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How To Stay Healthy When Your Kids Are Unwell

May 2, 2018 by admin

Sometimes kids get sick despite all the good you try to do to stop it from happening. As part of being a parent, you will naturally be there for them to help them nurse them through their ailment and get them back to full health as soon as possible. However, this can be tough if you catch the same bug that’s going around. It’s far better to try to stay as healthy as possible so that you can look after your little ones and get on with your work; here are some ways to do it.

Wash Your Hands

The idea of washing your hands after you use the bathroom when you’re cooking after you do anything or touch anything that is dirty, has been reinforced since we were all little. There’s a reason why our parents and teachers kept telling us to do it and why it’s probably a habit still today. Washing your hands can reduce the likelihood of you catching a bug or cold from your child. However, a quick rinse is not what we mean because that just doesn’t work effectively enough. You need to scrub your hands for around 20 seconds using warm water and soap if you want to rid yourself of the germs that could make you sick. For added security, you could use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer too; these can be great if you need to wash your hands and you’re nowhere near a sink.

Look After Your Own Health

The healthier your immune system, the less likely it is that you will catch whatever it is that’s going around. That means eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and taking vitamin supplements if you need to. It also means keeping yourself as healthy as possible. If you smoke or drink too much, then quitting is your best option as these things can seriously compromise your immune system. Further, they’re not a great way to be a role model for your kids. If you find that giving up alcohol is hard on your own, check out rehab facilities to get the extra help you need. It will be worth it.

No Sharing

One rule to implement when your child is unwell is minimal sharing, as the more they share, be that toys, clothes or food, for example, the more chance there is that you may catch the illness.

Less Cuddling

This is a hard thing to do, especially when your child is unwell, but if it stops you from getting sick, then it must be done. Viruses can’t travel beyond around three feet, so you don’t have to stay in a different room, for example; just don’t get too close. If your child needs soothing, then you can still be there for them, but aim to slightly keep your distance as this will help prevent you catching whatever they have. Tell them you love them as much as you can, and soon you will be able to get back to normal with everyone feeling great.

Working out a Budget for your Vacation

May 2, 2018 by admin

Planning a trip away with the family is a very exciting process, and looking forward to the vacation keeps everyone happy and optimistic. What’s not so great is when you return from vacation and have a look at your bank statement, only to see you’ve spent far more money than you thought you would while you were away. It takes the shine off the post-vacation glow and gives you something new to worry about just as you’ve relaxed and de-stressed. To avoid falling into the overspending trap, get your calculator out and create a realistic budget for your trip.

Booking costs

You might want to take a view of how much the entire vacation is costing rather than just deciding what you can afford to spend when you’re out there, in which case you need to have the figures for all the pre-booked costs. The price paid at the time of booking your travel tickets and accommodation won’t change so your figures will be accurate for these costs. Don’t forget taxes and gratuities that may be added to the booking fee, and add in any extras you’ve paid for like excursions or guided tours. There’s also travel insurance, overseas health insurance, car rental, kennelling or house-sitting costs for pets, and the purchase of any equipment or clothing you’re going to need for the trip. If you want to see how much the vacation has cost in total, don’t leave any of these expenses out.

Spending money

To work out how much to allow for expenses while you’re away, first calculate how much you can afford to spend. This means the spare cash you have after all your bills and normal running costs have been taken out, but don’t take it to the wire. If you have $1,000, leave a couple hundred in the bank for emergencies and work out your budget on the $800. Food and drink will be your main cost, and eating out can be an expensive way of feeding yourself on vacation.

Rather than booking a hotel only, compare what it would cost to go all-inclusive and see how much you could save this way. Many travel websites will give you information to help you make comparisons, like Viajacompara hoteles todo incluido en Acapulco, which compares all-inclusive hotel deals in Acapulco.

When you’re calculating food costs, don’t guess – have a look at the kind of prices you’ll be paying at your destination, and find out how you can save money by shopping around. You then need to look at what else you might spend money on, such as tickets for entertainments and trips, drinks, snacks, emergency supplies, sports lessons, souvenirs, gifts for the folks back home, tips, public transport and taxis, and any of the other things you normally spend your money on when you’re away.

You’ll now have a good estimate of how much you’ll be spending, which you can compare to how much you’ve got to spend. If you’re under budget, all’s well. If you’re over budget, you need to look at ways to trim some of the estimated costs. Once you’ve done that, simply divide your total by the number of days you’re away, and you should then have your daily spending budget. Hopefully, barring disasters, you’ll be returning home happy, relaxed, and still solvent!

