Tag Archives: parenting

A Guide To Decorating Baby’s Room In 2020!

10/26/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

For the little ones, their bedroom is like a magical world in which they can bring objects to life. The bed transforms into a pirate ship in the blink of an eye and you just have to lift the duvet to discover a new universe. So, to play with their imagination and allow them to sleep in dreamland, you should set up their room in a fun and original way. The bed can be transformed into a tree house, a magical house or even a surfer’s van. To keep them entertained, you can create little nooks and areas for them to play and explore. Here are some tips to ensure that you are hitting the mark!

2020, baby, family, babies, decorating, parenting — Photo: Unsplash

Create a dada zone

Not only your baby should be comfortable in the nursery. You (and your partner) will also spend a lot of hours there. A nice rocking chair or nice armchair for cuddles and rocking before they go to sleep. Whilst this may seem like the mom’s job, it’s important to note that there are plenty of single dads out there or dads who look after their children full time. Therefore, creating something that works for you is going to be perfect. Add a side table to place your portable TV on mute so you can still keep up with the sports!

Give your little one a night light

This is a cozy and sweet detail piece that actually really assists. It is nice for you and your baby to have a cuddle and bond with some warm lighting and also allows the baby to not feel totally alone in a dark room. Also, the soothing glow of a night light will help them to distinguish between day and night.

Practical layout of the furniture

Open baskets, trays or boxes in the cupboard are very suitable for sorting toys, care products, socks, sheets, clothing and other baby accessories. After a while, you will automatically find the right container without even looking. You can buy handy storage units at various stores, but you can of course also cover cardboard boxes with self-adhesive paper or crochet baskets yourself. You want to ensure that the furniture you buy aligns with what you want entirely. It should last a long time and well into their childhood if you buy savvy. This is why you should always look at a baby furniture buying guide to ensure you’re buying what’s right for you. Furniture includes the cabinets, drawers, cots/beds and of course any accessories.

Refurbishing second-hand items! Do you have a limited budget and are you creative? There are plenty of baby room furniture on the marketplace that can get a completely new look with some sanding, a lick of paint or, for example, a monochrome grey. This way you can create unique furniture for next to nothing. Upcycling is also a great way to look after the planet; therefore you are ticking off two things at once. Eco-conscious homes are often the most effective and cost less; so it’s an advantageous situation for everyone, including babies!

Creative wall decoration

You can of course buy wall stickers, but unfortunately they are pricey. A better value would be peel and stick wallpaper to easily transform any room. The alternative is that you go to work yourself and make a beautiful mural. There are plenty of nice examples on the internet. Choose water-based paint to avoid inhaling chemicals. Tip: first make your drawing on the wall with a pencil. That makes painting a lot easier.

Try a gender neutral approach?

Would you like a theme? But don’t you want to know the gender yet or do you want to be able to reuse the nursery for a possible second child? Then it is useful to choose a neutral theme. For example, don’t just think of a unisex color on the walls, but also choose furniture that can suit both a boy and a girl. Themes that you can indulge in for both your little girl and boy are: safari, jungle, forest animals, Winnie the Pooh, retro, fresh and sunny, sea and beach, nature or clouds. Look for more ideas on Pinterest to stimulate your creativity.

Keep things Covid friendly!

Covid is still posing a threat to many families and therefore keeping on top of the cleaning is vital. To keep the bedroom fresh, it is important that you air this room regularly. You can do this by leaving the window open for a few hours after getting up in the morning. Ideally, you should not make your bed in this time frame. That way you not only air your room, but also your bed. This means that bacteria has less chance to grow. Extra tip: if it keeps smelling a little strange in your bedroom despite airing, you can put half a lemon with a clove in it.

Many people never wash their duvets, but it is good to do this at least twice a year. It may be a small challenge, but most washing machines are built to wash such big things. Before putting it in the washing machine, take a good look at what it says on the care label.

Pillows also benefit from an occasional wash. Most pillows can be washed in the washing machine, but it is wise to check this in advance just in case it clogs up your machine or damages the pillow. When you have washed your pillow, it is best to shake it regularly and place it on the drying rack. It ventilates well and prevents it from smelling musty.

Clean the door handles, and light switches regularly! In fact, it is always a good thing to do, but especially now that the corona virus is spreading, it is wise to clean door handles, light switches and other areas in your bedroom that you often touch. Many people are convinced that alcohol is required to do this job, but soapy water with all-purpose cleaner, and lukewarm water works just as well. When you have babies and kids, they often spread their saliva around everywhere, because they are always putting their fingers in their mouths. Therefore, be sure to take extra care. In addition to the door handles and light switches in your bedroom, it is wise to keep the door handles and switches elsewhere in the house clean during these corona times. Which parts of your home could use extra attention during this period?

