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5 Best Parenting Tips for 2021

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The toughest part about the job of a parent is that it never ends. You are constantly learning new things that are teaching you how to connect with your kids and help them grow. I think it’s safe to say that all moms will agree with me when I say that while parenting might be exhausting, it is also rewarding. There’s nothing that will make you feel better than seeing your kids smile and this is why parenting needs to be done the right way! What’s tricky about parenting is that just like almost everything else, there are trends that you can follow.

The introduction of social media has helped trends spread faster than ever and if you are curious to see what are the latest parenting tips for 2021, then you have arrived at the right website. I have scoured the web in search for the best parenting tips for 2021 and today I am going to present it all to you! Without any further ado, let’s get into it.

#1 Sleep is Important!

In this day and age, social media has most people believing that we shouldn’t sleep more than six hours. All influencers are saying that we need to be productive and to work all day long. However, this is not the case for kids! Even though kids will hardly admit that they feel tired, you still need to set a bedtime that allows them to get enough sleep to grow healthy and strong.

The most important rule that you need to respect when setting the bedtime for your kids is to be consistent. However, you need to be strict about the bedtime and not let them oversleep. Luckily, this is not going to happen if you run a tight schedule and they get all the sleep and rest that they need during the regular bedtime hours.

#2 Control Your Emotions

While the previous parenting tip was about making sure that your kids are well rested, the second one on our list focuses on you. It’s easy to get angry or upset when your kids make a mess around the house. However, this doesn’t mean that staying angry or scolding them is a normal reaction. You should never let your emotions get the best of you. Responding in the heat of the moment is not going to lead to a good outcome.

Learning how to control your emotions is not easy, I’ll give you that. This takes practice but fortunately, it’s all worth it in the end. Your kids will appreciate you even more if you control your emotions and avoid overly-harsh punishments. Not just that, but you will become a great role model for your kids because you will show them that staying focused, consistent and calculated in your responses is the best way to act. This will be a valuable lesson that will help them succeed in life. Think of it this way, you will demonstrate the behavior that you want to see in them.

#3 Give Tasks to Your Kids

The biggest mistake that most parents make, especially new ones, is that they don’t ever give their kids any tasks. This is understandable, because you are simply trying to let them be free and have fun. Although, there is a downside to this. Your kids will not be ready for school or adult life if they are not taught how to deal with tasks and how to be responsible.

I am not saying that you should give them serious tasks, just small things that will make them feel useful and needed. If you remain consistent in your expectations, your kids will realize that that dealing with their tasks is important and that they should make it their top priority. Learning how to prioritize tasks is an essential skill to being successful in school.

#4 Weekly Family Meetings

One of the most popular parenting trends for 2021 is to prioritize family meetings. The meetings can take place once a week and the only rule is that the entire family needs to be there. It’s easy to get side tracked or stressed from work and go for weeks without spending precious time as a family. What’s great about weekly family meetings is that you can use them to have fun with your kids and also to talk about problems that your family needs to solve.

Are your kids fighting too often? Use the weekly family meeting to have a talk with them. Listen to their problems and help them understand what needs to be done. After you get done with the serious talk, you should whip out a board game and have some fun! This way, everyone will love it when the weekly family meeting comes around.

#5 Limit the Screen Time

We live in the age of technology and almost every kid has a tablet around the house that they can use to watch YouTube videos or listen to music. While using technology as entertainment for kids is not necessarily a bad thing, experts are saying too much screen time can have a significant impact on children brain development. Obviously, you don’t want this.

Learning to say no when your kids are crying because you are not allowing them to watch the TV or play games on their tablets might be tough and make you feel bad, but it’s for the greater good. Not just that, but kids these days often feel entitled to their parent’s smartphones. Saying “no” once in a while is only going to do them good.

How to make YouTube Safer for kids

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Back in the day, I used to spend my free time watching movies and cartoons on the TV. This was my favorite thing to do when I came home from school and truth be told, I wasted too many hours in front of the TV. Things are now worse for kids these days. They have access to YouTube, and this app consumes time like nothing else!

While YouTube might be an excellent app for kids to learn new stuff or watch entertaining shows, there is a dark side to YouTube. Thousands of videos are being uploaded on YouTube every single hour, and not all of them are kid-friendly. On the bright side of things, there are some things that you can do in order to make YouTube safer for kids, and today I am going to show you how!

#1 Turn Off the Search Feature

The developers who are in charge of YouTube know that not all of the app’s content is suitable for kids, and this is why they have created a special version of the app called “YouTube Kids.” What makes this app great is the fact that it gives you, the parent, more controls over the type of content that your kids can watch.

