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The different types of child-care providers.

The daycare industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the US today. This has been brought about by the need for parents or single-moms, a place where they can safely leave their kids as they work for a living.

There are many different types of child-care providers that parents can consider for the care of their children. Let us discuss each one of them:

1. Connecticut day care centers. Daycare is the most common type of child-care provider. In this setup, the parents bring their kids to the center which is mostly open from 8 AM to 6 PM. The daycare has competent and well-trained daycare staff which is tasked to take care of a group of kids. They provide not just an environment where kids can play, but can be considered as a CT preschool as some of the staffs are designated as the teachers giving individualized instructions for the kids where they can learn the alphabets, numbers, colors, and more. One advantage of a daycare is it provides a good venue for kids to learn socialization skills as they can interact with many kids of their age in the center as it is required that at least 12 kids are enrolled to be considered as a daycare center.
2. Family Daycare. This is a small scale version of a daycare and in this setup, parents bring their kids to the home of the child care provider instead. A minimum of 8 kids should be enrolled to be considered as a family daycare. An assistant to the primary child care provider is also required to help in taking care of the kids. One advantage of a family day care is that is also provides a good environment where kids can interact with other kids to help them build their social skills. The disadvantage though is that the staff of a family day care might not have a formal training on child care as compared to the training received by staff of a CT daycare.
3. Baby Sitter / Nanny. This is a one-on-one type of child care where the baby sitter or nanny will come to your house and take care of your kid for the time required. This is the most expensive type of child care service as most nannies charge by the hour. The disadvantage of getting a baby sitter, though they can offer more time and attention to your child, is it lacks the socialization that the other type of child-care services offer.

Which type of child-care service is the best? There is really no definite answer as every child and parent has each of their own child-care needs which can be met by any of the child-care providers mentioned above. Each type of child-care services has their own advantages and disadvantages and it is up to the parent to weigh these to help them choose the best setup for their kids.

How would a first-time parent know when her child is ready for schooling? Are there clear cut rules on when to send them out the world? In my case, a lot of people are saying that I am pushing my DD too much when it comes to learning new stuff. We may not have enrolled her this school year but I believe she is ready. See, she is fairly interested in a lot of things. She is just 28 months and yet she points and asks “What’s this?” or “What’s that?” And she easily remembers the things she learn each day. I also admit that I have scouted pre-schools around, even searched the internet for schools like Pre Schools Stepaside.

But then again, the indicators may be different among children. I stumbled upon this list of signs your toddler is ready for school:

• Is your toddler fairly independent? Can she take care of herself when it comes to basic things like washing hands and going to the potty?
• Has she spent considerable time away from you? Separation anxiety is apparent among toddlers, and it is important that she is trained to be away from you for a few hours each day.
• In school, they will be asked to do crafts on their own. Will she be able to handle that?
• There is circle time in school, will she be able to participate in group activities?
• Does she have a routine at home and is she used to following a schedule?
• Does she have the energy to last her the entire school time? Stamina is important.
• The most important of all is, the reason you want him to start with school.

Remember that these are just guidelines. Your toddler may exhibit all, or just few, or none of the indicators. The final decision always rest upon you as the parent.

I am a certified germophobe! I easily get paranoid especially when we go out of the house. Yep, classic example: I refuse to hold hand rails on stairs or escalators (much to DH’s annoyance because he feels I am being unsafe).

If you are someone like me, you probably do these things to beat the germs (I am posting for the benefit of those who aren’t LOL):

1. Wash hands: before meals, after using the toilet, after petting an animal or playing outside, just wash wash wash! :p
2. Wash AND do it right. It takes twenty seconds of scrubbing with soap and water for the germs to get killed.
3. Keep a hand sanitizer handy, for the times when washing areas may not be available. Make sure every inch of the skin is covered, even under the nails.
4. Squelch ‘em! Make sure to clean cutting boards thoroughly after preparing meat or poultry with hot sopay water. Disinfect countertops too.
5. Attend to injuries with TLC. Wash cuts and scrapes with soap and water, apply antibacterial cream and bandage if necessary. Change dressing daily until the wound is healed.
6. Update vaccinations especially those against the flu virus.
7. Wipe, wipe, wipe! If someone in the household is sick, be sure to wipe anything (doorknobs, tv remote, faucets, etc) that anybody could touch to prevent the spread of the germs.

