RSS Email
You are here: Home / Archives for Greg

5 Clothing Articles From Your Wardrobe to Rock During Your Pregnancy

October 7, 2019 by

Being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to leave your little fashionista self behind. Don’t just head out and buy maternity clothes just because. Pregnancy is one of the life-changing experience women go through, feeling good about yourself is a huge help during the whole thing. Women get self-conscious because of how much their body changes.

wardrobe

Fashion is supposed to make you feel good in your own skin. So, no more baggy, oversize, super-flowy maternity and postpartum clothes in the name of being comfortable. You can be comfortable and feel stylish with the clothes you already have. Find the latest styles of maxi dresses online to complement your postpartum wardrobe.

Go ahead, feel cute, take millions of pictures of your bump. Have the time of your life!

1. Flannel Shirts

Flannel shirts are one of the evergreen pieces that never seem to go out of style. They are trendy and comfortable. Comfort is the key when choosing clothes during your pregnancy. If you already have shirts that are a bit more fitting and won’t cover your bump then you can use them to layer up over a t-shirt or camisole.

If you are buying a new one, definitely size-up on it. Even after pregnancy, baggy flannel shirts can be easily styled. They are supposed to be baggy by design. One style element that women you want to show off their bump go for is buttoning up just the top few buttons of the shirt – when layering up – and leaving the next undone for the bump to be in clear view.

2. Jeans – Skinny or Cropped

Just because you are pregnant, you don’t have to get rid of your love for skinny jeans. There are many jeans that are made to accommodate bumps. Skinny jeans come with a wide stretchable waistband that let you have your favorite style while not compromising on comfort. You can balance the bump with a nice skinny pair of jeans.

If you have low rise jeans in your wardrobe that sits below your bump, then you can wear it too. Cropped jeans and boyfriend jeans are great options when you are starting to show. Otherwise, opt for maternity special pants that you can anyway wear after your pregnancy too.

3. T-shirt Dresses

T-shirt dresses are a very loved addition to the fashion industry. Taking the comfort of t-shirts and converting them into dresses so that we can finally just wear dresses instead of having to pull up pants whenever someone came home.

It becomes even more practical with a bump, just slip it over your head and pair it with a comfortable pair for sneakers and you are good to go. A cute daytime look at your disposal. Not to mention, peeing won’t be much of hassle with a comfortable dress like that. What better way to combine looks and functionality.

4. Pencil Dresses

Suppose you have a party to go to, or if you are just feeling like dressing up, you don’t have to ditch form-fitting clothes. Pencil dresses are a great way to show off your bump with sophistication.

A color block dress with a bump adds class to the look, you can also go for patterns that usually don’t make your bump the center of attention. Make sure to get a dress in a stretchy, breathable material.

5. Coats

Although we have talked about embracing your bump, not everyone likes showing off their bump. If you are like that and like to be discreet with your fashion choices. Depending on the weather you live in, a coat is a great option.

The oversized coat is a great way to hide the bump in style. Faux fur coats are bulky in themselves so they work well. You can use your everyday coats to layer, just keep them unbuttoned or untied and it will make a fashion statement.

Final Thoughts

Before you head out to shop for cute maternity clothes, don’t forget to raid out your closet first. In the initial months, you will anyway be able to wear anything in your wardrobe. When the bump starts showing, go shopping in your own closet.

You will be surprised at the number of clothes that still fit you. Separate all your loose and baggy t-shirts, tops, and sweaters, skirts with elastic bands, pajamas with drawstrings, leggings, yoga pants, coats, maxi dresses, and anything made of stretchy material.

Store all the other clothes in the back, and create a new closet for yourself with these clothes in the front. This will help you have many options without shelling out money for clothes that you won’t wear after your pregnancy.




