Going on Vacation with Your Kids

If you are preparing to have a vacation with your family then there will be matters that you will need to consider–where to go, what items to pack, how to reach your destination (airplane or car?). Many parents worry about traveling with their kids because they fear that it will be full of hassle. The truth is, with enough preparation, your vacation with your kids can actually go smoothly. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you are planning to go on a holiday with your kids.

Where to go

Naturally, the first thing you need to do would be to choose a destination where you and your family can go. “Fun for the whole family” is the phrase that you need to keep in mind when deciding where to go. You might also want to establish what you want your trip to be. Do you want the vacation to be fun and relaxing, educational, adventurous or all of the above? Based on this decision, you can easily narrow down your choices. For instance, if you want your kids to have fun, then go to popular family places such as Disney Land or any other amusement park. For an educational trip, visit historical sites and museums. For an adventure, have your kids try out camping or any new sports. When planning your itinerary for the day, make sure you make the activities short and varied. Since kids have a short attention span, it will be better to avoid activities that last the whole day long.

What to Pack

Packing for kids is another preparation that can be tricky if you don’t know how to do it right. If you are traveling with a baby, the first things you need to pack would be all the baby essentials—such as diapers, bottles, etc. The same goes for small toddlers. If your little one is used to drinking on his sippy cup and has a security blanket then you need to pack all these for the trip. Packing for older kids is easier and you can even enlist their help to give them a sense of responsibility. Keep your destination in mind when deciding what children’s clothes to bring. For instance, if you are going to tropical Hawaii, then your kid won’t need his snow boots.

How to get there

Lots of preparation is done before an airplane can take off—such as double-checking the engine, cleaning the cabin, etc. You should carry out the same meticulous process if you are traveling with a car. Always update and upgrade the items in your tool box and make sure they are compatible to your car. Have your car checked out by elite team of mechanics since you do not want to run into a conflict on your way. Prepare food supply enough for the passengers (your family) as well as enough activities for the kids. Children can get pretty impatient on the road (or on the sky if you are going by plane) so it’s important to have something that will entertain them during the travel hours.

Working Moms, Are Your Children Eating Healthy?

Parenting is one of the greatest tasks that you will have to face in your lifetime. The task of being a mother is so demanding and consuming that for most women, it becomes their main career. However, if you are one of the many women who are trying to balance your job with being a mom then these new findings may interest you. A British study showed that a working mom can actually create an unhealthy environment for her children. According to the case studies, children who have full-time moms who stay at home are healthier than those whose mothers are working. This health discrepancy between children became most evident in the aspect of nutrition.

The fact is kids love to eat without giving any thought to nutrition. You’re not likely to see an eight-year-old choosing spinach over ice cream any day soon. When the mom is not around to provide food guidance then the child will simply devour anything he pleases—soft drinks loaded with sugar, bags of potato chips, candy bars, etc. Needless to say, unhealthy diet or food in the early ages can threaten the health of the child in future. And it’s not just the diet of the child that suffers. Lack of exercise is also rampant among kids who have working moms. They tend to use the computer and watch TV for longer periods of time. Unsurprisingly, they also spend less time walking to school.

It’s also not a surprise that working mothers have less time to spend with their children. Most of their days are dedicated to their jobs and we all know how tiresome working everyday can be. If you’re a working mom then you probably get home every day wanting nothing better than to take a few hours to rest. And the time you take to rest further subtracts from the time you spend with your child.

According to studies, almost more than half of the female population in the United States and United Kingdom join the work force shortly after giving birth. This study about working moms and kids’ nutrition is probably igniting an understandable outcry from working mothers everywhere. After all, with the current economic crisis, unemployment for men has grown more than it has for women. Because of this, many moms have no option left but to look and apply for a job in order to ensure the financial stability of their families. Unfortunately, there are many cases when the health of the family is overlooked.

