Parenting

#BackToSchool Trend: ‘Mom’s First Day of Freedom’ Instagram Take Over

Posted on August 19, 2018

After a Summer of an empty refrigerator, a 24-hour messy house, being responsible for keeping the kids entertained, engaged or active, a lot of moms (and dads) look forward to sending their kids back to school. It’s a running joke among many parents to rejoice and joke about their glee over sending their children back to school.

I always poke fun at my Millennial mom friends and followers over the very creative ways they use social media to show off their milestones, extravagant themed kid’s first birthday or chic and stylish coordinated holiday cards and videos.

Add to that the relatively new trend of sharing the “Mom’s First Day of Freedom” on Instagram. Some moms go as far as hire professional photographers and coordinating a photo shoot to mark the occasion.

Some Etsy shops sell “Mom’s First Day of Freedom” Boards like the ones below:

Another summer in the books! It was one of the best but boy are we ready to go back to school! ?✏️✂️? #paitonelizabeth #ryannharper #5thgrade #2ndgrade #momsfirstdayoffreedom
A post shared by emma_rog (@emma_rog) on Aug 8, 2018 at 4:28am PDT

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYvv7bEg_7_/?tagged=momsfirstdayoffreedom

View this post on Instagram
#momsfirstdayoffreedom #fireballthruastraw
A post shared by Whitney Hammonds (@whittykay30) on Aug 16, 2017 at 4:35am PDT

What do you think? Would you get something like this and share on social media? Do you think it is mean-spirited or just a joke?

IF YOU’RE SO INCLINED, HEAD OVER TO ETSY AND PICK UP ONE FOR YOUR KIDS’ DAY BACK! LOL! WORKS FOR AFTER HOLIDAYS TOO!

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Get Your Back To School Organization Life On With These Tips

Posted on August 16, 2018

It’s the start of a new school year in my home and I’m determined to make sure we have a smooth, clutter-free and positive school year.

As an avid believer in and the positive impact of having a decluttered and organized home, I believe having an organization system and clutter and junk free home are essential for ensuring positive energy flow and clear thought.

I highly recommend that parents use the beginning of a school year as another excuse to get organized, not just for the school routine, but the family home in general. So even if you did Spring or New Year cleaning, use the late summer/early fall to re-organize your life and priorities as well.

Even if your kids have already gone back, you can still get started. Here are some declutter and home organization tips that I’ve put together that I hope can help get you through the year.

Clean and Declutter the Kids Play, Work Rooms and Nursery. Limit the number of toys and books in the kids room. Get rid of old broken toys. Give away old books and toys to the Salvation Army, Good Will or another family member with children younger than yours. Keep only a few of the favorite story books and the toys your child or children play with regularly. Don’t let them know you’re getting rid of the stuff they don’t even play with. They likely won’t even know it and you don’t need the headache of having them plea for you to keep it.

Infuse Calming Scents in the Home. I’m a also a big believer in aromatheraphy and that scents guide the mood. Buy Glade or some other brand’s plugins to keep the air fresh and clean smelling. You can burn candles when you’re home or if you’re an incense type of person, those work too. Consider using those with essential oils or scents such as chamomile, rose, vanilla and lavender. They are calming scents.

Thoroughly Clean the Room. Wash and Wipe down the walls, baseboards, windows and floors — with natural cleaners. Repair wall holes, cracks, squeaky windows, peeling paint. A clean home is great for fostering clear thoughts and just clarity, in general.

Set up Calendar and Chore Lists. Even if you’re a stay-at-home mom, you shouldn’t be doing all of the cleaning and upkeep. Set up a chore sheet for the refrigerator for after school chores. Also, start a new family calendar for keeping up with back to school nights, upcoming field trips, sports activities and other events so everyone knows what’s going on. If you’re the family manager as mom, you shouldn’t be the only one aware of what days are soccer practice. Sitters, your spouse and house guests should too. Also, a chore list is great for keeping up the principles of feng shui which are all about clean spaces.