How to Choose the Correct Life Insurance

September 23, 2019 by

One of the important things to figure out as you start living your life, taking responsibility, is choosing the correct life insurance for yourself and your family. Once you have decided to invest in life insurance, comes the difficult part of choosing the one for you. You must learn the basic steps about how to select the right product from the different life insurance plans so that you can get a plan that covers what all your needs.

life insurance

There are a lot of life insurance policies available in the market, it can be overwhelming. What you have to keep in mind when looking is your goal. The goal here is to invest money in a plan that will secure your life and your family’s life without any stress to you. If it is a matter of getting coverage for entire life, go for whole life insurance, but if the requirement is for a relatively shorter period, then consider term life insurance. Here are some of the steps you should be taking.

Know Your Needs

Calculating the life cover you need starts from knowing your needs. Make notes of all your income sources, the number of dependents, your expenses, debts, and any other liabilities that may occur. Once you have the requirements and base data down, it becomes easier to choose a life insurance plan that fits your need.

You now have the data needed to make an informed decision. Now, you need to zero in on the purpose of your insurance. Is it an investment? Is it for the financial security of your family? Is it a retirement plan? This will give you more of a filter to go through the plans and narrow down your options.

Know the Advantages

Every plan is going to have different benefits, while the core plan can be the same, additional benefits will most likely be different. Compare all the life insurance policies based on term, whole, child and endowment to see which one gives you the maximum benefit. Getting life coverage and financial security against death to the family is usually what people look to get at an affordable premium rate for a predetermined time.

The Investment

The premiums to be paid that varies from policy to policy. The payment of the premium can’t default so you need to pick a plan that works the best with your income sources. You need to be regular with your payment to reap the benefits of the policy.

Take Advice

While everything is available on the Internet, it can still get pretty taxing for some people. If you are confused among options, then taking advice from an expert is the best route to take instead of just choosing one of the options. Most policy providers will send you an expert or representative who will help you understand the nitty-gritty and will also help you calculate the life cover and the sum insured.

Final Thoughts

A risk-free life is never a guarantee so you have to smart and secure yourself with life insurance, especially your family. With the market filled with hundreds of insurance policies with different plans and different benefits, selecting one can become cumbersome.

You just need to have a clear idea of what you need from the plan and then keep on narrowing down your options. Once you have zeroed in on few, you can talk to experts to help you make an informed decision.




Why Inculcate the Habit of Writing Every Day in Your Kids

September 16, 2019 by

Writing is one of the most beneficial habits to introduce to your kids, in terms of education as well as self-growth. Writing isn’t only meant for professional writers and poets, or people who have a good command over the language, or people who know things. Every person has thoughts, questions, ideas – every person has a story that they need to pen down. 

Art of writing

Writing isn’t as difficult to make a habit as people believe it to be. While starting out can be difficult, once you get the hang of it, you can easily write a few lines daily. As people grow up, one of the things on their resolutions list usually becomes writing more, that never happens. Grown-ups tend to have more secrets that they don’t want people to know, they fear others reading the diary, so the activity is often left out. That’s not the case with kids though.

For kids, writing in a diary is easier. It gives them an opportunity to learn to put their thoughts out clearer and also makes them acknowledge their own feelings. Think about it – how are real writers different from the others? The difference lies in their stubbornness to write every day until it becomes a habit. Writing. as an act, not a gift, it is a self-regulated habit. 

Writing is a serious exercise to declutter the mind and focus on things that actually matter. Writing gives the kids an opportunity to look deeper into our minds and understand themselves better. Even adults struggle with that. If they are already used to processing their emotions, it becomes easier as they grow up.

The other reason why practising writing is important for kids is that it improves their English. Grammar, new words, punctuation – everything becomes better with more practice. Your kids start to develop a tool belt of words and phrases which they can use not only on paper but in their daily conversations as well. When they have good vocabulary, it becomes easier for them to communicate effectively.

How Do You Get Your Kids to Write?

  • Tell them to start a notebook or diary and write about their day or about the things they like. 
  • Tell them to write down their opinions on some issue like their dislike for some vegetable, or an incident at school, a good-day account, a poem, or a past memory. 
  • Set a time and keep a reasonable duration for them to enjoy the process. Half an hour to an hour is ideal for a beginner. Make sure they stick to the given time and not make excuses. 
  • Even if they don’t have a topic to write about, make them commit to the time and don’t let them get up from the chair until they write something. WRITE ANYTHING. Even if it’s how much they wish they were watching cartoons instead of sitting here.
  • Keep a word limit as well. It helps them start small in the beginning, gives them a goal to work toward.

