Parenting Children

Did you know that most regular oral-hygiene products contain chemicals, artificial dyes, sweeteners or preservatives? I didn’t, but they are all listed on the labels of our oral hygiene products for our kids! I try to stay away from chemical laden foods and topical products but I was putting it in their mouths every day! I just never thought to look at the toothpaste label.
Here are some things you should look for in your toothpastes and mouthwashes:

Try not to buy toothpaste with anything artificial. That includes dyes, sweeteners and preservatives. They are in all the kid’s toothpaste that I looked at.
Try and buy things with essential oils like tea tree oil, and peppermint oil all promote good oral hygiene, along with vitamin C and vitamin E.
Use baking soda, it cleans and polishes your teeth with enough scouring action to help remove plaque. It is not abrasive so it is easy on your teeth.
Alcohol-based mouth rinses actually dries out your mouth, so stay away from those. If your mouth is dry, that can lead to bad breath.

Try Tom’s of Maine, Weleda, and Kiss My Face and check out preserve toothbrushes for the whole family!

Remember that parents should start brushing their children’s teeth as soon as they appear in their mouth. It is also a good idea to use a wash cloth to wipe a child’s gums before teeth even appear. Flossing should be started after two teeth touch each other to prevent cavaties between the teeth.

children’s teeth, parenting, toothpaste, healthy kids, brushing your kids teeth, children’s toothpaste

After going swimming at her cousin’s house my daughter has been complaining of ear pain. I thought it would go away in time, but she started complaining about it again after a visit to a water park. There is no redness and no fever so is this an ear infection or just swimmer’s ear? I didn’t want to make the trip to the doctor because most of the time there is nothing they can do for an ear infection anyway. Perhaps what I found out about swimmer’s ear can save you a trip to the pediatrician as well.

Swimmer’s ear is an infection of the skin that lines the ear canal. A waxy, water-resistant coating usually protects this skin. Bacteria normally live on the surface of the skin, but if there is a break in the skin’s normal barrier, these bacteria can slip inside the skin, causing an infection. It is called external otitis or swimmer’s ear.
Preschool and school age children get swimmer’s ear more than anyone else and
Children with eczema or seborrhea are at higher risk than other children!

People with swimmer’s ear usually complain of an itchy and painful ear. The ear is particularly sensitive to the ear lobe’s being moved up and down whish is what my daughter complained of. I am putting a few drops of white vinegar into her ear twice daily and letting it stay for a couple of minutes before draining it out. This should clear up her swimmer’s ear in a couple of days.

From now on when she goes swimming I will make sure she wears ear plugs and dries her ears well after being in the water.

swimmer’s ear, school age children, water safety, summer safety, ear infections, keeping kids healthy

Lately I have been discussing summer fun ideas, outdoor fun and things to do indoors to beat the heat. Today I want to talk about old school games. I have been recently been teaching my kids these games and they love playing them with us or their older cousins. Here are some “old school” games that are fun for all ages:

Monkey in the middle
Players: 3+
One person is the “monkey” and stands in the middle, while the other players throw a ball over the moneky’s head. The object of the game is for the monkey to catch the ball. Whoever threw the ball then becomes the new monkey.

Kick the can
The player who is “it” kicks a can as far as possible. Once the can starts moving the other players run for hiding spaces. The “it” retrieves the can puts it in the original place and counts to 50. Then she can find the other players, once they are found, it calls out their name and must beat the player to the can. If the it person gets there first the person they found is captured. Captured players can be set free if a hider gets to the can first.

Frisbee golf
Players: 2+
Decide what the “hole” will be, a tree, a fence, any large target. Each player takes a turn throwing a frisbee as many times as it takes to hit the target or the “hole”. The fewer number of throws wins.

Some other great games you can play are tug of war, follow the leader and simon says. What are your favorite old school games to play with your family?

family fun, old school games, games for kids, summer fun, indoor fun, SAHM, parents

We are right in the middle of the summer heat and humidity here in New Jersey. It is hard to find ways to keep cool outside and cool places to play the day away inside. I can’t keep the kids inside the house all day, like I would like to do, because they will just end up watching TV and we limit that time. We do crafts, bake and do some free activities, but the entire family’s favorite thing to do is play with water. We keep cool and have a ton of fun at the same time.
Here are some fun water activities for your family from GNM parents:

The Relay
Number of Players: 2+
You Need: filled water balloons and a marker
Object: To pop all of the balloons before your opponent.

How: Each team gets a pile of balloons. They must run to the midway marker and sit on their balloon to pop it and return to the starting point. Multiple team members will take turns. Individual teams will repeat until the balloons are all popped.