The first thing that you want to do is to disable the search feature. Without having access to this feature, your kids will only be able to watch videos that are deemed safe by the algorithms. The search function can be disabled by tapping on the “lock“ icon that is located in the lower right of the screen, enter your passcode, tap on “Settings”, select the kid profile and then toggle off “Search settings”.

#2 Report and Block Offensive Content

If your kids use your smartphone to watch YouTube, then one of the best things that you can do is to use the app and look at the list of videos that it recommends. If you see something that shouldn’t be there or that you consider offensive, then you should be pleased to know that you can get rid of it with a simple click. However, my advice is that you should also report and block the video.

The reason why you want to report offensive videos is that this is going to help improve the YouTube Kids algorithm. The software developers will know exactly what are the type of videos that you don’t want your kids or someone else’s kids to watch and automatically red flag them. Even though the YouTube Kids algorithm is super smart, there are some things that only a mother’s eyes can catch!

#3 Create Playlists

The best way to make sure that your kids only watch videos that are appropriate for their age and don’t stumble upon offensive content is to create playlists. Even though creating a playlist might take you some time to do, it’s worth it! You will have full control over all the videos that your kids can watch, and the YouTube Kids algorithm will not make any mistakes.

What’s great about creating playlists for YouTube is that the process is really simple. All that you need to do is to click on the “Add to” option at the bottom of the video and then create or select a playlist. The tricky part is to find kid-friendly videos. You can make this task easier by subscribing to family-friendly channels such as Disney, Pixar, The Muppets, and so on. The latest videos uploaded by these channels will be automatically added to the playlist.

#4 Set Up a Family Google Account

Another simple and effective way of monitoring the content that your kids are watching on YouTube and making sure that it is safe is to set up a family Google account. This might sound complicated, but I assure you that it’s super simple. The only thing that you need to do is to create a new Google account and tell your family to use it when watching YouTube. You don’t even have to tell your kids about it, manually sign in the family account into the device that they use to watch videos.

After setting up a family Google account, you will be able to see the history of all the videos that your kids are watching. Not just that, but you will also have access to recently downloaded videos. This email address will now become receive notifications from the channels that your kids are subscribed to.

Final Words

The job of a parent is challenging, and you need to stay up to date with all the latest apps if you want to make sure that your kids are not watching offensive videos. The last tip that I want to share with you is to watch YouTube with your kids. If you don’t have enough free time, you should pop up in their room from time to time and ask them what they are watching.

Is Having Children with Large Age Gaps Better?

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Some people like to have very tight age gaps between children wanting to ‘finish the job’ sooner rather than later. Other people love to keep the age gap as wide as possible. Of course, each group claims that their method is better. However, in real life, things aren’t so simple.

If you ask most moms, they will tell you that the latter option is the better one. As mentioned, it’s all down to you, but if you ask us, having children with large age gaps may truly be better. Why? There are many reasons for it.

You’ll Be a Mom to One

Probably the biggest perk for large age gaps between children, it will allow you to be the mom of one and focus on one child at a time. Raising children is stressful, and it can be quite the challenge when you have back-to-back children. You’ll be tired, they’ll be tired, and there’s a great chance it’ll be a train wreck of a ride for years. This is why many new moms prefer to have children that are years apart.

The Older Kid is Helpful

When you’re raising children, every little bit helps. It’s an exhausting job and you’ll need all the help you can get. So, even if the older kid just hands you over a diaper while you’re changing the little one, it will a lot of help. Plus, older siblings want to help with their younger sisters/brothers. It might not look like much, but trust us – it’ll help.

You Will Be Well Rested

Another major perk of having your children with a large age gap is that you’ll be (finally!) well rested. When you have children, sleep is a commodity and that goes double if you have two small kiddos. Having them 5 years apart, for example, will allow you to be well rested and more energetic about raising your kids.

Plus, you’ve already done it once and that helps as well.

These are just some of the perks of having your children with large age gaps. There are others as well, so don’t feel bad for having them 5 or more years apart. You’ll be well rested and more able to do your duties which is very important when raising children.

What’s all the fuzz in Facebook Quiz and why you shouldn’t take that?

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Are you a pizza or a taco? What is your favorite ice cream flavor? I am sure that you have seen hundreds of this type of quizzes on Facebook that are advertised as “personality tests” but do you know that they are actually bad for you? Personality tests are all over social media, and kids are the ones that fall the most for them. After all, what kid wouldn’t want to see who is the superhero that he resembles the most? Even though these quizzes might seem safe and fun, this is not the case. They are actually used as a tool of the dark arts of politics.