Final Thoughts

Like any other habit, writing needs commitment and practice to turn into daily practice. Writing daily will help your kids communicate better not only in their personal life but will also help them reap the benefits as they grow up because communication is at the root of everything. And even the best struggle with words.




5 Advantages of Introducing Toy Rotation

September 9, 2019 by

Last week, I talked about how toy rotation can help you tame the chaos that toys create – in your house and in your life. I thought it was a good idea to talk in-depth about the advantages it can have for you, your home, and your child. Honestly, the advantages are more so for the parents, let’s face facts – toddlers don’t care!

marbles

Anyway, there are lot of advantages of introducing this method in your playtime routine or the way you manage the playroom and even your budget. Let’s get to them one by one.

1. Less Clutter

When all the toys are out at the same time, it is easy for the child to keep pulling out toys whenever they get bored with one. And they do get bored quite easily so you end up with no floor space to walk. Have you ever stepped on legos? If yes, then you know the pain. The toys can be ruthless to us. It sure makes your life easier to have fewer toys accessible.

2. Budget-Friendly

When your child is born and as they keep growing, you are bound to receive many toys as presents – add those to the overly enthusiastic shopping you did when you were pregnant. You anyway have way too many toys than your child could play with. So, why not store some and keep only a few out and when the child starts getting bored, you can bring out the stored toys and they will have new toys to play with.

Store the ones they were already playing with, chances are that they will forget most of them and you can reintroduce these toys later. Yes to saving money by not having to buy new toys.

3. Ahh! Organized Playroom

Keeping the playroom organized can be a task. When you have kids keeping the whole house organized can be a task. They are little hurricanes, wreaking havoc wherever they go.  Limited number of things lets you keep the place organized and also lets you store the toys after playtime. It makes cleaning up easier and it’s also easy to remember what is stored where.

4. Secret Weapons – Bribes!

Bribing isn’t good. But, there are some days, when all you want is a little peace and quiet. Having ready bribes to keep the tiny minds busy can be a savior. On difficult days, just get out one new toy from the storage and hand it to the kid to leave you alone, or maybe to make them put on the dress you got them to take cute pictures, or to maybe make them eat their vegetables.

5. Rewards

I am a firm believer in rewarding good behavior. When they do something particularly nice, having gifts handy can be a great thing. It helps boost their morale. It also encourages them to do more things that will help them earn new toys. This also makes them appreciate toys more because they know that they weren’t just given the toys but they earned it. If they have worked for the toy, they will obviously love it more and take care of it more.




The Smart Art of Toy Rotation

September 2, 2019 by

It is very easy to collect more toys than your kid can play with. The first few years are when everyone goes crazy with buying things for the baby. Toys being a huge part of the cute shopping spree. As a result, your baby accumulates more toys than they can play with and you can store. This constantly keeps the house in a disarray with toys strewn all over the place.

remote control car for kids

Toys come as presents from all over the place. Some you purchase while pregnant, some you get at your baby shower, some are gifts from friends and family, and some you don’t even know where they came from. Knowing how to tame the collection is important to stay sane.

This is where toy rotation comes in. It is a way to store away some toys and only allow some toys to be played with and when your child starts getting bored with them and starts asking for new toys you can take out the ones you have stored and put the currently being played with toys in storage.

Too many toys get the children bored with having too many options. They don’t get to enjoy the toys to the fullest so it is a great idea to get them a small selection so that they can play with most of the toys. This also saves the house from being taken over by toys and managing the clutter becomes easier for you.

Try to keep out a mix of easy playthings and things that encourage imaginative play and hand-eye coordination, etc. Kids get bored with things easily so having a variety is a good idea and having toys stored away gives you a chance to have quick access to new toys all the time.