Designer Taewon Hwang created this Floor Plan Light Switch with people who are always confused with the traditional switches, in mind. I am probably among his target market as I tend to switch all lights on until I find the right one, LOL!

Found in the Yanko Design website, the light switch imitates your house’s floor plan so you know exactly which ones you are turning on, in case you forget. I think it would be cool to have one in every home!

I went to a waxing salon a few weeks ago and realized that they were just using homemade wax. I got curious so I did my research, landed on a forum that yes, some salons just mix their own wax. I also found out the recipe for such.

You will need:

• 7oz of honey
• 7oz of sugar
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon

Here’s how you do it: In a pan, caramelize the sugar over medium high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar starts to bubble. It is ready and fully melted when you see that it has turned into color gold. Add the honey and lemon juice while continuously stirring. When the mix is melted,  knead it until golden brown on a cotton cloth or towel.

This mixture tends to harden easily. Keep warm water at hand in case you will need to soften it a bit. Spread the homemade was on your legs, place the cotton strip on top of it, see if it adheres, count to three and pull. Remember to pull to the opposite direction of the growth to avoid ingrown. Other girls who are experts with this don’t use cotton strips anymore. Rinse with warm water.

This looks easy but I am not sure I can actually do this on my own. Let me know if you are able to do it, okay?

I have to admit that I am not the most domesticated woman in the world, so imagine my frustration when we moved into the new apartment. The shower stall in the bathroom is enclosed with tempered glass stained with hard water drops.  Taking down the glass is out of the question as that entails renovation. I had no choice but to just clean it.

I started scrubbing with just soap and water, did not help. So I bought a glass cleaner which did nothing to the surface too. I asked Mr. Google for suggestions. That’s when I found out that good old baking soda mixed with vinegar, turning it into paste, may do the trick. I never thought that a simple kitchen ingredient is considered the cleaning wonder. I haven’t had the time to scrub the glass but we have started to use baking soda in cleaning surfaces and it sure works.

Great discovery for someone like me!

Can you believe it is already the end of the year?! It is time for (re)organizing stuff! I am not really a big fan of resolutions so in lieu of that I’d rather organize, eh? Actions are always better than words!

If you want to do this with me, here are a few tips to jumpstart a new year:

• Update your address book. Sit down and organize your holiday mail. Did some of the cards got returned because the recipient already moved and you were clueless about it? Did some of your friends sent their cards from a new address? These are the things that you should look out for.
• Updating your address book is not enough. Did one family welcomed a new member into their home?  Or you may note the stories that came with the holiday card. The key is keeping in touch with friends and relatives.
• Clear your pile of bills. Get rid of spam so your bills are better organized. Sort your receipts and keep what is possibly needed come tax filing.

Getting organized can be an agony but these practices will surely pay off in the near future.

Growing up, I remember visiting my ENT every few months to have my ears cleaned. See, I had an “accident” when I was little where a doctor (not an ENT) cleaned my ears of stubborn wax and causing my ear drum to break. My mom got traumatized for me so she knew better from then on. I think I brought that trauma with me even now that I have a kid of my own. You can count the times that I actually looked into her ears, I just clean the outer part! I plan to bring her to a pediatric ENT soon because she has started to complain already. But knowing me, I delayed that trip to the doctor, waiting it out. Luckily, the complaints subsided and there seems to be no impacted was in the ear.

That did not stop me from researching for home remedies on ear wax removal. These tips not only apply to children, fyi:

1. Never, as in not in any circumstance., should you use a cotton bud to clean the inner ear because the wax may just as well be pushed into the canal even more.

2. Soften the was by dropping mineral oil, use an eye dropper to do this. This will not soften the was right away, you need to do this in the course of 5 to 7 days, twice a day or once in the morning then at night. Tilt the head, put oil in the ear and keep the head tilted until you feel that the oil has seeped in.

