5 Tips to Teach Your Children About Personal Hygiene

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It is essential to teach your children about good personal hygiene at a young age. Teaching them how to keep themselves clean and hygienic will help them stay healthy as they grow older. Here are five tips for teaching your children about personal hygiene:

Explain the Meaning of Good Personal Hygiene to Them

From a young age, you can be having conversations with your child about how important it is to keep ourselves clean and to practise good hygiene. Explain to your children what it meant by personal hygiene, it is, of course, more than just having a bath. Talk about how personal hygiene is the practice of keeping their body clean and healthy, as well as their hair, face, hands, feet, nails and teeth too.

As well as explaining you'll want to demonstrate to your child how to clean themselves well and help them understand that they must thoroughly wash their genitals too as this can be an area where bacteria easily breeds. By explaining personal hygiene to your children in a way that is age-appropriate and easy for them to understand, they will be more likely to remember and practice it as they grow older.

Show Them How to Wash their Hands Properly

I'm sure the recent Coronavirus pandemic has made everyone aware of the importance of good hand washing techniques. It isn't enough to just splash one hand under a little water, you'll want to show them how to use warm water and soap to clean their hands thoroughly. Explaining that they need to scrub all over their hands (both sides), including in between their fingers, for at least 20 seconds.

Make sure your children know to always wash their hands before eating, after using the bathroom and playing outside. This will help them stay healthy and avoid getting sick through bacteria or a virus.

7 Ways to Help Your Children Learn About Good Money Management

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Teaching your kids about money is one of the most important jobs you’ll ever have to do as a parent and it is incredibly important to tackle this topic from an early age as they'll begin building attitudes and habits towards money from as early as five years old. I still smile when my kids talk about being a pre-schooler and not being allowed a specific item of food as it wasn't a good price! All those shopping trips with me where I'd only buy cheese strings or yoghurt pouches if they were on special price obviously had an impact.

Getting used to talking about money and personal finance early on can prevent your children from encountering financial issues in the future. Many people start seeking the benefits of Debt Arrangement Schemes because of debt issues that may have been avoided if they had learned valuable financial skills early on in their childhood.

Here are 10 tips to help your children learn about money -

1. Make Saving and Giving a Family Value

Saving and giving should be part of every conversation with your children, including how to save and where to give when appropriate. Too many families encourage their children to spend and not to save and give. A nice idea is to let them start to responsibly manage their pocket money from an early age. For example, if they are given £5 a month, you might encourage them to save half of it, give a small percentage to a cause they feel passionate about and then enjoy spending the rest if they'd like.

Our family have always sponsored a couple of children in developing countries via Compassion and this has worked so well to help our children see how important it is to give to those less fortunate. 

2. Help Kids Create a Budget

As your child gets a little older you can help them to create a weekly or monthly budget. It can include a contribution from their part-time job or allowance and then help your child to track their spending in a notebook or on an app. This visual reminder of what they are spending can help them to realise how quickly money can be wasted away or alternatively it can motivate them to save towards a larger purchase such as a phone or coveted trainers. 

3. Model Saving and Spending Appropriately

Don’t assume your children know the basics about how to manage money. They need guidance to delay gratification and understand the difference between wants and needs at every age. It is clear by the level of debt today that many adults still don't have a clue how to manage their money and a realisation that it is better to save up and buy an item outright instead of constantly taking credit that you may not be able to repay.  It's good to model this to your children and they can see the excitement of buying a large item once you have saved up and have the sense of achievement of being able to buy outright the new car, sofa or whatever it is you need. 

How to Take Care of Yourself In Pregnancy

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Finding out that you're pregnant is a special time in any woman's life. Ensuring that you're taking care of yourself is the most important thing you can do to ensure that you deliver a healthy baby. 

You also want to make sure that you are in the best shape possible during your pregnancy. This will not only be beneficial to you but your child as well. However, taking care of yourself during pregnancy can be challenging as your body is changing dramatically. If it's your first pregnancy you may not be aware of some of the things that you need to do to take care of yourself. 

Even if you have been pregnant before it is still worth reminding yourself of all the things you need to do to keep you and your baby healthy. Here are some of the most important things you need to do and know about to care for yourself during pregnancy.

Your Diet

When you are pregnant, having the proper diet becomes even more important than ever. Whilst there may be several cravings that you encounter throughout your pregnancy, ensuring that you eat the right things is essential. You need to ensure that you are getting enough of all the proper nutrients, as a lack of any one can cause problems with the growth and development of your baby. 

Try to eat healthily, using the healthy plate model, with a good balance from all the food groups and particularly a lot of vegetables and fruits. Rich sources of protein are also really important as these are the building blocks of our bodies.

If your doctor has given you a specific dietary requirement for your pregnancy make sure that you are following their instructions as this will help to ensure that your pregnancy goes smoothly.