Use bins to store toys, usually, I would recommend clear bins so that you can see what toys you have. Try storing them in a place your kid can’t reach. Suppose you are storing the toys in an ottoman or under the bed that can be easy access to the kid then storing them in solid non-see through bins is a better idea. Because the point here is to hide the toys from the kids so that they get the euphoria of getting new toys.

Try storing the toys in categories so that when you are pulling out toys for their rotation, you can choose a variety rather than pulling out a bunch of same toys. This is a great way to keep young kids engaged. Until they reach the age where they can remember toys and start asking for it this is easy. After that, you might have to sneak in and get the particular toy they ask for. For this, I would recommend keeping their most favorite toy out at all times. Don’t include it in the rotation.

This means that you don’t have to keep spending money on new toys, nor do you have to scramble to buy gifts, and also you have quick bribe options available. *wink wink* 

PS, not that I think you need to add more to your collection, but how cute are these ride on trains?




Toy Storage Solutions for Small Spaces

August 26, 2019 by

If you don’t know how to say no, then you will end up buying more toys than you know what to do with. Space is an issue for a lot of people, and if you have kids, it becomes more of a problem – no amount of space is enough anymore. When you don’t have a dedicated playroom, you need to be extra mindful of the items you buy for your kids. They will always want new things, but as much as you love your kids, you will have to learn to draw the line somewhere.

Extra activities

With small spaces, you have to get creative to maximize the space you have. There are so many storage solutions specially designed for small spaces, or you can also hire storage space units from Wrexham for your ease. Here are a few that will help you keep your place organized.

1. Utilize Your Walls

This helps you keep toys off the floor, opens up space, and you don’t have to tip-toe around. You can add shelves on the walls and put baskets on them which can store the toys. Shelves are a great wall decor option. Try arranging wire baskets among memorabilia to give it a personal touch. When sprinkled with enough individual bits, the big storage bins on the shelves start looking like decor themselves.

2. Get Vertical Storage

In small spaces, utilizing vertical space can be a game-changer. Try pushing everything on the walls than the floor to have more space available to you. You can bring in tall drawers or cubbies to store toys – if you have more than one kid, then they can have dedicated drawers. Taller cabinets hold a lot of stuff and are also out of reach for small kids so you can put your things in the upper cabinets.

3. Door Storage Solutions

You must have come across over the door storage pockets that are meant for shoes. These can be great to store small toys, puzzles, colouring books, playing cards, and anything that isn’t bulky. This helps you keep things in sight and out of sight at the same time and also enables you to segregate small toys from bigger ones.

4. Invest in Ottomans

Ottomans are a great seating plus storage option for small spaces. They come in various sizes – from single seating to a full-size bench. They are available in various patterns so you can easily find one that fits in with your decor. Things that serve more than one purpose is always a good idea for small spaces. Furniture that gives extra storage is a necessity. You can store toys in ottomans and encourage kids to put it back when they aren’t playing. This puts away the toys, yet the toys are easily accessible.

5. Couch Decoration

When you are low on space, you should be mindful of the toys you buy. Kids love big toys, but can you store it is the main issue. Getting them one or two bigger stuff toys is fine. You can use those among pillows on your couch or bed. This way they can play and when they aren’t playing, it will make for some cute decoration.

Final Thoughts

No matter how many solutions you find, if you don’t purge the toys from time to time, you will end up with more than you can put away. Keep decluttering from time to time, and also do not buy many toys that are similar. Also, learn to say no to the cute faces if they already have a lot of toys. Give away the toys they don’t play with. Start toy rotation so that they get a feeling of playing with new toys.




Change is an Inevitable Process, Learn to Embrace It

August 19, 2019 by

Nothing on this planet stays the same throughout. Change occurs whether we are ready for it or not. The universe doesn’t wait for us to get comfortable. Darwin proposed that the life we see now too arose through a series of variations in the environment and hence fluctuations in the genes of the populations all starting from a common species of life about a million years ago. From single celled algae to a multi celled human being. When almost every day the nature is adjusting to a million little changes, why do we fuss about not being able to cope up with the constant changes in our lives? 

change

You change. I change. We change every day, every moment. To say a person is a happy or unhappy person is ridiculous. We are a thousand different variations of ourselves every hour. A year changes you a lot. You cannot even imagine how much things would change in a year. Have you wondered what you would be or who all would be around you next May? 

