Bundle Up! Keeping Kids Warm In Winter

Here in the Philippines, we only have two seasons, the wet and the dry season. The dry season which is also called as summer, starts in late November and ends in May. The rainy seasons on the other hand starts in June and lasts till October. Other countries have four seasons namely- Spring,, Summer,
Fall (autumn) and, Winter. At this time, it's already the Winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, it started in December and lasts until February.  While the  Southern Hemisphere will have the Winter Season on June, July and August.

My kids would often ask me if we have snow here in the Philippines. For them, Winter is fun as what they see on TV and photos of their cousins in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Making snowmen, snowball fights and marveling over the beautiful icicles that have dripped from window ledges. But cold weather can also be dangerous, in children and vulnerable people, conditions like hypothermia are a real risk to their health (and it doesn’t have to be half as cold as you might think!) To keep your precious kids safe over the colder months, here are a few things to bear in mind.

Keep Your House Cozy

Keeping your house warm in winter and cool in summer is essential, but especially so when you have babies and kids. Their smaller bodies can’t regulate temperature as well meaning it’s easy for them to overheat (or lose too much heat). Invest in a couple of thermometers for your home to keep an eye on the temperature. An efficient heating system for the winter and air conditioning for the summer is extremely important in the home. Call out a gas engineer for heating and a residential A/C repair for air conditioning if either system isn’t performing as well as it should. On top of this, you can keep your home cozy by having plenty of blankets to wrap up on while you’re watching tv in the evenings, and making sure you’re using duvets with the correct tog rating on your kid's beds. Ideally, you should have two duvets. A lighter one for spring and summer use, and a thicker one for autumn and winter. 

Choose The Right Clothing

When it comes to clothing, it’s important to get it right. You want to keep your kids warm but without them overheating which will only make matters worse. Since kids are up and about more and running around more than adults, they can quickly warm up. For this reason, lots of thinner layers are better than a few very thick ones as you can adjust depending on what they are doing, or if the weather and temperature changes. On cold days a good thermal base layer will really help to keep the cold out, this could be thermal leggings and a long sleeve thermal top or vest. Regular clothes then go on top of this, but avoid fabrics like jeans or heavy cotton as if they get wet they’re not going to dry out easily. A jumper, light jacket and then a winter coat on top will keep them toasty, but the coat can be removed if you’re sat in the car or go inside at any point. Don’t forget thick socks and waterproof footwear, hats, gloves and scarves. 

Fuel Them With Snacks

When it’s cold, your body burns more calories to keep you warm. As soon as your child starts running out of calories, they will start to cool down. Having some snacks on hand when you’re out and about can help to keep them fuelled up and reduce grouchiness in general as well as keep them warm! If you know you’re going to be out of the house and it’s cold outside, you could pack some flasks of soup or hot chocolate which can help to warm them up. You can also buy ‘food flasks’ for things like pasta dishes- perfect if you’re out for the day but finding somewhere serving hot food will be tricky.

Get A Taste Of Baskin-Robbins’ Lucky Scoop

Good news Baskin-Robbins fanatics, in celebration of Chinese New Year, Baskin-Robbins, the world’s most loved ice cream brand, lets you try your luck to enjoy an extra junior scoop of your favorite flavor for free! Simply buy any of the participating Baskin-Robbins’ delicious treats and get a chance to crack open a fortune waffle for your free junior scoop. The Baskin-Robbins treats included in this promo are the Double Value Scoop, Sundae, Banana Royale, Banana Split and Milkshakes. This fun offer is ongoing from January 22, 2017 until February 5, 2017. Visit Baskin-Robbins shops at the Central Square, Bonifacio High Street, Uptown Place Mall, and SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City; Greenbelt 5 and Glorietta 5 in Makati; Fairview Terraces, Trinoma Mall, SM North (Main Building and The Block) in Quezon City; SM Southmall in Las Pinas; Solenad in Sta Rosa, Laguna; SM Dasmariñas in Cavite; and SM Pampanga. For more information, log on to www.baskinrobbins.ph or check out their social media accounts: facebook.com/baskinrobbinsph, Twitter, and Instagram @baskinrobbinsph.