Keep Toys Dedicated to ONE area of the home (or maybe two) Avoid the chaotic mind that comes when you have toys and other things sprinkled in every nook and cranny of the home. Toys should be kept only to the play room, the kids room or one area of the apartment that is quartered off and situated with a toy chest, storage bin or some place where you can quickly toss all the toys hanging out all over the house. The tough part may be to stick to this one simple rule.

When the kids are not playing with a toy, there is really no need for it to be taking up space on the kitchen table or creating a tripping hazard for you or a guest. Either you, your partner or trained kids if they are old enough should make a concerted effort to gather all errant toys and keep them in the designated area.

It seems pretty intuitive, huh?

Over time, it will become a habit or second nature and you will find toys are not strewn about as much anymore. I do this with other areas of my home and life. All papers, books, newspapers, invoices, magazines are usually put away in our home office. All clothes go in a hamper, closet or bedroom. Dishes, cups and silverware discovered anywhere in the house are picked up and taken in the kitchen

Think of this mantra: “There is a place for Everything and Everything in its place.”

Organize the Paper Trails. Each year, families accumulate reports, information from school, permission slips and the such. It will get mixed in with bills, receipts, warranties and other paper that come into your life.

This Home Organization plan will make it easy for you: Get a binder or two and dividers or one of those mega accordion file folders with tabs and divide them in the following categories:

School Category

Car maintenance schedule/Receipts
School schedules and holiday list
Lunch menus
School information page
School reading lists
Summer Camp and programs information
Medical information sheet for each family member
Emergency directory
House-sitter information sheet
PTA newsletters and rosters

Health Categories

Prescription drug record
Health insurance information

Home Vacation

Travel packing checklist
Before-we-leave checklist
Vacation idea list

Home Renovation

Home renovation contractor lists
Contracts and Bids
Warranty information
Utilities/services directory
Home decorating ideas

Home Business

Business records
Tax Documents for Business
Consultants and Independent Contractor records
Liability Insurance
Business & Office Equipment registry

Financial

Tax Documents for Personal
Big Ticket Items receipts
Life insurance information
Budget/spending record
Bills to pay

Hope these Declutter and Home Organization Tips are helpful to you as you get yourself and your family organized for the season! Good luck!

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National Middle Child Day: Why Middle Kid Syndrome Doesn’t Exist

Posted on August 13, 2018

Middle children traditionally complain about being forgotten. And alas, yesterday was , National Middle Child Day and I indeed forgot to blog about them though I managed to sneak in a post about why eldest children are awesome!

Shame.

Each year on August 12th, National Middle Child Day is celebrated across the United States. This day gives special recognition to the middle child/children in the family.

According to the National Day Calendar website:

National Middle Children’s Day was created by Elizabeth Walker in the 1980s. It was originally intended to be observed on the second Saturday in August, however, along the way it has become generally accepted to celebrate it on August 12. In a newspaper article submitted by her grandson, Litton Walker, III, Walker stated that she wanted to create a National day to honor those children “born in the middle of families” whom she felt were “left out”. The name was later changed to National Middle Child Day.

I am like many people who believe that birth order plays a pivotal role in the personalities of children, and adults.

Birth order is known to contribute to the Big Five personality traits; extroversion, neutroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience.

The “Middle Child Syndrome” states that the first-born is often the leader and the role-player while the youngest one is always considered the baby of the family, therefore, leaving the middle child without a special “role”.

One personality study claims that middle children tend to be artistic and creative.

I have a very energetic, middle child who is a joy but also a challenge because he demands attention and acts out when he doesn’t get it and oh boy does he know how to be seen! This kid will not be ignored.

My own sister who is a middle has told me periodically and numerously over the years, “You’re the oldest, Hawa is the youngest and SB is the only boy (also in the middle), I’m just here stuck in the middle and no one cares about me!”

However, as the years have gone on, my middle sister has been able to use being in the middle to her advantage.

For example, she enjoys the fact that she can hang out with me at events, spend vacations and loads of time with my family and she is the closest sibling to me and she could kick it with our youngest sister too and has the best relationship with her too.

See, middle child angst isn’t something that has to be a reality if you take a glass half full approach.

Some psychology articles claim that Middle Child Syndrome just doesn’t exist. One in an old Mashable article stated that despite the challenges middle children may face, some of the suggested symptoms of middle child syndrome (MCS) might be slightly hyperbolic.

