New research from one of the UK’s leading independent baby-product review websites has found that mothers find the Christmas holidays the ‘most stressful’ time of year; with over two thirds, 68%, admitting that they feel ‘very stressed’ at this time of year.

Whilst Christmas is an enjoyable holiday for many, it seems that mothers across the UK are bearing the brunt of the stress that comes with it. A new study from Babychild.org.uk, one of the UK’s leading independent baby product review websites, has found that over two thirds, 68%, of mothers admit to feeling ‘very stressed’ over the Christmas period; with the majority agreeing that they find it the ‘most stressful time of year.’

The research was conducted by www.Babychild.org.uk, in order to gauge how mothers across the UK cope with the Christmas period, with 1, 672 mothers aged 18 and over taking part.

Respondents to the study were initially asked to describe their usual mental state over the Christmas holiday. Over two thirds, 68%, of mothers replied that they usually felt ‘very stressed’ at Christmas-time; as opposed to just one in ten, 9%, who stated that they usually felt ‘calm.’

The mothers who admitted to feeling ‘very stressed’ were then asked to state why they felt this way. Whilst the majority, 53%, explained that they felt they had ‘too much to do’ over the Christmas period; over a third, 34%, blamed their stress on the fact that they received ‘no help from family members’ in Christmas preparations.

Furthermore, over half, 51%, of all mothers who took part in the study admitted that they felt that Christmas preparations ‘depended on them.’ Over a third, 33%, explained that they prepared Christmas dinner alone, whilst one in five, 21%, explained that it falls solely on them to buy all Christmas presents for friends and family.

Of the total respondents to the study, over half, 55%, admitted that they found the Christmas season the ‘most stressful’ time of year.

Jill Tovey, co-founder of Babychild.org.uk, commented on the findings:

“We wanted to look into how mothers feel when Christmas comes around, and it wasn’t surprising to find that the majority admitted to feeling ‘very stressed’ during the holiday season. Most explained their stress on the fact that they felt they had too much to do, and did not receive enough help around the home; something that can be extremely stressful at a time of year when there is so much to organise.”

She continued:

“Although I think it can be argued that Christmas organisation has relied on mothers across the UK for many years; perhaps fathers and partners should take note, and try to share the burden of Christmas preparation a little more equally. Helping around the kitchen, or doing a little of the Christmas shopping, can make all the difference when it comes to alleviating the pressure of preparation on mothers across the UK. After all, Christmas is a time to help those in need!”

ENDS

LINK: http://www.Babychild.org.uk

For more information please contact Emma Kent of 10 Yetis Public Relations on 01452348211 or [email protected].

Editors Notes

Babychild.org.uk looks for real reviews from real parents

The shop features over 1,000 products, which have been rated and reviewed by real parents. This number is constantly growing everyday.

The Monday which falls closest to peoples final pay day before Xmas is often called referred to as Cyber Monday and is typically thought to be the busiest day of the shopping calendar as people look to get all their Christmas gifts sorted whilst they know what budgets they have to last the Christmas Period.

This year Cyber Monday falls on the 29^th November and whilst it has long been expected that the retail industry was going to suffer during the Christmas period due to coming out of a recession however an online poll conducted by YouGov has reported that 45% of UK adults who are planning to buy online will be buying between the 29^th November and 6^th December.

With 27% of UK adults who are buying online planning to spend over £200 on their Christmas Gifts this year, it is expected that all retail forecasts may well be smashed with consumers also looking to ensure any high ticket items are purchased before the VAT increase comes into play early next year.

A report from leading gift review website GiftsGuideUK.com states that online sales will peak at around 23 million pounds per hour on Christmas gifts and stocking fillers during cyber Monday, far exceeding last year’s spending on the same day.

Paul Smith, MD of GiftsGuideUK.com commented: “During the 5 weeks run up to Christmas online retailers can see sales rise anywhere up to 75% and Cyber Monday is the peak of this iceberg, it’s such an important time in the retail calendar. This year we are expecting higher ticket items like gaming chairs and games consoles to sell really well before the VAT rise in 2011.”

The busiest day for offline high street retailers and gift shops is known as panic Saturday and will fall this year on Saturday 18^th December with over 9.5million UK adults set to hit the shops in a last minute rush to finish off their Christmas shopping.