Data leaks such as the infamous Cambridge Analytica fiasco have revealed that companies are using the popular tests to gather private information about you and your family members. This is why you or your kids should never take them. If you don’t know how these quizzes work and how scary they are, then you are doing the right thing by coming to our website. Today I am going to show you everything that you need to know about them.

Do Quizzes Really Collect Data?

These tests are fun, and this is why so many people fall for them. Not just that, but they seem harmless, and no one thinks that their data is being collected. However, this is all made clear when you pay attention to the permissions that quizzes ask. If you click on the “Allow” button for these quizzes, you are unknowingly allowing the developers to store all your answers and analyze them.

“Allowing [quiz name] access will let it pull your profile information, photos, your friends’ info, and other content that it requires to work.” And just beneath the “Allow” button is a statement that says, “By proceeding, you are allowing [quiz name] to access your information and you are agreeing to the Facebook Terms of Use,” says the fine print of these quizzes.

These quizzes are becoming such a massive problem that Facebook felt the need to update its Privacy Update Page in order to warn everyone about them. Here is what Facebook has to say:

“When you use third-party apps, websites or other services that use, or are integrated with, our Services, they may receive information about what you post or share. For example, when you play a game with your Facebook friends or use the Facebook Comment or Share button on a website, the game developer or website may get information about your activities in the game or receive a comment or link that you share from their website on Facebook. In addition, when you download or use such third-party services, they can access your Public Profile, which includes your username or user ID, your age range and country/language, your list of friends, as well as any information that you share with them. Information collected by these apps, websites or integrated services is subject to their own terms and policies.”

Credit Card Fraud

As if the fact that your private data is being stored to be sold by data farms wasn’t scary enough, there also are some quizzes that lead to credit card fraud. There are many quizzes where data collection is not the primary focus, and instead, these quizzes are trying to steal your hard-earned money. The way that they are doing this is by providing various rewards, and to get them, users will need to pay a small fee. What users don’t realize is that when they introduce their card info, all of it will be copied by the scammers.

How Do I Protect My Data?

The first step is to do your research and be weary of all quizzes that require personal information, which is what you are already doing here so congratz for that. The next step is to avoid and report all Facebook quizzes at all costs. Even though the theme of the quiz might be interesting, it’s never a good idea to give it a try.

Another critical piece of advice that I want to share with you is to delete old accounts and, more importantly, update your old passwords. If your passwords are based on your favorite pet or the name of your children for example, you should change your passwords as soon as possible because the scammers will use the info that you provided in the quiz to crack your account.

You should also make sure to check what is the information that a quiz or a Facebook plug-in request before accessing it. Some apps will give you the option to opt-out of these requests and still access their features, but if you are not paying attention, you will end up sharing more information that you want.

What motivates your kids?

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Finding out what motivates your kids is not an easy task. Every parent is faced with this problem and convincing your kids to do things that they might not feel like doing is sometimes challenging. Learning how to motivate your kids is an important step towards becoming a great parent but more importantly, it will help them be successful in life. With the right motivation, the kids will be able to finish their homework in time and take care of their chores. If you are looking for the best motivational techniques, then you have arrived at the right place. Today I am going to show you what are the best ways to keep kids motivated.

#1 Giving Out Rewards is Not Good for the Long Term

This might come as a surprise, but giving out rewards is not always a good idea to motivate kids. This motivation method is considered a “temporary solution” by experts and the reason behind this is that what are you going to do when you run out of rewards?

“It is true that rewards will motivate people to do activities. But what happens is the behavior becomes dependent on the rewards and will stop when the rewards stop,” states Edward Deci is a Ph.D professor of psychology at the University of Rochester.

Think of it this way, would you be motivated to go to work if you didn’t get paid? This is why giving out rewards is not the way to do motivate your kids.

#2 Recognize Personal Achievements

One of the best ways to make your kids feel great for doing something that they were not necessarily feeling motivated about is to recognize their personal achievements. Most of the time, children desire to be viewed as competent and successful in all activities. This is why praising them for their hard work and making them feel good about themselves is always a better option than giving out rewards.

The tricky part about motivating your kids by recognizing their personal achievements is to be careful not to turn this into praise. If you find yourself giving praise to your kids for everything they do, they will soon stop feeling the sense accomplishment when dealing with bigger tasks. You should expect excellence because offering unearned praise will lead to losing overall motivation.

#3 Set Goals

Hands down, the fastest way to make someone feel motivated is to set short-term goals. This works for kids as well. Obviously, you don’t want your kids to be forced into one direction and the goals that you set for them should have a “loose grip”. What I mean by this is that you should set goals for them to work towards, but you should give them enough freedom to show their character strengths and what they like.

