end of primary school going up to secondary school. 

But.. can you even begin to imagine a pandemic without the the wonders of the...

HOW can routines help anxiety in our teens?

As adults we make a lot of decisions every day.

Decision fatigue has been present for so many of us over the last few years. Even the simplest of things took a whole series of decisions during the pandemic.

We are not the only ones making decisions.
Teens have lots of decisions to make everyday too.

Smaller decisions like:

What to wear
What to eat
Whether to have a shower in the morning or later
Which piece of homework to finish first
Which messages to reply to first

And bigger decisions:

What options to take
How to revise for a test
Whether or not to go to a party
Who to meet up with on the weekend

Too many decisions to make = an increase in anxiety

Reducing the number of smaller decisions you make leads to being calmer and less stressed giving you time to focus on the other tasks.

One trick for our teens is to have some "certainty anchors” built into your day.

These are things that make parts of our day solid, anchored and...

When you’ve been working hard at something for a while, that you are passionate about, you can get a bit lost in it it all.

Totally immersed in the doing.

There are some words that just make it all make sense and that, as cofounders, we need to hear.

Not because we are needy and have to be reassured but to make us focus on who we are helping and how we help them.

Yesterday, on our empty, off sauna Zoom meetings (it’s a standard at the moment) we spoke to journalist Stephanie Conway, Abi from Festival of the Girl and Natalie from Girl Be Club about up and coming collaborations.

Like minded people doing amazing things.

That was a huge encouragement and a great start to 2022.

Amanda Morgan Thomas is a great friend, confidente and mentor to us and her #testimonial is something we often refer back to at times like this when we need people in our corner. 

"Looking back at my time transitioning to high school - I was lost.

A careers teacher got us to take a quiz. I was...

Parenting.

Let’s just get it out there. It is tough.

It has twists and turns like no other road in life.

The highs and the lows are bigger than the highest mountain climb and there is NO instruction manual.

When we have our babies we gather and grow a support network.

Baby groups, playgroups, surrounding ourselves with other people doing what we are doing. Supporting and nurturing ourselves through this new time, safe in the knowledge that everyone else has hard times too. 

Then that all stops.

Life gets in the way and we muddle along knowing everyone else has struggles too but not really looking to talk about it. 

This is our first full day dedicated to parents. 
LINK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

Our membership parents told us that they need this. 

So, we provided it. 

The HOW People are there for our teens. The HOW Inspire membership is for teen girls 11-16 yrs all over the world to connect, learn and be inspired. 

Every teen girl comes with parents or...

It has been a long month at the end of a very long year.

The curved ball thrown at many of us this weekend has been a tough one to take and so many people are left disappointed.

It is tough to stay positive, it is hard to remain resilient.

Surely, this whole experience will make us more capable as a human race of dealing with things that are thrown at us in the future. I was looking at our blog, to get things up and running with more regular content in 2021, and came across a post I wrote while in Canada on 2nd April before returning to the UK.

Everything written on that day remains in place today.

The feelings, the advice, the uncertainty. We have been living with this for 9 months now and even though so many of us feel very lucky to have steady jobs, a roof over our heads, a garden, loving families and food on the table when so many people around us are really struggling it is still hard for each and everyone of us in different ways.

So, be kind on yourself and others this week....