So what can working moms do in order to maintain their job while maintaining the health of their kids? Organizing your time would be a great idea. No matter how tired you are when you get home, set aside an hour every day to spend time with your kids and be sure to teach them the importance of a healthy diet. If you don’t have time to prepare dinner, order take-out from a restaurant that serves healthy food. Enjoying outdoor exercises like a walk in the park or biking are also great ways to spend some quality time with your kids while ensuring exercise for everyone. If you have money to spare then hiring a maid would also be a great option. Be sure to train the maid to follow a healthy diet program when cooking for your kids. If you have other ideas how busy mommies can squeeze in healthy eating for their kids then be sure to share your thoughts!

Bad Parenting: Root of Society’s Loss of Civility?

Civility, by definition, means perfunctory or formal politeness. Unfortunately, this politeness is something that we are seeing less and less of everyday. From Rep. Joe Wilson’s rude retort during Obama’s speech to Kanye West’s stunt to upstage Taylor Swift at an awards’ show, it seems that American culture is indeed losing civility. The origin of this problem must be uncovered or else the future generations of our nation are in grave danger. Just imagine a chaotic world that has no definition of respect. Ultimately, violence will conquer every nation and basic human values such as respect will be unheard of.

One of the real reasons behind America’s lack of civility is failed parenting. For so many parents, this fact can seem unacceptable or preposterous. However, the truth is that parents are responsible for the growth of every future generation. A recent incident that occurred in a school bus is a perfect example of how children today are rapidly losing their civility. A teenager was unexpectedly beaten up over a place to sit on the bus. What’s shocking about the video is not just the unprovoked violence, but the apathy of most of the other passengers who just sat and watched. Some even encouraged the fight.

In cases such as these, one cannot help but think that parenting and the home life of a child are the factors to blame. Everyone knows that the smallest organization in society is the family. Families are the foundation of every nation. Almost every single member of society has his roots in some kind of family. Every politician, scientist, teacher, student, doctor, nurse, business man and news reporter that make up a society all hail from their own families. We need to understand how important parents are and how each individual’s attitude in life is molded at home.
If you are a parent then you obviously have your work cut out for you. Do not hesitate to act now because there is no better time than the present to instill good and humane values into your children. Not to do this basic parenting task would be a crime toward your family and toward society in general.

“Family first” is a phrase that you’ve probably heard and read a million times before. We’ve done the talk, now are we ready to do the walk? Are we ready to make drastic changes in the environment that we create at home?

Creating a good home life for your children is not as hard as you think. The ingredients of a good home are usually loving parents who are good role models for their kids, children who are respected and are in turn taught how to respect others as well as open communication lines between parent and child. A child who came from a home where respect is practiced will usually reflect the same value in society. On the other hand, an individual who has been exposed to a chaotic home life where rudeness and violence are a daily part of life is likely to carry out these attitudes outside the home.

However, there are still some parents who insist that factors outside the home such as peer pressure and pop culture are the main culprits in today’s lack of civility. What do YOU think?

The Pros and Cons of Staying Together for Your Children

If you’re a parent then you are probably familiar with the pressure of having to make the right decisions for your child at all times. What food to serve, what school to enroll in, what values to teach are only some of the everyday decisions that can affect the welfare of our children. However, what happens when these decisions become a lot more challenging? For parents who are unhappily living with each other, the decision whether to separate or not will be one of the toughest decisions they will ever make. Many couples find themselves unhappy with each other. If you and your spouse have tried time and again to fix your marriage to no avail then it might be time to look for other ways to resolve such matters. Settling this conflict is twice as hard on couples with children because the decision affects not only the couple but the little ones involved as well. Perhaps it would be a good idea to discuss the pros and cons of separating so you and your spouse can start taking an objective look on the matter.

Pros of separating

Creating a resolution in a conflicted relationship where a child is involved in is a complex process. The truth is that any situation where parents have to separate will be devastating to any child. What you can do is evaluate the benefits of ending your marriage and think about how it may affect your children. You might think that to grin and bear it for your children is the best decision but the truth is you could be harming your children more by staying in an unhappy marriage. Being an unhappy wife or husband can easily stop you from being the best parent you can be. You might even start resenting parenting because of all the sacrifices you have to make for your kids. Another advantage of ending an unhappy marriage is the fact that you won’t have to expose your children anymore to the animosity between you and your spouse, which can be more harmful for them than divorce.

