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Ideas That Spark: Mom2Mom Get Clean on a Budget By Renae Chiovaro for Ideas That Spark By Renae Chiovaro Cleaning products are a necessity in any home, but for tough jobs in big houses, costs can add up. It is possible to spend less on cleaning products without cutting your cleaning power. Whether you have $5 to spend on cleaning products or $50, these simple tips will help you clean house on a very limited budget. 1. Use old-fashioned soap and water. Dish soap is a mild cleanser that can be used on multiple surfaces. To clean countertops, use hot soapy water. 2. Clean a little every day. Put some effort into cleaning at least one thing every day. Cleaning will be less daunting and require gentler cleaning products if it occurs regularly. 3. Clean the dryer vents and refrigerator coils regularly. Appliances run more efficiently when they are properly maintained. Plus, you will extend the life of your machine. 4. Less is more when it comes to dishwasher and laundry soap. Using too much soap can lead to appliance damage — plus, it’s a waste of costly detergent. Follow the instructions on the package to use the appropriate amount of soap. If you have soft water, you can use even less soap than the manufacturers recommend. 5. Implement a “no shoes rule” in your house. This will cut down on the amount of dirt and debris tracked in the home. Place a basket at the door to serve as shoe storage. 6. Reuse used items. If you’ve just used a paper towel to dry off washed fruit, use the now-wet paper towel to quickly swipe over stains or spills on kitchen counters. A sponge that was once used to clean dishes can now be used to get small spills of the floor. Renae Chiovaro is a mother of two boys who blogs at madamedeals.com on how to save money in all aspects of life.

Tags: chores, Family and Home, homemaking, housekeeping, tips and tricks
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As of April 30, 2010, McNeil Consumer Healthcare (maker of children's medications such as Tylenol, Motrin and Zyrtec) has issued a voluntary product recall of all lots that have not yet expired of over-the-counter children's and infants' liquid products

As of April 30, 2010, McNeil Consumer Healthcare (maker of children’s medications such as Tylenol, Motrin  and Zyrtec) has issued a voluntary product recall of all lots that have not yet expired of over-the-counter children’s and infants’ liquid products manufactured in the United States and distributed in the US< Canada, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, and Kuwait.

Thankfully, this product recall has not come as a result of any adverse medical events, but the specified products may not meet required quality standards. For instance, too much of the active ingredient, inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements, and even tiny particles. The company does not seem overly concerned about serious medical problems resulting from the use of these drugs, but they are encouraging consumers to immediately discontinue use of these drugs. For a complete list of recalled medications, please follow the appropriate links below…

Infants’ Tylenol and Children’s Tylenol Products

Infants’ Motrin and Children’s Motrin Products

Children’s Zyrtec Products

Children’s Benadryl Products

All recalled products from April 30, 2010

The McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Division of McNeil-PPC, Inc. has also supplied a link through which you can request a refund or high value coupon as compensation for the discontinued products. Word to the wise, if you want a refund, DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY until you copy off the required information for the refund: Product Name, NDC#, LOT#, and Expiration Date. If you are a mother like me living in Arizona during the worst allergy season in history, this will definitely be a valuable link since I currently have a medicine cabinet full of these products that will shortly be visiting the trash can…but not before I request a sizable refund!

For more information: Visit McNeil’s frequently asked questions page.

Tags: product recall
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Yes, the words have been spoken and it is now out there. Imagine: a world where happy meals no longer are served with toys. Can they even be called “happy” meals anymore? The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to prohibit fast-food restaurants from promoting unhealthy meals with attractive kids toys. Toys are only allowed to be sold with meals that pass certain nutritional standards which include:

• No single food item can contain more than 200 calories, the drink cannot have more than 120 calories, and the entire meal cannot exceed 485 calories.
• No single item can contain more than 480 milligrams of salt, and the entire meal is limited to 600mg of salt.
• No more than 35% of the caolories can come from fat.
• No more than 10% of total caolries can come from added sugar.

