Showing posts with label Handy Home Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Handy Home Tips. Show all posts

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Prepare your children for EMERGENCIES 000 or 911

You can start this from about 2 years old (although 3 years old they will have a better concept of what you are saying). I have made this sign up to help my younger ones and just to remind my older child. It is so important and I can not stress enough that ALL children should know how to call 000 or 911 or whatever emergency number your country has.


As a firefighters wife and daughter, I have seen families go through devastating situations and unfortunately some could have possibly had a different outcome if the children had just known this information.

Emergencies can happen to anyone at anytime, please remember that.

I have taught the kids that if Mummy or Daddy were ever hurt and couldn't talk or had fallen and hurt themselves and were not answering them, to pick up the phone (which we have in their reach but hidden away enough that they forget about it during the day) to call 000 (three 0's) and then push the ladybug on the phone.

I have super glued on the ladybug stickers so they will not be coming off. I have also put a ladybug on the poster after the three 0's to remind them.

Of course you do not want to freak out or panic your children when talking about this topic, so make sure you are sitting quietly with no distractions and calmly explain that this is a way of keeping your family safe. Explain that it is to talk with police, ambulance and firefighters.

When the 000 call is made, you are asked if you would like police, fire or ambulance. If a child is on the end of the phone and not sure of this, this is not a problem as the person taking these calls has been trained and will make sure that all emergencies services needed will be dispatched.

I have explained to my older child to just say what has happened, so "my mummy/daddy wont wake up" or "there is a fire in our house". Then tell your child that the lady/man will ask questions and they can answer these to get help.

It is also important that your child knows
  • their name
  • their surname
  • their address
  • their parents names
  • their telephone number also, although this can be trickier to learn, still go over it each week and eventually they will learn it.
BY 4 YEARS OLD, YOUR CHILD NEEDS TO EITHER KNOW OR BE LEARNING THESE DETAILS LISTED ABOVE ABOUT THEMSELVES.

PLEASE NOTE: I have written 000 or 911 as they are the emergency numbers I know for Australia (000) and America (911). I am not sure of other countries emergency numbers.

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Fridge organisation

Keeping your fridge organised seems to be one of the things people wish they could do better, or just do at all. For us, I use to start organising our fridge the day shopping arrived and then as things were returned to the fridge, they slowly hour by hour and day by day become cluttered, messy and then I'd lost where I had put the butter again.
I am now trying this approach and so far it seems to be working. It's been a couple of months and I'm happy to continue taking an extra 30 minutes after my shopping day to save hours through the week.

When I get the vegetables out of the shopping bag, I am immediately washing them and cutting them into cooking size and then popping into a big 7litre container. 3 of these fit perfectly along the bottom shelf of our fridge. I separate different things into these containers from vegetables, fruit, yoghurt's, and leftovers. I do leave certain vegetables whole as we all love carrots, just eating them raw and whole. We go through a bag each week just snacking on carrots, so I cut some and leave a lot whole. I also like to keep Kale in a bunch as I make Kale chips.

I now use the crisper for fruit. As we live in Queensland, our fruit doesn't seem to last long being out on the bench, so we put it in the fridge, specifically the crisper. This way, older children can easily grab out fruit anytime they want- be my guest kids! :-)

Doing this not only gives me more time during the week with my family and less stress at dinner time but it also means I use all of our vegetables up and I don't have waste anymore. These containers keep them fresh. You can also pop a piece of paper towel along the bottom to soak up excess moisture which will prolong the life of the vegetables too.

As I have small children at home with me, when I am about to do all this washing and chopping of vegetables I set up a game for the kids, something that hasn't been out already. Try keep a few things packed away so when you need to distract the kids for a bit, you have something "new" as a novelty. Or if it's been a busy day and they have been out, I will pop on a movie or play school. Anything to give me half an hour where I can get this done as it then saves me hours during the week, which means more time with the kids.

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LAMINATOR- my essential item as a mum

If there is one item I would highly recommend buying as a parent, it would be a laminator. On special they can be as cheap as $15-$20.

They can be used for so many projects, activities and for gifts.

Once the kids create their master pieces, laminate them and they are a perfect gift for grandparents, family and friends as a placemat or a bookmark.

I also always laminate art work my kids have done which are really important to me or a favourite of theirs. One day I want to look back at the first time they drew a person, wrote their name or wrote "to mummy", these are the ones I have made sure are laminated to protect them as my treasures.

When making bookmarks:
  • Cut out paper the shape you want the bookmark. Be creative, make different shapes like hearts, squiggly snakes, zigzags, stars.
  • Get the kids to draw on one side.
  • Stick photos of the kids on the other side.
  • Hole punch the top and add some ribbon.
These make beautiful and very special gifts.