Life Lessons We Need To Know

There are so many valuable life lessons which we teach our kids, but sometimes they may not be the right ones. It’s hard to let them know how great it is to use our imaginations when we are sitting down in front of the television every day; how brilliant it is to meet up with friends when we would rather send a text or place a call; and how to budget money when we ourselves spend it on things that aren’t really necessary. 

There are lifestyle choices and changes that can be made in order to teach your children the things that they need to know. But there is one catch to executing them perfectly and helping them to grow up with these values - they need to be made before your children know any different… 

The elements are our friends

Wastefulness is one of the biggest crimes against nature that our generation commits. Keeping lights switched on in rooms we haven’t been in in over half an hour, staying in the shower for longer than we should because we can’t be bothered to get out and throwing out packets upon packets of food that we have allowed to go off (or simply not checked to see if are alright, instead judging the Use By date). So why don’t we try and curb those actions? Not only that, but how about we use the elements outside to help us? There are solar panels available in a variety of places online, such as Semper Solaris. These can not only be used to power the lights and appliances in your home (any excess energy that you don’t use and is stored in your batteries can then be sold back to the electricity grid at a discounted rate) but can also be used to heat up the hot water for your baths, showers and general day-to-day usage. 

Water of life

As well as using the sun to our benefit, consider how much rainfall there is where you live. It could be worth putting up a water butt to collect water which can be used for a variety of things to stop you using your hose and paying for the privilege. Paddling pools can be filled with it during the warmer months (make sure that it hasn’t had the chance to grow any algae on it; you may want to consider putting in some water conditioner), gardens can be watered with it and you could even put it to good use by cleaning your car. Get the children involved and make a science experiment out of it to keep them interested; a little logbook to note down how much rain has fallen each day could just win them the science fair prize - you never know! Ask them what else you could use the water for, and see how much you will be saving in money on your bills by putting it to good use. The lessons kids can learn from nature are ones that they’ll carry with them forever...

3 Ways To Make Time For Your Kids

As parents, we want to maximize the amount of time we spend with our children and minimize the amount of stress we have in our life. It can often feel like an impossible task when balancing our work, the home and financial pressures of modern life. So how do you make the most of every moment and give your children more quality attention whilst mastering the pitfalls of daily living?

Here are 3 ways to make more time for your kids:

Show Them The Ropes

At some point your children are going to grow up into adults and as silly as it sounds, installing the basic routines an adult needs to function in life is actually one of the most important things you can do. It doesn’t matter what age they are, even toddlers can learn great things from your daily routine.

Preparing your kids to be neat, tidy and organised is a simple way of including them in one of your biggest daily tasks. The housework. Make games out of tidying away. Asking your child to find all the blue toys or show you where the books live, is a really effective way of engaging them in a routine of putting things away. Asking them to help you carry the washing downstairs, even hanging out the washing with mummy can be fun. 

Older children are pretty handy with modern technology and computers. If they can master the latest tablet on the market then chances are they can work out how to switch a washing machine on. Do household chores together and use this time to chat about their lives. How school is going, how their friendships are. Work together.

Make Preparations and Reduce Your Financial Stress

Ensuring your home is running efficiently can reduce financial worry and make you a more relaxed parent to be around. Heating our homes accounts for 70% of our household bills. So looking at energy efficient replacement windows or improving your loft insulation can have a great impact on the quality time you spend with your family

Now You’re Cooking!

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner take up a lot of your day so include your children and make it fun. They don’t have to get involved in the actual cooking. Having a table or workspace set aside in your kitchen can be a great place for older children to do their homework or younger children to get creative whilst you are busy. It’s a brilliant time to chat to them about future plans or teach them songs or even to read. 

