admin, Author at 3 Kids and Us

The Best Gift Ideas for Baby Showers

August 8, 2016 by admin

We celebrate a lot of things in life. More than just the usual festivities like Christmas, Halloween or Valentine’s Day, there are other events that require the grandest of feasts and merry making. One of these events is the baby shower. Mothers-to-be gather friends and family to celebrate the newest member of the family.

As the invited, we bring gifts to the mothers as a show of support and to share with their happiness. However, thinking about what gift to give is always such a challenge, some of us cannot even think of proper gifts to give during the holidays, what more a baby that has not been born yet. You can choose to buy flowers for the new born baby and have it arranged in a unique way using different sizes and shades of colour.

But what else can you bring to the table? Remember that the mom already has some of the basics covered like shoes and clothes. Here we will list down a few suggestions, something you can consider while you are shopping for baby shower gifts.

Pacifier that closes when dropped

As babies grow older, they become really talkative. They might not be saying anything intelligible, but they are always telling you something. Not only that, they always pick up random objects they want to put in their mouths. For this reason, their pacifiers always drop to the floor, and mom have to wash them in warm water all the time. To save them from this problem, why not give them a pacifier that closes when it is dropped to the floor?

RaZbaby’s Keep-it-Kleen Pacifiers does just that. It closes on the nipple like a shell when babies drop it, effectively protecting from germs and bacteria. More than that, you are helping your friend with one less trouble to think about.

Baby leash to keep them from getting lost

Pretty sure it is almost virtually impossible for your friend’s kid to get lost, she will be watching them like a hawk. But just in case they need the extra help, especially when going grocery shopping, a baby leash helps keep the kids in tow. You do not need to buy the ordinary baby leash, you can get the ones with a bag at the end so they can wear as normal. It comes in different patterns or animal designs, so your kids will not feel like they are being tethered.

Colourful onesies

We did say clothes are already covered by the mom, but colourful onesies are too cute to pass up. You can get them in different patterns and designs so that the baby can look hip and cool in the stroller. The best part about onesies is you can always order them from artists and not get the generic onesies being sold in stores. For instance, you can go to online stores like Etsy, a website that offers handmade and unique crafts. Order as much as you can for a price that worth seeing the baby in adorable, one-of-a-kind apparel.

Portable fabric high chair

One of the things your friends is going to have trouble with is finding a restaurant she likes to go to that has high chairs. Because let’s face it, not all restaurants offer high chairs. Make it easy for the mom to bring her baby with her with a portable fabric high chair.

The Portable Easy Seat by Cozy Cover is a fabric you can fasten around your baby and on normal chairs. They can easily bring this seat cover and not worry about where she can go to for a bite to eat.

No picture can compare to a mother happily awaiting the birth of their baby. Make it extra special with unique gift finds, ones that will make her life convenient and will keep the baby safe and healthy.

A Child’s First Flight: Getting Their Brain to Enjoy the Flying Game

August 5, 2016 by admin

There are many new experiences that your child might either really enjoy or they could struggle to cope with something quite challenging to a young brain like flying, unless you prepare them for the journey beforehand.

According to a survey by bottonline.co.uk, many airlines are failing to provide an acceptable level of customer service when handling issues like delayed flights, but at least you can do your bit as a parent, and give them a positive first-flight experience.

Improve your odds of a good reaction

You will know how the natural pattern of your child’s day evolves, with some kids more receptive and alert in the morning, while others might be better after being allowed to wake up slowly and improve throughout the day.

A good idea to improve the odds of your child’s first flight going well, would be to try and find a flight schedule that fits in well with their natural routine, so if they are not a morning sort of person, it might not be a great idea to book a flight first thing in the day.

You could try booking a flight that is in line with their usual nap time if they are younger and still sleep in the day at some point, or at least work out when would be a good time so that they are most receptive to their first flight experience.

Talk about what lies ahead

It is always a good strategy to prepare your child for their first flight by arranging to talk about what to expect and what they might feel like at various stages of the journey.

There are some good books available that are aimed at educating and entertaining children at the same time, which talk about going on an aeroplane and what to expect from a child’s perspective.

Sit down and go through your chosen book with them or find some other way to educate them, so that they can see what the aeroplane will look like and ask any questions that they might have.

Providing comfort

Many children have a favourite toy or comforter that they like to take with them, so first on your list when packing for the intended flight would be to make sure they have something very familiar with them to help if they feel anxious or even scared at the prospect of flying.

As you will probably already know as a parent, losing their favourite item will normally involve a combination of tears and maybe even tantrums, which is not something you want when trying to ensure that their first flying experience goes well.

Pain management

Some kids don’t cope very well with flight conditions, no matter how excited they are about the prospect of flying through the air amongst the clouds, they might need a bit of medical help to keep them calm and feeling well.

Kids ears can be particularly sensitive to changes in air-pressure, which is what they may well feel when the plane is taking off or landing. Giving them a suitable sweet to suck can often do the trick, but you might want to check whether you can take some liquid paracetamol or something suitable to alleviate any pain or discomfort they might be feeling.

The main thing to concentrate on is to talk about flying in an aeroplane in a positive way and to prepare them in the right way, so that they can cope and go on to become seasoned flyers.

Carl Simmons world recently turned upside down with the arrival of his first child. Suddenly he is the parent with the crying baby on the busy flight, and the one with the toddler having a meltdown at the store! He writes about parenting from a Dad’s perspective.

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.