Even meals that offer apple slices as an alternative to fries or tater tots do not currently meet these standards. If the measures receive final approval in May, restaurants will have 90 days to present alternative meals for trimming the  fat, salt, sugar and calories in their kids meals. Violators could face fines of up to $1,000.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “In Santa Clara County, one out of every four kids is either overweight or obese. Among 2- to 5-year-olds from low-income families, the rate is one in three. The county health system spends millions of dollars a year treating kids for health problems related to obesity, and the tab is growing.”

Results from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that childhood obesity is becoming a national epidemic among our little ones. According to the survey, among pre-school age children 2-5 years of age, obesity increased from 5 to 10.4% between 1976-1980 and 2007-2008 and from 6.5 to 19.6% among 6-11 year olds.  Among adolescents aged 12-19, obesity increased from 5 to 18.1% during the same period. Very scary statistics.

There are many out there that are loudly opposing this new fast food policy. Trying to decide how much and what we should allow our government to regulate does seem to be a very hot topic these days. How much is too much? Frankly, I would welcome a few less cheap, easily breakable toys in my house and since my kids are often relegated to a fast food dinner certain nights of the week because of time constraints on our evenings (sports activities for instance), I would definitely appreciate healthier “fast food” options. I think most parents recognize that these toys are not just benign additions to our kids meals. They are advertisers targeted efforts to attract the interest and demand of our children. As a parent, I welcome anything that will help encourage my children (and myself!) to make more nutritional food choices. I also welcome the encouragement it provides businesses to create more nutritionally sound meal options. By only allowing toys to be sold with nutritionally sound meals, we are rewarding kids and parents for wiser food choices and hopefully encouraging food establishments to offer these nutritional meals with more variety and frequency.

I wonder if more counties will fall in line with this philosophy. I am sure there will be many keeping a close eye on the Santa Clara County to measure the results of this new policy. We would love to hear your thoughts on this one as it very well could turn into a national movement. Are you in favor or against restrictions on fast food offerings? Join us in a forum discussion on the topic.

Tags: childhood obesity
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When I initially set out to write this series, I was a little disheartened by the lack of information available through my school. But I was most impressed with the outpouring of information from the many people who handle kids with peanut allergies on a daily basis. With all the information out there though, nothing can compensate for a childs own ability to self-manage their allergies. Parents with allergic children need to prepare their child for life in busy crowded situations like school by giving both the child and their teachers as much information as possible to be prepared.

A teacher with ample information to send home to a child’s classmates parents will be able to provide a much safer environment than a teacher with no tools to supply their parents and students. As Elizabeth Cowles Johnston, a member of School Nutition Association states, “schools want to ensure that sutdents are also cognizant of their own allergy risks – another reason tables or areas of “peanut0free” are more prevalent than complete bans as they are more manageable to monitor.” Elizabeth offered us two great printouts entitled “School Foodservice and Food Allergies: What We Need to Know” and a comprehensive “Food Allergy Action Plan” that parents can fill out for their kids to take to school and give to their teachers, parents or other involved faculty members.

Lor Aronsky from Food Allergy Ally shared some more suggestions of “nut free” treats and alternatives to send to school:

• Instead of Peanut Butter, try Soy Nut Butter (IM Healthy) or Sunflower Butter (Sun Butter).
• Treasure Mills Allergen Sensitive Snacks make school safe treats such as brownies, chocolate chip treats, oatmeal raisin cookies, etc. and are sold at Whole Foods Stores.
• Divvies makes delicious treats for school.
• Vermont Nut Free has amazing candies, treats, etc.
• Entenmanns makes several nut free deserts and many popsicles and water ices are safe but a caution with these products…READ LABELS as not all of these products are made without nut contaminants.

Lori also offers some suggestions on home safety should you have a child with nut allergies over to play. It is fine to have nuts and peanut butter in your home but keep them out of reach and even out of sight if possible. If you have prepared peanut butter sandwiches on your table tops, simply wipe them down well. Remember to check labels before giving any food to the child. Recognize that they can safely eat fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt and MOST Mac and Cheeses and MOST pizza snacks but again…CHECK LABELS! Be sure the parent leaves 2 epi pens and they train you how to use one in case.