Cons of separating

The cons or disadvantages of separating should be considered carefully by couples who decide to separate without trying to save their marriage. Remember that separation can cause your children to think they should be choosing between their mother and father. Divorce is almost always traumatizing for the child. Since the child still does not have enough knowledge about life, it might take him years to recover and understand the event that took place. Many children from a “broken home” see their home life as a shadow that hangs over their social life, personal life, school work and future relationships. Depending on the child, some would see their parent’s separation as a reason to avoid stability while some will see it as a cautionary tale to avoid for their own families.

In the end, it’s important to know that every couple faces a tough time in their relationship where separating can seem like the best solution. However, being a good spouse and a responsible parent means that divorce should only be seen as the last resort. In the event that it’s unavoidable, children should receive the guidance they need to get through the ordeal. What do YOU think?

Read more about what the experts are saying here: http://marriage.about.com/od/divorce/i/gooddivorceiss_2.htm

To Eat or Not to Eat: A Pregnancy Diet Guide

Pregnancy is whole new adventure for any woman. It is a time when everything in the woman’s life seems to be undergoing transformations and there comes a need for her and her loved ones to adjust to these changes. If you’re planning for a child then it’s very important for you to know everything that you can possibly know about pregnancy. One of the fundamental issues in pregnancy is nutrition or diet. If you want your baby to be as healthy as possible then you should study up on the foods that you must eat and those that you must avoid.
Food is a vital matter that you need to consider in order to carry out a successful pregnancy. Let’s begin with the foods that you must try to avoid during your pregnancy.

Unprocessed meat or raw meat

These meats can be contaminated with toxic bacteria that exist in the sea such as Coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis, and E-coli or salmonella. A great illustration would be sushi. In certain locations in the sea, fish meat (shark, sword fish, tile fish, and king mackerel) is contained with accumulated levels of mercury–mercury that can cause severe brain damage in the baby, affecting the developmental process in the brain. Another case would be when the fish is contaminated with specific industrial pollution. This pollutant, in scientific terms, is called polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB’s. This very toxic chemical can cause an incredible damage in IQ, memory, abnormality and can result to ultimate autism in the child. Before eating fish, study about the environment that you are living in. Contact the health department in your location and find out it the fish meat is safe.

Raw egg

Raw egg contains salmonella and should be avoided. Egg products like mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce, Caeser sauce, homemade ice cream and any food that uses raw egg are also good examples of food to be avoided. Salmonella can cause serious illness and a possible infection in your baby.

You have probably heard that pregnant woman have more appetite for food than a non-pregnant woman. For the most part, this statement is true. However, we often encounter statements that are false such as: “a pregnant woman should eat twice as before in order to carry out a successful pregnancy”. One fact that any expecting woman should know is the need to provide the body with the best nutrition available in the market. This is more important than eating more. A pregnant woman is in need of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Carbohydrates

Rice, pasta and bread are great source of carbohydrates. Other great sources of carbohydrates are potato and corn.

Protein

Meat rich in protein include beef and chicken. Meat can provide a great amount of calories in a day. Beans and dairy products are good providers of protein as well.

Vitamins and minerals

Vitamin B9 is a vital vitamin. Vitamin B9 is known as Folic Acid which helps with nervous system development in your baby. You need to take this in the first trimester of pregnancy. Another important mineral is iron. The purpose of iron is to produce enough blood in your body for the delivery of the nutrition to baby. Calcium and zinc are important for developing the embryo and are best absorbed by the body through the foods you eat.

Learn more about nutrition for pregnant women in http://www.surebaby.com/foods.php.

Best Valentine’s Day Gifts For Her

We love shopping. Enough said! Give us an unlimited credit cards, a few hours in Bloomingdales or Nortdstrom’s and we can spend our entire life’s savings. And have an amazing time doing it.

Ok..back to reality!

