Saturday, 29 October 2011

Teaching Kids to Brush Their Teeth

Kids in general either hate brushing their teeth or they simply couldn’t care less. However, it is important to teach your kids how to brush their teeth to avoid dental and other health problems. With a little patience, creativity, and a handy tool, you should be able to get your kids to brush their teeth in no time.

For preschoolers

It’s relatively easy to teach preschoolers, as long as it’s fun for them and is done through rhythm and rhyme. Let your kids know that there are germs that we can’t see living on their teeth and it’s important to get rid of them. You can even make a song about teeth brushing.

When teaching your kids how to brush their teeth, first show them the proper way to go about it. Once you have demonstrated the up and down, round and round process of brushing teeth, hand your kids their brushes and let them try. Use a safe kids’ step stool to help them reach the sink. Choose one that is self-retracting so that when your kids are done using the sink, the step stool automatically retracts underneath the sink and out of adults’ way. Once they are able to do the whole brushing process themselves, make the event and exciting and joyous one. Clap and cheer for your kids. Tell your other family members how good the kids were and have them cheer for the children as well. Have your kids show other family members how they too can brush their teeth.

Things to do:

• Show your kids how excited you are about brushing, and get even more excited when they brush.

• Make brushing a fun experience.

• Ask them to show you how well they can brush their teeth.

• Make it a point to show other family members how good the kids can brush their teeth.

For Grades K-3rd

Kids this age learn things through presentation and repetition. Offer your kids to watch you as you brush your teeth, explaining things as you go along. Come up with creative analogies: “plaques are invisible bugs that eat away at your teeth. The only way to get rid of them is to brush your teeth.”

Things to do:

• Regularly offer your kids to watch yourself brushing.

• Be consistent with brushing times

• Come up with creative analogies or explanations about brushing teeth

Grades 4th-6th

At this age, there is no better way to effectively teach your kids to brush their teeth than to show them what happens when a person does not brush his/her teeth. Gather pictures of people’s teeth the have serious decay. Or better, get pictures of people with rotten teeth. During your visits to the dentist, teach your kids about proper brushing by asking for pictures of people who do not brush their teeth and explaining to them, “This is what happens to people who do not brush their teeth.”

You can also add that there are health risks when they do not brush their teeth. Some of these include gum diseases such as gingivitis (swollen or inflamed gums), periodontitis, gum infections, bone destruction, and tooth loss. It has even been found that gum disease is a likely risk factor for heart disease and stroke for adults.

Things to do:

• Ask your dentist to share stories, pictures and information of the hazards of not brushing teeth.

Family Dinners


The dinner table can be one of the best places to bring your family together. Eating a nice home cooked meal with your whole family is a wonderful experience, and can bring great discussion, or humor to everyone attending. My family has a wonderful pasta dinner every Sunday night. My mother spends all day preparing her sauce, meatballs, and whatever else it takes to create her masterpiece. After hours of preparing it's finally done. The family gathers at the dinner table and begins the feast. On Sundays we always sit at the dinner table. Your asking, where else would you sit? Well, during the week we have an island counter top which we eat our meals at. The island is simply more convenient, and easy to use for my mother when she's cooking. For our Sunday feast, we always set the dinner table, and sit at the table together to eat our meal.

I look forward to every Sunday for a number of reasons. The main reason being I love to eat, and I love to eat pasta more than anything. We are an Italian family and we all enjoy a fabulous pasta dinner every week. Besides the eating part of our feast, I enjoy joining my family and starting conversation. It's not often you get to sit down with your whole family at once for an extended period of time. Being able to talk to my all my brothers at once is pretty cool. I got three brothers, and having them all there at once can be quite exciting. Asking one brother one thing can lead to a fun conversation, or sometimes a ruthless argument. Overall it's a fun experience and you get to learn a lot about your siblings, and/or parents.

My brothers all attend school, and two of them work full time jobs, theres just no time to spend time with them. Having a weekly dinner is a very exciting aspect of our family. No matter what is happening that week, I know that the upcoming Sunday I will see my whole family whether it's at our dinner table, or simply out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. Not everyone can make it every Sunday, but that's understandable and we forgive them. Most Sunday's we have the whole family attending, including my grandma, who I feel is the most important person at the dinner table.

