Search Results for: blog have you started to prepare

How to Prevent Your Baby from Developing Scurvy

It is not often that you hear of someone developing scurvy in today’s world. Scurvy was once a disease that afflicted pirates and explorers in the 18th century. That doesn’t mean that people no longer catch this (now rare) disease. A baby in Spain was diagnosed with scurvy. How can you prevent your baby from developing this disease? A study was published in the journal Pediatrics that parents should take note of. Researchers found that a baby in Spain had developed scurvy, and set out to find out how that happened. In short, they determined that it was due to … Continue reading →

Have Some Mountain Dew Before a Test?

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How do you feel about standardized testing? Chances are you aren’t an incredibly big fan of it. Children tend to strongly dislike taking standardized tests because it is stressful, confusing, frustrating, and very different from how their typical school day goes. Perhaps this is why a school in Florida found a controversial way to motivate students to take their standardized tests. Someone at Creel Elementary School in Florida came up with an unusual way to get students excited about taking the FCAT. The FCAT stands for “Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test”. A grandmother who learned about it contacted the local media. … Continue reading →

When Your Child Doesn’t Want to go to Preschool

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Your child has been happily attending preschool for a while now. He or she always comes home with a smile and a story about something fun that happened that day. Now, suddenly, your child has started to resist going to preschool. What happened? Here is a quick checklist for parents who are baffled by their child’s declaration of “I don’t want to go to preschool!” Keep in mind that it is totally normal for a child to decided that he or she no longer wants to attend preschool. There are days when you don’t particularly want to go to work, … Continue reading →

Why We Started Gardening for Food

After many years of talking about it, we are actually going to put in a food garden. This is a big step for us. I’m originally from Queens, NY, and my husband is from Joisey (new Jersey). There isn’t a lot of gardening going on there (although New Jersey is the self-proclaimed garden state). It is time, though, with food prices going higher, and our desire to eat organic produce, we can’t put it off any longer. The initial investment of putting in a garden should pay off for our family for years. We are going to start out small … Continue reading →

Learning to Love Your Body

We all know that motherhood comes with a price. Your body goes through a remarkable transformation as it prepares to grow another human being. If you are like most of us, you probably have a few battle scars to show for it. I’ve gotten used to my tiger stripes, but I still struggle with my post-pregnancy body. It’s been almost 5 years since I had Logan and I’m still not to my pre-pregnancy weight. I envy my friends who walk out of the hospital looking like a model in their size 2 jeans again. When I left the hospital I … Continue reading →

How to Prepare Your Child for a Real Job

If you don’t want to be the family with the 20-something adult child laying on your couch, then you have to get started early with helping to prepare your kid for his or her first real job, one that can support a basic lifestyle and have an expectation of self sufficiency. Ideally, you have been giving your child or children important money lessons since they were preschoolers, but the most critical time comes when they reach the age of 13 or 14. That is when they need to know that when they become adults, they will be expected to hold … Continue reading →

How Christmas Creep Can Cost You

If you haven’t seen Christmas decorations and other items in your local stores yet, then my guess is that you’re living outside of the United States, or maybe even the planet. As soon as the back to school items went away (the first week in September!) the Christmas stuff came out. Forget Halloween, those items started being displayed in August. While all of my friends are hunting for those Candy Corn Oreos that have already sold out, I’m avoiding the stores as much as possible, so I can ignore the Christmas creep. There are a few ways that thinking about … Continue reading →

Hantavirus: Are You Afraid?

Yesterday, while on recess duty at my daughter’s school I noticed two kindergarteners making sand castles near the playground’s baseball diamond. And by sand castles, I mean dirt mounds. By the time I realized what they were doing, the bell rang and they started dashing toward the cafeteria door to line-up for lunch. Fortunately, another mom was able to make them out through their respective dirt clouds, intercept them and escort them to the restroom to wash up. “Did you see how filthy they were?” the mom asked as I held the cafeteria doors open. “Human petri dishes,” I sardonically … Continue reading →

What’s On Your Life Insurance Annual Policy Statement?

A life insurance policy can provide your family with some financial protection that will help them to continue paying the bills after you have passed away. You can learn some very important things about your life insurance policy by reading over your annual notice of policy status. You might think of it as the “Cliff’s Notes” version of your life insurance policy. Most people don’t like to think about life insurance because you cannot do it without acknowledging that you, and your spouse, are going to someday pass away. While it can be uncomfortable to consider this serious topic, it … Continue reading →

Planning For A Vacation With Your Toddler

In about a month, my husband and I will be taking our sons on our annual vacation to Cape Cod. My dad has a time – share week there, and we go there to stay with him. Last year and the year before that, we had a great time vacationing with Dylan. This year will be the first time that Blake goes to Cape Cod. While I am not worried about our vacation, I do want to prepare myself (and my husband) for our first lengthy excursion with a two and a half year old and a baby who will … Continue reading →