You can do variations like using different parts of their bodies to pop the balloons or players can also hop, skip, or walk backwards to switch things up.

Towel Toss
Number of Players: 4+
Needed: 1 towel for each team of 2, filled up water balloons, if you have a large group of kids you can use a sheet

Object: To use the towel to toss the balloon to the other team (each player holds 2 corners of the towel), and to catch the balloon when it is tossed to you.

The truth is my children really haven’t had many tantrums. I have been lucky, because with twins usually one sets the other off. They have had a couple, in public mostly (of course!) and I thought I have handled it correctly. I have seem some major tantrums in public before and by kids who are old enough not to be throwing tantrums anymore. What sets off a child to get to a tantrum state and how do you diffuse the situation?

Tantrums usually occur when a child wants something and is frustrated because they cannot have it right away. The problem is with each episode the tantrums often get worse in their intensity, duration, and frequency. It is so tempting to just give the child what he wants to stop the behavior, especially if you are in public, but that just teaches the child they will get what they want if they cry long enough or hard enough. Tantrums are a learned behavior.
You need to identify what the triggers are for your child and try and diffuse them before a full out tantrum begins.

If your child throws a fit, then ignore them and even leave the room. Make sure they are safe though, and they are not going to hurt themselves. Make sure they have a safe place to be in while they are having their tantrum. When they are finally calm explain to them why they didn’t get what they wanted, and remind them of a time they did get something they wanted.
Make sure you reinforce their good behaviors throughout the day.

Do you have any tips or tricks for tantrums?

tantrums, parenting, toddlers, terrible twos

How many of us parents remember getting sunburn when we were young? Even though my parents used sunscreen on my sister and I, I still remember getting sunburns. When I was a teenager I actually used oil for tanning!
I lost my father to skin cancer a couple of years ago and I have made it my mission to not lose another family member to melanoma, so protecting myself and my kids is so important to me.
Did you know that:
-Just two or three blistering sunburns during childhood can double the risk of skin cancer
-The majority of lifetime sun damage occurs before age 18
-One in 5 Americans will contract skin cancer in the course of a lifetime
-Nationally, there are more new cases of skin cancer each year than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon

Have I scared you yet? Good.
The good news is I have an amazing company to share with you that will help protect your kids from the sun’s damaging rays, Cabana Life.

Cabana Life was founded by Melissa Papock, a melanoma survivor who, along with her husband who is also a skin cancer survivor, offers sun protective clothing that is absolutely adorable and hip. While a regular tee shirt has an SPF of 5, cabana life clothing has 50+UV protection through patented High IQ Sun Protection! They have everything you need from hats, cover-ups, tunics, shirts, and pants for boys, girls and women.

I was lucky enough to get to try out some of this clothing for my fair little ones. The clothing was made with amazing quality, it looked great and stood up just fine in the wash. I love the fact that some of the kids bathing suits and cover ups have matching set for adults!

Go and check out Cabana Life’s clothing because I know you will be smitten. Great, quality clothing that protects your skin, is reasonably prices and gives back, what more could you ask for? I know I am a lifelong fan.

Cabana Kids is offering parentingourchildren.com readers an amazing 40% off coupon! Use code MOMBLG when you check out and get 40% off all your entire order!! This coupon is only valid through Friday, July 25th, so hurry!

sun protective clothing, kids, parenting, beach gear, beach gear for kids, sunburns, melanoma, skin cancer, Cabana Life, preventing skin cancer, beach safety

When my kids are home all summer long they are constantly eating. I think it has to do with all the fresh air and energy they are expending. I am always trying to keep healthy, fun snacks in the house for them. We even sometimes make them together and that gives us something to do inside and gets them to experiment with cooking and baking! Here are some great snack ideas and recipes for you and your family:

Peanut Butter Snack Mix

3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons peanut butter
4 cups Chex cereal assorted
2 cups mini pretzels
1/3 cup peanuts or any kind of nuts you would like

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 175F.

2. Combine honey, butter and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until smooth. Combine cereal, pretzels and peanuts in a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture and toss to coat. Spread on baking sheet and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Watermelon-Cucumber SalsaI

1 1/2 cups diced and seeded watermelon
1 cup diced, peeled cucumber
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve!

Apple Chips

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of nutmeg
1 large crisp apple, such as Braeburn or Granny Smith
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1)Stir together the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then sprinkle half the mixture onto the baking sheet.

2)Cut the apple into slices as thin as possible, up to 1/8 inch. (You don’t need to peel or core it; the seeds will just fall off.) If you have a mandoline, cut the apple vertically into rounds.