My grandma, who we call "nuni" or "nonna" which is Italian for grandmother. Our nonna came over from Italy over 50 years ago on a boat, and has never been the same since. I love talking to her at the dinner table about the old times in the old country. She teaches us some cool things about cooking, and just being Italian in general. Sometimes my nunna will teach us some Italian phrases, or secrets to different things that she's learned over in Italy. I love comparing her different ways to go about doing certain things to the way we do certain things over here in America, it's very interesting.

One of the coolest things I've learned from my grandmother is how to make homemade pasta. My grandmother grew up in a village in Sicily, and was taught to produce her own pasta noodles when it came to their family feasts. Learning how to make my own homemade pasta was easily one of the coolest things I've learned from here. I currently attend the University of New Hampshire for Culinary Arts, and cooking happens to be my passion. Having my grandma around is so awesome, and I learn a lot from her every day. She taught me the basics of using a Pasta Machine, and how to make my own pasta from scratch. After a few hours of preparing our noodles, our product was done. I had produced enough pasta for weeks! We ate the homemade pasta later that night and it was fantastic. May not taste like it was store bought, but it definitely tastes homemade, and delicious.

The moral of the article is to make more people aware of the power of food, whether your preparing it or eating it. Take advantage of your family dinners, who knows how much longer you'll have with them. Whether you sit and enjoy the presence, or strike a conversation with your family members, a family dinner is a great way to gather the family each week.

Fun Baby Toys For Beach Outings

When babies are brought to the beach to play, parents are always looking for different fun baby toys for their babies to play with on the sands. Of course, babies can’t bring their bunny stuff toys or rattler in the beach because these toys are not manufactured for that purpose. Fun baby toys for the beach are designed to allow babies to form different structures and manipulate the sand to create something. Furthermore, fun baby toys for the beach would be composed of water proof toys that can be soaked with water and still function properly. toys such as toy camera, swimming toy fish, squirters and floaters would significantly bring more fun in the beach. With this toy, babies would not anymore try to play on the deeper part of the water where it can be dangerous if no one is watching over them. There are different fun baby toys designed for the beach. These toys are not designed to be used on the sands only. There are some fun baby toys that are designed to serve as a life saver and a toy at the same time.

This kind of toy will excite babies and keep them safe while on the waters. For concern parents, fun baby toys used for the beach must be baby friendly and

Types of fun baby toys for beach sand and water play

For babies who prefer to play at the sands, the ideal fun baby toys for them are small shovels and rakes. This will spike their interest in digging and cultivating the sands which can be very enjoyable for babies who are curious. There are also toys that are designed for sand castle molding. These toys are considered to be fun baby toys because babies can easily form different shapes just by putting sand and a little water. Fun baby toys for sand play are ideal for children who cannot swim and play on the water. With this toy, babies would prefer to play on the sand rather than on the waters. On the other hand, fun baby toys for the beach can be more enjoyable in the water. There are different toys available for water play. Some common fun baby toys for water play are colorful floaters, squirting rubber ducks, and waterproof cameras. These toys would enhance babies play in the water. They will experience a more fun and enjoyable play in the water without the risk of any danger. This is because some of these toys are designed to be used as a life saver for babies. These toys can float and offer safety to babies who are unable to swim for themselves. This way, parent would feel comfortable when they buy fun baby toys that are specifically designed for babies.

Overall, when choosing from sand or water fun baby toys always consider your babies abilities and never keep your eyes off your babies. Although these fun baby toys are designed for babies, parent’s supervision is still the best.

All about Paper Towels

Paper towels are used for a large number of purposes; they are used for cleaning kitchen counter tops, to wipe your hands and even when you are down with a cold. These handy paper towels were invented by Sir Arthur Scott and have been around for more than a hundred years. However, many people do not notice that these items include many variables and choices. Here are few of the variations that will definitely help you with your purchase –

Ply

Ply refers to many single sheets that are used together to form a single paper towel. These are often sold as a one or two ply. One ply towels are used in commercial settings, such as in restaurants or bathrooms. Two ply towels are sold to consumers for home use. Two ply towels are generally thicker and absorb more than one ply towels.