If you are not sure what goals you should set for your kids, then my advice would be to write down with pen on paper how you would like them to be when they grow up. Do you want them to be hard workers? Then, your goals should be focused on short-term goals that will teach them how good it feels to take care of chores in time.

#4 One-on-One Talks

Who else knows better what motivates your kids other than them? Kids can sometimes be difficult to “crack” because not all of them like talking openly about their feelings. This is where one-on-one talks come in. You should have meaningful conversations with your kids and learn what they like, what drives them and what makes them curios. Dr. Kennedy-Moore has a great way of explaining the importance of meaningful talks with kids.

The doctor picks a member from the audience and she tells him that she will give him $1,000 if he does a backflip. When the audience member declines to do the impossible task, Dr. Kennedy-Moore says: “Look how stubborn he is! I guess I need to be more firm with him”.

This why motivating your kids to do something that they excel at is more important than forcing them to focus on things that they don’t necessarily like or enjoy doing.

Final Words

If there is one thing that all parents will agree about, then it has to be the fact that no one is ever fully prepared for the job. Being a parent is the most difficult job in the world and learning how to do it right is a long process. As a conclusion, the best way to find out what motivates your kids is to talk to them and let them show you what drives them.

Top 6 Best Indoor Activities with Kids

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Finding something fun to do with your kids on a rainy day can be difficult. You can go visit the local museum or cinema, but what if the kiddos don’t feel like going out? Fortunately, there are lots of fun indoor activities that your kids will love. If you are out running out of ideas for fun indoor activities, then you have arrived the right place to get some inspiration. Today I am going to show you my top six best indoor activities.

#1 Laser Maze

If there is one thing that I learned during my days as a babysitter, then it has to be the fact that there is no better way for kids to spend their energy other than running around the house. However, running without a reason can get boring at times.

This is why you have to get creative with crepe paper and masking tape. These two items that cost less than $5 and you can use them to set up a laser maze in your hallway. Your kids will love feeling like spies in a Hollywood movie. To make things even more fun, you can tell them to play catch!

#2 Make a Blanket Fort

One of the fondest memories that I have from my childhood was when it started raining outside and my mother helped me build a blanket fort. This doesn’t take longer than ten minutes to set up and believe me, your kids are going to have a blast inside. You can also get a flashlight and make some funny shadow shapes such as a rabbit. However, the fastest way to turn a rainy day into the “most fun day ever” for your kids is to invite their best friends to have a sleepover in the fort.

#3 Board Games

The previous two activities are a blast for the kids, but what do you do if you want to get involved in the fun? This is where board games come in. There are lots of family board games that are fun to play. Although, this is not the only thing that board games do. They also help develop your kid’s cleverness while having a good laugh. If you don’t know which board games to pick for your family, then you might want to check out this guide.

#4 Play Hide and Seek

Even though playing hide and seek might not be as complicated to set up as creating a laser maze, it’s still super fun. If you have more than one kid, then playing hide and seek is the perfect indoor activity for your family. If you don’t, then you can simply call your neighbors and tell them to bring their kids over. What you should keep in mind is that even if the kids are not too difficult to find, you should still make a big fuss about how well they are hidden.

#5 Read a Children’s Book

Who says that reading books can’t be fun? Even if your kids are too small to read or they don’t want to, you can still turn reading into a fun family activity. Cuddle up in a blanket and start reading together a children’s book. If you want to make this fun activity something regular, then you can pick a lengthy series such as Harry Potter or the Chronicles of Narnia. Learning about the adventures of Harry Potter is going to teach them valuable lessons about life.

#6 Play Charades

The last indoor activity that I want to share with you is playing charades. This is one of the most fun games ever made and what’s great about it is the fact that your family is going to laugh a lot. Seeing their mommy or daddy pretend to sing is going to make the kids laugh harder than any cartoon! To top it all off, you don’t have to spend any of your hard-earned money to purchase charades because the game is also available as an app for smartphones.

Final Words

These have been my top six best indoor activities with kids. I hope that I have inspired you to make these cold winter days more fun for your kids. If you are looking for more activities, then you can check out this article.

5 Signs You May Be Pregnant

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Even though pregnancy tests and ultrasounds are the most effective methods to determine if you are pregnant, there are also some signs that will help you tell if you are going to be a mother in the upcoming future. If you are feeling nauseated in the morning or if your period is late, then these are the first signs that you may be pregnant. However, you can’t rely only on these two signs before breaking the news to your husband. This is why today I am going to present the top 5 most common signs that you need to buy a pregnancy test.