Yes….Jimmy college fund comes to mind, the mortgage, utilities, ugh. I have living in the real world.

With that said, here is our TOP 10 list of what we would love to get for Valentine’s Day:

#1. MAC Book Pro!

Ahhh…the inner geek in my screams for this sleek shiny new machine. I can already imagine my fingers effortlessly gliding across the smooth keyboard building my next web project and planning my world domination! I can just imagine the possibilities – work at the kitchen table, in bed, ahhh the battery life alone is enough to buy this baby!

For a full review of this fabulous lap, check out Gizmodo’s Mac Book Pro Review here.

The Whopping price:  $2,499

#2. Jura-Capresso Impressa S9 One Touch Coffee Center

Ok..so I am not a morning person. I admit it. I can’t even speak before my morning cup of coffee, let alone deal with an uber active 2 1/2 year old’s tantrums and demands. Let’s just say my mental awakenss doesnt start before 2PM.

But I bet this fantastic cappuccino/coffee maker can change that. Even calling it a coffee makes is demeaning.  I’ve had my eye on this for about 6 months now. I cannot wait to get my hands on one! I dream big, what can I tell you?

Whopping Price:  $3,376.95

Yes, yes, we have expensive taste in gifts! Stay tuned for some more exciting luxury Valentine’s Gifts coming up next.

Baby’s First Valentine’s Day – Make it Memorable!!

Your baby’s first Valentine’s Day is special. As a dad, you want to make sure you do everything to make this a memorable day. There is no limit to your options—you know your baby best and can find things to do that you and your baby will both enjoy.

Here are some ideas for dads on celebrating their baby’s first Valentine’s Day:

1. Dress up your baby: Find your baby an appropriate outfit to mark the occasion. Think of something with cute red hearts all over—the perfect choice for any baby’s first Valentine’s Day.
2. Have a photo session with your baby: Take lots of pictures to keep the memories of this day alive. Let your baby pose with different people amongst your friends and family members, with pets, and in different situations. You can later compile these into a scrapbook and preserve the memories of your baby’s first Valentine’s Day.
3. Prepare a special treat: Serve your baby your love in the form of a tasty treat. Use heart-shaped pans to make your baby some Valentine’s Day cookies or muffins. Serve them as little red hearts with strawberry jam or red sugar crystals. An even easier option is to make your baby some sandwiches and cut them up to resemble little hearts.
4. Give your baby Valentine’s Day popsicles: Here is another novel idea to make your baby’s first Valentine’s Day special. Use heart-shaped molds to make Valentine’s Day popsicles for your baby. Simply freeze fruit and vegetable juices or pulp in the molds with little sticks in them. Give them to your baby to relieve teething pains.
5. Gift your baby a Valentine’s Day basket: Celebrate your baby’s first Valentine’s Day traditionally with a gift basket. You can put some new toys and clothes in it. Also, remember to include something to keep a record of the day, such as a baby handprint kit, or a picture scrapbook.

Reinvent Romance Back Into Your Relationship After A Baby

The first time Tom and I went out after our daughter turned 2, was a surreal experience. We went out to dinner, ate in peace and actually were able to have a normal conversation that did not involve the words: “No, don’t play with your food”, “Don’t throw your fork and food on the floor”, “Don’t stick noodles in your nose!” and sooooo  many more versions of this!

Don’t get me wrong! We’ve gone out all together but that is an experience for a different post!

I cannot tell you how refreshing it can be to go out and just enjoy a night out! But it does involve some planning ahead of time and a reliable babysitter. Here is a great post from The Bump with some creative ideas on how to spice up your Valentine’s Day.

Planning ahead is key here!

Gone are the days when you and your partner can jump up and go out to dinner or even a movie. Try to plan in advance either a long lunch from work or even take a day off and enjoy a spa massage, mani-pedi, or even couples’ facials. Anything to break the routine of work, home, diapers, bottles, pumping, feeding, etc.

And even if you stay at home with the baby, it’s still a good idea to prepare in advance, get a babysitter, pump extra milk.