77% of smartphone owners won’t get a proper break from work this Christmas, research by the UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website has shown.

New research of 1,053 smartphone owners by the UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website has shown that more than 3 in 4 people claim they will not be able to take a proper break from the office this Christmas, as their Blackberry or iPhone handsets will prevent them from being able to relax completely.

www.rightmobilephone.co.uk discovered that of the 77% who said they will be checking their smartphones over the festive period, two thirds would do it on a daily basis. Other findings of the study included the top reasons why people felt they had to check their emails whilst on holiday.

The most common reason was dedication, with 45% claiming they will keep their smartphone on them at all times in case something important crops up. 26% said checking emails is a habit they are unable to break, while 11% admitted they will be more concerned about impressing their boss in the hope of a New Year promotion or bonus.

Just under half of the respondents, 49%, are predicting that their obsessive smartphone checking will cause a row with family members this Christmas and 58% will be packing their phone charger before taking trips to see friends and relatives.

Rightmobilephone.co.uk has come up with the top five tips for switching off this Christmas;

1. Leave it at home – If you know that you aren’t going to be needed for anything, leave your Smartphone at home when visiting family and friends. If you don’t have it on you, it won’t interfere with your plans.
2. Switch it off – If only for an hour or two, switch your smartphone off to avoid arguments and to have a bit of time to totally relax.
3. Out of office – Set up an auto-response to let people know you’re out of the office. If you don’t get back to them straight away, they won’t start chasing you.
4. Make your absence known – Let colleagues and clients know what days you will not be working, so they are less likely to contact you during your leave.
5. Silence is Golden – Switch your handset to silent, not vibrate or loud mode. If you get a call or an email, you won’t know and won’t be tempted to answer or read it. You might even find you forget that your Blackberry exists… for a minute or two!

Speaking about these latest findings, Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk commented;

“I wasn’t surprised by the number of people who said they will be checking their smartphones this Christmas. Checking emails is a hard habit to break, especially in the case of the Blackberry when that flashing red light catches your eye!

“Our top five tips will hopefully help people to have a more relaxed Christmas that allows more quality time for family and not clients. I know how difficult it can be to switch off from work when you have a constant reminder in your pocket or bag all day, but for one day of the year at least, people should be able to switch off.”

***ENDS***

For further information or to set up interviews with Neil McHugh or James Zielinski please contact Shannon Haigh , 10 Yetis PR Agency, [email protected], 01452 348211.

Notes to editors

Rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK’s most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.

Spirituality expert Reece Manley has finished a seminar series on his award-winning book Crossing Twice: Answers from the Source due out for presentation for the first time in February announced Advocate USA Publishing.

Dallas, Texas – November 27, 2009 — Spirituality expert Reece Manley has finished a seminar series on his award-winning book Crossing Twice: Answers from the Source due out for presentation for the first time in February announced Advocate USA Publishing.  The Crossing Twice Seminar Series has been developed in preparation for the February presentation scheduled for the Virginia chapter of the International Association of Near Death Studies.

“I was unable to speak at the IANDS national conference in October as the series was unfinished.  However, I am pleased to be able to bring the Crossing Twice Seminar Series to interested groups nationwide beginning in February 2010,” says spirituality expert and progressive Christian writer Dr. Reece Manley, DD, M.Ed., MPM.  “Certainly I knew my life would change after my near death experience and spiritually transformative experience in 2008, but I never knew it would result in three books and two different seminar series.  America is hungry for spirituality.  We want to know not only what happens when we die but what we could be doing to live more fully.  The Crossing Twice and Spirit Thinking Seminar Series answers these needs.”

The Crossing Twice Seminar will concentrate on delivering a discussion of the death and crossing experience as Dr. Manley went from life to death and on to joining the heavens.  Specifically, the experience and the ability to recreate the closeness to our spirituality that comes when the body and mind are less focused on and the spirit self is more closely observed.

The Spirit Thinking Series is a progressive Christian living seminar series which teaches people to challenge old thinking patterns with specific spiritual principles.  Top psychiatrist and Fellow of the American Psychiatric Board, Dr. Bernard Dolenz, MD, PhD, JD, has given an official endorsement of Dr. Manley’s works.  “There is no one doing more brilliant work than Dr. Manley,” says Dr. Dolenz.