Teaching them to cook though is something you can do from an early age. These books from Nutrikids are a fun addition for young kids, to teach them about healthy eating and make the basic task of cooking a fun and educational part of their day.

Children crave attention from you so learn how to mix up your daily tasks and include them in the boring stuff as much as the fun stuff. You’ll probably find that doing the ironing flies past if you make a game of it and pushing a vacuum around is an easy job for little people that want to be just like mom! 

4 Things To Consider Before Having a Pet

We used to have dogs and cats as pet back in my younger years. Growing up with a pet is such a wonderful experience that I want my kids to have. Base on my experience, I'm sure that the bond they can make is immeasurable, and something that money can’t buy. 

But - and yes, there is a but - when you purchase your child an animal to look after, there is a certain responsibility that you yourself will have to undertake. Everything needs to be covered - the vets bills, the cleaning-out duties, the feeding times; if your child is not old enough to do it, forgets or simply refuses, the task falls into the hands of you, such as..

Cleaning

If you have a caged pet, then you won’t just have to clean it out - you will need to buy bedding materials, replace any leftover food and water, disinfect and keep the animal entertained whilst you are doing so; it’s recommended that you have a safe place to put them so that they don’t escape whilst you’re doing this. In some cases, you may have to clean the animal itself; it’s not just dogs and kid that need a bath when they get dirty.

If you are having an indoor pet such as a dog or a cat, be prepared for the toilet-training that comes with it. Dogs are worse than cats in the time it takes for them to realising where they need to go potty, and if you don’t have a wipe-down floor you should probably go for the best carpet shampooer you can get your hands on; it’ll be well worth the money instead of having to replace a whole carpet. 

Exercising

This is a great way for the family to get out and about by including a pet on your walk. This is mainly restricted to dogs, but people have been known to walk their cats, ferrets and even rabbits. It’s all dependent on how far you want to get on your journey whether you bring one of the last three mentioned animals with you, but again, if your children aren’t interested in giving your pet the exercise it needs and deserves then the responsibility lands on you. 

Feeding

Certain animals require certain foods at certain times of the day, and the costs can soon add up. If you can’t commit yourself to feeding an animal as well as your family, you should probably look at getting some sea-monkeys or just ditching the whole pet idea instead.

Bills

This isn’t just the vets bill when something goes wrong - try and stay one step ahead of paying out a huge chunk by investing in the right insurance for your pet. There are many companies out there who can offer competitive deals; you may not even miss the amount of money that is coming out of your account each month. Unless your child has an accessible trust fund which has been specifically made with the intent of spending on sick animals, there’s not much chance that they will have the money to cover any accidents. 

Ensure you are aware of all of the costs involved before making your decision - you’re caring for another life.

Bills, Balances and Back-Payments: The Ins and Outs of Running Your Household's Finances

Running a household and looking after your family is never something that is particularly easy. The truth is, it’s very hard, and we all make mistakes. Managing money is difficult, and no one gets it right 100% of the time. But you can help to make sure that you get it right more often than not by doing some extra planning and learning more about financial management. It might seem like a pain to spend your time on things like this, but it could really pay off for you later on. Your family life could improve massively. Here are the ins and outs of running your household’s finances in the right way.

Know Every Financial Obligation and Put Them in a Database

First of all, you need to put everything in order. This is something that should be done before you start worrying about anything else. For a start, list all of your family’s financial obligations. This should include loan repayments, bills, regular expenses and basics such as food. Of course, there are always extra expenses that you don’t see coming. To make sure you have these factored into your financial plans, add an extra amount to each monthly financial plan. You should also put all of this into a database to make it even easier to understand.

Find Ways to Cut Back Without Making Big Sacrifices

Cutting back and spending less is important if you want to manage your household’s money in the right kind of way. It certainly can be done if you put your mind to it. Sure, having kids and keeping them satisfied is not cheap. But it’s always possible to find cheap ways to keep the kids entertained. You can’t buy your way to financial happiness, so find ways to have fun and bond as a family for free. For example, instead of going out, you could plan a movie night in front of the TV. And instead of staying in an expensive hotel, you can make your own fun while camping.