In the book “You’re a Better Parent Than You Think, Dr. Ray Guarendi defines MCS as “feelings of isolation, of not belonging. Enjoying neither the parental attention and expectations given to the eldest, nor the relaxed parental standards experienced by the youngest, the middle child is supposedly lost in the shuffle, caught in between with no unique position of his own.”

…Even though many people believe MCS is linked to identity problems, withdrawal and behavioral issues, Guarendi explains that middle child syndrome, as a clinical disorder, just doesn’t exist. It’s merely a “prime example of how to create pathology using only a name.”

Some researchers have even pointed out that gender and socioeconomic factors also play into disrupting the order.

I have a friend who is the middle and only girl in her family so she behaves as and has been treated more like an eldest because she has had all the responsibilities parents usually give to girls thrust upon her. She didn’t have the luxury to be ignored when meals needed to be cooked and domestic work done. Also, as a girl, she was more focused in school so her parents put in extra attention to make sure she got an academic scholarship to college.

But there are consistent themes in attitudes and behavior that cannot be ignored.

“It is pretty clear, I think, that they get less attention and investment from their parents,” one of the scientist Mashable interviewed said. “Now, whether or not that causes a problem is a bigger question.”

I’m sure Middles who are adults will say they are perfectly fine as is being shaped to be independent and figure life on their own, they take it by the horns and go!

For parents that want tips on how to care for their Middle Kid, check out this post with tips!

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10 Reasons Why First Born Kids Are Awesome!

Posted on August 12, 2018

Yet another scientific research study was released recently stating that first born children are usually smarter than their younger siblings.

This tickles me pink being a first born myself. I am a big believer in birth order playing a role in the development and personality of a child.

These are 10 facts from our friends at Nanny.net about the effect of birth order on the eldest children, some of which may shed new light on behavioral quirks and personality traits of your firstborn.

They’re More Reliable – First born children are often expected to look after younger siblings and take on a greater role of responsibility than children born into the family after them, and as a result they often grow into more reliable and dependable adults.
They Tend to Be Higher Achievers – Almost half of all United States presidents have, to date, been first born in their families. In contrast, only four have been last born children. High achievers tend to be eldest children, who place a higher value on achievement and success than their younger siblings.
They’re Natural Leaders – When a child is born first, she’s generally something of an authority figure over her younger siblings. That dominance often becomes a hardwired personality trait, which leaves them more likely to find themselves in positions of leadership in the adult world.
They’re More Likely to be Perfectionists – Unlike younger siblings, who tend to have a more relaxed approach to life, first born children are more likely to be perfectionists, often setting almost impossibly high goals for themselves.
They’re Not as Likely to Rebel – Alfred Adler, the father of the birth order psychology movement, asserted that older children often feel “dethroned” by new babies in the household and, as such, may be more likely to actively seek the approval of their parents and the other adults in their lives. In many cases, this drive to please continues throughout adulthood and they’re less likely to be rebellious as teenagers.
They Benefit from Teaching Younger Siblings – When firstborns teach their younger siblings new skills or information, they’re benefiting from what’s known as “the tutor effect.” That’s one of the reasons why firstborn kids tend to be higher academic achievers and to pursue intellectual careers as adults.
They Care More About What People Think of Them – Free-spirited people who aren’t concerned with what society as a whole or even the people closest to them think about their choices tend to be younger siblings, as firstborns generally have a very real drive to be people pleasers.
They Value Organization and Order – Firstborns are more likely to be list-makers, organizers and to bring order to their surroundings than their more haphazard, disorganized counterparts who are lower in birth order.
They’re Self-Motivated – Because of their desire to please and determination to succeed, older kids tend to be more self-motivated than their younger siblings and to require less encouragement to work towards the goals they’ve set for themselves.
They’re Individuals – There are more studies on the subject of birth order than one could shake a stick at, but one thing that holds true across the board is that there’s more at play than simple birth order when it comes to determining a child’s personality. Genetics, for instance, will have some role in the habits and methods of a person’s behavior, as will environment and other important factors. Knowing a bit about the typical firstborn pattern is helpful, but be careful not to box your child in with expectations that may not hold true in her particular case.

