Posts by Wendy S

About Wendy S

+Wendy S (also known as @mapsgirl) is a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog.Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy has been a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada since 2008.

How To Care Better For Your Teeth

August 16, 2023 by Wendy S

Teeth can be something of a nightmare even at the best of times. No matter who you are or what your history is like, you probably find that you often struggle to look after your teeth as well as you know you should. That is something that most of us experience, and it’s just the kind of thing that you need to try and keep in mind if you are going to be able to have good dental health in the future. With that in mind, here are some of the main things to consider when it comes to caring for your teeth more effectively.

Learn A Proper Brushing Technique

It might be worth checking your brushing technique, because many of us learn a technique at one point that turns out not to be quite as good as it could be, and that can be a real problem in the long run. You might not actually be cleaning your teeth as well as you would hope, which means that you are not really making a difference to them at all in the long run. So make sure that you are learning a proper brushing technique and that you do all you can to make use of it in the future. It will make a difference.

Pic Credit – CCO License

Find A Good Dentist

Of course, having access to a good dentist is one of those things that can really help as well, and which you are going to need to make sure you are thinking about if you want to look after your teeth as well as you would hope to. When you have a good dentist on your side, it means that you are going to find it much easier to care for your teeth, and that you’ll have all the advice and guidance you could possibly need as well. This is of course a hugely important thing to consider here.

Get Them Straightened

Having straight teeth is not just a matter of aesthetics, although that is often an important part of this too. It’s also a fact that straight teeth are going to be considerably more likely to be healthy, because when they are misaligned that leads to all sorts of problems, including an increased likelihood of them falling out. This is therefore something that you will really want to keep an eye on, and get some clear retainers if it becomes obvious you might need them.

Pic Credit – CCO License

Find Your Motivation

If you are generally struggling to actually be motivated to look after your teeth, then you might want to think about what your motivation is. You might think about some of the results of not doing so – including even heart problems from gum disease as well as unsightly mouths – or simply think about how great you can look with a good smile. In either case, it’s something that you will want to make sure you are thinking about in some way or another.

Baby Care Basics For First Time Parents: What You Need To Know

August 15, 2023 by Wendy S

Image by -Rita-👩‍🍳 und 📷 mit ❤ from Pixabay

Everyone gets excited when they’re expecting a baby, but there’s also a certain amount of anxiety involved in it. You’ll need to worry about taking care of your child, as they naturally wouldn’t be able to do it yourself. As a first-time parent, that can feel overwhelming, but it gets easier with some baby care basics.

Knowing what to expect in the days and weeks after having a baby helps with this. While it can still be an exhausting experience, you’ll be able to make sure you and your baby are still taken care of. With a little effort, and maybe even a few sleepless nights, you shouldn’t have a problem looking after your newborn.

It’s worth diving into everything you need to know before you have a baby. If you’re pregnant, consider it essential reading.

Top Baby Care Basics You Need To Know About

With a few baby care basics, you shouldn’t have a problem taking care of your newborn. There’s quite a bit of advice out there, so it’s hard to figure out what’s actually helpful. While keeping your and your baby’s needs in mind helps, you’ll need a little extra help with it. It’s worth diving into a few of the essentials with it.

If you’re a first-time parent, this is one of the more anxiety-inducing parts of the process. Where do you even start, and how do you even look after a newborn? Thankfully, it shouldn’t be as complicated as you might’ve thought. When you’re having a newborn, there are a few things to focus on, especially in the days and weeks after they’re born:

Sleeping – Your baby doesn’t know what night and day are, and they’ll be adjusting to life outside the womb. That leads to newborn sleep patterns being a little all over the place. It’s one of the more obvious things you’ll have to know about before your baby arrives. They’ll be sleepier than they would be as they get older, and will often need much more than older children.
Safety – You’ll already know you’ll need to keep your baby safe, but you mightn’t know everything you need about doing it. Swaddling them right, getting them the right kind of clothes, and similar baby care basics help with that. Then there’s the likes of sudden infant death syndrome and other conditions to worry about. Know how to reduce the risks of these happening so you don’t have anything to worry about.
Washing – You’ll have to wash your baby regularly, with this being at least two or three times a week. Sometimes, that can be complicated, and your newborn mightn’t enjoy it. If they object to having baths, you could consider the topping and tailing approach, where you clean their head, bottom, and similar areas. They’ll be more comfortable with it and will get used to being cleaned. Bathe them two or three times a week on top of this.

