Decrease the amount of laundry you do by creating new standards of “dirty”. If you wear a pair of jeans for two hours then put on your shorts, are the jeans dirty? Not in my house. Pajamas put on a clean body at night after a bath and worn once aren’t dirty either. Ditto for a towel that blots a freshly scrubbed body. Teach your kids that dirty mean it has food or obvious dirt marks on it. The exception? Underwear of course!

Minimize sorting by putting a hamper in each bedroom that has 3 slots. One for whites, one for darks, and one for mixed colors. For kids that are very young, try cutting out a large circle from construction paper for each category. Tape these on the wall above the hamper to show where to put each color. Alternately, you could buy inexpensive colored bins that match laundry colors.

Train your kids to bring you their dirty laundry at the beginning of each day or at some other time you choose. Don’t turn socks right side out for laundering. Show your family members how to take off their socks without bunching them into an inside out ball. If they don’t choose to listen to your sock lessons, let them turn their own socks right side out.

You may be able to minimize sorting even more by washing more clothes together. Many times light colors can go into the wash with mixed colors if you use cold water and the items aren’t brand new. Typically only cheap clothing fades anyway so buy your kid’s clothing from the nicer stores. It will last longer and wash well. (more…)

A few months ago, certain part of the US experienced a bad case of storm. Well, it’s really a bad case and lots of family were affected. A lot lost their houses, but only few lost a life that’s thanks to the underground storm shelters and evacuation of the government. Lives were saved because of the preparedness of everybody.

That is the reason, I’m thinking of putting one in our house. Actually, we don’t experience storm in our area. But, it would be better to be prepared, right? At least having an escape plan in case of calamities can give better chances of survival unlike not having one. It’s not just for me, but for the rest of my family as well. It’s their safety that I’m after.

One of my grandnieces is now ready to explore the world of school. Her mom is now preparing her and is helping her learn things by decorating the house in a playful, but educating manner. She is really busy designing the room of her little kid. She isn’t like that to her two sons; I guess she is much excited over the girl.

Anyway, I also wanted to give a cute kids farm stool I found in the web. There are plenty of step stools available from bunnies, cows, to pigs. It would be a charming addition to any child’s room or bathroom. She can also pass the stool to her other kids because what I found is hand-carved and hand-painted the details. The handy storage under the top step allows this to double as a toy chest. Well, I’m pretty sure both she and my grandniece will love it.

The only student I have now is being overwhelmed with the number of homework and projects he is assigned to. I see that coming after he chose to enroll in the honor section of the school. I let him decide which section he wants to go to after passing the exam. Without hesitation, he opts for the honors class, which is now giving him quite a hard time. Despite that I can feel he is enjoying every minute of it that’s why I did not interfere.

Anyway, the only thing I can do for him now is to show my support through giving him everything he needs. Speaking of which, I remember that I should buy toner cartridges online since the printer runs out of ink. I’m sure he will have lots of printing needs this month so I could not afford to let the printer gone dry. I guess that’s it for now, I should get hurry and find an affordable cartridge the soonest.

If using a blanket, it is best to place your infant with his or her feet nearly touching one end of the crib, and then tuck the blanket in at the foot and the sides allowing it to cover no farther than your baby’s chest. Using a sleeper instead of a blanket may further reduce any risk of danger. Your child should sleep on his or her back in a crib with a firm, tightly fitting mattress. This is to prevent your child from becoming trapped between the sides of the crib and the mattress. Do not put pillows, comforters, quilts, bumper pads or stuffed toys in the crib with your child. Only use fitted sheets that are made for cribs and fit the mattress properly.

Be sure there are no loose or poorly installed brackets, screws or other hardware on the crib or mattress support. The corner posts should not be taller than 1/16th of an inch high to prevent the infant’s clothing from getting caught and there should not be any cutouts on the headboard or footboard where your child’s head might become trapped. The slats of the crib should be no more than 2 1/4 inches apart so that the baby cannot squeeze through. Never use a crib with missing or damaged slats.

If you plan to use a crib with mesh sides, don’t use anything with mesh larger than 1/4 inch because the buttons from your infant’s clothing could get caught. If the crib or playpen was manufactured using staples, just be sure none of them are missing, loose or sticking out. Check the tops and bottoms on all sides to be certain the mesh is securely attached and make sure there are no rips or holes in the rail cover along the top especially. Always check for damaged mesh and do not use the crib or playpen if there are holes or loose threads. (more…)

It’s been a week since my daughter left the country. She is trying her luck in a foreign place together with her hubby. I don’t like the idea much, but there’s little I can do about it. They are old enough to live their own life and make decisions for the betterment of their future family. But, if I only have a way to keep them nearby, I would definitely stop them. For now, the only way I can do is to show my support and trust them.

Speaking of support, I found a site that offers a number of jobs including the Technical Recruiter Consultant Jobs. I wanted to tell it to her directly, but can’t find the right timing since she is currently offline. So, I just left a message with the details. I just hope I don’t sound too pushy because I just want to help her.