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The 8 Things You Can Do To Keep the Rest of Summer Safe

Posted on August 11, 2018

Summer is a great time to get out and have fun, but be mindful of the following safety tips:

Make sure your CPR and first Aid certifications are up-to-date. Accidents happen regardless of how many safety precautions you take. Being prepared to handle whatever may come up helps you stay calm during an emergency, take the correct action quickly, and keep injuries to a minimum. If your certifications have lapsed, contact your local Red Cross or American Heart Association to schedule a renewal class. Proper training can literally save a life.
One of the best ways to spend a summer afternoon is playing at the pool, lake, or ocean. But water can be deceptively dangerous. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year about 800 children drown. Drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among children ages 1 to 3, and the second-leading cause among kids under 15. Keeping a watchful eye on all children and staying within an arm’s reach of younger children is essential to keeping them safe at the pool, lake, or ocean. Don’t assume children who are strong swimmers are automatically safe around water. Every child can fall victim to a cramp, tiring, or an unseen undertow.
Staying hydrated is one of the most important safety precautions you can take during summertime. Instead of stocking up on juice and sports drinks, invest in a quality water filter and plenty of refillable water bottles. The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends that “water, not sports drinks, should be the principal source of hydration for children and adolescents.” What about kids involved in summer sports? The AAP says, “Sports drinks can be helpful for young athletes engaged in prolonged, vigorous physical activities, but in most cases they are unnecessary on the sports field.” Making sure kids drink plenty of water throughout the day will keep them hydrated and ready to take on summertime fun.
Putting sunscreen on kids 6 months and older every time they go outside is a must. Applying sunscreen 30 minutes before children are in the sun ensures they have full protection. Teaching kids to spell BEENS will help you remember to cover often forgotten spots: Back of knees, Ears, Eye area, Neck, and Scalp. Reapplying sunscreen every two hours, more often if the kids are swimming or playing in the water, will help keep kids safe throughout the day.
Insects are an unavoidable part of summer and painful or itchy bites can quickly dampen any outdoor activity. Using a safe and effective bug repellant makes time spent outside a lot more enjoyable. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control recommend parents and caregivers use an insect repellant that contains 10% to 30% DEET on children 2 months and older. Combination sunscreen / insect repellent products shouldn’t be used because sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours, but insect repellent doesn’t.
Ticks are another troublesome part of summer. They can infect both children and adults with bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause serious illness including Lyme disease. Even when using an insect repellant with DEET children can pick up ticks, especially when playing in areas where ticks thrive like the woods and grassy lawn areas. Doing a full body check for ticks each day is the best way to ensure your charges stay tick-free. Adding a daily tick patrol to the evening bath routine makes a routine check easy and fun to do. If you do find a tick, grasp it with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible, and pull it straight out.
Summer is the perfect opportunity for you and older children to enjoy a bike ride on local trails or through a favorite park. Making sure kids are wearing a quality correctly-fitting helmet is necessary to prevent injury in the case of an accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says, “A properly fitted bicycle helmet reduces the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.” Helping kids personalize their helmets to reflect their own interests and hobbies is an easy way to get them excited about adding it to their safety routine.
Bikes aren’t the only thing that requires a helmet. Blades, scooters, and skateboards all pose their own risks. Knee and elbow pads are a smart idea for children of all skill levels. Pads should have a hard plastic shield, not interfere with movement, and fit snugly without cutting off circulation. For beginners, outfitting kids with additional gear such as wrist guards, gloves, and mouth guards will offer added protection and peace of mind.

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The Handsfree Breastpump You Get When Ready to Return to Work (REVIEW)

Posted on August 7, 2018

Necessity is the mother of invention. That is why four savvy sisters (out of a family of nine) got together with their shared vision of creating a simple solution for busy sophisticated modern working moms who need a solution for pumping on the go and created a perfect solution!

Simple Wishes founders, sisters and moms of breastfed babies.