Other suggestions for classrooms are to make sure if you have a child with allergies, to bring a bag of “safe” treats to school for your teacher to keep on hand should someone unexpectedly bring questionable treats to school for the kids. Most teachers prefer kids bring in pencils, markers, stickers or other school supplies as an alternative to treats anyway.

Always wash hands after snacks or lunch to make sure that nut contaminants are not transferred to classroom materials.

A great web find was the Stuck on You labels. They offer many customized stickers, bags, labels, bracelets and school supplies that will help parents protect children by alerting caregivers to their specific allergy. They have some very fun ideas and supplies worth checking into.

Another suggestion came from Alana Elliot, Founder and President of Nonuttin’ Foods Inc. She suggests providing a large, color poster to the school with a picture of the allergic child, their food allergies, and no more than 3 simple steps to follow if an allergic reaction is suspected. Make enough copies for the child’s classroom, the staff room and the office. “While some people may be concerned about their child being labeled,” Alana says, “it’s advisable to have all in the school aware of your child so they can respond accordingly in an emergency and not all staff will know the child so must have a visual to refer to.” She adds,”Safety trumps privacy in this situation.”

Alana also recommends keeping your child’s epi-pens on their person. “A teacher in the playground with your child will not have time to go get an epi-pen in the school and return to your child.” Kat Eden, an employee at Education.com and mother of an allergic child, suggests a “teaching” epi-pen is worth having around so that parents can take a moment at the beginning of the school year to educate a teacher or other faculty member how to use the pen correctly without fear.

Kat also  has taught her son some choice phrases to help him communicate with the other children about his allergies. Politely refusing treats with a “no thank you” or even a more direct “I’m allergic to peanuts” will alert kids but may also invite teasing. So Kat suggested her son try a little humor of his own by saying “my body doesn’t like peanuts and if I eat them or touch them I’ll get very sick. But my body LOVEEESSSS chocolate!”…she adds, “I’m not sure why but that cracks him up every time!”.

Here are a few more helpful links worth checking out…

• Nut and Peanut Allergy Diet
• Allergy and Special Needs
• Kids and Food Allergies: Facts, Tips, and Resources

We hope you have found our unfortunately rather long blog posts this week helpful as we strive to keep our kids safer in school. It is also our hope that you will take this information and share it with as many others as you can so that we can continue to understand this allergy better, with less fear and with more understanding. As Jessica Cohen, a parent of a child with multiple food allergies, states “the more the people around him understand the seriousness of it, the more we can all work together to keep children like mine safe.” Mike Spinney, another concerned parent, adds “clearly communicating the reality of our daughter’s situation opens eyes, and when they know there’s a potential for death, they pay attention.”

Tags: education, Family and Home, food allergies, parenting, product reviews, safety, teachers, tips and tricks
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To ban, or not to ban...that is the question. But what is the answer?

According to the “School Nutrition Operations Report: The State of School Nutrition 2009” released in September by the School Nutrition Association, only about 34.7% of schools have banned any foods due to food allergies. The most commonly banned food item is peanuts. The report also tells us that as a direct result of food allergies and sensitivities, more than 20% of districts now offer gluten-free food options. While many parents of allergy affected children have sought a complete ban on peanuts at schools, there are mixed emotions as to whether or not this would actually solve any problems.

Elizabeth Cowles who works with the non-profit School Nutrition Association, expalins “one common concern we’ve heard many school foodservice professionals cite is the false safety that a complete ban can create.” She continues,”they ultimately have to rely on compliance from all parents and students to make a food ban effective.”

Elizabeth’s concerns are echoed by Corinne Gregory, founder and President of SocialSmarts (a nationally-recognized schools-based program that teaches good social skills, positive character and values). Bans and isolating a student with allergies can further alienate a child who already feels “different”. Corinne has encountered increasing occurrences of bullying in the form of “tainting” foods or even trying to force-feed a child the very ingredient they are deathly allergic to. She adds “kids have beven been known to contaminate personal items or work surfaces with the allergen”. Such bullying tactics are absolutely horrific to imagine actually taking place but Corrine stresses “it’s vital that parents, teachers, and the public know about this nasty practice as they strive to keep kids safe.”

