Maggie Dent has written A letter to a 21st Century teenager: 10 things I want you to know. In it she said, "Every teen needs to have a significant adult ally who is not their mum and dad – I call them ‘lighthouses’. Sometimes it can be a teacher or a coach, an aunt or uncle, a neighbour, a family friend, a friend’s mum or dad – you just need to have somebody who genuinely cares about you and believes in you." Both my daughters have mentors and older friends they can talk to who are not their parents. You only need one person. Make a list of people who could be a lighthouse for you. 
You can read Maggie's letter at https://www.maggiedent.com/blog/a-letter-to-a-21st-century-teen. It's a great read - print it out and put it somewhere you will see it often.

I'm going out to buy a skipping rope!

I love this magazine! Issue 20 of Teen Breathe is out now. Inside you will find articles that:

• help you to be true to you
• challenge your ideas about intelligence
• teach you how to grow from your mistakes
• help you stay sane if you share a room with a sibling
• help you work out what you want to do when you're older
• provide a virtual travel guide through fiction
• share ways to be kind to animals
• inspire you to go hiking
• help you to eat your way to glowing good health
• teach you how to make dairy free delights
• encourage you to embrace change and lots more.

Research has shown that being tidy and organised improves productivity. Your bedroom is most likely where you sleep and study. Whether it is palatial in size or more like a shoebox, there are things you can do to ensure it is a tidy conducive for study. If everything has a home it is easier to put it away when you have finished with it. I love K-Mart and Ikea for storage solutions but there are plenty of ways you can reuse-use items at home. Here are some of my favourites:

• Shoeboxes and other empty boxes - cover them in fabric, gift wrap or contact to make them look pretty
• Coffee cups including washed disposable ones
• Jam jars and other old jars
• Crochet baskets (I make my own - you can find the pattern at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-colorful-bowls)
• Old tins
• Pencil cases and makeup pouches
• Empty pot plant pots
• Empty jewellery boxes are useful for sorting small things
• Lunch boxes
• Nice gift bags
• Empty milo tins