Quantity

These types of towels are sold in rolls with up to a hundred or more sheets per roll. These rolls are either placed on a holder for consumers or inserted into a dispenser for commercial and public use. The number of paper towels on each roll varies. Manufacturers who sell these to consumers set a number of perforated sheets on each roll that is sold. Paper towels used in public dispensing machines also have a predetermined number of sheets on a roll.

Size of each sheet

The size of each sheet is mentioned on the package for consumers. A typical sheet size for consumer products is 11x11 inches. Commercial sheet sizes, such as those used in public toilets, are typically shorter in width. Each sheet is perforated with cut-lines to allow the user to tear off sheets for use.

Packaging

Companies pack them for sale to consumers in retail stores. Packaging is typically based on the quantity of rolls. Common quantities are single roll, three, six and eight roll. Consumer pricing is usually discounted to provide the incentive of savings for purchasing more than one roll at a time. Paper towels purchased from commercial or industrial use are usually void of extensive or decorative packaging.

I am sure that the next time you go to buy paper towels you will definitely check on this information. For quality paper towels, Colorado Springs residents can look up to www.columbinepaper.com. This is of the most reliable stores in Colorado Springs. Avail discounts all year round!

The Many Different Types Of Baby Strollers





You probably know this there's a wide selection of baby strollers on the market to pick from. Your selection of baby strollers is going to be subject to the number of kids you intend to use it for, the way you are likely to utilize the stroller and also where, last but not least your financial budget. Everything aside your baby's level of comfort and also security will likely impact your decision. Let's look into a number of the types of baby strollers accessible to you.

The conventional stroller will accommodate a single boy or girl and there are numerous attributes on conventional strollers including play trays, parent trays, materials, plus handle bars. On a lot of baby strollers handle bars are actually height adjustable which can be a superb back saver.

Double strollers possess 2 chairs. There's a number of seating plans for double strollers. The standard double seat will be 1 at the rear of the other - tandem design. Tandem seating has got the 1st child having a decent view and the 1 at the back views the rear of the other's head. A alternative from the tandem seating is stadium seating. Visualize bleachers in which each individual chair will be elevated somewhat over the one in front of it permitting those in the back to view what's taking place. There's side-by-side seating in addition to face to face seats.

Jogging baby strollers have become widely used since they allow you to take your kids along on a run. The jogging stroller features a triangular steering wheel along with 2 sizeable wheels at the back then one steering wheel in the front. They've got several appealing characteristics. An extra safety feature is a wrist strap around the handle bar. This is put on to ensure that once you come to a halt, your baby stroller doesn't move from you. As always any time you stop the baby stroller the brake must always be employed. The wrist strap will be additional security. Jogging strollers are generally readily available for multiple seating too.

Triple baby strollers are fantastic for triplets or 3 young children. Seating plans may be alongside however many possess tandem seating or maybe stadium seating. Once the baby stroller is filled with children and you are pushing it can help you accomplish your targets of physical fitness.

Convertible multiple baby strollers can be obtained where by they could be converted to double seater's along with extra seating plus a transverse bar. You might like to verify if this choice is offered for the specific baby stroller you are looking at.

Umbrella baby strollers have become affordable. These are typically simpler to collapse and unfold. They're extremely light and portable and store effortlessly inside a vehicle trunk. They are great for brief outings to the Shopping mall or even quick strolls. They don't work effectively upon every surface. They are also available in multiple seating as well. The one downside I had using umbrella baby strollers can be that when something is hung around the handle it induced the buggy to tip back.

Lightweight baby strollers tend to be somewhat weightier compared to umbrella baby strollers as well as a little bit less than the conventional stroller. They will commonly collapse in a single hand movement. They also look like the conventional type baby stroller. Additionally they are available in multiple seats.

Carriage Baby strollers are convertible strollers which you can transform from a carriage into a child stroller. This really is ideal for little ones which are not able to sit up yet. The handle is reversible in order to transform it into a baby stroller which is perfect for young children that are sitting upwards.

Bicycle baby strollers or trailers will be hooked up simply by fixing it to the rear wheel. You can find 2 seated versions on the market. They may be turned from a trailer into a baby stroller without any tools. The restraining method is a 5 point harness for every youngster.