Your Guide to How Surrogacy Works

May 1, 2018 by admin

Are you struggling to get pregnant? You probably know you can hire a surrogate mother to carry your baby. Click here and know how surrogacy works.

Got baby on the brain? Having a child can be a beautiful journey but that doesn’t mean it has to be done in a conventional way. If you want a surrogate mother to carry your child, you should understand the ins and outs of the process.

Whatever your reason is, surrogacy can be a great option for you. Find out how surrogacy works and see if it’s right for you.

Types of Surrogate Mothers

Generally, there are two types of surrogate mothers.

One is a traditional surrogate. This process is when a woman gets artificially inseminated with the father’s or donor’s sperm. The surrogate mother carries the baby for full-term and delivers the baby for the parents.

The other type is a gestational surrogate. This process uses a technique called “in vitro fertilization” (IVF). This involves gathering eggs from the mother and fertilizing them with desired sperm.

The embryo is then placed into the surrogate mother.The surrogate still carries the baby until birth.

Legally speaking, the gestational surrogacy method is less complex. This is because both parents have genetic ties to the baby.

Gestational surrogacy has become popular over time. Roughly 750 babies are born each year using gestational surrogacy.

Why Consider Surrogacy

Some of the reasons why surrogacy may be an option are:

You or your partner had medical issues that make fertility difficult
You or your partner had a medical procedure that prohibits fertility
You or your partner have conditions that make pregnancy impossible or risky for you
You simply prefer surrogacy pregnancies

Surrogacy may be an option for same-sex couples. In these cases, only one of the parent’s sperm or egg can be used in the process.

Finding a Surrogate

Once you decide on surrogacy, one of the next decisions you will have to make is who your surrogate mother will be.

Sometimes you know best who will be a good surrogate option for your child. If you know a friend or relative who you can trust with carrying your child, it may be best to ask them.

If you decide to have a family member as a surrogate, be mindful of how it may affect the relationship. You may need to have important discussions upfront to avoid legal issues later.

When selecting a surrogate, try to choose someone who:

Has experience giving birth to at least one healthy baby
Understands the medical risks of pregnancy and childbirth
Understands the emotional bond with a newborn
Has passed a psychological screening by a mental health professional
Is willing to sign a contract about her role and responsibilities in the pregnancy

If you don’t have someone in mind, consider hiring an agency. There are hundreds of global agencies that help parents find surrogate mothers.

An agency will help you find the right surrogate and help you manage the process. They will also help you understand how surrogate mothers are paid.

Understanding How Surrogacy Works

The surrogacy process can be for parents who either cannot or wish not to carry a child themselves.

Regardless of your reasons, surrogacy always starts with an understanding of the process. Be sure that you understand how surrogacy works before you make this decision.

The process can seem daunting at first, but there are resources that can ease the process. The ultimate goal is to create a lifelong bond between parent and child.

Solving Family Financial Concerns

May 1, 2018 by admin

Source

Does your family need a complete financial health check? Are the ever increasing expenses of modern living taking its toll on your family? Statistics show that the US debt, which consists mainly of credit card balances was $953.3 billion as of May 2016. The average debt per household was reported to be $9,600. However, there is a plus side to taking credit as larger expenses can be smoothed out that way.

Control finances and live family life to the full

Once you are enveloped in family life with all its ups and downs, often you are too busy to take on overtime or extra hours at work with a demanding young family at home to take care of. One partner may be having some stay at home time to take care of the kids leaving the breadwinning to the other partner for a few years until the children are older but this will result in reduced total family income. This situation can lead to financial stress but with a little planning you can ensure these years are kept special with new experiences and ventures including travel for you and your children. This is where family bonds are strengthened and the childhood memories, that your kids will look back on fondly, are created.

Smooth out the peaks in family costs

The trick to happy family finances is to smooth out the outgoing costs of raising children, removing the peaks of expense. A loan or sensible use of a credit card can be a really useful aid. You will need to ensure you have an excellent credit rating to be able to take advantage of the best credit offers. However, if your credit is less than perfect you should look into how to fix bad credit for good.

Plan and budget for raising your children

At various stages in your children’s upbringing there will be peaks of expenses, for example with a predominantly pre-school age larger sized family childcare costs can be huge, especially if both parents work full-time. Although keeping your career path on track by working full-time can reap positive benefits in a few years when your children have grown more independent and childcare is no longer relevant. In the teenage years there is often an expensive hobby/passion that your child has become very involved in e.g. gymnastics, playing musical instruments. The extra income will come in handy at that time to cover additional costs.

