Be More Compassionate at Work

People who are under a great deal of stress tend to forget to be nice to their coworkers. This is a very human reaction to being tense, overwhelmed, or scared about the future. One way to make your workplace less awful is to be more compassionate at work. If you really don’t feel like it – then it is even more important that you rediscover your compassion. Times are tough. You and your coworkers might be struggling to finish a big project in the days before its deadline. There might be quotas that each worker must achieve. Someone calls in … Continue reading

“Hypo-Parenting” is Not a Parenting Style

Have you ever wished that you could hypnotize your children so they would behave the way you wanted them to? One parent has been doing exactly that, though there is no science to support the idea that hypnosis is an effective parenting tool. Lisa Macheberg is a hypnotherapist who has three children. She says she started hypnotizing her children the help them get through the night without wetting the bed. She didn’t stop there, though. She now uses hypnotizing as a tool to help her kids deal with range of problems from performance anxiety to difficulty focusing. In an ABC … Continue reading

Christmas Safety Tips for Parents of Toddlers

Everyone wants to have their holiday vacation be a pleasant one. Ideally, everyone in your family should be warm, safe, and happy. One way to help ensure a merry Christmas is to follow some of these holiday safety tips. These are geared for new parents and for parents who have small children. Toddlers will grab trees. Many parents make use of a playpen from time to time. Some parents use the playpen as an easy place for their toddler to take a nap. Others put their toddler safely into the playpen so they can quickly run to the bathroom or … Continue reading

Things to Consider About Toddlers and Tablets

Do you let your toddler play with your tablet? It is easy to see why toddlers are attracted to them. They make sounds, and have colors, and stuff moves around when you poke at it. Some have started to wonder if the combination of toddlers and tablets is a good idea. How much screen time is too much? There are both positives and negatives to allowing your toddler to play with your iPad (or other tablet). That’s exactly what makes it so difficult for parents. If there were only good results, or only negative results, the choice would be simple! … Continue reading

Fun Items for Frugal Dress Up Play

There is a quick and easy way to entertain your preschooler for at least half an hour or so. Let him or her play dress up! Preschoolers tend to love this activity because it lets them “become” someone else for a while. Dress up is a great opportunity for using one’s imagination. Here are some frugal ideas for dress up play. Frugal Dress Up Ideas for Preschoolers Old Costumes Previously worn Halloween costumes are great for playing dress up in. Your child can become a princess, a superhero, or both in the same day. Reuse the Halloween costumes that your … Continue reading

Where to Find Great Recipes from Kraft

What will you be feeding your family for dinner tonight? There are times when that is a rather difficult question to answer. It helps if you have plenty of recipes to choose from. Fortunately, there are many places to find recipes from Kraft. There was a time when people had to rely on cookbooks, women’s magazines, and the box of handwritten recipes that their mother and grandmother handed down to them for recipe ideas. Today, companies that make food products are very active online. This makes it really easy to find plenty of recipes that include products from your favorite … Continue reading

Frugal Tips for Summer Activities

Summer vacation is a great time for families to go out and do things together. Visiting amusement parks, dining out, and staying in hotels can end up costing a lot of money. Travel expenses can quickly add up, too. Here are some frugal tips that will help your family enjoy summer vacation without having to go into a lot of debt. Pack some snacks. Make use of your child’s lunchbox this summer. It is the perfect container for easy to eat snacks that your family can bring along on car trips. Instead of stopping the car at the nearest fast … Continue reading

Yoga Positions for Early Labor

The other day my doula visited our home to show us some techniques we’ll use for pain management during early labor.  Our goal is to do as much of the labor at home as possible – we’re more comfortable at home, and thus more likely to be relaxed here – and so these are some moves and positions Jon and I can do to help me get through the pain. If you get a book like The Birth Partner or other books about/that have sections on natural childbirth, these positions might be familiar to you.  I don’t know exactly what they’re … Continue reading

Should You Create A Birth Plan?

Should you create a birth plan?  It can be a helpful tool for making your wishes known both to your healthcare provider and the labor & delivery staff, but it also seems a little silly to plan something like one’s labor: after all, if we could control it, we would all have easy births. When I first heard about birth plans, I decided that they weren’t for me.  I’m a very Type A person; I get stressed if even my silliest of plans get messed up, if they’re ones I’m excited about.  Trying to plan my baby’s birth, and everything … Continue reading

How to Save Money at Oriental Trading

Oriental Trading is my go-to for supplies when I am planning a big birthday party, as I am doing this year. They have a ton of stuff, from decorations to crafts to goodie bag items. It is easy to find items to fit practically any theme. The spending could quickly get out of hand, unless you know the Oriental Trading money-saving secrets. My youngest, who usually gets short-changed in most things, by fortune of his birth (hand-me-downs and a much slimmer photo album) is finally getting his do with an elaborate (for us) knight-themed birthday party. He is inviting all … Continue reading