Crossing Twice: Answers from the Source is available from the Advocate USA Publishing or can easilybe found on Amazon. Spirit Thinking: Your 30 Day Guide to Enlightenment may also be found on the sites.  The third title, Spiritual Recovery: Seven Steps to Freedom, is due out in 2010.  The Spirit Thinking site is located at www.SpiritThinking.net.

More information on having spirituality expert Reece Manley and his near death experience presented to your group from a progressive Christian perspective can be had by contacting [email protected]

PR Distributed by KJ Public Relations

Contact:
Reece Manley
Spirit Thinking
Dallas, Texas
1-800-ZEN-0812
[email protected]

http://www.SpiritThinking.net

YOUNTVILLE, CA ( PRFriend) November 04, 2009  – Yountville’s 21st Annual Festival of Lights begins November 27th and runs through the entire month of December.

For most of the year, the tiny town of Yountville, CA is known for its fine dining, numerous wineries, upscale shopping, and spas.  During the Christmas season though, this charming Napa Valley town becomes a breathtaking winter wonderland complete with twinkling white lights, horse-drawn carriage rides, and – of course – Santa Claus.

The free celebration begins the day after Thanksgiving.  Santa Claus and his elves arrive at 2pm to kick off the daylong block party with events and activities for the entire family.  While children visit with Santa and have photos made, Yountville’s local wineries and restaurants will entertain adults with samples of their world-famous wines and cuisines. Food and wine tasting tickets are just $1 each; call 707.944.0904 for ticket information.

At sundown, the famous “town lighting” event illuminates Yountville with the glow of thousands of white lights. The town’s many boutiques, galleries, and restaurants will stay open late to welcome revelers. The Festival of Lights continues through December with more special events and horse-drawn carriage rides offered every weekend.

In addition, Yountville visitors can sample the best of Napa Valley’s wine and culinary choices – most located within the town’s compact four square miles.

That small geographic area is full of surprises: it contains 20 wineries and even more restaurants.  Local wineries include the Cosentino Winery, Goosecross Cellars, and Robert Sinskey Vineyards.  The town’s dining options are just as diverse and exceptional.  Yountville is home to one of country’s finest restaurants, The French Laundry and also offers fun culinary treats like “Brent’s Brittle” found at Ranch Markets.

Getting to Yountville is easy.  It’s nestled in the heart of the Napa Valley, just 55 miles north of San Francisco, on Highway 29.  The many lodging options range from the four-diamond Villiago Inn & Spa to romantic wine country bed and breakfasts to the luxurious (but family-friendly) Napa Valley Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Napa Valley in nearby American Canyon.

Yountville offers a charming respite for visitors looking to escape the pressures of urban life.  The town draws visitors attracted to its unique mix of old and new: wine tours, fine dining, shopping, historic buildings and museums – and even hot air balloon rides.  The annual Festival of Lights combines old-fashioned fun with the laid-back elegance of Napa Valley’s wine culture.  Many visitors make it a cherished family tradition.

For more information, contact the Yountville Chamber of Commerce web site or call 707.944.0904.

###

Peter Jones dubbed it the “best invention I’ve seen on Dragons’ Den”; the inventor made history by having all five Dragons falling over themselves trying to invest, and this Christmas trueCall is set to take the consumer technology market by storm!

Peter Jones with trueCall

Fans of the popular BBC show ‘Dragons’ Den’ will already be familiar with trueCall, the ‘life altering’ device that allows the user to screen their phonecalls after witnessing entrepreneur Steve Smith making history by igniting the flames of all five Dragons as they battled to invest in his invention. Eventually Steve accepted the bid of telecoms, media and property tycoon Peter Jones for the smallest equity he has ever taken on the show – a 12.5% stake.

“It’s the best invention I’ve seen in 7 series’ of Dragons’ Den – I honestly believe this ground-breaking device will kill off the curse of the cold call which brings misery to so many people” – Peter Jones

Recorded message calls, sales calls, market research calls, malicious calls, silent calls and fax attacks -anyone unfortunate enough to have their personal details fall into the wrong hands is only too aware of the impact on their home life.

trueCall acts as a buffer between the phone and the outside world and learns to distinguish between welcome and unwelcome callers (by an intuitive ‘star’ and ‘zap’ feature). trueCall intercepts all unknown numbers to the user’s landline answering the call and asks the caller to say their name, only then does it ring the phone and tells the householder who is calling. If the caller’s number is on a “zap list” – numbers of telemarketers or other nuisance callers – the device answers it, and all future calls from that number, with an automated message which means the phone does not ring at all.