So if bans and isolation are not the answer, then what can we do to help these children? Enter Lori Aronsky, owner of Food Allergy Ally. She volunteered some wonderful strategies that are already being successfully practiced at many schools. First, education. Fellow classmates, teachers, parents and other faculty must be aware of the severity and risks involved. She recommended some wonderful books for kindergarten and first graders to help them understand and hopefully sympathize with the difficulties of living with a food allergy:

• Chad the Allergic Chipmunk: A Children’s Story of Nut Allergies
• Allie the Allergic Elephant: A Children’s Story of Peanut Allergies

On the subject of classroom etiquette, Lori ads that “when a child brings nut products to school it is by choice. When a child comes to school with nut allergies, it is not by choice.” She points out that if you create a “nut table” and a “safe table”, the “safe table” will invariably be the larger of the two, further isolating and alienating the allergic child. Kids like to sit with their friends. She ads “my experience has been that most kids will decide to bring safe food to school, so they can sit with their friends with nut allergies…even remind[ing] their parents not to send nut products” so they can sit with their allergic friends. She recommends having a contraband table where those who bring nut products must sit. This keeps the allergic child from being isolated and encourages kids to bring safe snacks so they can sit with their friends.

Several others spoke up with great methods for addressing the cafeteria concerns. Gina Lincicum describes the arrangement at her cafeteria as ideal for helping her son who deals with a severe peanut allergy feel more accepted. The lunchroom is arranged so that the kids with allergies can sit with their own class rather than a separate table off in a corner. At the end of each table, there’s a section marked off with tape and pcitures that clearly read “No Peanut Zone”. Adult monitors help younger children sit in the right section. Anyone with PB&J is moved to the father end of the table. Those with n-PB lunches can sit in the middle or even in the No Peanut Zone. Her son is even allowed to participate in cafeteria cleanup with the rest of his class, usually being assigned sweeping instead of table washing). “it is very integrated and comfortable”, Gina adds.

Tatia Prieto, a K-12 consultant, primarily in the operational areas (a.k.a. school lunch) explains her cafeteria’s similar arrangement. They  generally eat lunch by classroom. A card is attached to the end of each table with a color coded dot for the various types of medical emergencies the staff needs to be aware of at that table. Confidentiality is maintained by faculty having a binder near the cash register that includes student names and even pictures that correlate to the dots on the table cards.

Join us again tomorrow for tips on how to help a child self manage their allergies at school, suggestions on classroom safety and more “safe” snack and lunch suggestions. Share your ideas, suggestions, and concerns in our forum.

Tags: education, Family and Home, food allergies, parenting, safety, teachers, tips and tricks
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Food allergies are thankfully not something I have had to deal with directly with my children. But I have been frightened enough for several kids that play with my own children and have peanut allergies that I have felt compelled to learn more about them. What I have discovered is a world of wonderful parents and specialists that have an immense amount of experience and knowledge and were willing to share it with me. I would like to take the time this week to share some of this insightful wisdom with all of you in hopes that it will help enlighten us all as to ways we can keep all of our kids safe and positive at school.

I’d like to start off this series by clarifying some of the different peanut related allergies out there. Most nut-related allergies seem to fall into two major categories…Peanuts and Tree Nuts, with the peanut allergy usually being the most volatile and sever. As with all food allergies, label reading is a necessity. According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, all FDA-regulated manufactured food products that contain peanut as an ingredient are required by U.S. law to list the word “peanut” on the product label. If they contain a tree nut as an ingredient, they are also required by U.S. law to list the specific tree nut on the product label.

In addition to any foods with warning labels that reference “may contain nuts” or “may be manufactured in a plant that processes nuts”, here are some foods that should be avoided in a child with a “peanut” allergy:

• African, Asian (especially chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese), and Mexican dishes
• baked goods (e.g., pastries, cookies)
• candy (including chocolate candy)
• chili
• egg rolls
• enchilada sauce
• marzipan
• mole sauce
• nougat

If you are dealing with a tree nut allergy, here are a few of the ingredients you should avoid:

• artificial nuts
• beechnut
• Brazil nuts
• butternut
• cashews
• chestnuts
• coconut
• filberts/hazelnuts
• ginkgo nut
• hickory nuts
• macadamia nuts
• marzipan/almond paste
• natural nut extract (e.g., almond, walnut)
• nut butters (e.g., cashew butter)
• nutmeat
• pecans
• pesto
• pine nuts (also referred to as pinyon nuts)
• pistachios
• praline
• shea nut
• walnuts

As an extra warning, Wal Mart brand “great value” has now started processing everything with nuts even down to their ice cream and whale crackers. So avoid these foods altogether.