3. When the wax has loosened you may now use tap water to remove it. Use a rubber bulb, the one that is usually used as a nasal aspirator for babies. Fill the bulb with body-temperature water. Cold water may cause pain, while if the water is hotter than body temperature, you may feel dizzy afterwards.

4. Tilt your head down, pull the top of your ear up, and insert the bulb syringe just into the ear canal. Then, squirt the water into the ear canal, adding pressure but not too  much lest you hurt yourself. Allow the water to flush out of the ear by tilting your head further down, over the sink. Repeat the process until the wax has been flushed out.

5. Dry your ear, without using a cotton bud of course, by wiping the outer ear with a towel. Use a blower if you must.

This is fairly easy but I guess I will have to wait a few more years before I can do this to DD. If she complains again, I will do the first step of softening the wax then I just might bring her to the doctor, so the ENT can flush the wax out.  

Between the husband and me, he is the more practical one. When we were pregnant with our first-born, he would knock sense into my head about the purchases I was planning to make. He won most of the time but we still ended up buying stuff we were not able to use. Well at least, we saved some precious money on things we DIDN’T buy, eh?

I read an article that says a lot of new parents are prone to making money mistakes. Out of excitement, perhaps? While it is true that child-rearing can get pretty expensive (think of all those diapers you will need to buy on a weekly basis!), there are ways to avoid overspending.

1. You don’t need to make the nursery look like it springs out of a magazine shoot. New stuff is not required, especially for wall decorations.
2. Your friend’s lifestyle may be totally different so no need to take her product recommendations to heart. For instance, rather spend on a compact stroller if you live a busy life in the city than buying a snap-and-go car seat & stroller which is applicable more to those who live in the suburbs.
3. Avoid making career decisions while on maternity leave when you tend to just give up because you are too tired taking care of the baby.
4. Hiring a nanny or signing up for daycare were not always the only options. Consider babysitting co-ops or inviting a relative over.
5. Buying second-hand items such as cribs, car seats and high chairs which is risky and most of the time, unsafe. The items may be already recalled without your knowledge, so these items are better bought new.
6. Your baby don’t need branded outfits when at home nor Swarovski crystal pacifiers. Ask yourself if an item existed when you were still an infant. If it did not, then your baby probably don’t need it now.
7. Bulk buying while pregnant when you still do not know what the baby will like. Each baby’s personality is unique and it is obviously hard to predict before his arrival.
8. Don’t skimp on toys. Fine, the baby would play with the remote or empty water bottles, but some home items pose risks and choking hazards. It is always best to give age-appropriate toys and books.

This news is about two weeks old already, I just never got around to sharing it. I still think this is worth posting because car safety is a must & a lot of people may have not heard of this development. Britax announced the recall of about 23,000 Chaperone infant car seats because of chest clip defects.

The chest clip could possibly break as the infant is being strapped into the seat. The sharp edges from the broken clip may cause injuries to the chest or may pose choking hazards. The car seats recalled are those manufactured in China between April 2009 and May 2010 & include the following model numbers: 

• E9L95P2 (Red Mill)
• E9L95P3
• E9L95P5 (Cowmooflage)
• E9L69N9 (Moonstone)

These were sold from June 2009 to October 2010 for $230 in stores and Britax website. If you have an affected unit, you can do the following:

• If the chest clip on your car seat breaks, remove the broken clip and any fragments. The company says the car seat can continue to be used safely until a replacement chest clip is installed. If you have any questions about how well the car seat works without the chest clip in place, contact Britax directly
• If you’ve registered your car seat with Britax, the company will mail you a remedy kit that contains a replacement chest clip and instruction sheet. They’ll begin contacting customers on or around November 11, 2010.
• If you’re not registered with Britax or aren’t sure, contact Britax customer service at (888) 427-4829 to request your free remedy kit.
• For more information, call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s vehicle safety hotline at (888) 327-4236 or visit their websiteto search for this recall.
• Click here to register your child’s car seat for safety alerts.