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Our home made BLACKBOARD

The kids absolutely love this so I had to share what my husband made for them recently.

He purchased a sheet of plywood and we already had blackboard paint, so the kids helped paint it and then he finished it off perfectly with a border and an awesome ledge with a groove for the chalk to sit in.

I love it and I bet lots of kids would like one just like it.

We stuck it to the inside of our balcony so the kids can sit down and draw as much as they like. Its long and big enough that they have loads of room, plus even more if friends want to join in as well.

Thanks hubby for making this for the kids :-)

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Stop apple and pear slices from browning

For me, the main reason I like these ideas is so I can prepare my kids lunch boxes the night before to save time in the morning when there is already so many other things to do.
This means one less thing to be cutting up and preparing in the morning as you can do this the night before and put fruit into the kids containers or lunch bags ready for the following day.
Here are three ideas to try:

  • Mix 1/4 teaspoon of salt with 2 cups of cold water (or accordingly depending on how much fruit you are preparing) in a bowl. Too much salt will change the taste of fruit.
  • Soak your apple and/or pear in the salted water for 3-5 minutes.
  • Drain and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for later that day or for school lunches the following couple of days.
OR
  • Mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with 1 cup of cold water (or accordingly depending on how much fruit you are preparing) in a bowl.
  • Soak your apple and/or pear in the lemon water for 3-5 minutes.
  •  Drain and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for later that day or for school lunches the following couple of days.
  • You can pour lemon juice directly onto fruit, but it will leave a tangy taste.
OR
  • Soak your apple and/or pear in a bowl of lemonade, sprite or similar lemon-lime carbonated soft drink/soda for 3-5 minutes.
  • Drain and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for later that day or for school lunches the following couple of days.

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Our own home made ZOO

I thought this would be such a great idea as we have so many cuddly teddies but previously we have had them up in a hammock which looks great but the kids are unable to reach them or play with them.

Luckily I have an extremely handy and creative husband, so I was able to ask him to make our own.

He had a blast making it for the kids and we are all very very happy with how it turned out.

The black rails are made of bungee rope so they are flexible for the kids to pull their teddies out and push back in, or you can throw teddies over the top.

He also made the jagged sign which looks awesome and he painted it with blackboard paint so we could write whatever we wanted on it and change it whenever we wanted.



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Breastfeeding Reminder

I saw this picture and thought it was a great idea for mums wanting that reminder on which side boob is next for feeding time. Especially when 'baby brain' has really kicked in, haha. I find this is a lot safer than using a nappy pin.

It would be easy to make with a small length of ribbon and super gluing on two small magnets on each end. Then as you fold it over your bra, the magnets will attach.

I'm going to try this with bub number 3!

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Keeping your CHILDREN SAFE

There’s more to keeping kids safe than just teaching the “stranger-danger” concept.

Did you know ?
… it takes less than a minute for a predator to lure a child away?
… 90% of childhood sexual abuse occurs by someone the child knows?
… even very young children can be taught some important safety rules and skills?

These 5 links I am sharing are probably the most important things I could EVER pass on to you, from one parent to the next.

Please check them out with both parents or main guardians of your children and make sure your children are provided with this knowledge.

http://safelyeverafter.com/tenrules.html

http://safelyeverafter.com/tips.html

http://safelyeverafter.com/flags.html

http://www.checklistmommy.com/2012/02/09/tricky-people-are-the-new-strangers/

http://safelyeverafter.com/index.html

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Quote of the day!


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CHANGE THE BATTERIES IN YOUR SMOKE ALARMS

"Don’t be a fool. Change your smoke alarm battery. Only working smoke alarms can save lives"!

AT LEAST once a year you need to CHANGE the batteries in your smoke alarms with brand new ones.

In Australia, each state has dates they use to remind people.

Queenslanders slogan for April 1st (April Fools day) is don't be a fool, change your smoke alarm batteries.

Victorians are reminded to change their batteries when they change their clocks back from day light savings.

If you don't know what date to change them, choose one for your family that you will remember.....
- Maybe its January 1st each year.
- Or use your birthday each year.

Research in the past has shown that most homes do have smoke alarms, but only 70 percent are actually working because batteries have been removed or have gone flat.

 

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3 Quick Home TIPS to help you out!

Ideas Ive tried, seen, heard or had passed on from family and friends that offer a helping hand and make life easier.... who wouldnt want things easy and simplified?!

- Stop sticky hands and dripping by placing a patty pan up onto stick of an ice-cream or icey-pole.




- When you open a jar of food that wont be all getting used up in one go (eg tomato paste, marinades, apple sauce), write the date of opening on the lid in permanent marker so you can keep check of its freshness. Often the labels will say 'consume within 3-7 days'. This way you can keep track.


