admin, Author at 3 Kids and Us

What To Do This School Break

July 29, 2016 by admin

Summer vacation is finally here, and this can leave you in despair with a house full of bored kids. It’s indeed true that the school break can strike fear in the hearts of many parents. Two months without any routine or any organised and structured activities can leave you feeling lost. But it doesn’t have to be this way. If you want to survive for the school break, you will have to keep your head on your shoulders. So you better go with the flow and enjoy the day without any strict routines with your children.

During the school break, not everything has to be organised or scheduled according to a plan. The school holidays have been created to give the kids some down time and a well-deserved break from their school routine. So it’s better to take each day as it comes while the kids are at home and be creative to keep them busy.

Why not take the kids out to the zoo? They will most certainly enjoy watching all these animals in real instead of watching them as cartoons on T.V. Visiting a zoo can take a whole day and needs a lot of walking. And by the time you get back home, the kids would just be asking for a nap. Well, this can be your holiday when all the kids are napping. That’s the perfect time for you to take a break and play your favourite game of bingo at Lucky Pants Bingo with your bingo mates. Perhaps, they might give you some advices too on how to manage the kids during the long summer break.

If it’s raining outside and the kids are getting bored at home, then it’s time to bring out all the board games such as Monopoly, Ludo, along with the jigsaw puzzles, Lego, and DVDs. These gaming activities will certainly be fun for them and keep their mind busy for a while. You can even plan an impromptu camping in the lounge for the kids where they can build their own tent with cardboard boxes and play inside.

And if it’s a sunny day, a change of scene is what can work wonders for your kids and yourself. You can walk or ride to your local park, where you can have a nice family picnic. And why not let the children prepare the sandwiches before you leave. They will certainly love being in control of the kitchen, while you will have to keep an eye on them. Some fresh air and some exercise at the park will really make the day fulfilling.

You can also enjoy the school break with your kids by opting to go and watch a great musical show. These normally captivate both parents and kids with the spectacular décor and performance of the artists. You too will feel like a kid after watching musical shows like ‘Charlie and the Chocolate’ or ‘The Lion King’.

There so many other inexpensive activities that you can plan for your kids such as baking, backyard sports, hiking, camping, holiday activities at the library, etc.

Here’s What You Stand to Lose if You Don’t Write a Will

July 16, 2016 by admin

I get it, talking about a will can be upsetting to some, but all of us will leave this world at some point. Won’t it give you peace knowing that your surviving family would receive the right asset you want to leave each of them without anyone getting left behind and escalating to challenge a will you created?

Let’s play a scenario. What if you are to die without creating a last will or testament in any form? What would happen to your assets (home, car, jewelleries, collections, money, etc.?) Apart from being passed to someone you hadn’t intended, the people you love and want to receive it might not get anything at all.

Dying without a will. When you die without a will, the law will decide who gets what and how much. It won’t matter what your relationship is with those people when you were alive.

Say you have a bother that you love dearly, and a father who left you decades ago and hadn’t contacted you ever since, dying without a will allows the law give EVERYTHING to your father and NOTHING to your brother.

By leaving a will that states clearly who should get your money and property when you die, you’ll be preventing unwanted distress at an already difficult time for your family and loved ones. Many parents have had to sue their own children just to get a portion of their partner’s estate when their unmarried partner dies. In this situation, the law affirms that the children get everything.

The deal with intestacy. Dying without a validly created will is called dying intestate or simply intestacy. The law about exactly who gets what differs in many countries, but there are common issues wherever you live.

The common rules law follows if you die without a will:

If you are not married and not in a civil partnership, your partner won’t be legally entitled to any of your assets when you die.
If you are married, your spouse may inherit most or even all of your estate. The children may not get anything, except in some counties. This is true even if you separated, but not divorced.
If you have children or grandchildren, how much assets they’re entitled to will depend where you live, so it’s better if you make a will to decide this yourself.
An inheritance tax that your estate needs to pay may be higher than it would be if you had created a will.
If you die with no living close relatives, everything will belong to the Crown or to the government. This law is referred to as bona vacantia.

The only way to ensure that your wishes are carried out is to create a will and keep it up-to-date whenever possible. Also, it’s a good practice to equally divide your assets since a family member can challenge a will if they feel left out of it. If you’ve been putting off writing a last will, you shouldn’t. You’ll be saving your family a lot of heartache when you do, making bereavement less painful, so they can go on with their life when you’re gone.

