Just for a little while. I have exams at the end of February so I have to commit my time wholly to that until then. Believe me this is not a prospect I relish it merely has to be done.
There a quite a few approaches to studying. During my sudy years I have taken 10 AAT and 9 CIMA exams so I have tried a few of them. When it boils down to it there really is only one approach that works.
I have tried the winging it approach which was semi successful in the early days but it got me in the end. So I switched to a read and re-write the text book in full approach. This means that you will have fully covered any topic that appears in the first half of the text book. The other half, well you're back to winging it.
It was then I realised that you had to know the syllabus to understand where the majority of the marks come from. By default you know which topics to cover fully and which to make sure you are briefed about. On top of this the biggest thing of all, question practice. It really is the only way at this level.
So I will return in early March ready to blog! Until then take care and when I come back I will teach you all about Michael Porter and his theories. Maybe not.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Ethical Principles
As a studying accountant CIMA's code of ethics is pretty much tested in every exam going. That is how important they feel it is so I decided to apply their code of ethics to my parenting skills!
First up is Integrity.
Having told my children about Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy I am not sure I can claim that my integrity is intact. The worst lie I have told them probably has to be that the ice cream man only plays his tune when he has run out of ice cream.
Second is Objectivity.
When my children argue they both get told off. How can I possibly be objective when I have a 6 year old and 3 year old telling me a la Shaggy - It wasn't me? In order to be objective the facts need to be established. Working out which one is lying is almost impossible which means I cannot be objective.
Next is Professional Competence and Due Care.
My mothering skills are not bad by any stretch of the imagination but I am not sure I could claim to be entirely competent. Can any of us? I have made many mistakes here, some of which I have repeated! As for the due care bit well, I have sent my son to school ill (In all fairness I thought he was faking) and told my daughter that the imaginary spots on her face were tired spots because she hadn't had enough sleep. They were not actually imaginary, she did have a rash which I saw as soon as I put my glasses on.
Then we have Professional Behaviour.
This one is laughable! There is no way I could describe my behaviour as professional at all times when dealing with my children. In my capacity as a professional mummy I have told them off and made them cry in public and on the odd occasion I have sworn with them in earshot. Blown it then.
Last we have Confidentiality.
Nothing in our house is confidential anymore. I have broken every confidence my children have told me by telling their dad! A house containing two or indeed any small children can never be confidential. Once they start talking you have had it.
Conclusion:
So it would seem that my capacity as a mother I fail completely to adhere to CIMA's code of ethics and I think it would be fair to say this would apply to any parent or carer. I am not alone!
Please tell me I am not alone.
First up is Integrity.
Having told my children about Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy I am not sure I can claim that my integrity is intact. The worst lie I have told them probably has to be that the ice cream man only plays his tune when he has run out of ice cream.
Second is Objectivity.
When my children argue they both get told off. How can I possibly be objective when I have a 6 year old and 3 year old telling me a la Shaggy - It wasn't me? In order to be objective the facts need to be established. Working out which one is lying is almost impossible which means I cannot be objective.
Next is Professional Competence and Due Care.
My mothering skills are not bad by any stretch of the imagination but I am not sure I could claim to be entirely competent. Can any of us? I have made many mistakes here, some of which I have repeated! As for the due care bit well, I have sent my son to school ill (In all fairness I thought he was faking) and told my daughter that the imaginary spots on her face were tired spots because she hadn't had enough sleep. They were not actually imaginary, she did have a rash which I saw as soon as I put my glasses on.
Then we have Professional Behaviour.
This one is laughable! There is no way I could describe my behaviour as professional at all times when dealing with my children. In my capacity as a professional mummy I have told them off and made them cry in public and on the odd occasion I have sworn with them in earshot. Blown it then.
Last we have Confidentiality.
Nothing in our house is confidential anymore. I have broken every confidence my children have told me by telling their dad! A house containing two or indeed any small children can never be confidential. Once they start talking you have had it.
Conclusion:
So it would seem that my capacity as a mother I fail completely to adhere to CIMA's code of ethics and I think it would be fair to say this would apply to any parent or carer. I am not alone!
Please tell me I am not alone.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Getting Older
Getting older kind of creeps up on you. You don't notice it happening, it all happens in the background until the day it slaps you in the face and laughs. Getting older always gets you in the end no matter who you are.
Tomorrow is my birthday and in my head I am and always will be 25. Reality however is that I will actually be 34. OMG 34! Next year I will be ticking the next group up on the age range boxes on forms.
Like I say in my head I am 25 but my body does not seem to take any notice of my brain, oh no, it just carries on merrily ageing and ignoring my resistance.
The other day I was driving along listening to radio one when this song came on. I immediately screwed up my face and muttered under my breath "The crap they come out with nowadays". My finger pressed the button to change the station.
That was when getting older slapped me. Horrified at my own ageing thoughts I pressed the button to change it back and endured the song. It was my way of denying I was indeed getting older.
