How to Raise Kids without Losing it - Pamela Evbota (Guest Author)

Pamela Evbota is passionate about helping women discover their purpose and she blogs at www.ladiesnetworking.com. Today, she shares with us some tips on purposeful parenting. Pamela is also an author, and her "Define Success on your Terms, 25 Simple Tips" is available on Amazon Kindle for $0.99. Her new book, ‘How to Raise Kids without loosing it’will be available  for online purchase this week via Creatspace as well as on Kindle. To win a free PDF copy of the book, leave a comment on this post sharing any tips on how you parent your own children, and still manage to stay sane. :) Enjoy Pamela's article...

Four Ways to Parent like a Small Business Owner

It is time to take parenting like a small business - with a strong desire to succeed and achieve desired success daily. Our modern day lives are daily bungled by various activities and we are pulled in several directions as mothers. The guilt is piling up about our inability to be at our kids’ school events as working mothers or the inability to sit and enjoy sweet nothing conversations with our kids. Parenting requires innovative ways and support to turn our feeling of being overwhelmed and inadequate to feeling strong as to what direction we want our lives to be.

On the Budget and the Removal of Fuel Subsidy - EiE Nigeria

Some days ago, I got this press statement from EiE Nigeria (Enough is Enough) on the current national debate about the planned removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. While I ultimately believe in the restructuring if not removal of the fuel subsidy, I believe EiE makes some valid points in this release. The budget has been released now, and it is even more obvious that the economic team of President Goodluck Jonathan haven't done much work in replugging the funds from the proposed subsidy removal into relevant sectors of the economy. Read the statement and tell me what you think.

What do you think of Adoption - will you adopt a child?

So there was this discussion where a woman asked if she should leave her husband since they're childless. Apparently, there's nothing wrong with her fertility but the husband has low sperm count. I was surprised at the number of comments that called on the woman to consider adoption because I somehow assumed that most Nigerians do not accept or support adoption.

I've heard of some couples who secretly adopt and try to pass the child off as their own. I've heard people say they can never adopt, or advice people they know to adopt. They bring up all sorts of reasons why it's a bad idea to adopt, most of them emotional and maybe based on tradition. We don't do it in our family, they say, or what will people say? Others ask, what do you know of the child, and what if his/her parents have a shady past or background?

The Big Love Christmas Giveaway - Nigeria

The BIG LOVE Christmas Giveaway - Making a wish come true, will run from the 1st to 31st December, 2011 providing an opportunity for Companies, Individuals, Families, Groups and Celebrities to give back, no matter how little. Their aim is to improve livelihoods by creating access to items/products/support services that some people would otherwise not have access to/ or be able to afford.

To achieve the needed reach, this initiative is driven by technology through a comprehensive website portal – ‘www.thebiglovegiveaway.org’; where the givers can register their gifts and potential receivers can also register to get specific gifts based on the stipulated criteria for each one. A mobile phone application has also been developed to serve smart phone users and get more people to participate.

Six out of Ten women in Nigeria are Unfaithful?

I don't know what to say to this news which has been floating around recently. The Durex Sexual Well-being Global Survey conducted by the condom manufacturer, interviewed 26,000 people in 26 countries and ranked Nigerian women as the most unfaithful in the world.

Daily Times reports  that "the top two countries with cheating women are Nigeria, with 62 percent, and Thailand, 59 percent. 39 percent of Malaysian women also confessed to having betrayed their partners. Russian women came fourth at 33 percent while Singaporeans are fifth at 19 percent." From a link I got in the comments, I went to the Durex survey methodology page where I found the following information.

Gift Card Giveaway - International

WINNER ANNOUNCED - Congrats to Jacqui Odell : USA

This Gift Card giveaway blog hop hosted by I Am a Reader Not a Writer. Several blogs are taking part, with lots of chances to win gift cards and book prizes. Check the full list of participants for more opportunities to win. My giveaway is one $10 electronic gift card from Amazon.com/ co.uk/.ca. The rules are;

1. You must be a follower of my blog - the Google Friend Connect gadget is to the right,
2. Leave a comment with your Country/Continent and your email address.

Thanks and good luck!

White Trousers no go put me for trouble!

Dat morrin as I wan baff na so I dey put ear for dis babe music, Omawunmi, dat song wey she sing say, ‘If you ask me, na who I go ask?’ My madam don comot tey tey and I know say before she go come back e go still tey, so I say before I baff make I carry my body go upstairs for her and oga room. E get one fine white trouser wey she buy and I be one go taste am because I hear say person yansh dey come out well well for white trouser especially if you no wear pant or you wear g-string. Before I go continue my tori make I talk about my madam and oga dem.

My Madam: She no too good, she no too bad. Sometimes when I go market come back late, she no go even send me. She go just talk say, “Ehen, I know you went to see your boyfriend. Thank God you didn’t stay too long. Now hurry into the kitchen, my baby would soon be back.”

And sometimes when I wash clothes and the ting still get small stain, she go talk say, “You are too dirty Mary, sometimes I wonder if your undies are even clean”; and the annoying ting be say na infront of oga she go shout the whole ting so tey my oga come dey look me one kain.

Help me win $1000 from the World of Betters Campaign

Some of you may know about my work with Naijastories.com. The website is now about a year and half and still going strong. We are currently working to publish an anthology of the best stories in the first year. We hope to get the best quality book we can, and also ensure that we can distribute and promote as widely as possible. We would equally like each writer whose story was selected to receive a paperback copy for their libraries. However, our budget is small and I've been thinking of a way to raise more money to ensure these goals.

I believe that by publishing and promoting this anthology, we will be making the world better for both the readers and the selected writers. We'll also be encouraging other upcoming writers, both on Naijastories.com and beyond, to keep writing. If this makes sense to you, vote for my entry at the World of Betters website.

Thank you.

How to ensure other bloggers can follow you back

Hi everyone, hope the new week has started well?

Today, I'm sharing a blogging tip. This it is something I had come across quite a number of times and never knew how to get in touch with those involved to let them know. You see, new people join my blog regularly and most times, I want to check out their own blogs and see if I want to follow back. What I usually do is to click on their profile picture in my followers box and follow their linked blog back to them. While the curious part of me wonders why some people have locked profiles, I just assume they do not have a blog most likely.

But I'm really frustrated when the follower is not linked to any blog at all. If it so happens that they've allowed to receive mail from blogger, I'll send them a welcome and thank you message. Depending on how much time I have then, I might also check out the recent blogs the person has joined to try to track them. One thing that makes it easier is when they leave a comment, either on my blog, or on one of the other ones. Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury of time, or the follower just doesn't leave any crumbs for me to follow.

NaijaSistas Christmas Book Reading Fiesta

I was in Nigeria last Christmas and had loads of fun meeting so many lovely people. I attended a lot of book events, and this will be a one of those events that will make me rue not being able to travel this time. The 1st NSBS Book Reading held in September and everyone agreed it was great. The organizers say this one will usher all who attend into a Christmas brimming over with plenty of fresh hope for the new year.

Date - Saturday, December 17, 2011
Time - 2:00pm until 7:00pm
Venue - Radisson Blu - Lekki Room, Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos

Please visit the Facebook Event Page for more details. Some things to note;

1. NaijaSistas runs a book stop for member authors and many of them are running Christmas discounts and giveaways. You'll also find my books there, visit NSBS at 26 Festival Road, VI or call Ms. Goodness on 0806 427 5401 to order your books!