- If you listen to music on your phone and dont have a dock/speakers, try placing the phone in a bowl and it will amplify the music.

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What a GREAT IDEA!!!!

I just found this and thought it was hilarious and such a great idea! You can make the reward and chores anything to suit your individual children and their ages :-)

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Always keep a toy bag (surprise bag) handy for all ages!

For babies
I have a little bag done up for each of my children based on their age with appropriate toys, games and entertainment. The bags live in my office and I use them when I need to distract my children and get their attention away from other things (like during a trip to the shops or for an appointment).
For example when I need to prepare dinner and I need something "new", I grab the bag and place it down close by so I can keep an eye on them and they can play happily.

I started this when my first child was about 9 months old. She had begun walking and no longer was able to just hang out in a bouncer, so I made up a little bag that I could carry from room to room while I needed to do little jobs.

Great to take on car trips, shopping trips, doctors appointments, when you need a shower, or to get some house chores done or even just to give yourself 15 minutes time out to have a cuppa and some cake.

Because the toys in the bag aren't things the kids see all day everyday, its a great novelty when you grab out their "toy bag" or "surprise bag". Every couple of weeks I swap the toys around and when I'm at a discount store, I will pick up a couple of new things to add for a treat.

In my toddlers bag I have:
  • Puzzles
  • Matching cards (pairs games)
  • Mr. Potato Head
  • Notepad and a few crayons
  • A cuddly teddy bear
  • Toy cars
  • I keep it all in a cotton bag with draw string
In my babies bag I have:
  • Rattles
  • Mini cardboard books
  • Soft material books
  • Squeaky toys
  • Musical toy
  • A cuddly teddy bear
For pre-school age you can have:
  • Colouring books
  • Activity books
  • Textas (markers) and pencils
  • Kids card games
  • Puzzles
  • Toy cars

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Uses for Tennis Balls

I'm sure there are so many uses for tennis balls and please add to the comments section any more helpful ideas you have.
 Click here to check out the Tennis ball mate previously posted. 

HAND TOWEL HOLDER-
Here we have made another tennis ball mate and stuck him to our bathroom sink cupboard for the kids to use as a "hand towel holder", they love it.

KEEPING KIDS SAFE IN THE BATH-

To prevent children from burning and hurting themselves in the bath, place a tennis ball (with a slit in it) over each tap. This will prevent any hot water accidentally being turned on and harming your kids. Easy and effective. Just slip on once you have finished filling up the tub.

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Stop POTATOES going brown

If you are preparing potatoes a little earlier than they will be getting used, once peeled and cut into the required size, place in a container or bowl of cold water and place in the fridge until needed. This will prevent the brown marks appearing.

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Other uses for powdered formula dispenser

I just purchased this formula dispenser to put my chia seeds and other seeds in instead of pulling the whole 1kg container out each time. It has been so much easier. I have put black and white seeds in their own compartment. I have found they are useful for lots of small foods including
  • poppy seeds
  • pepita (pumpkin) seeds 
  • sunflower seeds
  • sultanas
  • currants 
I like that you can just twist the lid to the section you want and pour and the best part is you can see whats inside. Please add any other ideas these dispensers are great for....

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4 handy tips for at home

  • Because I meal plan, sometimes at the end of the week I have left over vegetables which would go off before I could use them, so I cut them all into cooking size and put into amounts I will use per meal then into zip lock bags, label and freeze, so next meal I can just throw them straight into the meal and cook.
  • When making fruit salad, if I only have 1-3 fresh fruits left in the fruit bowl, I grab a tin of fruit salad and add that to bulk it up. (I always have spare tins of fruit in cupboard).
  • Disinfectant wipes are my most favourite cleaning item. Fantastic for a quick clean on ANYTHING in the house. Especially before visitors arrive.
  • I also try once a week to wipe down (with disinfectant wipes) door knobs/handles, light switches, remote controls, laptop and our mobile phones- things that are touched endlessly by many hands and therefore contain many germs. These are the places we all forget about.

