Tips
- For the middle of the night feeding, keep the lights low and be as quiet as possible. This is not the feeding you want baby to enjoy. Change, feed, and put baby back to bed.
- Take a minute and go through your medicine cabinet every couple of months. Make sure you have the basics and keep Benedryl liquid and cream at the ready for those scary allergic reactions.
- Buy a headset for your phone. This will allow you to do housework, fold laundry, etc. while catching up with your phone calls.
- Shop for your summer porch furniture in July. It is usually marked down by then and there is still a good selection.
- I came across a great website for gift giving. www.caregifting.com will put together thoughtful gifts for all occasions. New baby, sympathy, thank you, etc.
- At the end of the school year, I typed a letter from my child’s teacher telling him that his assignment for the summer was to read 20 books and do a short report on each. Not completely truthful, but it’s keeping him reading all summer.
- Buy two copies of "The Read-Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease-- one for your family and one as a baby gift for a pregnant friend. The first half explains why it is so important to read aloud to your children from day one, and to continue even when they can read to themselves. The second half is a list of 1000 books that are great for reading aloud--picture books and novels--with descriptions of each one so you can make selections your children will love.
- When traveling with your children, pack a night light for them. In new surroundings, it helps to be able to see at night.
- Take baby powder with you to the beach. When the sand sticks to baby, sprinkle baby powder and the sand falls off.
- When you have little ones around, only use the back two burners when you cook and turn pot handles towards the back and out of child’s way.
- You can subscribe to www.dinewithoutwhine.com for $6.95 per month. It’s a menu planning service for busy families.
- Make business cards with all of your emergency contact information. Give it to babysitters, neighbors, and teachers. You can also put one in your child’s pocket when you go to the mall, out of town, or any place that your child could get lost.
- For our kid’s birthdays, we put balloons in their rooms the night before their birthday so that they wake up excited about celebrating their special day.
- Print sticky gift labels for your child. It saves time and money on buying birthday cards.