That doesn’t mean that’s all you’ll need to focus on when your baby’s born. There are quite a few other things you might want to know about. You mightn’t know about many of these until your baby actually arrives. By knowing what to expect, though, you’ll make it a lot easier for yourself.

At least, you’ll be better prepared when they actually get here. It’s worth going through seven of the more important – and often overlooked – things you’ll need to expect when your baby gets here.

What To Expect After Having A Baby

1. You’ll Be Sore

When you’re having a baby, it’s natural to focus on the health and wellbeing of the newborn as soon as they’re born. It could be all you’d think about, and you mightn’t even factor in how you’ll feel in the days and weeks after they’re born. It’s something you’ll need to think about.

Chances are you’ll be quite sore, and it’s pretty easy to see why. Childbirth can be a traumatic experience for any woman, and you should be prepared for it. Know what the recovery will be like in the days and weeks after you give birth.

2. They Could Get Sick

You’ll naturally want your baby to be as healthy as possible, and you’ll put a lot of time and effort into that. It mightn’t always turn out that way, and there’s a decent chance they could get sick in the first few days after they’re born. These are usually some of the more common illnesses and shouldn’t be life threatening.

You’ll still need to be prepared for it, though, as it avoids you being overly stressed about something you don’t need to be too worried about it. Consult your newborn’s doctor, and everything should be fine.

3. Feeding Is Hard

Your newborn will naturally get hungry at various points during the day. In most cases, it’ll be easy to feed them, but that mightn’t be the case during the first week of their life. They could be much harder to feed than you would’ve expected. It’s easy to see why that’s the case.

They would’ve gotten used to being fed a certain way in the womb, and they could be expecting that kind of treatment again. They’ll need to adjust to being fed with a bottle, so it’ll be a little trickier to feed them in the days after they’re born.

4. You Might Cry

Everyone knows a baby will cry a lot in the weeks after they’re born. What they often don’t realize is the parents could cry a decent bit, too. That’s especially true with moms, as they would’ve been through a traumatic experience during childbirth. It’s a natural part of the process, so be prepared for it.

Even if you have a C-section, it could still be an emotional time. Don’t be ashamed in feeling the way you do, and make sure you experience your emotions. Don’t keep them inside, and let them out when you need to.

5. You Won’t Get Much Sleep

As mentioned above, a baby’s sleep patterns can be a little all over the place. You’ll need to adapt to that, which could mean you mightn’t get as much sleep as you might’ve had before. Be prepared for that and try to sleep anytime your baby sleeps. It’ll make it easy for yourself.

Taking shifts with your partner gives the both of you the chance to get some extra sleep whenever you need it. While that takes a bit of juggling, it’ll make sure you’re getting close to as much sleep as you and your partner need.

6. Your Baby’s Skin Needs TLC

After your baby is born, you’ll likely want to give them a bath pretty soon. They’ll be coated in a white, waxy substance when they first come out of the womb. It happens with every baby, and this substance is called the vernix. Since it might make them appear dirty – and even make them smell – you might want to wash it off quickly.

As it turns out, that mightn’t always be the best approach. It could offer a few benefits if you leave your newborn coated in it for a few hours or even a day or so. They might cry less, and they’ll be less likely to develop hypothermia while protecting their skin. Give it a day or so before you wash it off, and your child will be better off because of it.

7. There’ll Be A New Normal

With all of the above in mind, it’s easy to see how having a baby leads to your life changing dramatically. That should be obvious to everyone, but it’s often difficult to understand and figure out exactly what this new normal will be. In many cases, things could get more difficult, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing.

The key to this is to adapt to your new normal, and there are quite a few ways you can do this. You and your partner can figure this out relatively easily by working together on it. Since most of these changes can be quite personal, it’s worth spending some time figuring this out with your partner.