#1 Feeling Fatigued

When you get pregnant, your body is going to be working nonstop to support the pregnancy. This is why many women feel fatigued during the first weeks of pregnancy. Your body will produce more progesterone than usual and this will increase your temperature which leads to a drop in energy levels. What many women don’t know is that their heart is also going to start pumping faster than usual when they get pregnant because the blood needs to deliver oxygen to the uterus.

The best way to make sure that your energy level doesn’t drop too low and that your pregnancy doesn’t have any complications is to take prenatal vitamins. Not only that, but changing your diet and focusing on eating healthy is also going to help you feel more energetic. Drinking lots of fluids is also a must!

#2 Swollen and Tender Breasts

Another important sign that you might notice right away is the soreness and tingling in your breasts. In fact, feeling the breasts to see if they are tender was the most popular way of determining if a young woman is pregnant back in the day when medicine was not so evolved. The shape of your breasts is also going to change because they are preparing to produce milk for the baby.

I want to mention that while a large number of women are feeling this change in their body during the first weeks of being pregnant, this is not the case for all of them. As previously noted, not all women are the same and their pregnancy experience will be different. Teresa Pitman who is a doula and lactation expert is saying that “not all women experience these changes, especially if they have been on birth control pills”.

#3 Missed Period

The most classic and easy way to determine if you are pregnant is missing your period. If the implantation is complete, then your body will start producing hCG (human chorion gonadotropin). This is a hormone that will help your body support the pregnancy throughout the nine months. However, that’s not all that this hormone does. The hCG is also causing the ovaries to stop releasing mature eggs which stops the period.

When you get pregnant, you are more than likely to miss your period for the upcoming four weeks after the conception date. If instead your period is irregular, then you should call your doctor as soon as possible and ask for a check-up. If you take medication, then you should know that this can pose a danger for the baby and you need an expert’s advice on what to do next.

#4 Nausea and Smell Sensitivity

Another classic way to determine if you are pregnant is if you wake up feeling nauseated. This happens to more than 80% of women and the reason behind this is that the increase in hormone levels will cause morning sickness. According to the experts, you will feel the morning sickness for about three months. Not just that, but some women feel nauseated throughout the day and not only in the morning.

If you start feeling weird smells everywhere you go and you also have some of the other symptoms mentioned on this list, then there is a high chance that you are pregnant. Many women will experience a heightened sense of smell during their pregnancy.

#5 Metallic Taste and Vivid Dreams

Many women are saying that they started feeling a strange metallic taste in their mouths right from the first week of being pregnant. This taste stays with them throughout the entire period. The interesting thing about this sign is that despite thousands of women complaining about it, there is no scientific explanation for it. Doctors don’t know what causes it but it’s certainly a sign that you need to look out for.

One of the pregnancy signs that takes most women by surprise is the vivid dreams that they start experiencing. Just like feelings and emotions become more intensified during pregnancy, so do the dreams! This is why you might want to see a medical professional if you are experiencing vivid dreams and the signs featured above.

Buying the Best Mattress for the Best Sleep Ever

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Thank you Puffy for sponsoring this post. 

Most moms would agree that 8 hours of sleep has become a luxury. Being sleep deprived has become every mom’s new norm that even when they get a chance to stay for a couple more extra hours of sleep, they still end up waking up too soon.  There are many factors that can affect your sleep quality and this includes your bed. Making your bed the most comfortable place ever can help you achieve a long and restful good night’s sleep. You moms deserve it anyway! Start with finding the best mattress. Trust us, your mattress can make a really great difference in the quality of your sleep.

If you are in the process of redecorating for 2021, make sure you include creating the most comfortable bedroom ever for yourself, your kids, or even for your guests as one of your goals! Your family and your future guests will thank you for it! Be sure to buy a mattress that can help you achieve such a goal. Since mattresses don’t come cheap, you wanted to buy the mattress that is worth every penny. Start your search by looking for a top rated mattress with stellar 5-star ratings. You want to make sure that your mattress is proven, tested, and people swear by it! So, take your time researching and running through mattress reviews.

For us, we found that the Puffy Lux Mattress works for our needs and we have been reaping the benefits of a quality good night sleep since day 1 and here is why:

Supports all sleeper types

There is nothing more annoying than not being able to find the right position to help you fall asleep. Some mattresses do a great job of providing comfort when sleeping on the back or belly. Fortunately, this is not the case for the Puffy Lux Mattress. Instead of focusing on only one side, this product has been designed to support all sleeper types. It is a memory foam mattress so sleeping in any position that you want is guaranteed to not give you any sore neck or back that often comes with a bad sleeping position. So if buying a memory foam mattress has been on your list for a while now, then you’ll never go wrong with this mattress.