Simple gifts can be appreciated more than store-bought gifts.

I must admit, in those early days with an infant, the opportunity to take a shower and/or a nap, was an absolute luxury. Give your partner a few hours off to do something for themselves or even treat them to a massage, a relaxing bath, a middle of the day nap and a home-made dinner would be an absolute thrill!!

Get adventurous and creative!

From The Bump: Couples therapist and The Nest expert Dr. Ingrid Schweiger of New York City says “Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to make your relationship center stage again.” While a dozen roses, a box of chocolates and a fancy dinner out are all great (and universal) ways to woo your partner, think about what you can change within your own home. “A clean bedroom, a made bed, some candles and soft music is pretty romantic when you’re used to diapers, bottles, piles of laundry and dirty dishes,” says Blumencranz. Once baby goes down for the night (or for a couple of hours) uncork the wine and whip out the china—even if it’s just takeout or pasta on the fancy ware, the ambiance is key. Bonus points if you take the time to cut out little hearts from construction paper and sprinkle them on the table when your partner isn’t looking. And remember, says Blumencranz, Valentine’s Day is the day when you show your partner how much he or she means to you. The day can be as special as you want it to be. Dr. Schweiger agrees. She says the biggest mistake you can make is to not acknowledge the day because baby is here. Schweiger recommends writing your partner a love letter. “Even if life has been stressful with all the changes brought by parenthood, reflect on what makes your partner unique and lovable,” she says. “Deepening your intimacy is what it’s all about.”

There you have it. So even in a tough economy you can enjoy your Valentine’s day as a couple and bring romance back into your relationship!

Where To Donate for Haiti

Photo Source: FT.com

The sadness and tragedy caused by the devastation in Haiti this week is  extremely misfortunate.

We wanted to provide you with this list of several organizations currently working to provide aid and relief. We encourage you to help if you can.

The American Red Cross

www.redcross.org

Text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 (billed to your phone)

The United Nations World Food Program

www.wfp.org

The Salvation Army

www.salvationarmyusa.org

Action Against Hunger

www.actionagainsthunger.org

Project HOPE

www.projecthope.org

Partners in Health

www.pih.org

Devastating Circumstances – How to Help Victims of Haiti Earthquake Now!

As the scope of the devastation from a magnitude-7.0 earthquake became clearer Wednesday, survivors spoke in terms of all that has disappeared. Most hospitals, houses, schools, roads and grocery stores — virtually every necessity of basic life — were transformed into piles of rubble.

Thousands were dead, President René Préval said, and one of the world’s poorest countries had become almost entirely dependent on outside help to survive.

The fastest way to donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund is by texting “Yele” to 501501 (the $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill) or www.Yele.org and click “donate.”">visit www.Yele.org and click “donate.”

Here are some other links from USAToday…

Disaster Relief and Non-governmental Organizations:

-You can make a donation through the American Red Cross’ International Response Fund, and it will be allocated specifically for Haiti relief efforts;

-Action Against Hunger has mobilized an emergency response and has teams already on the ground, assessing and responding to needs;

-Mercy Corps has a way for you to donate your money straight to their efforts in Haiti, and Unicef also has a donation site set up;

-The United Nations World Food Program has teams “already on the scene, mobilizing emergency food assistance to families.” To support these efforts, you can make an emergency donation here;

-Operation Blessing International also has disaster relief teams on the way. A donation of $50 or more will bring emergency food, water, medicine and more to the quake victims;

-Project HOPE, which provide medical supplies and health care services to those in need, is seeking donations for their aid efforts in Haiti;

-The Salvation Army is also sending personnel and supplies to assist in the relief effort, and needs of donations;

-American Jewish World Service is collecting donations for its “Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund,” which will help “their network of grantees in Haiti to meet the urgent needs of the population based on real-time, on-the-ground assessments.”

-Baptist Global Response, which coordinates the mercy efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention, is sending a team from Florida to help for its initial outreach. In addition to donations, the organization asks that concerned individuals join in focused prayer for Haiti’s 9 million people.

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