3)Arrange the slices on the baking sheet in one layer. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture over the apples, then bake in the middle of the oven for 11/2 hours. Rotate the pan and bake for another hour, or until the apples are crisp. (If yours aren’t getting crisp enough, try turning off the heat and leaving them in the oven overnight.)

4)Loosen the chips with a spatula, then cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the parchment. They’ll keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

What are you kid’s favorite snacks?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway by 12 midnight tonight for a great organic tote bag!

[tags[ snacks, snacks for kids, parenting, family, cooking with kids, SAHM [/tags]

If it is one thing you don’t need when you have kids is more “things”. You carry around a diaper bag, juice boxes, changes of clothes, a camera and for special occasions you bring out the camcorder. there is something new on the market that allows you to record videos of your children that will take up no more room in your bag than your cell phone, the Flip.

The Flip Mino is a ultra cool hip camcorder that is forty percent smaller than the Flip Ultra and still manages to do all the things its larger cousin does. It can hold 60 minutes of video, has a super fast startup and easy integration with a computer. The Flip Video Mino doesn’t use alkaline batteries, it has a rechargeable lithium ion battery instead. You get four hours of recording time per charge, perfect for parents because we already have enough things that need batteries! The Flip Video Mino and Flip Ultra don’t have all the bells and whistles that other camcorders have, but it has what you need for everyday home videos. Perfect for parents on the go.

The Mino is easy enough that my children can use it. The only thing I wish if had was I wish it had more stability control. It is easy to record, to download the videos on the computer with new instant-upload feature as well as the existing editing app. It is a great deal at about $179.00. Flip also launched a “Make Your Own DVDâ€? service, where for $19.99 they’ll create a DVD of up to an hours-worth of footage you upload, as well as keeping your video archived “forever”.
So cool and perfect for youtube, Myspace and just capturing some memories at home!

Flip, Flip mino, great gadgets, capturing memories, parents

As a parent I have forgotten to go somewhere with my child I was scheduled to be at, forgotten to feed them before i put them in a car for over an hour and forgotten many things in the diaper bag. I have not, however forgotten my child in a hot car but I easily could have. Any parent that thinks that they could never leave a child in a car is kidding themselves because we are all have so many things on our minds and accidents happen.

Already in 2008, we’ve had 352 incidents with children left in hot cars and 72 deaths. That is a very real and very scary statistic to me.
Harrison’s Hope is a web site that is devoted to informing as many people as they can reach about the dangers associated with leaving children unattended in or around vehicles.
Children should never be left in vehicles even if it is to run into a store for “a minute”, even if you have to wake up your child to go into the store. I have had to wake up my children many times to go into a store and I remember how tempted I was to go into a dry cleaners and leave my kids locked in the car right outside the dry cleaners where I could easily see them. I just couldn’t do it, I was too scared.

Harrison’s hope web site has many tips for keeping kids safe in and around cars. Things like keeping your car always locked and using drive thrus instead of having to go into a restaurant or store are ease to do.

parenting, kids, kids in cars, keeping kids safe, car safety, kids and hot cars

My children love fruit, especially berries! We go and pick them in the summertime at our local farm and I hope we have any by the time we get home with my kids in the backseat with them. Strawberries are my favorite and there are so many things you can do with them!

Did you know that California provides 88% of the nation’s strawberries, and the region is experiencing an incredibly bountiful harvest this year? With over 35,000 acres of fields across California, the growers will be picking nearly 6 million crates of delicious, ripe strawberries this week to deliver to grocery stores nationwide. Yum!

Did you also know that: strawberries contain powerful antioxidants and rank second among the top ten fruits in antioxidant capacity: one serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than an orange. Who knew?
* Strawberries may help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight some types of cancer and lower blood pressure. Not bad for a little delicious red berry!
* Don’t forget! The antioxidants in strawberries also aid in memory performance and may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, two key factors that can cause age-related diminished brain function.

Now here is the fun part you can go to www.calstrawberry.com for information or recipes including this amazing sounding strawberry shrimp ceviche or www.strawberryville.com for games and facts for kids.

(more…)

Something parents never tell you before you have kids is “say goodbye to your vacations”. Sure, you can take vacations with kids, but finding a kid or family friendly place to go is the tough part. If this is a problem for you too, than say hello to Sandals Beaches all -inclusive resorts.

Not only is Beaches a family friendly resort with four amazing destinations, but they are having a terrific WonderFALL celebration this fall only! Not only do you get to enjoy everything Beaches offers year-round, but you can SAVE up to 45% off published rates and get 2 Nights Free (on stays of 7 nights)! The WonderFALL celebration is taking place during the off-peak season months of September and October.