For those of you who are like me who don’t have a child with allergies but want to know some “safe” snacks you can send to school with your child that will not harm one of his friends that have a peanut allergy, here are some suggestions from a fellow mom who deals with this allergy in her own son. She offers these suggestions with the warning that manufacturer packaging and processing continually changes so please READ LABELS of any snacks you choose and watch for any of the following: peanuts/nuts, peanut/nut butter, peanut/nut oil, peanut/nut flour, peanut/nut meal, or any of the statements “May contain traces of peanut/nuts” or “Manufactrued in a facility that also processes peanuts (and/or other nuts)”…

• Crackers: Pepperidge Farm Cheddar Goldfish (plain, pretzel or cheddar), Cheez-Its, Cheese Nips, Keepbler Twon House Crackers, Ritz Crackers (plain), Triscuits (original), What Thins (original), Chicken in a Bisket Crackers (original), Kraft Handi-Snacks Crackers with Cheese Dip
• Potato Chips: Pringles, Lays (plain), Cheetors, Tostitos, Fritos
• Pretzels: Rold Gold
• Cookies: Original Oreos or Double Stuff, Teddy Grahams (not the trail mix), Barnum Animal Crackers, Rice Krispy Treats (plain), Nabisco Vanilla Wafers, Honey Maid Graham Crackers (plain or cinnamon), Fig Newtons, Chips-A-Hoy (NOT MINIS), Hostess Ho-Ho’s & Twinkies, Pepperidge Farm Milano/Chessmen/Shortbread/Sugar Cookes
• Candy: Smarties, Starburst, Swedish Fish, Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Skittles, Bubble Gum, lollipops, Sweet-Tarts, Air Heads, Lifesavers, Hershey Kisses (plain, not with almonds & not Hugs), Jet Puff Marshmallows
• Gummy Snaks: (NOT Brachs or Jelly Belly) Only Betty Crocker or Nabisco Fruit Snacks including Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Gushers.
• Doughnuts: Krispy Kreme “Original Glazed” (only from the store – with or without sprinkles. Not pre-packaged from a grocery store).

Join us in our forum all week as we discuss the topic of peanut allergies and how to deal with them in schools. Coming up this week…Suggestions for helping your child self-manage their allergy, Bullying and ways to avoid it, Lunch room techniques and Guidelines for safety in the classroom.

Tags: Family and Home, food allergies, health, parenting, safety, teachers, tips and tricks
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I have a child that has been diagnosed with “Reactive  Airway Disease” which is a fancy way of saying “asthma”. He was placed on the medication Singulair when he was 5 yrs old, among others, which seemed to help his symptoms a great deal. It has been several years and we have found that we have been able to take him off of all the asthma medications now but one…Singulair. While this medication has noticeably reduced his asthmatic tendencies, we found there was one unusual side affect. We noticed that we were beginning to have frequent bed wetting issues again. This sincerely upset my little one because it was not something that he consciously did. He would wake up very sad that it had happened. We were surprised since it had been nearly 3 years since we had had to deal with this. It seemed odd that it’s recurrence coincided with the use of the Singulair. This was not a connection that I made on my own but linked the two after talking to several parents that surprisingly were having similar issues. Interestingly enough, we had all been giving the Singulair to our children in the evening. Once we changed the dosage to the morning, the bed wetting stopped!

As I began to research this phenomenon, I discovered that I was far from alone in these observations.  While there is no conclusive evidence available to support the link between bed wetting and Singulair usage, there are many parents out there that have observed these same effects. If your child has to be on the drug Singulair and is having issues with bed wetting, I would encourage parents to experiment with giving it at a different time of day. For us, dosing in the morning rather than the evening made all the difference. I hope this discovery can help other young children dealing with this difficult issue.