Simple Wishes is a chic, relatively new, hands-free pumping bra bustier on the market that can be attached to any of the most popular breast pumps, Medela, Philips AVENT, Lansinoh, Bellema, Evenflo, and Spectra Baby. The hands-free apparatus lets multi-tasking moms go about their day and be more productive while they pump, take a break, work in the office or unwind at the end of the day, or pump while baby is sleep to relieve milk build up.

The bra we received to review is made of quality material but is still soft and supple to the touch. It is stylish while functional and is made with a thoughtful design that provides full breast support but is much more affordable for the quality compared to other nursing bustiers on the market!

The sister founders say they learned through their own mother’s experience breastfeeding all nine of us that there are tremendous benefits, however, there can be challenges. “Through our products, we strive to alleviate some of those challenges to help empower women to continue providing such wonderful nutrition for their baby,” they write on the company’s website.

The bra holds the bottle firmly and securely in place and does the work while mom goes about her business getting other stuff done!

We are not the only ones who feel so.

The product has a close to perfect review star rating on Amazon and most of the verified purchasers say they love that the product has a Velcro panel which provides versatility. So if you like yours tighter or looser, you can easily adjust it to suit without working about fasteners and adjusters that do not work.

As any nursing mom knows, your breast can grow in size as milk fills up and get smaller. This nursing bra is accommodating. It comes with straps that are optional and is reversible, meaning that it can be zippered going up or down. Like we said, totally customizable to each woman’s individual needs an comfort.

The best part is that the bra slips on easily with or without removing nursing bra and shirt. This is great in situations like work when you may not have the time, privacy or accommodation to get completely unrobed on top, neither want to!

Elastic reinforcement has been built into the top of the bra for a secure fit, ensuring no slipping. It fits comfortably without added pressure that cuts into the skin.

For added versatility and support, the bra’s convertible design allows it to be worn as a strapless band or in tank, racer-back, or halter style. We like the halter style look but for women with ample breast, the tank or racer-back hold provides extra needed support.

For a product that has not been on the market for too long, it has taken off and is being well accepted and loved by new moms and vets alike.

If you’re in the market for a supplement to your breastfeeding needs and goals, do consider investing in this. The item retails for about $30 and if you order from Amazon and have Prime, shipping is FREE! The product sells in retail stores around the country too! Find a nearby seller HERE!

If you purchase through the Simple Wishes website and join its mailing list, you get 10% off your first purchase! Sweet!

Expecting moms who plan to breastfeed and/or return to work while still nursing, add this product to your wish list or registry! T

The 9 Members of the Simple Wishes founders’ family!

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Back to School Hairstyle for Girls

Posted on August 7, 2018

If you are planning Back to School First Day of School hairstyle ideas, we invite you to check out mom of 3 Jill Ehat‘s Instagram account.

Daily, to her 45,000 89,000 followers (updated since we first discovered her a few years ago), Ehat shares some of the creative styles she puts on the heads of her twin daughters, Hallie & Brighton.

When Ehat isn’t styling the girls’ hair, she is managing their performance careers along with that of their older old brother.

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10 Games To Buy For Family Game Night or Vacation

Posted on August 5, 2018

Family game nights are making a comeback in homes across the nation, which should come as no big surprise considering it’s far less expensive to eat at home and play games then it is to go to a restaurant and see a movie. Plus, playing games together is a fun way to brings families some much needed face time with each other.

Check out these family friendly games for your next game night.