As part of this WonderFALL Celebration, Beaches has a great fall line up of special events and activities. From even more Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street® that includes the premiere of a brand new stage show and a new activity with Abby Cadabby, exclusive Gordon and Elmo live performances and special parenting workshops hosted by Sesame educators, to Dive In Movies, “Baby You’re A Star Photo Contest� ( where your little one could win the chance to be featured in the next Beaches brochure) and even a celebration for Grandparents, it’s all happening ONLY this FALL at Beaches family resorts!

Wondering what there is to do for the adults? Beaches offers amazing fun activities like: tennis, golf, state-of-the art fitness centers,
snorkeling and scuba diving with all equipment and instruction included (lessons are extra but equipment is free to use), nannys for the kids, swim-up bars and nightly entertainment and stage shows.
Need I say more?

Go here to book your WonderFALL celebration trip at up to 45% off and remember to send me a postcard!

WonderFall celebration, Beaches resorts, family friendly destinations, family friendly vacations, family vacations, beaches WonderFall celebration, traveling with kids

I have a couple of fears that have carried me through childhood into adulthood. One of them is a fear of burglars. I really fear my house getting broken into especially when I am home, so I am very careful about locking doors and windows. I was invited to try out the new Schlage keypad lock, and I couldn’t wait to receive it and try it out.

This lock is different from typical locks because it is a deadbolt but you can add, change or delete user codes. Perfect for families with children who think they will lose a house key or for a babysitter of housecleaner. You can give them their own code and delete it any time! Or what if you want a room in your home off limits to a caregiver or a child? This would be ideal way to keep them out.
It was easy for my husband to install, the directions were simple to program the lock and it looks great.

Schlage Locks have been named a platinum award winner in the Awards for Design Excellence but they also have great features.
They have a simple keypad with coated buttons, a ton of finish options, easy installation, locks for interior or exterior doors and a ‘Turn Lock’ feature that allows you to lock & leave without a key.

Schlage locks can be purchased online or in various retail stores.

Schlage locks, home protection, indoor and outdoor locks, keeping family safe

I have written before about how I think Gardasil is basically just a way for Merck to earn more money to pay off the Vioxx debts it has. I don’t believe in making a vaccine, like Gardasil which was brand new on the market, required for all teens. Now nearly 8,000 reports of adverse reactions to the Gardasil vaccine have been filed with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since June 2006.

Reaction totals for the vaccine included 15 reports of death and 10 confirmed deaths, but none of the deaths has been tied to the vaccine, CNN said. Other adverse reactions include reports ranging from injection site pain, nausea and dangerous blood clots to paralysis stemming from a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome. The CDC said it is studying these reports.

The vaccine was approved in 2006 for girls as young as 9 years old. Merck said more than 26 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed worldwide, including almost 16 million in the United States.

The company said the vaccine is safe and effective. In a statement Merck said a report of an reaction “does not mean that a causal relationship between an event and vaccination has been established — just that the event occurred after vaccination.” Just a big coincidence right?

HPV is believed to be the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease in modern times but only a relatively small number of those infected go on to develop cervical cancer.

What do you think of these severe reactions to the Garsdasil vaccines? Do you think our government should be able to make a vaccine mandatory when it is so new?

source

Gardasil, Gardasil reactions, vaccines, vaccines reactions, adverse reactions to vacciens, parenting, parenting teens, Gardasil vaccine

We recycle in our home and have been for years. There is one thing that I have thrown away in the regular garbage forever though without a second thought- my toothbrush. Recycline Preserve toothbrushes are not only made from recycled plastic, but you can recycle them when you are done!

The preserve toothbrush handle is made from 100% recycled plastic, including Stonyfield Farm® yogurt cups! The curved, easy to grip handle makes it easy to reach every part of your teeth and gums and the
soft, virgin nylon bristles placed in a tri-level configuration with softer outer rows to protect your gums and tooth enamel. They are available in medium, Soft, and Ultrasoft and Preserve Jr. for kids 2-8.
The Preserve Jr toothbrush combines soft bristles, pea pod grips and the unique Preserve angle to help teach your child to brush properly and comfortably. Its ergonomic, pea pod shaped handle makes it easy for young hands to grab on to while the soft bristles protect your child’s teeth and gums.

When it is time to replace your toothbrush (dentists recommend switching it every three months) send the toothbrush and case back to Preserve using our postage-paid label to be re-processed into plastic lumber for picnic tables, boardwalks and decks.
What a great way to teach children about recycling and how old things can be made new again!

The best part? They are available at Target stores nationwide for only $2.04!
Check out all the preserve recycline products like razors, cutting boards and tablewear here.

recycline, preserve toothbrushes, green family, eco friendly products, recycling toothbrushes, parenting, green products