Talking about the versatility of the product, we want to highlight that you will not be required to purchase a special bed frame for it. The Puffy Lux mattress size and dimensions are specially designed to work with all frames or surfaces. You can buy mattress in the following size options: Queen, Twin, Twin XL, Full, King, and Cal King. Therefore, you can place the mattress on any type of bed frame and it will work.

Dual-Cloud Foam and Climate Adaptive Layer

Comfort is all that matters when it comes to top rated mattresses. This is why it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this premium product is equipped with dual-cloud foam. If you are unfamiliar with dual-cloud foam, then you should know that it adapts to the body so that it relieves the pressure points. You will never feel better waking up than after sleeping on the Puffy Lux Mattress. The mattress adjusts to your body and your sleeping position. 

The dual-cloud foam will make you feel weightless, but that’s not all! The dual-cloud foam works together with the climate-adaptive layer to keep the mattress cool. This means that you can think about your AC less in the hot summer days. You can finally take an afternoon nap and not wake up sweaty. What’s great about the climate adaptive layer is the fact that it will also make the mattress feel warm during winter.

Keeping it clean is not hard

Don’t you just hate how difficult it is to wash off the stains from bed covers? The folks at Puffy know this too well and this is why they are bundling the top rated mattress with an all-new stain-resistant cover. The cover will act as a mattress protector but more importantly, it will keep all stains off your bed. The Puffy Mattress cover can be unzipped and washed at home. You don’t need any special cleaning product or waterproof mattress protector because you can clean it all with a simple napkin.

We also want to mention that all mattress covers that Puffy offers are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Certified. What many people don’t know is that textiles that are used in most mattresses contain chemical compounds. These compounds can be harmful to your health but fortunately, this is not something that you need to worry about after purchasing the Puffy Lux Mattress. The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Certification guarantees that the textiles do not contain any chemicals. You will sleep safer knowing that there aren’t any chemicals that can hurt you.

Stylish Design

There are many factors that you need to consider when buying a mattress and one of the most important ones is the design. After all, the bed is an important décor element in your room’s interior design and it has the power to make or break the design. Using the Puffy Mattress Lux with the special stain-resistant cover will not only make your room look better, but it will also make it feel more welcoming by bringing in a breath of fresh air. Obviously, you can use any type of cover that you want to make the interior design stand out. However, the benefits that the stain-resistant cover brings are just too good to give up.

Risk-free 101 Sleep Trial

You can check out as many mattress reviews as you want and there will be one feature that they all are missing when compared to the Puffy Lux Mattress. The manufacturers are so confident that this mattress is a life-changing product that they are providing everyone with the opportunity to test out how comfortable it feels.

This is called the “Puffy 101 Night Sleep Trial”. You can buy the mattress and test it out. If you don’t feel like the Puffy Lux Mattress delivers on all promises, then you can return it free of charge and you will also receive a full refund. It doesn’t get any better than this!

Lifetime Warranty and Donations to Children

If you aren’t yet convinced that the Puffy Lux Mattress is worth the investment, then you should know that the manufacturers are offering a lifetime warranty. Spending the extra money on a top rated mattress is more than worth it! The company is so confident that their mattress is of the best quality that they offer a lifetime warranty. Who else does that?

To make things even better, Puffy believes that every child should have a bed to sleep on, that just resonates to us a lot. Puffy donates comfortable mattresses to non-profits such as Penny Lane Center, Teen Challenge, The Mission of Hope, St. Vincent de Paul, Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, and Nashville Rescue Mission. Therefore, a significant part of your money will go towards a good cause and you got yourself one of best mattress available in the market.

Planning for a Family Budget

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If you are tired of living paycheck to paycheck every month and the debt keeps piling up, setting a family budget is your best chance to get back on track. However, I need to point out that living on a budget doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t afford to purchase everything you want. It means that you are smart with your money and you want to make the paychecks last longer.

The “secret” behind successful family budgets is making a plan and sticking with it, no matter what. No one tells us what is the best way to budget in school or college and fortunately for you, I did all the research so that you don’t have to! Follow the next steps and your family budget will be up and running in no time.

1. Track the expenses

The first step that you need to make when planning for a family budget is to track the expenses. Gather all the bills that come in your mail and don’t forget about the bank statements. 