Scrabble. Scrabble is both educational and fun. This game can be played with as few as two players or as many as four or more, if you want to divide into teams. The object is to create the highest scoring word using the 7 tiles that you have drawn at random from a bag of tiles. Many feel that the tip to winning is to learn all of the 2-letter words because this will allow many more scoring opportunities. Scrabble has been around since 1938, and since then many games have been created based on the popular word game, the most noteworthy being Words with Friends.
Uno. Uno is another game that can be both educational and entertaining. This card game is played with a special deck of cards which includes number cards in four different colors and five categories of special cards: Draw 2, Skip, Reverse, Wild and Wild draw 4. Young kids can play this game because the bulk of the game is played by going around the table and placing cards of the same color or number onto the discard pile. There is some strategy that can be implemented by older players by using the Reverse and Draw 2 cards. Uno has been sold by Mattel since 1992.
Yahtzee. Yahtzee is a dice game that can be enjoyed by the whole family. It’s easy and fun to roll the 5 dice and with a little help, kids can pick out the same number on the dice to save. The object of the game is to fill in a score sheet by trying to roll the 5 dice you start with a maximum of 3 times per turn. You need to save as many 1’s, 2’s, 3’s etc. to fill in the top of the score sheet. The bottom of the score sheet contains things like 3 and 4 of a kind, Full House, and Yahtzee, which is when you roll all 5 dice on the same number. Kids love to roll the dice and everyone at the table can help figure out what the best move is for each turn.
Candyland. All kids need to own the game Candy Land during their childhood. A board game created with lots of colors and pictures of candy is right up every child’s alley, and this game is simple enough that it can be played with very young children. To play, each child draws a card from the pile on their turn. It will have 1 or 2 squares of a specific color on it. The child then moves their gingerbread man playing piece along the Candyland path until she gets to the first square of that color if she has one square or the second square of that color if she has two squares on her card. That’s all there is to it. Along the path there are pitfalls where they will lose their turn. When drawing cards they may draw a card with a picture on it. When they draw a picture card they can immediately move their playing piece to the space with the same picture. The problem occurs when the picture is clear back at the beginning of the path and the child is almost at the end.
Monopoly. By rolling the dice and moving around the board you can buy and sell real estate, making everyone in the family real estate tycoons. If another player lands on a property you own, they have to pay you rent. If you get all of the properties of the same color then you are said to hold a monopoly and you can charge double the rent. Once you have a monopoly you can also build on your properties, whether it is houses or hotels, and charge even more when people land on your properties. Kids need to be able to count money to play Monopoly so it’s probably best suited for kids 8 and up.
Pictionary. Pictionary brings the classic game of charades to paper. In this version, charades are done as a drawing game where you can work by yourself or in teams to guess what is being drawn. Each player will take turns and will draw a card from the box. Depending upon what space their game piece is resting on determines which line they have to draw on the card. The category helps the guessers narrow down their guesses, and the drawer does their best to draw whatever is on the card to get their partner or teammates to guess the word. There is a time limit, so the drawer and their teammates are working against the clock. If they guess the word then you get to move your playing piece, if not you have to stay where you are. This game translates well to a party game played with a white board and some markers.
Telestrations. Telestrations
is a newcomer to the board game family and is a family friendly game that will have you rolling with laughter. This game was based on the old telephone game where you would whisper a line or story into one person’s ear and the story would have to be retold by each person all the way around the circle only to discover that at the end the story was significantly different than how it started. Each person is given a booklet. On the first page they write down what the drawing is to be and then pass it to the next person. In the mean time you are being handed a book where someone else has written an item that you must try to draw. The pages are folded back and forth so that the first person writes what the picture is supposed to be. The second person can look at that word and then draw it. The third person can only look at the picture and write down on the next page what they think the drawing is. The next player has to draw what the last person guessed. The final person guesses what the last drawing is and then passes it back to the original person. As you can guess, the pictures don’t always match the words and hilarity ensues.
Trivial Pursuit. The original Trivial Pursuit contains a box of questions and a board. The playing piece is round and is filled with different colored pie-shaped pieces based on 6 different categories. The spokes of the wheel on the board contain different topics that have to be answered. Once you land on category headquarters then you can answer the question and earn a piece of pie. Once you have earned all of your pie pieces you can move to the center to win the game. If you answer a question correctly you can keep going until you miss a question.
Clue. If you like murder mysteries you will love the game Clue. In this game you become a character and move around the board collecting clues. You need to ask questions and figure out who the murderer was, where the murder was committed, and what the murder weapon was. For example, Colonel Mustard did it with a wrench in the library. Once you have made your guess the envelope containing the answers will be opened to see if you are correct. This game promotes logical thinking and works on memory skills.
Cranium. Cranium is billed as the game that involves your whole brain. There are four card categories in which you could have to answer. One is Creative Cat and it can have you draw a clue like Pictionary, draw a picture with your eyes closed, or sculpt something out of clay. The Data Head category requires you to answer trivia type questions and the Word Worm category sometimes requires you to spell or figure out anagrams and the like. The last category is Star Performer which is just as you would suspect, you have to act out the word, hum a song or speak in an accent. This board game is lots of fun for the whole family.