It’s also worth mentioning friends and family might be eager to help. If you need it, there’s no shame in taking them up on this.

Baby Care Basics: Wrapping Up

First-time parents have a lot to take on board, and it could feel like an overwhelming experience. It leads to a lot of anxiety as you worry about how you can take care of them. You’ll have to know the essentials before the baby’s born, and that’s especially true of some baby care basics.

By knowing what to expect and how to handle it, you shouldn’t have much of a problem. There’ll still be a lot of work involved, and you could even feel yourself getting exhausted on more than a few occasions.

That’s natural and shouldn’t be anything to be ashamed of. You’ll still be getting your grips on everything, but knowing a few things beforehand makes this much easier.

4 Fun Weekend Activities To Do With Your Kids

July 7, 2023 by Wendy S

Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash

Weekends are tricky for parents as you want to have a rest but also need to keep your kids entertained and stimulated. It’s tempting to just sit back and let them run around the house or play video games for 48 hours straight, but you know that’s not a good idea.

Instead, you could make weekends more enjoyable by doing some activities together as a family. One day can be dedicated to doing an activity or two, while the other is there for you to all chill-out. With that in mind, here are some fun weekend activities that are suitable for families:

Escape Rooms

They sound scary, but escape rooms are suitable for children of all ages and they aren’t frightening in the slightest. As you can see you the Escape Ops website, most escape rooms involve a scenario of sorts. You and your family are “trapped” in a room and need to find the way out by completing a series of clues.

It’s a fun game for everyone as both you and your kids work together to get out. This is also a great one for stimulating their brain on the weekend, so they’re still learning stuff and developing. If you really want to spice things up, you and your partner can do an escape room alone and then the kids do the same one by themselves. Compete to see who does it the fastest!

Scavenger Hunts

You’ll be surprised how popular scavenger hunt games are these days. There are multiple providers who will basically put together a scavenger hunt across cities. Most of these events take place on mobile apps where you’re told where to go, what to look at, and are given lots of questions to answer.

It’s up to you and your kids to answer all the questions and make it to the final destination. If you have to collect things – like physical objects or photos of landmarks – you need to ensure they’re all ticked off before you end. The cool thing about this activity is that it lets you spend time with your kids outdoors. You’re enjoying the great weather while exploring your home city in a new way. Plus, most of these scavenger hunt things will have leaderboards on the app so you can compete with other people or families!

Science Experiments

This is a fun one to try if you fancy staying home over the weekend. Google “at-home science experiments for kids” and you’ll find hundreds of ideas. From the classic Coke and Mentos experiment to loads of other quirky ones – there are so many things to do.

In fact, here’s one idea below that lets you create a lava lamp at home with just a few ingredients:

Stuff like this is wonderful for kids as it keeps them entertained while teaching them cool new scientific things. Also, parents are guaranteed to learn new stuff as well! You’ll act like you knew what was happening in the experiments, but internally you’re freaking out at how cool they are.

As an extra bonus, science experiments are perfect for rainy days when you can’t go out and try some of the other activities on this list.

Bike Rides & Walks

You can’t go wrong with a family bike ride. Kids love an excuse to get on their bikes, so why don’t you join them? Look for family-friendly bike trails in your area and give one of them a go. Pack a little picnic while you’re at it so you can stop for a bite to eat while enjoying the open air.

If there are no bike trails near you, you could plan a bike ride to a local park or somewhere else. Just make sure there’s a safe route so your kids don’t have to ride on scary roads. Also, if you don’t have bikes, or would rather walk, then go for it. There are probably loads of walking routes or hiking paths near you to try. You could even drive to a local National Park and then proceed on foot for a fun family day out.

And on that note, you’ve come to the end of this post. As evidenced by the activities above, there are many ways to have fun on weekends with your kids. You’ll no longer be cooped up inside with children running around everywhere and can finally enjoy this time as a family.

You Don’t Have To Give Up Anything In Order To Be Healthy

May 2, 2023 by Wendy S

It’s important for you to understand that you do not have to give anything up in order to be healthy. This is where so many people go wrong because they start trying to cut out the things in life that they like. The problem with this is that it’s not sustainable, and it leads to people feeling as though they have failed when they eat a candy bar. This is not the way forward, and down below we’re going to be looking at some further information on this. Keep reading if you would like to find out more.