How To Be A Happy Mum

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Being a mum can be a hard job. We often feel as though we are being pulled in dozens of different directions all at once, and it can seem like, no matter what we do and what choices we make, someone is judging and telling us it was the wrong decision. This can lead to unhappiness, and that is a shame. Being a parent is such a wonderful thing that letting others dictate your happiness means you miss out on the enjoyment of being a mum. Therefore, it needs to stop, and here are some excellent ways you can be a happy mum, enjoy your children, and forget about everyone else.

Find The Right Balance 

Motherhood is a balancing act between being with your children and taking time for yourself, between working and staying at home, between being ‘you’ and being ‘mum’, and so much more. What works for one person in terms of balance might not work for another, which is why it is essential you work out what suits you. Then, of course, be willing to flex this in time if you need to. 

For example, you might choose to work full-time, part-time, or not at all. You might work from home or prefer to go to an office. No matter which you choose, you will have your reasons, and you will work out your happiness from it. Don’t listen to anyone else about this; you need to do what’s best for you and your family. As time goes on, you can easily make adjustments depending on where you feel you are needed most, so remember that nothing is set in stone, and you can change anything that needs to be changed. 

Personalise Your Dream Home Office Space

 

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Whether you need to set up a proper home office for yourself or your child, personalising the space is essential for your productivity and wellbeing. We can spend a major part of our life working at a desk, as a professional employee, a freelancer, or a student. Therefore, it is crucial to get the desk space right and make it a comfortable and unique environment. 

It goes without saying that every workstation requires proper equipment as a priority, and this means that you should focus on securing the right laptop and other devices in the first instance. Ultimately, you will need to decide what your workstation should include if you want to make it an efficient space and inject some personality into it! 

The typical home office equipment for students and professionals could include:

• A computer or laptop

• A headset

• A webcam (often already integrated into the computer)

• A microphone

• A printer/scanner 

• A bookshelf with the relevant literature 

• Stationery  

Once you've gathered everything you need to work, it's time to create an environment that inspires and motivates. It's time to get creative! 

A handmade leather gift

Leather adds a unique sense of luxury and elegance. There are many unique gift ideas for students, which you can learn to make yourself. A DIY bookmark can be a superb addition to the student kit, reminding them to enjoy reading and acquiring knowledge. 

You can also create a full leather set for the desk. Home office workers, especially, put their desks through a lot. As they spend a lot of time sitting at the desk, the surface can rapidly show signs of wear and tear where they put the mandatory teacup! A leather coaster can help protect the desk and make the whole setting feel more put together. Also, why not pair it with a leather mouse pad for a touch of elegance that keeps them motivated during the day! 

Things To Consider When Buying Your Child's First Laptop

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A 2019 Statista report says 93% of UK children already own tablets, smartphones or computers for their personal use. Undoubtedly, these gadgets were bought by their parents, family friends or other relatives. These gadgets come with a lot of responsibility on both sides. Parents and children are required to observe basic rules and directions to ensure that these personal devices are used appropriately. Therefore, if you are contemplating getting your child their first computer, here are some things you can consider first.

Set time limits

Setting time limits generally refer to the number of hours your child can use their computer. Apart from the hours, it is vital to set limits for the times of the day to access these devices. Over the years, research has proven that too many UK kids are abusing screen time, and unfortunately, parents are aware of it. For many households, the ownership of a computer may be to keep kids occupied at home while parents attend to other responsibilities at home or in the office.

However, too much screen time can be detrimental to your child’s eyesight. In other words, exposure to blue lights from computer screens can cause visual fatigue and pressure on the retina. To avoid these health effects, you can purchase a Blue Light filter to protect their young eyes. The best decision, though, is to set screen limits and to ensure that your restrictions are well communicated. Too much screen time also has its effects on cognitive development and their social life.

Getting Your Tools To Get Ready To Garden Again

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The true importance of a garden is that it’s much more than just a way to generate some curb appeal. They play an important role in shaping the environment that we live and spend our time in and, as such, keeping them maintained is crucial. With spring coming over the horizon, this might mean you need to take a closer look at your tools and make sure that they’re up to scratch for the year ahead.

Ensure your tools are clean and ready

Hopefully, there shouldn’t be too much in the way of soil or other dirt actively sticking to your tools, but you should make sure that you’re checking them just in case, to prevent corrosion. For the majority of metal gardening tools, soaking them in warm water and then using a jet to clean them off is worth considering. If you have any tools you’re worried about, you can use an oil like the ones from this store to make sure that they’re coated against the external pressures that can cause corrosion.

Test out the motorised ones

For a lot of people, you might not have too many motorised tools, but any that you do have and you haven’t used for a while, you should give them a short test run after visually inspecting them for any faults. Check to ensure that your lawnmower is working as it should be after cleaning out any debris that might still be lingering in there. If there are any issues, then you should use your manufacturer’s guide to troubleshoot and you can get replacement parts from this site. The sooner you act on any issues with your motorised tools, even the seemingly minor ones, the less likely they are to be so costly.