Learn About How to Manage Cash Flow

Cash flow is one of those things that everyone is aware of, but not many people really understand fully. When you don’t understand how to manage the flow of money coming in and going out of your family’s accounts, you will never get a proper grip on your overall finances. There are many ways to manage cash flow better, but they all start with learning. There are many online tutorials that can help you to achieve what you want to. Take the time out of your schedule to teach yourself about this subject.

Discover the Power of Buying in Bulk

Buying in bulk is something that all families should do if you ask me. When you are able to buy large amounts of the things you need, you can get a price that saves you a lot of money in the long-term. For example, if you eat a lot of pasta as a family, buy one of those huge sacks of dried pasta. This will last you for a long time, and over the course of a year, this will work out as being so much cheaper than buying a small pack of pasta each week. This applies to so many other things as well; not just food items. Look at the options and find ways to bulk up if you want to save cash.

Learn to Prioritise Debts Correctly

Most families have some form of debt to consider and think about. Many of them have multiples debt obligations that they’re juggling. Mortgages, personal loans, car loans, student debt and other types of debt can all pile up and seem insurmountable. But that doesn’t mean that the debt can’t be overcome. In fact, it definitely can. You just need to know how to prioritise your debts and pay them back in the right order. Cash advance loans and payday loans need to be paid back first because they’re short-term loans. But debts with longer terms can be left for longer.

Keep Re-Assessing Your Options and Looking for Cheaper Deals

Re-assessing your options is always important when it comes to managing your debts. You can’t stay on top of all the important things if you’re not aware of all your options. For example, when was the last time you compared internet service provider deals? There are often plenty of cheap deals that can save your family a bit of extra money. You just need to be prepared to look for them.

Jobs For All Caring Generations In The Family

Getting a job, whether you are a teen, a mom or a senior, is naturally about the money. But there’s more than the pay to find job satisfaction. There’s a sense of pride too! People who are naturally caring souls and who love to help others tend to prefer a career in social care and medical areas. But sometimes, you don’t have the time right now to build a new career. Sometimes, all you want is to help others in your spare time and make a little money. So, here are a few ideas for everyone in the family!

For The Stay-At-Home Mommy

Moms who want to stay at home to take care of their children while still keeping actively involved in their career tend to prefer starting a freelance business. Freelancing allows you to choose when and where you work, which is the dream of every new mom: Finally, you can have time for the kids when they need you! Additionally, this should help to support the household budget as things are easier when both parents work. But what if you are looking for something to satisfy your caring side? Your freelance business could be focused on providing advice and counseling people, as a wedding planner for example. Or if you love animals, why not look at dog walking jobs in your town? There are plenty of families and elderly people who need a dog walker to keep their favorite pet active. 

For The Retired Senior Who Wants To Stay Active

If your parents have recently retired from their employment, they might have mentioned to you how empty their days seem to be. Most old adults find it difficult to cope with retirement, especially if they are still fit and active. Suddenly, the prospect of facing no deadline nor commitment can be daunting and can make them feel useless. If they still have a lot of energy to give and want their experience to continue to matter, you should talk to them about the option to become an elderly companion for seniors who need a hand. There are all sorts of assistance that your parents could provide to older adults, such as offering their services as a driver, helping with the house cleaning, or even being a personal companion for everyday life. This is a great opportunity for caring and compassionate individuals to feel useful and help someone who needs it. 

For The Responsible Teenager

If your teenagers have a high sense of responsibility, such as helping you at home or loving to look after their young cousins or siblings, maybe it’s time to discuss with them the possibility of a babysitting job. Not only could this help your teen to earn some pocket money but this is also a great way of approaching the work market. After all, a job as a babysitter is the proof that someone is mature and responsible enough to be trusted with young children and babies! There are plenty of good books and tutorials online to help your teen understand better the tasks of a babysitter.