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Keep HEALTHY BEFORE WINTER arrives

Winter can be fun when we rug up in our pj's and blankets by the fire and all snuggle together watching DVDs and keep warm.... but winter also brings an increase of lots of sickness and germs. Below are my 7 tips on things you can do that will help prevent your family picking up those nasty colds and flu's.
  1. Wash your hands- all day our hands touch thousands of things full of germs and then they touch our faces and bodies which is how infections can so easily start. Wash your hands very regularly throughout the day and especially when dealing with food, animals, wounds, handling garbage or being in the bathroom. As soon as you walk in the door home from being out in the car and at the shops- wash your hands. Wash all over, in between your fingers, under your nails and up to your wrist for at least 30 seconds. Click here to see this handy tip for kids hand washing- make it fun!
  2. For parents, its practically impossible to regularly get the recommended 7-8 hours sleep a night (and we don't want to hear from you who get that every night thank you haha). But the reason I say try and get sleep, is just to remind you to take every chance possible to get an extra half hour or even 2 hours if your lucky like me. On my husbands days off, I will have a sleep in one morning while he gets up with the kids and has daddy time with them. The kids love it as he has been at work all week and this is their time to have Daddy all to themselves. If your children nap at the same time (until my second child was 6 months old, my kids both napped at the same time, so if I was tired, this allowed me 30mins to an hour of sleep.... when I didn't have housework and other jobs I thought were more important). Parents need to prioritise and having some dishes in the sink or a basket of clothes to be folded isn't as important as our health and sanity. The more sleep we get, the more energy we have to be with our kids and keep fit.
  3. Drink at least 2 litres of water everyday (1 litre for children). Know how much your drink bottle holds and make sure you fill it the required amount of times throughout the day to hit your mark. Reduce other sugary drinks and caffeine (I'm not saying stop them, just reduce) and swap to water. Add lemon, lime or an orange slice to give some flavour if you find water boring. Or try for 8 glasses a day. Green tea is also a great boost for your insides, or try a cup of peppermint tea.
  4. Walk, run, exercise.... keep fit, keep moving and you keep those germs away. You will reduce the severity and length of any sickness by being more healthy and fit. Your body will fight off infections easier and you will recover faster.
  5. Eat healthy and take care of your insides as well. Cut down or cut out sugar, fatty, fried foods and replace your eating habits with fresh healthy meals and snacks. Aim for your 2 pieces of fruit and 3 serves of vegetables a day. If your not a big fruit fan, even a tablespoon of sultanas is one serving of fruit. Or mix a banana and some berries in a blender with ice or skim milk and yum- healthy meal- fruit intake for the day- done! Cut up some carrot and celery sticks to munch on through the day when your feeling a little peckish.
  6. Take a multi-vitamin. You will hear both sides with this one as some people will say if you eat in moderation and a healthy diet you don't need one. BUT no one I know eats the exact recommended food groups 365 days a year, let alone 7 days a week. It's unlikely you will eat your 2 fruits, 3 veges, protein, carbohydrate, calcium, omega 3, iron and fat requirements to a perfect quantity required each day- so taking a simple once a day multi, ensures you get the extra things you have missed. Its easy to take and can really make a difference to your health, especially if your particularly lacking and low in one area of health.
  7. Get outside into the sun and fresh air everyday. Whether you go for a stroll (I love that word haha) around the block, or spend some time playing with your kids in the yard, try each day to be outdoors for at least an hour. Can you walk the kids to school? Anything is better than nothing. But don't forget to slip slop slap when needed.
By following the tips above, you will decrease your chances of firstly, catching those nasty winter germs, but because sometimes they are unavoidable, these tips will help reduce the severity and length or your sickness.

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Kitchen Caddy - reducing clean up time!

After meals it is more convenient and less expensive to use flannels (face washers) to wipe your children's mouth and hands, they can be re-used a couple of times then easily thrown in to be washed.

Keep a little plastic basket beside your sink so you have easy access to some hand wash, washing detergent and a big pile of flannels. Then they are right there where you need them.

Once washed, they get folded and go straight into the basket. I find this reduces clean up time significantly having everything in the same spot.

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Give your KIDS NEW TOYS FOR FREE

Children go through stages where they become bored with their toys or least some of their things. One way to prevent this happening and being able to offer your child new and exciting things is to have a basket of toys "disappear" for a couple of weeks then turn up again one day when they have been forgotten about. Its an inexpensive way of providing your child with fresh toys and games that you know they will love and enjoy to play with.

Each week make sure you always have available:

  1. Books- an assortment of fun & learning books (borrow from your local library if needed)
  2. Blocks of some type- duplo, coloured wooden blocks, lego, alphabet/learning blocks. Alternate the different types of blocks each week.
  3. Soft and cuddly toys, a doll or two with dolls pram and a push along toy or stand still activity table for small children learning to stand and walk.
  4. Pictures on the walls where they play of anything you like. We mix it up with pictures they have drawn or made for art or wildlife and animal pictures.
- Then have tubs/baskets where you can alternate each week to mix it up. The kids will go crazy in those first couple of days after you put a different tub/basket out as it will have been weeks since they have played with all those toys.
- You can keep it simple and have only 2 tubs that you swap over every week or if you have lots of toys you may have 4 tubs, therefore each tub is out for one week every month. This definitely keeps the surprise factor of new toys alive because kids will forget about half the things in there.
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