The next step is to get a pen, paper, and calculator. This should always be within your reach on a daily basis. Then, track your daily spending. This will be hard and “extra work” at first, but you’ll thank me when this becomes a habit. Track all the money you spent and the money that comes in. From there, you will have a better understanding of your finances and your spending.

It’s easy to spend more money than you can afford when you don’t know exactly how much your family’s monthly expenses are worth. Plus, you wouldn’t know what the unnecessary costs are until you take note of them.

This trick is not new. In fact, Japanese people swear by it. They call it Kakeibo — the Japanese method of saving money.

2. Set your goals

What is the reason why you are interested in planning for a family budget? Do you want to take your family on a nice trip during the summer? Or are you thinking about setting a college fund for your kids? Determine what is your goal and markdown how much it costs. Now you can calculate exactly how much money you need to save per month.

Many moms who are in charge of running their family budget are saying that the best thing to do is to set short-term goals that have long-term benefits. For example, your financial goals can include things such as reducing your overall pay on utility, TV cable or internet bills. Sticking to these goals is not going to be easy, but your kids will appreciate you even more for it!

3. Do your taxes the right way

Financial advisors are saying that a large number of adults don’t really know how to do their taxes the right way. If you are in this situation, you shouldn’t feel ashamed. After all, no one teaches us at school how to do our taxes and manage our finances.

You can tweak your taxes and save up more money than you can imagine just by picking the proper filing status. There are different ways to improve your taxes and as a mom, you shouldn’t miss out on child care and dependent care expenses.

4. Money for food

If you take a close look at your monthly expenses, you will quickly find out that most of your money is being spent on food. (by the way, here are 15+ tips in grocery budgeting) The sum is even bigger if you make a habit of eating out with your family. Fortunately, you can avoid this by creating a well-planned food budget. Don’t make the mistake of ever going to the grocery store without a list again! Create a shopping list before leaving the house and you will be able to prevent spending hundreds of dollars on new and eye-catchy sales.

Only buying the groceries that you need will keep your kitchen pantry stocked and you will not end up with lots of unnecessary things. Another great idea here is to create a meal plan for the week so that you know exactly what to buy. If you are out of ideas, you can check out some recipes from other moms here.

5. Emergency Fund

The last thing I wanted to cover is the need for an emergency fund. I know that no one ever plans for an emergency, but you can never predict a financial crisis. Something might happen at your workplace and your family’s monthly budget will need to be cut in half. Here is why an emergency fund comes in. Putting aside extra dollars every month will help you save up a good amount of money that you can use in dire situations.

Talking about setting money aside for peace of mind, I should also mention that getting health insurance is never a bad idea. Kids can get sick out of nowhere, and trust me, hospital bills are expensive. If your budget allows you to get health insurance for your entire family, then you should do it as soon as possible.

And that sums it all! Do you have any family budgeting tips you swear by?

Declutter Your Home in 2021

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One of the most popular resolutions for the new year is to be more organized. As the past year is ending, many of us hurry to declutter our home, change the sheets, curtains, throw the things that we don’t feel necessary as we embark on a new year. We all aim to welcome the new year with a lighter and brighter aura/vibes/or whatever we call it. 

However, decluttering your home is easier said than done. On the downside of things, letting go of old habits is not easy. Believe me, I know too well how easy it is to fill a house with items that you think that you are going to need at one point, only to have them lying around the living room for nothing.

If you are struggling to declutter your home, then I have the perfect solution for you! Make this task a challenge. Set some rules and goals so that you feel better every time that you get rid of an unnecessary item.

The Goals and Rules of the Challenge

The first thing you need to do is to set a goal. I set mine to get rid of 2,020 items this year because the number seems fitting. (Note that, I’ve included everything down to the smallest items and even decluttering my voicemails, apps, and subscriptions because they’re part of my home anyway!)  You can do the same or pick a different number. Now, for the rules. Print out a chart and stick it on your refrigerator so that you are reminded of your goals every single day.

If your kids are old enough, you can even get them involved in the game. Give them a sharpie and tell them to mark a box on the printed chart every time that they rid the house of items. Setting short-term goals will make decluttering your home feel amazing. You can celebrate after each 100, 500 or 1,000 goals are reached. Now, let’s go over some tips that will help you out.

Tips and Tricks

  • Join a “Buy Nothing” group

The best thing that you can do when decluttering your home and not knowing what to do with all the items is to join a Buy Nothing group on Facebook. These groups are filled with people who are giving away stuff to those who need it and you can do the same. Just think about it, it’s a win-win scenario. You are getting rid of stuff while a person is getting something that they really need.