“It’s funny how day by day, nothing seems to have changed, but looking back, everything changed.”

While we are all cribbing about how fast everything is changing, how people change when they leave to settle in a new place, how your favorite TV show has just ended, how your school has ended, how things are simply ending, we are losing out on the new beginnings that come along with every ending. 

We have built a wall around ourselves, as a defense measure for our comfort zone. We are living in a place where we are content with our daily routine. We are scared or change and constantly try to recover from or get things back to normal (what we deem normal) as quickly as possible from even a little change dumped upon us. 

This is because we are not confident about our capability to deal with an unexpected change, so we put on a fake smile and wait for things to get normal. Even though the technologies have developed, man has mastered in almost all fields, our societal mindset still remains stagnant.

People have this perception that changes are bad. They feel that a man is supposed to stay the same throughout his life. If he is trying to adjust to a new personality or lifestyle, he isn’t supported by the majority for his new endeavor. This impulse to get back on track is responsible for our failure to sense and interpret the changes and develop healthy strategies to deal with it.

Instead of learning from our mistakes and taking note of the circumstances, we are busy trying to bury feelings and pretending to be just fine. For example, ageing is a natural phenomenon. But as soon as we notice some wrinkles or dark circle, we rush to get ourselves an anti-aging cream. We lose someone, we do every possible thing to keep our mind off them, and engage ourselves in some job or the other. 

Yes, changes are confusing. Confusion immediately thrusts us into a world which makes us feel hopeless about ourselves. But what we really need to remember is that “change is not a sign that we’ve failed. It’s a sign that we’re still alive.”




Is it Okay to Lie? How Honest Should We Be?

August 12, 2019 by

I was sitting at a cafe, sipping my latte, when I heard a kid ask his mom why was honesty the best policy – something about what his teacher said when it came to lying and being honest. Listening to their conversation got me thinking.

“Honesty is the best policy.” Is it always though? 

Is being completely honest and open with everyone always a good idea? Are we never supposed to lie to anyone, even if it is to make someone feel better? 

honesty

If a child comes up to you, asking if her drawings are pretty or not, would you mock the little girl because she couldn’t get the tree right? Or would you simply smile at her, and encourage her to draw more? I believe that it is ok to lie as long as the intention is good considering that the person cannot perceive the truth. It is acceptable to lie whenever that person doesn’t have the maturity to understand the truth.

‘The truth’ itself is an individual concept. There are a lot of differing opinions, different backgrounds, and different perceptions of the same fact. What may be true to you may not be the same for me. Everybody will appreciate your honest, straight-forward nature as long as you don’t give them one of your truth doses. 

Let’s take an example of the most common situation: ‘Do I look fat in this dress?’ Somewhere in the back of your head, you know that you are looking fat, but just when someone else points it out to you, you hate it. But if you like yourself in that dress, others’ opinions cannot bother you. Your perception is your reality. 

The amount of honesty depends upon our relationship intimacy levels. How close are we to the person? Because we are no one to trouble random people with our honest opinions and thoughts. Not everyone is going to acknowledge our radical honesty. If you are honest with everyone, people won’t trust you to keep their secrets.  

Ironically, this means they won’t be honest with you. The closer you are to the person, the more truth you must tell. But, the most intimate connection you have is with your own self. Never, ever lie to yourself. Tell yourself the whole truth, nothing but the truth. We all occasionally engage ourselves in the self-lie-denial. We are sometimes so afraid of the truth that we refuse to accept it; we chose not to recognize the reality, a defence mechanism we all use to erase uncomfortable memories and situations. Sometimes our heads need to admit what our hearts already know.

We can’t build relationships on the basis of a lie. But, white lies are harmless. Small untruths told to spare someone’s feelings or from politeness are just fine. Even if we are to tell someone some harsh truth, we should go about it calmly, making sure that we don’t upset the other person. 