Tags: Family and Home, health, parenting, safety, toddlers
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Cleaning can be a fun and productive game for your toddler to play!

I have asked myself this question time and time again as my four children have grown each year. As a new mom with my first, I always assumed that 4 yrs old was just too young to be able to help mommy with the chores. With my second, I thought maybe they could help at 4. With my third I noticed that the desire to clean was motivated by the thrill of learning something new and they really seemed to enjoy contributing to the chores. And now, as I watch my fourth, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that children not only have a desire to help as early as 2 yrs old, but they also think it’s fun! And surprisingly enough, they can do a pretty darn good job!

If you are looking to encourage your child to begin contributing to the household chores, here are a few guidelines:

• The most important thing to remember is to keep it simple, keep it age appropriate and praise, praise, PRAISE!
• It is also a good idea to remember that the younger the child, the shorter spurts you should work in.
• Tackle one job at a time. Don’t throw three “to do” items at them at once or they will be easily discouraged and overwhelemed.
• A chore chart will give your little one an extra sense of accomplishment and a way to have everyone in the family recognize their effort and accomplishment.

Here are some ideas to get you started at the different ages…

Age 2:

• Wet wipes: It’s pretty simple, give them a wet wipe and point them in the right direction! At this age, kids love the magic of the wet wipe. It’s truly amazing…you find a mess, run the wet wipe over it, and presto! No more mess! Let kids have fun with this one. There really is very little damage they can to with a wet wipe in hand!
• Organize: This is a great opportunity to teach sorting skills to your toddler. Get several storage boxes and label them with a picture (i.e. car box, people/animal box, craft box, music box, etc.). Get them started by putting a few items in each box. They will get the hang of this quickly and hone a valuable skill in the process!
• Laundry: Sorting laundry can be a fun learning activity too. Let your toddler help you sort the laundry by color. Have three bins (light, dark, and whites). Put a few items in each bin to start with. You can teach your toddler colors while they help you with your chores!

Age 4-5

• Laundry: Let your kids help you with the laundry by taking their bed sheets off of their beds and bringing them to you, putting them in the correct color bin. Kids at this age are also very capable and excited to both fold and put their clothes away on their own too. Remember that not all will be as perfect as you might like but don’t nitpick (it’s the quickest way to discourage a child from even trying). Positive encouragement and lots of praise will take them a long way to improvement!
• Dishes: Yes, though it may sound crazy to give a 4 year old a breakable object and let them walk across tile floor for any length of time, they are very capable of carrying out this task. Our 4/5 year old has become a very skilled “dish put-er away-er” at our house and knows better than my 8 year old where things go!
• Gardening: This is a fun one for kids. Put them in charge of watering your plants each day. They will love filling the water pot themselves and watching how their plants grow! Pulling weeds, cleaning leaves, and sweeping floors can all be easy activities for these guys.

Age 6-8

• Definitely ready for some heavy duty work! These little ones can handle any window job you can dish out. Dusting is a definite fun past time (turn them loose in the house with a duster and watch the dedication!).
• Organizing: This is a no brainer for these guys, especially if you started at age 2.
• Laundry: Show them the ropes of your washer and put them in charge of a load or two. They can also dry dishes with the best of ‘em!
• Vacuuming: Depending on the size of your vacuum and size of your child, this can be a lot of fun.
• Mopping: Cleaning my kitchen floor is one of my 8 year olds favorite activities!
• Gardening: With adult supervision and a little help, even lawn mowing and trimming the bushes can be a fun challenge for these guys!

I am not a huge fan of letting kids handle any kind of heavy duty chemical while cleaning…especially if you are not planning to supervise the entire process. A suggestion, most things can be well cleaned and disinfected with a homemade solution of vinegar and water. It’s very gentle and you don’t have to worry about your kids around harsh chemicals. That being said, always supervise your young children, even if the only chemical they walk around with is a wet wipe. The best way to teach your little ones is by example and as they are cleaning alongside you, it will make it more fun and safe for them, less stressful for you and you’ll get a lot accomplished in the process!