  • Focus on what really matters

The difficult part about decluttering your home is giving up stuff. This is why you need to focus on what really matters and be prepared to say goodbye to all the other items. Minimizing physical possessions will set you free!

  • Don’t be afraid to remove the decoration

If your home decorations don’t inspire you anymore, then you shouldn’t be afraid to remove them. Doing this is an important step in tidying up your home and proving to yourself that you are ready to make a big change. Only keep the items that make you happy such as family photos for example.

Well, to be honest, I did not even hit my 2,020 items. I realized later on that the number I picked was harder than I intended to. Some items that I let go, left with a heavy heart. It was hard. But believe me, it feels lighter living with less clutter, (and easier to clean too!) my dogs and the kiddos around the house have more “play space”. and we’ve also come to a realization that there’s so much stuff in our home that we don’t actually need!

If you haven’t done your decluttering yet, do it now! Who says it should be a new year for you to declutter?

Starting 2021 Right

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We are at the start of a new decade and what better time to make important changes in our lives? The job of a mom is not an easy task. Believe me, I know! My friends are asking me all the time to babysit so that they can have some time to take care of other errands. If you want to start 2021 right, then this is the best time to set your goals straight and to focus on yourself. Read on to see what are the goals that will help me start the year on the right foot and maybe you will be inspired to do the same!

  1. New morning routine

One of the best things that you can do to start 2021 right is to change your morning routine. Set aside at least minutes of meditation before waking up the kids and spend this time to think about your goals in 2021. What is it that you want to achieve? Do you want to get a promotion at your job? Use these ten minutes of meditation every single morning to think of ways to achieve your goals.

2. Write down your thoughts and ideas

Manifesting your thoughts and ideas is the best way to achieve your goals. You can’t get anything done if you don’t know what your plans are for the new year and this is why it’s a great idea to write everything down. My tip for you is to take a piece of paper and write at least ten goals. The next step is to stick the piece of paper on a mirror or fridge, somewhere you can always see it.

3. Get better sleep

There was a weird trend in 2019 where all magazines talked about “carpe diem” and how everyone should seize the day by sleeping only a couple of hours per night. This is madness! Our busy life (especially the busy moms!) is exhausting and you need to get a good night’s sleep if you want to get things done. Don’t be afraid to oversleep, we all deserve a couple more zzz.

Final thoughts

These are my three tips for starting 2021 right. I am planning to stick by them every day and I advise that you do the same! Using the little free time that you have in order to focus on yourself is going to do wonders to your energy level and overall mood. 

Lastly, if you have a furrbaby, you might want to include them in your new year’s resolution. Just like what Danielle did few years back.

Gadgets for the Whole Family

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It’s the new year and we’re turning to a new decade. Aren’t we all fond of ‘something new’ as the new year starts? Well, if you’re still on the hunt for your something new, I got you and I promise they will not break your bank! 

Your something new should be something everyone in the family can use, may it be for a good bonding time, studying, or even a little bit of work-related stuff. With that said, there’s only one thing that comes to my mind, gadgets for the whole family. How does that sound to you? Well, they can be expensive, that’s for sure. But what if I tell you that there are a couple of tips and tricks to afford these items. In fact, you might not feel that you’re paying at all! If this sounds interesting for you, then read on. I’ve compiled my top 3 gadget picks for you.

Gaming Console

What better way to keep your kids entertained other than with a gaming console? Believe me, the kids are not the only ones who will enjoy having this device in the living room. Your husband will have a blast with it too! Microsoft’s Xbox One is the one featured in the image above and the great thing about it is that Xbox One users can access subscriptions that offer hundreds of amazing games.

Smart TV 

On the second spot on our list, we have, the Smart TVs. Whether it is for your room or for your living area, there is no doubt that a smart TV is a great addition to your home. Keep your kiddos occupied in the tune of Disney movies while you tidy those legos up. Then catch up with your favorite Netflix series at night or pull off a movie Sundays with the whole fam. Trust me, you can’t go wrong with this one. 

Laptop 

The last on our list is a laptop. This one will definitely be beneficial for you and the whole family. Not only that it can be used for entertainment, this can also be used for research and work-related tasks. Plus the new models of laptops now are just as thin and light as an iPad.

How to Afford All of This? 

Now that we’ve talked about my top 3 picks, let’s talk about how we can afford this without hurting the budget. If you went on a gift shopping spree during the Christmas holidays and now the budget is tighter than usual, then you should be pleased to know that there is a way to afford all the products featured on our list. The trick is to use buy now pay later catalogues. Pick payment plans that works for you, whether it is weekly or monthly. You can spread the cost of your new gadget without a deposit. Isn’t that a life saver?