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Rainy Day Activity: Make Your Own DIY Bath Bombs

Posted on August 3, 2018

It’s raining a heck of a lot in my part of the world and so much so that our outdoor fun and activities are becoming limited. I’m on the hunt for fun indoor things to do with the kids. I’m a fan of pampering products, natural oils and the like so I thought it would be fun to create our very own bath bombs to make bathtime fun again!

The kids haven’t been able to enjoy bathtub toys since they were little. With bath bombs, a casual bath can turn into a relaxing and visually stimulating time watching the bombs of florals, swirls, fragrances, glitter and more explode and fizzle in the tub.

I got this recipe from Popular Science:

Stats:

- Time: 10 minutes of work, several hours of drying time
- Cost: About $2 per bomb if you make a dozen and more if you add biodegradable glitter—but prices drop if you make a big batch
- Difficulty: Easy

via GIPHY

Tools & Materials

8 oz baking soda
4 oz Epsom salt
4 oz corn starch
4 oz citric acid
Large bowl
Whisk
Biodegradable glitter or dried flower petals (optional)
2.5 tablespoons coconut oil (or any other veggie oil)
About 1 tablespoon water
About 2 teaspoons essential oil (for scent)
4-6 drops of food coloring
Small jar or bowl
12-18 silicone molds

Instructions

STEP ONE

First, mix the dry ingredients (baking soda, Epsom salt, corn starch, and citric acid) together in a large bowl. Use the whisk to make sure the mixture is clump-free. Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a key ingredient in this bathtub explosion: When the high pH powder reacts with a low pH acid, it produces carbon dioxide bubbles. Remember those baking soda and vinegar volcanoes you made in elementary school? Citric acid takes the place of vinegar in this chemical equation, but it doesn’t react with sodium bicarbonate until it gets wet. If you want, you can add visual decorations like biodegradable glitter into the mix. Just don’t use regular-old craft glitter, because it’s no good for our friends in the ocean.

STEP TWO

Mix the wet ingredients (oil, water, essential oil, and food coloring). The easiest way to do this is to put them in a jar and shake them up. This is the step where you need to make some important decisions about scent. You can tweak quantity to suit your taste, but you should use about two teaspoons total of essential oil or perfume. Try cinnamon, cocoa, peppermint, or coffee scents for the winter holidays (or a combination of all four to make a mocha-licious bath). Or go with something classic, like a spa-like eucalyptus and lavender mix or a straight-up sugary hit of vanilla extract. The possibilities are truly endless. It’s also time to make decisions about color.

Pop Sci recommends sticking to a single hue to avoid accidentally muddying the bath waters. Stick to something like 4-6 drops of food coloring total, but feel free to mix up different pigments.

STEP THREE

Slowly add the liquid to the dry mixture. Really slowly. Like a teaspoon at a time. Whisk as you go, and slow down if things start to look fizzy. You should end up with a mixture that just barely clumps together, like damp sand.

image source

Stuff that stuff into your silicone molds, ASAP. You don’t want the mix to dry out while it’s still in the bowl, which is why you should make sure you have enough molds to make a dozen or more bombs at once. Press the mixture down firmly into your silicone molds of choice.

Let the bath bombs dry. If your mold has a lot of details in it, you might just want to give them a whole day to be safe. Then pop them out.

Throw one into the tub and enjoy the explosive fruits of your labor. Bag the rest up in cellophane and make your friends and family love you forever.

Enjoy!

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3 Secrets Of Affluent and Highly Educated Parents: How they Set Up Their Kids For Brilliance From Birth

Posted on August 2, 2018

There is a school of thought that says children of highly educated and affluent children have a better chance of doing well in life because of their access to resources, wealth, and quality healthcare and education.

Now all of that is true but do you know there are a lot of very simple and inexpensive things that parents of modest means can do to also set their children up for success based on popular, traditional and modern theories?

I am a double law-degree holder, and from my own personal experiences and from knowing the patterns and practices of my friends, many of whom come from affluent and highly educated households and upbringings themselves, I am going to share a few things that we do that anyone, even those without a college degree or loads of money can do to make sure their children have a leg up as well.

