Are Your Kids Missing You?  Are You Finding It Hard

To Be A FIFO Parent? 

Some careers have endured family separations for many years: the defence forces, truck drivers, sailors and even office  managers and “on the road” salesmen. Today, the FIFO (Fly In Fly Out) Parent is getting a lot of media attention and not all of it is good!

Many FIFO  families do not always know what to expect when they first start the FIFO lifestyle.  They do not know how to deal with some of the common issues:

• How does the parent working away stay emotionally connected and in tune with their partner & children?
• How effectively do both partners function as a parenting team given the physical absence of one parent?
• How does the parent working away adjust back into functioning family life on their return?
• How does the family at home effectively manage and adapt the needs of their household in the patterns of absence and presence?

 

Keeping the conversation going…

When you are away and calling home, kids are not the easiest of people with whom to communicate. The usual questions:

• how’s school?
• what did you do today?
• how’s your Mum and/or Dad?
• what are you watching on TV?

don’t always generate scintillating conversation between a child and a parent at home.  It is even harder for an absent parent to get a good talk going that gets more than the usual “OK” or “alright” or even “dunno!” as responses.

On the other hand, when you have a new story especially written to engage the imagination of the child and you can share it together, it becomes much easier to talk and explore new ideas.

The topics of Stories My Nana Tells, the pictures and the questions open up all kinds of interesting discussions, which can be revisited over and over again.  Links to good websites can be shared and enjoyed – at home and away.

Stories My Nana Tells helps support the FIFO Family!

 What does Stories My Nana Tells do?

We entertain, engage and educate children,

through storytelling!

That is us, in a nutshell of eight words! But we do a great deal more than entertain, engage and educate children, through storytelling.

 

We do understand FIFO families.  My name is Lesley Dewar and I am a parent and a grandparent. I am the writer and publisher of Stories My Nana Tells and a business writer, blogger, retired financial planner and a networker.

More than that – my family have been part of the mining industry for the past sixty years.  

• Big Bell, a gold mine with a small town – isolated and remote – was my childhood home.

• Snowy Mountains - my father was a tunnel miner. We were a DIDO Family in Cooma and Tumut as well as living onsite in a mining camp for families.

• Geraldton, Bangkok and Kalgoorlie - My hubby, Robbie (Bob) Dewar worked in commercial construction. FIFO and DIDO were a way of life for us.

• North West of WA and Kalgoorlie – one of my sons surveyed for mining companies  in the NW and the Big Pit and is now in Toronto in Canada.

Online posts from women whose partners work away – maybe on a three week on – three week off cycle – shows the impact the FIFO has on them and their children.  But it is not only those in the FIFO industries that have to cope with these family pressures.  There are many engaged in the DIDO (Drive In Drive Out) workforce, where one partner is away from home for five days or more at a time because they work too far away for daily commuting, whose families also need support..

How Do We Support FIFO Families? 

Stories My Nana Tells is a  family membership site that delivers proven, quality stories every two weeks, to engage 7 to 12yo children in a journey of discovery, fast learning and exploring new things

This is perfect for parents who are away a lot – you can login at the same time as your child and read the new story together over Skype!  You can chat on Facebook or swap emails, discussing and answering the questions with each story – there are so many ways to share the stories. It is also great for parents who are home-schooling. Our interview with Ben on our home page is a great example of how successfully you can use Skype and emails with Stories My Nana Tells.

Here’s a look at some of the story topics coming up in the next few weeks:

• He Looks Like Elvis
  • he looks just like Elvis. His broad shoulders and slender hips give him balance and style; his garb was all black with an occasional flash of brilliant red, lining his coattails.
• Starlight… Star Bright …. First Star I See Tonight
  • Sharing the stars with children is a great joy. To lie flat on your back, fingertips touching and to gaze intently into the heavens is an exhilarating experience to share with them.
• Hooked
  • De Mestral hoped that Velcro® would replace the Zipper, which got its name eighty years after its invention. In 1923, F. B. Goodrich ordered 150,000 for his new product – rubber galoshes – and based on the sound it made -
• An Expensive Lunch
  • He just throws back his giant head, opens his beak and swallows the little mouse whole. “I wonder if he has got a mouse wheel in his tummy,” I say to Robbie. “There’s going to be lots of running around in there.”
• Where Have All My Spiders Gone?
  • The pea gravel is wrapped in silk and anchors something. But, what? I stare upwards. Between two red gums, their leaves and flowers tossing like waves at sea, my spider has cast her net.

