August 28th, 2009
What makes the “great outdoors” so great? The fresh air is great. The plants and animals are great. The sense of freedom is great. Even children at play can enjoy the great outdoors, but several measures, such as children at play signs can help to guarantee their safety.
Dangers to children at play outdoors can exist right outside a home’s front or back door. On porches, balconies and decks, railings should be close enough to prevent children from getting their head caught, or from them sliding through. Exits and stairs should be blocked off, to prevent falls. Next, when children play in the front or back yards, limit their play regions outdoors, and fence it in, if possible. Additionally, children should only ride toys in safe areas such as sidewalks, and under no circumstances in the street. Children at play signs can further protect kid drivers from adult drivers.
In addition to areas directly around the house, child safety should also be maintained in other locations. Inspect your child’s playground equipment, to ensure that repairs are not required. Furthermore, place woodchips, mulch, or sand underneath swing sets. Next, when at the pool, never leave a child unattended nearby water. Keep toys, chairs and tables far from the pool. Also, permanent pools can be fenced in, and gates with automatic locks and high latches, can be installed to protect children at play. Mastering CPR could also be useful, to prepare for any emergencies at the pool. Lastly, outside the pool near the street, children at play signs could be posted as well.
While we might expect manmade objects and places to present dangers to children at play, ironically plants and plant-related materials can also create safety hazards for kids. Read literature to learn about which plants are poisonous. In the case that your child eats a poisonous plant, remove the bits from his mouth and then contact a poison control center, to get additional guidance. Next, keep pesticides and fertilizers stored in safe locations, and keep children away when these products are being used. Furthermore, keep lawnmowers and other garden and lawn equipment locked away in a shed. Finally, keep children at play at a distance when using these tools.
Children at play, like adults, enjoy all the benefits that the great outdoors has to offer. However, taking particular safety precautions, such as installing children at play signs, will ensure that the area remains great for them.
Tags: Adult Drivers, Back Yards, Balconies, Child Safety, Children At Play, Fert, Great Outdoors, Manmade Objects, Mulch, Nearby Water, Plants And Animals, Playground Equipment, Poison Control Center, Poisonous Plant, Porches, Railings, Related Materials, Safety Dangers, Safety Hazards, Safety Tip
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August 28th, 2009
The kitchen is the perfect place for making memories. When you spend time baking, cooking and enjoying meals with your family, you create happy memories you and your children will cherish forever.
The benefits of preparing and enjoying food as a family are clear. You save money and eat healthier meals. You create opportunities to connect and communicate with your children and spouse. And most importantly, you show love for your family when you spend time cooking and eating with them. Children of all ages need your attention and your time. By working together to create a meal or bake a batch of cookies, you spend valuable time together.
So, here are 10 steps to get your family cooking up memories.
Step 1:
Teach small children the fun of cooking by helping them bake cookies and cakes. If you are short on time, you can use a boxed cookie mix and spend more time decorating.
Step 2:
Encourage the littlest ones to play pretend cooking. Kids love to play with real mixing bowls, strainers and wooden spoons. These make harmless toys and can be easily thrown in the dishwasher for quick cleanup.
Step 3:
If you live by your day-timer, schedule in baking cookies with your kids. Our schedules can be so hectic that something as simple as baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies can get skipped over. Write it down and do it.
Step 4:
If you have teenagers, let them play their favorite music while they wash the lettuce and set the table.
Step 5:
Work together with your spouse to prepare the dinner and use the time to catch up on each other’s day.
Step 6:
Even if you are in a rush preparing dinner, remember to reduce your stress and focus on creating a fun atmosphere that naturally encourages the whole family to participate.
Step 7:
When spending time preparing food with your children, include lessons about healthy eating choices. Keep the conversation positive and avoid listing foods they can’t have.
Step 8:
On days where you anticipate time will be tight, consider taking a short cut by using a frozen stir-fry mix or pasta with a jar of pre-made sauce. Your family will appreciate your relaxed mood much more than a made-from-scratch dinner.
Step 9:
Share the job of grocery shopping. One week have mom take one of the children as a helper, the next week dad can go with another child. Always work from a grocery list and let your children help you retrieve items and cross them off the list.
Step 10:
Have big family meals where you share about your day. Keep the conversation fun and avoid negative lectures over dinner. Remember to laugh.
Take these steps today and make your kitchen a fun and memorable place for your whole family.
Tags: Cakes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cleanup, Cookie Mix, Cooking Kids, Day Timer, Dishwasher, Family Memories, Favorite Music, Happy Memories, Lettuce, Making Memories, Mixing Bowls, Spending Time, Step 1, Step 6, Step 8, Strainers, Teenagers, Wooden Spoons
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August 27th, 2009
It’s nice when the whole family spends time together. You share a special bond between one another that cannot be recreated with anyone else. Father, mother, sister, brother, you all belong to each other in a special way. Each member of the family needs to rely on each other for love, companionship, advice, support and sometimes just to listen. Times aren’t always going to be smooth sailing. A family that is strong in love can make it through the worst of times.
In order for a family to work well together, each member needs to give of themselves to one another, without thinking about getting anything in return. This is giving from your heart. If each member were to do this, everyone’s needs would be met and there would be no selfishness in your family, only true love for one another.
Sometimes in a family, there can be a fight where it is so bad, that one seperates themself from a member of the family or the entire family for a long period of time. It’s a shame when something like this happens. It can hurt a family really bad. There’s bitterness and pain that winds up leaving a void in one’s heart because they seem to have lost that bond they once had. No matter what happened or how terrible it may have been to cause such a seperation, families need to be reunited. Forgiveness can mend more than one heart. Pride is not worth losing family over.
There’s nothing like having dinner together as a family. There’s just something that makes the end of the day more pleasant. Take for instance if you had a bad day or you have a problem that you would like to discuss. Here at the table, you have loved ones that are willing to listen and help you get over your bad day. Nothing like quality time with your family. You have to eat, right? Eat together and spend that time keeping the bond tight and the love flowing.
Family time together, whether it would be watching a movie or going to a movie, or a day in the park, or maybe a camping trip(here’s a hint:you could even camp out in your backyard) it’s what you do with the time you have together. There’s many things a family could do together. Sometimes there’s always that one member who doesn’t want to go. If you are that one member, forget about yourself and think of your family. Remember that you are not always going to be living together. The time is going to come when either you are going to be moving out or if your the parent your kids are going to be leaving. Don’t miss out on the time you could be sharing with one another. Quality time together is important.
Many households have both parents working. The kids come home from school to a empty house. These days even if everyone is home, you can still be seperated. There are so many electronic gadgets to keep everyone busy by themselves. Let’s see what we have. Cell phones, gaming computers, laptops, ipods, mp3 players, video games, 200 plus channels on T.V., etc., etc. All the things on the web that will keep you busy like blogging, chat rooms, my space, and so on. There are so many things one can do to entertain themselves without the family. Most of these things can be addictive. People can become strangers in their own family.
It only takes one family member to get the ball rolling. So if your family is not as tight as it should be, you could be the one to change it. There’s nothing worse than sitting down one day and looking back at the time one missed with their family. You can’t go back and change things. Regret is very painful and it will last you the rest of your life. May God Bless You.
Tags: Advice Support, Bad Day, Beautiful, Bitterness, Camping, Companionship, Family Time, Father Mother, Forgiveness, Heart, Member Of The Family, Period Of Time, Pride, Quality Time, Selfishness, Shame, Sister Brother, Smooth Sailing, Themself, True Love
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