5 Things to do in Indonesia

July 13, 2016 by admin

Indonesia is a beautiful country in Southeast Asia that most people dream of visiting one day. That isn’t hard to comprehend when you look at the versatile landscapes and cultural grounds Indonesia possesses. Indonesia has more than 13,000 islands and not all villages on these islands are up to modern standards and it can be hard to reach out in case of emergency. So when you’re planning to travel around Indonesia, make sure to have a prepaid phone with enough phone credit so you can always reach people in case of emergency. You can make an online mobile recharge in one of the internet cafes before you go visit remote villages and islands. When you’re planning to travel around Indonesia, these are five things you should do to have a full Indonesian experience.

Visit the Gili Islands

White sandy beaches, unimaginably clear water and ultimate tranquility, that sums up the Indonesian Gili Islands. The Gili Islands are a group of three islands near the coast of Lombok. Gili Trawangan is the largest of the three and this is the only Gili Island where you can pay with a card instead of cash. Gili Air is the smallest Gili island, but also the most populated one. If you are looking for a real bounty island feeling you must visit Gili Meno. Gili Meno is the middle island, but it is the most quiet of the three islands. The most amazing thing about the Gili Islands is that there are no motorized vehicles. Everyone goes from one place to another by foot, with horse and carriage or by bike. You can get to the Gili Islands by boat.

Discover the reef

Indonesia has one of the most lively underwater worlds in the whole world. Because of its location near the Equator the water is tropically warm and it houses more than 600 kinds of coral and more than 3,000 species of fish, which makes it one of the most diverse reefs in the whole world. When you go diving in the sea around the Gili Islands you’ll swim among the sea turtles and the manta rays in Nusa Lembongan.

Hike around the volcanoes at sunrise

Indonesia had a lot of volcanoes, some are even still active! A must-see is the still active Bromo volcano. The view at sunrise is simply breathtaking. A hike to the Ijen volcano is also an experience that you can’t miss while in Indonesia. The Ijen volcano is the only volcano in the world where they collect brimstone. The heat of the brimstone creates a fluorescent light in the dark. Make sure you cover your nose and mouth while visiting the Ijen crater, because the sulfur gas around this crater is poisonous.

Visit temples

Indonesia has a lot of impressive Hindu and Buddhist temples, so when you visit Indonesia it is an absolute must that you visit at least one of these temples. Two of the most impressive temples in Indonesia are Borobudur and Prambanan. Of course there are many, many more amazing temples in Indonesia, but these two temples are especially impressive. Borobudur is the largest temple in Indonesia and is a Buddhist temple. The temple’s reliefs tell about Buddha and his beliefs and it was built with 55,000 m³ of stone. The relief carvings of Prambanan narrate stories of Vishnu’s incarnations, Hanuman the Monkey King, the Ramayana and other Hindu legends.

Surround yourself with monkeys

Indonesia houses various monkey forests, like the Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal (near Ubud), the Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest (near Tabanan) and the Sangeh Monkey Forest (near Sangeh). These monkey forests are natural reserves, but also spiritual sanctuaries and houses of monkeys (of course). The monkeys that live here are Balinese long-tailed monkeys. These monkeys can be very bold and before you know it, there is one monkey on your shoulder and one monkey checking your bag. So be cautious of your stuff and don’t be surprised when you have suddenly got a monkey on your back.

These five things to do in Indonesia are just to name a few of the many things Indonesia has to offer. The country allows you to really explore nature and visit spiritual places that you can’t find anywhere else in the world.

Healthy Foods On the Go

July 11, 2016 by admin

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It seems that finding on the go friendly healthy foods that your family will eat is the holy grail of parental planning. When you are trying to find food that your kids will eat when you are on an outing or zipping to soccer practice, do you find yourself resorting to buying little packages of food that you know that your kids will eat but you are afraid are devoid of nutrition? Maybe you plan ahead and pack some nutritious snacks that they do not eat well enough so you get some fast food for them as a compromise. Feeding children well can be quite a challenge. Here are some healthier alternatives that will fit your lifestyle that kids will like.

Snacks

Snacktime on the go poses one of the greatest challenges for healthy eating with all the enticing processed alternatives out there. With this easy recipe for dried strawberries that will not break the bank, you can let your kids snack on dried strawberries from a bag. Make them by setting your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit (94 degrees Celsius) and cutting strawberries into thin slices. Lay the slices on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and let them coast for about 90 minutes. You will have a healthy one ingredient snack for everyone.

Another simple and low cost snack is popcorn air popped at home and mixed with your favorite healthy toppings. Full of fiber, it is sure to make a satisfying and healthy snack. Make a big batch one evening and have snacking options for days. To change it up to a sweet and healthy option, try this recipe for a popcorn treat.