It is not until it does slap you that you realise it has been there for a while, slowly moving in while you are blissfully unaware.
The signs were definitely there, I had just never acknowledged them. Saying things like "Oh that house looks nice, I love what they have done with the garden" as we drive past. I can remember being a child in the back of the car while my mum and dad had similar conversations.
I tried to do a roly poly for the kids not so long ago and ended up pulling a muscle in my neck. Yes the signs were absolutely, without doubt definitely there.
Have you had your slap from getting older yet? If so please tell me - I could do with a giggle!
Tomorrow is my birthday and in my head I am and always will be 25. Reality however is that I will actually be 34. OMG 34! Next year I will be ticking the next group up on the age range boxes on forms.
Like I say in my head I am 25 but my body does not seem to take any notice of my brain, oh no, it just carries on merrily ageing and ignoring my resistance.
The other day I was driving along listening to radio one when this song came on. I immediately screwed up my face and muttered under my breath "The crap they come out with nowadays". My finger pressed the button to change the station.
That was when getting older slapped me. Horrified at my own ageing thoughts I pressed the button to change it back and endured the song. It was my way of denying I was indeed getting older.
It is not until it does slap you that you realise it has been there for a while, slowly moving in while you are blissfully unaware.
The signs were definitely there, I had just never acknowledged them. Saying things like "Oh that house looks nice, I love what they have done with the garden" as we drive past. I can remember being a child in the back of the car while my mum and dad had similar conversations.
I tried to do a roly poly for the kids not so long ago and ended up pulling a muscle in my neck. Yes the signs were absolutely, without doubt definitely there.
Have you had your slap from getting older yet? If so please tell me - I could do with a giggle!
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
My Night Off
I have been looking forward to this night for a couple of weeks. I have had to travel to our head office for a meeting which involves an overnight stay in a nice hotel with everything paid for.
This meant an evening of being relaxed, well fed and possibly very well watered. A night of peace and quiet. Needless to say I was secretly pleased to be having a meeting. It was a finance meeting as well so it was worth it.
This was my plan:
4pm - Leave office and go to hotel
4.15pm - Arrive at hotel
5pm - Eat Dinner
6pm - Start Online Course
8.30pm - Finish Online Course
8.35pm - Be in the bar with a vodka and coke
9.30pm - Retire to room, slob out and watch telly
10.30pm - Go to sleep
The actual reality was very differant.
Firstly my sat nav refused to recognise the hotel. Now I am seriously crap when it comes to directions so the sat nav was my lifeline in unfamiliar territory. As I had not left the office until 4.50pm I didn't arrive at the hotel unil 5.37pm. It should have been a 15 minute journey.
My course starts in 23 minutes which means there is not enough time to eat. Never mind I had a cunning plan. I nosied round my rather nice room and logged onto the webinar. I am an accountancy student so I will not go into the details of the tutorial but I had planned that at break time (7.15pm) I would order room service.
The only food the offered as room service was pizza. Now this would have been fine but we had gone to Pizza Express for lunch. More pizza was not a good idea.
When the session eventually finished at 8.50pm (It should have been 8.30pm) I was feeling more than pee'd off, I was flipping starving as well. I ordered the burger and chips (much better than pizza!) and ate it while watching One Born Every Minute. I am typing this in the adverts!
I am also missing my husband and the children and starting to feel a bit fed up. Hey ho, another vodka and coke and I will be fine.
This meant an evening of being relaxed, well fed and possibly very well watered. A night of peace and quiet. Needless to say I was secretly pleased to be having a meeting. It was a finance meeting as well so it was worth it.
This was my plan:
4pm - Leave office and go to hotel
4.15pm - Arrive at hotel
5pm - Eat Dinner
6pm - Start Online Course
8.30pm - Finish Online Course
8.35pm - Be in the bar with a vodka and coke
9.30pm - Retire to room, slob out and watch telly
10.30pm - Go to sleep
The actual reality was very differant.
Firstly my sat nav refused to recognise the hotel. Now I am seriously crap when it comes to directions so the sat nav was my lifeline in unfamiliar territory. As I had not left the office until 4.50pm I didn't arrive at the hotel unil 5.37pm. It should have been a 15 minute journey.
My course starts in 23 minutes which means there is not enough time to eat. Never mind I had a cunning plan. I nosied round my rather nice room and logged onto the webinar. I am an accountancy student so I will not go into the details of the tutorial but I had planned that at break time (7.15pm) I would order room service.
The only food the offered as room service was pizza. Now this would have been fine but we had gone to Pizza Express for lunch. More pizza was not a good idea.
When the session eventually finished at 8.50pm (It should have been 8.30pm) I was feeling more than pee'd off, I was flipping starving as well. I ordered the burger and chips (much better than pizza!) and ate it while watching One Born Every Minute. I am typing this in the adverts!
I am also missing my husband and the children and starting to feel a bit fed up. Hey ho, another vodka and coke and I will be fine.
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