By ensuring your finances are on track with proper planning in place you can focus on the important aspects of raising your children and family life together. Parents should not be worrying about money when they have little ones to guide and nurture. Enjoy your special family times, worry free.

How to Keep Your House Organized as a Working Mom

April 27, 2018 by admin

Organization is likely a word you hear often, and you probably hear it more frequently when you become a parent. It seems to be one of the ways that you can keep your head above the water and survive the many challenges that accompany each day. When you’re a working mom, however, it is likely that your workload as well as responsibilities increase. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, you’ll need to ensure there’s a level of organization in your home. Everyone has a different method and approach when it comes to organizing, so it’s important that you find what works for you. On those premises, this article should help you find a few ways that you can make this happen if you’ve been struggling.

Get Cabinets

Cabinets can be a saving grace when you’re a parent as they help you put things neatly. This is often necessary when your kids have a million and one items and always seem to have one missing sock as well as other lost items. You can never really have enough cabinets so if you have the space for it, you should put extra ones in the house. You could also consider plastic drawers or containers as they’ll be useful for storing items as well. You should have a drawer for different items so that things don’t get mixed and lost. This might mean having a drawer dedicated to arts and crafts items, having one for learning items, while another can be allocated to small toys that have many parts and can easily get lost such as legos, for instance. Whatever the case, look for ways to use storage boxes or cabinets to keep things in order.

Encourage Tidy up Time

Getting kids to tidy up at several periods during the day can be helpful to you as well as them. It is also a great way to spend quality time together and teach them core skills as well as values. If your child is relatively young, trying to keep the house tidy can seem near impossible when trying to get work done, preparing meals and doing the laundry. For this reason, it is imperative that you encourage them to help tidy up any time they make a mess to save yourself zooming around the house endlessly to pick things up. Some secrets to cleaning with kids include starting them young and encouraging tidying as early as possible. This helps build their confidence and makes them feel like they’re an important part of the household as they’re contributing to helping it run smoothly and neatly. It is best to stick with age-appropriate tasks, but for a two or three-year-old, you could perhaps consider getting them to put their toys away, put their dirty clothes in the laundry basket, or put their food mat back once they’re done eating.

Get a Work Desk

As a working mom; it is essential that you have a desk that you can work on. It could help you sit down and focus when it’s work time so that you can get some work done. Transitioning from mommy mode to worker mode can be a difficult transition to make, so creating a serene work-life environment may help. One of the items you may need is a work desk that you can place your laptop and documents on that you need for work. A sit stand keyboard tray may also be ideal so that you can alternate between standing and sitting when you’re working as well as move your desk around if need be. This should also help working more comfortable which hopefully will enhance your productivity so you can get enough work done in between mommy duties.

Clean Twice a Day

It can be tempting to want to clean up several times a day especially if you’re a bit of a neat freak, however, if you’re a work-from-home mom, spending all of your time cleaning won’t leave you with much time to get your work done. At the same time, the last thing you want is a big pile of mess at the end of the day, so it is advisable that you consider doing 5-10 minute cleans twice a day. When trying to keep a house clean with kids, you could opt to clean before nap time and then do a family clean before dinner time. As mentioned earlier, letting the kids help is often a good idea as it takes a little load off your back and teaches them how to keep the house tidy. However, you should try and leave serious spring cleaning to the weekend or your day off whenever you have one. Some things to stick to on a daily basis include arranging the living room, washing the dishes, organizing the kid’s toys, and putting dirty clothes away.

Organize Your Time

The importance of time-management can’t be stressed enough whether you’re a working mom or stay-at-home mom. You should begin by tracking your time to see how it’s being spent and then making a note regarding how you can make adjustments. Some key things you should consider in time-management is keeping up with the kids’ needs, how much time you need to work on a daily basis, and how long it will take you to keep your house organized. Once you’ve figured this out, you can then go on to create a schedule that works for you and enables you to get everything done. It will most likely take time for you to get the hang of it and things won’t always go according to schedule but keep working at it.

Keeping your house organized with busy and active kids can seem like an uphill battle. However, to ensure you live in a thriving environment and one that you can work from, making sure things are in order, and there’s little to do at the end of the day is crucial. The hope is that by applying a few of the tips mentioned above, you’ll be a pro at organizing with little ones in no time.