Remember, good habits start young. The earlier kids learn to contribute to the household maintenance, the easier it will be for you to maintain their involvement as they get older. Don’t get discouraged and remember that praise goes a lot farther than criticism!

What jobs do your young children do around your home? Share your ideas, what works, what didn’t and everything in between in our forum discussion!

Tags: chores, education, Family and Home, fun, holiday activities, homemaking, housekeeping, parenting, safety, tips and tricks, toddlers
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Nearly a million Maclaren strollers have been recalled as of Monday because of numerous reports of fingertips being amputated by a hinge mechanism.

If you purchased a Maclaren stroller, stop using it immediately. Reports of over 12 children having their fingertips amputated by a hinge mechanism has prompted the manufacturer to recall all nine models of single and double umbrella Maclaren strollers sold around the country since 1999. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall after an investigation.

The company is offering free hinge covers which the company advises should not be removed unless the stroller is being cleaned. The list of stroller models includes: Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.

Posted in General, Safety/Health Awareness, product reviews | 3 Comments »

When did Noah prepare for the flood? ...BEFORE the rain!

Have you ever given much thought to disaster preparedness? If you are living in areas prone to natural disasters, the answer to that question would probably be an eye roll, followed by a resounding “of course!!!”. But if you’re like me and  you live in an area that is seldom affected by natural disasters, then the realities of that question might be a little tougher to put into perspective. The problem is that we never know when disaster might strike (or in what form it might take) and the time to prepare is BEFORE it hits…there’s rarely an opportunity in the aftermath.

If your neighborhood were faced with a fire, a riot, flood, tornado, hurricane or earthquake, the most critical need for help after the disaster is during the first 72 hours. But, as some of the more recent catastrophes have demonstrated, community and government assistance will probably not be available during this critical time period. So it would seem a wise idea to have a 72 hour kit prepared for each member of your family that could be grabbed quickly as you run out the door that would sustain your family for this critical time period. I’ve got a few suggestions that were handed down to me through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Provident Living resources. Remember that this is meant to be a “survival kit” and while you will want to be comfortable, there will not be room to be extravagant…

Each person should have the following items packed away in a lightweight backpack…

• Plastic bowl, spoon (old cool whip containers work great)
• Food for that individual
• Flashlight (store batteries separately)
• Roll of toilet paper and plastic grocery bags for sanitation
• Pancho or large garbage bag
• entertainment (crayons, coloring books, puzzles, etc.)
• small blanket or space blanket
• change of clothing stored in plastic bag

Some sample menus are as follows (remember, each persons food items should be easily stored in a large plastic ziploc bag or other lightweight container that can be sealed closed)…

Day One:

• Breakfast: Cereal, powdered milk, fruit cup, box of OJ
• Lunch: Cup of soup, saltine crackers, box of apple juice, pudding cup
• Dinner: Corned beef hash, applesauce, box of grape juice, granola bar

Day Two

• Breakfast: Instant Oatmeal, fruit roll, box of apple juice, hot cocoa/ice tea
• Lunch: beef jerky, peanuts, applesauce cup, box of grape juice
• Dinner: chili with beans, saltine crackers, box of OJ, tapioca pudding cup

Day 3:

• Breakfast: 2 granola bars, box of grapefruit juice, hot cocoa/ice tea
• Lunch: box of OJ, cheese and crackers, fruit cup, granola bar
• Dinner: beef stew, bread sticks, box of OJ, fruit cup

Some other items that might need to be distributed into the packs of the older children or parents:

• Sterno
• latex gloes
• family records and valuables
• feminie hygiene needs
• siposable diapers
• medications for three days (include tylenol, tums, etc.)
• first aid kit, hand towel, radio
• can opener, pot, and pot holder
• utility/pocket knife
• small ax, heavy gloves, tarp, and matches

Don’t forget to include enough bottled water for each person for three days. In these unpredictable and difficult times, it is important that we be as prepared as possible for the safety and well-being of our families. When asked why you are preparing for disaster when you live in a “disaster-free” zone, you can answer with a smile, “when did Noah prepare for the flood?…BEFORE the rain!”

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