1. Read, Sing and Talk to Your Baby from Utero through Infancy.

Now it might seem silly, but there are lots of studies that show that after a baby develops his ears and can start hearing while in your belly, she is prime and ready to start learning! This means that as you go about your day, do activities at home, it is a great idea to talk to yourself. Your baby will hear it and learn the sound of your voice which will soothe him when he is born. There is a popular video out there showing a baby turning her head towards the sound of her mom’s voice compared to a stranger. That familiarity is important.

And because there are different phonetic undulations in speech, you should also read to yourself and sing, even if you cannot carry a tune. All of these activities will work to develop your baby’ senses and intelligence before he is even born! You don’t need to be wealthy to do this!

When baby is born, talk to her as you undress her in preparation for a bath, while giving her a sponge bath, when changing a diaper. Read him a board book while he is breastfeeding and sing a lullaby while rocking her to sleep after a feeding.

As soon as she is old enough, visit the local library or book store’s baby story time. These are usually free! No cost to stimulate a baby and get him used to the sound of books from different voices.

Every single one of these things will make sure when the time comes for your child to learn speech, words, to read, and write, she will have a higher likelihood of picking up concepts and skills quickly!

2. Buy Developmental Toys and Play Games With Your Baby

There are toys for visual stimulation, toys to entertain, and toys to soothe. Look for the toys that are created for development. A lot of them will indicate such on the boxes. These are not necessarily expensive either. For example, Manhattan Toy company’s Winkel Rattle and Sensory Teether Toy helps a baby develop senses while teething and it retails for just $9.99, a price many an afford.

Personally, I used to play the Baby Einstein DVDs and CDs because, despite a few attempts over the years to discredit the benefit of classical music for a child’s development, I still think they are essential. I made sure my siblings who started their families after I did got them for their kids!

I invested in an award-winning toy called The Babbler that isn’t even made anymore by an innovative toy manufacturer called Neurosmith. It babbled in English, Japanese, French, and Spanish to stimulate the synapses and hard wire the language center of baby’s brain at infancy so when she grows up and starts taking foreign languages, she will already be more attuned to the foreign phonemes. You might can find one being sold on one of those auction sites!

But, really, you don’t have to pay a dime! There are lots of ways to play with your baby to help develop her senses that are absolutely FREE! Pathways lists some.

3. Invest in Online Educational Games and Subscriptions

Because a lot of kids are into video games, what better way to infuse this love with education that through online educational gaming. There are lots of them online and many are FREE or low lost!

When my middle and youngest were between ages 2-4, I invested in the My Baby Can Read system and I swore it taught them both how to recognize letters, words and sentences at a super young age. We would flip through the cards periodically during the week and that was enough for them to connect the dots. I really do think it helped later.

When they both were about to go into pre-school, I learned about one online tool called ABC Mouse, which a lot of developmental centers, early education centers, Head Start programs, pre schools and Kindergarten teachers use to supplement their classroom instruction. It was about $5 per month, which is less than the cost of a latte at Starbucks. I think going through it helped my kids stay slightly ahead. It’s a cheaper alternative to paying for a tutor when they fall behind.

Finally, for the math part, my husband got an IXL Math subscription which I think cost something like $10 a month and again, a minor investment that even those of modest means may be able to afford.

If you think about, the better they do in school, the better their chances of getting a scholarship or admitted into some academic program later in life. It’s all about what you value and you really really do NOT need to be rich or have a bunch of degrees to give your child a head start. All you need is the commitment to make it a priority!

I published a Vlog sharing these same sentiments in this post that I’ll upload here soon!

There you have it!

I hope I didn’t come across as elitist or snobby in this post as that was not my intention. I have had battles with a lot of friends on line who tell me that a lot of people don’t do the things my friends and I do because they simply are unaware. If that is true, then that is a shame and this post is my attempt to make more aware. Sharing is Caring. Each One, Teach One. It Takes a Village to Raise a Child… and all the rest of the cliches! LOL!

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Parenting

STEP ONE

STEP TWO

STEP THREE