Lunch

Sometimes it just cannot be avoided that you are in the car during lunchtime. This is a time when the true portability of foods is tested. Fortunately, there are mason jars. They are great for holding everything from granola laced yogurt to jar salads. The jar salad concept is so brilliant and can even make use of the leftovers that you have knocking around in the refrigerator. Make sure to put your wettest ingredients at the bottom, then layer with sturdy grains or vegetables. The humble mason jar can be your vehicle for a great fruit parfait while you are driving your vehicle. All you need is a portable cooler to keep everything cold and you are all set.

For a sandwich option, pita bread comes in all sizes and can be a great filling package as well as part of the meal. Be sure to fill the bread with their favorite lettuce as well as healthy meats and cheeses with no preservatives.

Dinner

Eating out with the family while on the go may be convenient, but it can be a real budget buster over very little time. When after school and evening practices start to hedge in on your dinner time, creativity takes center stage. An idea for a quick yet hot and satisfying meal to go that your whole family will eat are hot chicken wraps. Made earlier in the afternoon, chicken baked in the slow cooker with barbeque sauce becomes a wrap filling along with a sprinkle of low fat mozzarella and steamed kale. Wrapped in foil, these sandwiches can wait until their recipient is available to eat.

Cue the vacuum sealed jars. A casserole becomes fast food when packaged in a container that will hold the heat in. Wherever the evening takes you, your family can have their favorite homemade dish with healthy ingredients that you want them to eat.

Dessert

How about a cookie for dessert on the go? The sorghum flour in hamptoncreek cookie dough is part of the substitute for eggs, leaving your treat substantially lower in cholesterol than a traditional cookie with egg would be. The cookie dough also has less sugar added because the sorghum is naturally sweet. You can pop the ready-made dough into the oven then bag them up as a healthier special treat after lunch or dinner. Plus, since this dough has no animal products, you can sneak some raw dough while the kids are not looking.

For healthy home cooked eating on the run, one of the biggest challenges is how to make the foods your family likes as a portable option. It takes some planning and a lot of perseverance, but making sure your family has healthy options when on the go is worth it.

How to Keep your Kids from Being Naughty on Vacation

June 26, 2016 by admin

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Vacations should be the time in your life when you de-stress, taking some time away from the daily grind to rest, recuperate, explore and most importantly have fun. This however, is easier said than done when you have children with you and planning for a stress-free family vacation needs to be done with precision. Naturally you want to have fun and you want the exact same thing for your children but very often the excitement of it all can lead to misbehaviour on your child’s part and can often spoil the good times. To avoid such a situation, here are some tips that can help you keep your kids from being naughty on vacation.

Lay Down the Rules

It is important that before you leave for your vacations that you let your kids know what is going to be happening when you’re away. You can use these talks to let them know that there will be more flexibility than normal, perhaps later bed times or food that they usually wouldn’t be allowed to eat will be available to them. Coupled with these benefits, you need to also let them know that these extra luxuries come at a price, their behaviour, It is far better if you speak with them before your vacation as if you need to do it during, it will take the child’s sense of freedom away and could lead to worse behaviour. Doing this also creates a point of reference that you can point to during your vacations.

Watch What They Eat

Naturally we relax a little with the rules when it comes to a vacation but you still need to be mindful of what your child is eating. Your kids will be excitable enough when they are away and the last thing that they need is a body full of sugar and E-numbers which can make them grumpy after the sugar rush.

Sleep is More Important

A day spent bombing in the pool, at a theme park, on an adventure playing sports and meeting new friends is more than enough for any kid to handle and they will be wiped out by the end of the day. Whilst you can relax rules around bedtimes, it’s important to ensure that your child still gets sufficient sleep. Lack of sleep equals grumpy child who will be more likely to misbehave.

Time Out

The excitement of the holiday can sometimes be too much for a child and therefore it is vital that you take them out of the madness for an hour a day. The excitement of the holiday can sometimes be too much for a child and therefore it is vital that you take them out of the madness for an hour a day. Perhaps take them back to the room, let them play some online games on a tablet or watch a Disney film for a while, anything to turn their attention elsewhere. This will calm your child’s

Recently we have watched together “Finding Dory” and there’s plenty of free online games related to this friendly-but-forgetful fish: check out our favourites here! This will calm your child’s mind down a bit before they head back out into the fun.

Incentivise

This is the key to a happy holiday, an incentive, perhaps there is a theme park or an aqua park that your kid really wants to go to, organise this for the last or penultimate day. Doing this means that you have something to negotiate with your child when they begin misbehaving, remind them that if they are naughty then you won’t be going to the attraction that they want. Carrot and stick seems to be a harsh way of treating your kid but this theory works well.