Source Credit – CC0 License

Everything In Moderation

First, you should ensure that you are having everything in moderation. Too much of anything can make you sick, and that’s why you have to be cautious going forward. You don’t want to end up as one of these people who is stuck in a cycle of trying to be nothing short of a health God, only to find yourself binging and collapsing a couple of weeks later. You need to enjoy the things that you like, take days off every now and then, and give yourself a break. Moderation is the key to life, so you want to make sure that you are balancing things out as and when you need to.

You Still Have Free Time

A lot of people think that leading a healthier lifestyle is going to take up so much of their time that they are no longer going to have any for the things that they enjoy. They might think that they are going to need to spend so much time meal prepping, exercising and whatever else, and they won’t be able to do things they enjoy like hanging out with their friends. But, this isn’t true. You can save time on meal preps by doing as many as you can, and checking out my favorite crockpot recipes that you don’t have to stress about. As for exercise, you can make this fun and you can do it with your friends!

See It As An Opportunity For Your Future

The last thing that we’re going to say is that you should see this as an opportunity for your future. Instead of seeing the changes in your life as a burden or a negative thing, you could try seeing them as positives. They are stepping stones for your future and that’s exactly what you need. If you have a more optimistic outlook on life and the future of your health, then you’re going to find it much easier to make these changes, and stick to them going forward.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to know about being healthier going forward. You don’t need to give up some of the things that you love just so that you can live a healthier life, because you don’t need to give up anything at all entirely. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you manage going forward.

How To Spend More Quality Time With Your Kids

May 2, 2023 by Wendy S

Credit – Pixabay CC0 License

Having children is the greatest journey that you’ll ever encounter. However, there is no doubt that it passes in the blink of an eye. Therefore, taking the necessary steps to maximize the joys of family life is essential for all parents. Spending more quality time with the kids should be at the very top of your agenda.

While it may feel like trying to navigate a minefield, the truth is that simple steps can make a big impact. Here are some of the most effective ways to achieve your goal.

Involve The Kids In Cooking

Young children won’t be very enthusiastic about cleaning duties, although playing games can make tidying up more fun. Thankfully, most kids are more receptive to joining you in the kitchen. As long as you make it enjoyable.

The key is to look for recipes that provide tasty results and won’t take up too much time. This peanut brittle recipe in the microwave is a great example that will soon become a family favorite. The time spent preparing the meals together should deliver magical memories.

Other options may include baking pizzas, making smoothies, and growing simple fruits in the garden.

Choose The Right Family Trips

Family days out are an opportune moment to do things you like with the people you love. Sometimes it’s great to simply see your children enjoying an activity or event that is aimed at them. In short, their happiness will put a smile on your face.

Still, it’s important to consider activities where you can participate too. Choosing camping trips instead of the hotel vacation where children spend most of their time in kids’ camps can work wonders. Meanwhile, family sporting activities are great days out.

When you look back on those memories, it’s far better if you played a central role rather than sit on the peripherals.

Credit – Pixabay CC0 License

Embrace Their Hobbies

One of the best ways to enjoy quality time together is to share a hobby. As a parent, allowing your child to lead the way can be one of the best decisions you ever make. The fact that they’ll associate you with their favorite pastime is a game changer.

If your child loves a particular sport, you should support them. Any artistic or creative endeavor should be embraced too. Whether it means attending parent-child classes to learn an instrument or training together in the backyard is up to you. It can become a new routine.

Seeing your child’s development, along with your own, is sure to make it more rewarding for both of you. Perfect.

Lose Unnecessary Distractions

Oftentimes in life, the biggest improvement is to remove negatives from your life. This is especially true when wanting to spend more time with your kids. While you cannot forget other responsibilities, several tasks can be dropped to save valuable time.

For example, if you spend a lot of time on social media, putting a block on platforms with these apps is ideal. Alternatively, you could look to automate daily tasks or outsource a portion of your work. Either way, the benefits will become instantly noticeable.

When combined with the active effort to improve the times you spend together, incredible results are assured.