Multi award winning trueCall was developed in the UK, and is the first product of its type in the World!

Now is the time to regain control of your phoneline.

trueCall offers complete peace of mind with a once stop solution making it the ideal Christmas gift for family, friends or anyone who has found themselves on the receiving end of the tirade.

The trueCall device costs £97.50 from the trueCall website www.truecall.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk, the BT Online shop, the QVC Home Shopping Channel and from selected John Lewis stores.

Stockist

trueCall
www.truecall.co.uk 0800 0 336 339

Press Contact

Anja McLoughlin zero2one PR
[email protected] 0207 384 3355

A survey by online emotional health specialist Big White Wall, reveals that 60 per cent of people send Christmas cards out of duty rather than real care.

Further, the survey discovers that two in five people buy gifts for others simply because they know that they will receive one in return.

It seems that underlying the spirit of Christmas is a crushing sense of duty. And, not surprisingly, such focussed obligation only compounds what many see as an already stressful time of year; with almost four in five of those who took part in the Big White Wall survey admitting to feeling stress over the festive season.

Big White Wall Director, Charlotte Vere, comments:

Christmas has become a mass collusion in seasonal duty with a huge knock on effect on stress levels – caused by things such as receiving a card from the person you forgot, the friend that turns up with an unexpected present or housing relatives that no-one else will.

This Christmas, the Big White Wall website is open for people to share the personal cost of their duty – openly, honestly and anonymously – and users of Big White Wall have already started to express how they really feel about Christmas.

One member wrote,

the more we have, the more we want and the more pressure there is to ‘celebrate’ Christmas. The result is that more and more of us just do not look forward to it at all.

The stress of such duty can have a negative impact on emotional health, which in turn leads to physical and mental health problems. This Christmas, Big White Wall encourages everyone to release emotional stress and pressure by sharing their thoughts and feelings at www.bigwhitewall.com.

More on the survey:

Big White Wall, the place for emotional health online, conducted a survey to find out what people really feel about Christmas. The survey was carried out completely anonymously to encourage people to be open and honest about their feelings.

The survey revealed that:

• Over half of people only enjoyed last Christmas ‘in part’ and nearly one in five ‘just got through it and were glad when it was over’
• One in four people feel Christmas has just become a circus of present-giving and eating
• Two thirds of people felt irritated last Christmas and more than a third experienced anger

Siscan Publications, creator of the Christmas Planner, publishes a download version on Lulu.com, the online marketplace for digital content.

Siscan Publications has published 4 hardcopy self help handbooks, 4 digital self help workbooks, a hardcopy book of poems and now, the latest release, the Christmas Planner is just in time for the festive season. LM Richard of Siscan Publications comments, “This venture has been highly rewarding for us. With a lot of hard work and a lot of fun, we have taken our creativity to places that we never thought were possible. We are so thankful that Lulu has simplified self publishing. It gives us such pride to see and hold our books in print.”

The self help books are focused on health, fitness, organization and wellness which are available in hardcopy formats or digital content. These books are user friendly and for all ages with the exception of one book which focuses on baby boomers in the retirement years. Siscan Publications has been working diligently for two years and thanks to Lulu, Siscan Publications is proud to celebrate it’s 10^th book, the Christmas Planner. This book is another user-friendly self help handbook that everyone could use this time of year.

All Siscan Publications Books can be located at: http://stores.lulu.com/lmrichard

Lulu.com: Lulu.com is the premier marketplace for the digital content on the Internet, with over 300,000 recently published titles, and more than 4,000 new titles added each week, created by people in 80 different countries. Lulu is changing the world of publishing by enabling the creators of books, video, periodicals, multimedia and other content to publish their work themselves with complete editorial and copyright control. With Lulu offices in the US, Canada, the UK and Europe, Lulu customers can reach the globe.Siscan Publications is a Canadian book publishing company linking electronic work to publication. The Christmas Planner can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/1053194