Subscribe now and you will receive: 

•  26 stories, one every fortnight, from Stories My Nana Tells for only $AU119 (discounted from the usual $AU132)

Get a twelve month subscription – a new story for your children every two weeks and a Parking Pal Magnet mailed to you when you subscribe – for the special FIFO offer of only $AU119 – a huge saving on the usual combined price of $AU140  

Subscribe HERE NOW!

   Or, read on…….

Stories My Nana Tells are great for busy FIFO parents.

As the mother of three children and a grandmother as well, I know about trekking around taking them to their different activities, especially on weekends.  I have worked on P&C Committees and many Fundraising Events for schools and sporting groups. I raised my family as a single parent for twelve years and it is a joy to see them as adults. Not everything in life went smoothly along the way – it rarely does – but I love my life as a mother and parent. And as a writer!

Conversations with kids, when you are away and calling home, are not the easiest way to communicate. The usual questions:

• how’s school?
• what did you do today?
• how’s your Mum?
• what are you watching on TV?

don’t always generate scintillating conversation between a child and an absent parent.  On the other hand, when you have a new story especially written to engage the imagination of the child, it becomes much easier.

The topics of Stories My Nana Tells, the pictures and the questions open up all kinds of interesting discussions, which can be revisited over and over again.  Links to good websites can be shared and enjoyed – at home and away.

These stories are a great connection between parent and child, as well as a fun learning experience. We guarantee children will love them. Your registration is a FAMILY account, which means you set up one account that your family can access, because you create your own password, linked to your email address.

This is perfect for parents who are away a lot,  or whose work keeps them away from “family time”  – you can login at the same time as your child and read the new story together over the telephone or by using Skype!

You may be separated by distance and want the story to come “from you” as a way of generating and strengthening contact and your family relationship. It will help build a common link for telephone calls, visits and discussions.

If you are a FIFO or DIDO parent or  you travel a greal deal, it’s simple and easy to share the stories, from anywhere in the world with a child you love.  You can unsubscribe at any time or just suspend your subscription for a short period if needs be.  Being a subscriber at Stories My Nana Tells is very flexible and family friendly.

Don’t miss this chance to introduce your children or grandchildren to a new learning experience with this very special FIFO offer.  

Share your experience with us.

After the delivery of the third story, we will ask you to complete a small survey – so you can share your opinions and ideas with us.  We are passionate about making Stories My Nana Tells the very best it can be.  Your participation in the survey will be voluntary, of course, but we do hope you will share your thoughts with us in a few weeks’ time. First, let’s get started: 

We DO need to confirm your permission to send your stories. We will send you a separate email to the address you used when you completed the subscription request.  Please check your inbox and confirm your subscription.

 

We Can Help You With Your Kid’s Literacy

Stories My Nana Tells is a family friendly subscription service that delivers a high quality story for kids every two weeks – right into your chosen email box – at home or your Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) work site.

Lesley Dewar writes stories for 7-12 yo children that help improve their literacy. Kids love her stories. With simple questions to test comprehension, parents enjoy and love them, too,  as entertainment while they are educational, too. Travel, family, pets, science and quirky ideas make Stories My Nana Tells a great read.

Each story is around 2,000 words, thoroughly researched and finished off with between 10 and 24 questions to encourage young readers to interact with the story.  We have wonderful photographs and illustrations to make them even more interesting – and we guarantee they will spark the curiosity of your children and grandchildren in nature, the environment and the world around them. If there is a reliable online source, Lesley includes direct links to other information on the internet.

Get started today :  

This special Stories My Nana Tells offer of $AU119 is just for FIFO Families and is a wonderful gift for a child or grandchild.

Dinosaur Parking Pal Magnet - one of five designs we are giving away

 

PLUS you will receive one of these fabulous Parking Pal Magnets. Designed to be placed on the side of your car,  it will help keep the little kids in place while you load up the shopping or buckle up the baby.

Children love to “Hi Five” their magnet and stay close and safe.

Together, Stories My Nana Tells and Parking Pal Magnets make a great combined subscription that will last all year and more!

Keep your children safe in the parking lot!  Keep your children entertained, educated and inspired with Stories My Nana Tells.

Yes! I want to get the FIFO Families special $AU119.00 offer and the Parking Pal Magnet too. 

We DO need to confirm your permission to send your stories, so please check your inbox and confirm your subscription. To help parents monitor internet safety, logging on to the subscriber section of the site requires both a membership number and a password.