Life, Lifestyle, Parenting

4 Ways To Be More Involved In Your Kids’ Lives Without Being Overbearing

10/22/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

As a parent, it can be a struggle to be a “cool” mom or dad without losing your disciplinary role over your children. A survey discovered that about a quarter of children below 18 live in one-parent households. This makes it even more tricky to draw the line between being involved in your child’s life without being overbearing. Are you confused about how to strike a healthy balance in this regard? Here are some helpful tips.

Show interest in things your children like

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When you take an interest in the activities your children enjoy, they feel more comfortable confiding in you when faced with challenging situations since it helps strengthen the bond you share. Watch their favourite shows with them, or flip through their preferred style magazine to pick fashion ideas. Encourage them to use their talents and praise them. This boosts their confidence in themselves and creates a special bond in which they can trust you.

Think ahead

Being a parent means being able to think ahead. Although you want to support your child and wish the best for them, how would it benefit them if you are always helping them? By thinking ahead, you can analyze how your actions now may affect them in their future. Give them space to make their own mistakes and learn from them or allow them to make some decisions independently. For example, instead of placing a lot more focus on your children making straight A’s, concentrate on helping them with their homework throughout the school term. By setting up a comfortable study system, you have already thought ahead on inculcating the habit of constant learning in them.

Attempt being generous with boundaries

The more you hover over your child and intrude on their personal space, the more likely they are to hide things from you. Children who feel overly guarded tend to find solace in holding on to the tiniest bit of privacy and inadvertently shut you out as they grow. It is good to set some boundaries for them to gain privacy. Avoid snooping around their personal belongings; instead, adopt a trusting attitude to generate respect for them and you. Do you perhaps have some spare time due to an injury? Use your time to gain expert and focused representation for your case, then give your children the space and privacy they require.

Relax with the rules

Rules are good and should be enforced, but do not be too hard on your kids when they go wrong. Kids would always leave a mess, especially after playtime. Rather than harshly reprimanding them, teach them the right way to clean up their mess. Once in a while, set out little punishments for disobedience towards teaching them about the consequences but again, try not to be too harsh.

It does not take a long time for your clingy little toddler to become a teenager who likes to keep their bedroom door shut. It helps to maintain a level head while balancing the disciplinary role and the easy-going attitude. Make the most of your time as a dad or mom and build a lasting relationship with your children.

Going Green, Going Healthy, Health, Life, Parenting

How to Turn Your Kids into Environmental Ambassadors

09/29/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Later, hotter summers and colder winters prove that global warming is a real issue. The impact of this will affect those we care about most- our children.

In 2020, working toward protecting our environment and global warming has never been more important. We should, every day, be doing our bit to help to protect, sustain and care for our natural world before these irreversible issues take hold too quickly.

As adults with children, it is our job to teach them about the damage being made to the planet- a vast topic to understand, but a valuable, lifelong lesson to learn.

Here are some of the things to teach our kids about the environment, and how they can care for the world around them.

What areas Should You Cover When Talking to Young Children About the Environment?

Children are very receptive to life lessons. They will be highly influenced by the people around them- friends and family, and will want to start doing some of the same things as them. If they see you recycling, then they’ll want to know how and why they should do that and want to get involved.

Some topics of conversation to help to engage your children with environmental issues should be: deforestation, global warming, recycling, and endangered animals. Talk to them about how some of the smaller changes and habits they engage in now will help them to make an essential impact for the future generations.

Help them to understand the ways in which they can help to save electricity and water around the home such as, turning the tap off when it’s time to brush their teeth, and to unplug items when they are not being used, as well as turning off the lights when they leave a room.

Here are Some Fun Activities to Help Children to Understand the Importance of Caring for the Environment

Invent craft projects using items that would usually be thrown away- for example a jar for pasta sauce can be used again to hold trail mix snacks, or painted brightly and turned into a pencil pot.
Get outside in nature. Visit a nature reserve, a farm or a national park and help them to point out all the wildlife they see. Why not create a finder mission activity where they can tick off each animal or bug that they see. You can laminate an activity sheet and have them circle pictures with a dry wipe marker so they can be used again.
Read articles and listen to talks about the environment. Stephen Troese has a wide range of these that are accessible for most audiences. You can read some before speaking to your children to get a better understanding of this area yourself.
Create a small compost box to keep outside. Teach children the items that can and cannot be collected in the food waste tubs, and have them watch these items decompose to turn into compost.
Use the compost to plant their own vegetables. It’s exciting to watch a seed begin to sprout and then turn into something recognizable as something to eat!