So, is it okay to lie? Yes, ‘everybody lies and everybody dies.’ The truth is that not everything is black and white, grey is what we need to learn to embrace.




5 Healthy Recipes for Kids

August 5, 2019 by

Having kids means being on the lookout to make everything healthy. Kids can be fussy about what they eat, and some kid won’t eat anything that even resembles a vegetable. You can always hide it in their favorite food, but they are brilliant when it comes to picking out the broccoli and Brussel sprouts.

Tasty food

Here are some ideas that might help you get your kids to eat or drink healthy. One thing I have noticed is that a little theatre goes a long way with children. So, try making their food appealing; it will pull on their little curious minds and make them want to try it.

1. Healthy Pizza

Pizza is an absolute hit with many kids. If they don’t eat vegetables, or crib about it often then hiding them in their favorite food is the best way to go about it. Instead of using the regular pizza base, use a multigrain one to make it healthier. Switch ketchup with pesto sauce or homemade tomato sauce. Choose toppings that work well for your kids. Do not add all the veggies they don’t add, try sneaking in one at a time.

2. Melon and Kiwi Fruit Smoothie

Smoothies are a favorite for many adults and kids. They are a delicious way to gobble down some of the healthy things, and also make for a perfect evening snack. This particular one has been my favorite since I found the recipe. All you have to do is blend the melon, kiwi, grapes, and papaya with honey and oats. Everything you have in there is healthy and can be a breakfast or snack substitute.

3. Eggs-in-the-Hole Toast

Eggs-in-the-hole is a personal favorite, more of comfort food. Take brown bread, multigrain, ragi, oats – any sort of healthy bread and cut out a shape in the middle with a cookie cutter. Using cookie cutters give you a choice from many different shapes. Put the bread in the pan and crack open the egg in the hole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and you are done.

4. Dressed Up Fruit Salad

Now, this is nothing iconic but is the definition of healthy. Children don’t make a fuss about fruits as much as they do with vegetables. So, it usually isn’t that difficult getting them to eat fruits, but on the rare chance that they are fussy about it – cut up fruits in different shapes. A pretty dish is more likely to be eaten by them. Make a story about it; use different shapes to represent something. Get your creative juices flowing.

5. Chips and Dips

Instead of serving them chips, slice up veggies like carrots and cucumbers, and serve them with hummus, salsa, or black bean dip. Tastier the dip, easier it is to get them to eat the veggies. Tortillas and pita can do too. A mix of all of these in moderation can give them a wide selection, and because they are eating tiny amounts of everything, it gives them a little less to complain about.




Why Waking Up Early is a Good Idea

July 22, 2019 by

As much as we all love sleeping, we don’t realize how beautiful the world is at dawn. The sun has a different shade of an orangish-red hue; a slight cold breeze; whizzing chirr of the insects; the world is just beginning to awaken. Early mornings capture nature’s beauty in the most memorizing manner. 

Waking up early in the morning keeps your body and mind fresh for the rest of the day – you get breath in the fresh air before the air is polluted again by the traffic and also get to bask in the sunlight. People usually have misconceptions regarding early mornings, and consider getting up early exhausting. Change your attitude when it comes to waking up early. Imagine a perfect morning that is beautiful and full of opportunities every night before you go to sleep. Imagine yourself feeling fresh and energetic as soon as you wake up and then carrying on the same attitude for the day. Life is what you make of it. 

Go for walk

Start your mornings by things you like to do – going on morning walks, reading novels, listening to the radio, hitting the gym. You can dedicate the early morning to yourself and get a few peaceful hours in before your kids wake up. With kids, you know how difficult it is to sit down and relax, this gives you a perfect way to charge yourself for the chaos that ensues as soon as the children are out of bed.

Early rising can boost your mood for the entire day and improve your sleep cycle. By waking up at least an hour early, you can use the quiet morning time to mentally organize or plan out your day. The best way to avoid hitting the snooze button a hundred times is, by setting your alarm clock at least 20 minutes earlier than normal. Let’s say today you set the alarm at 8:40AM instead of 9:00 AM, the next day set your alarm to 8:20AM, afterwards 8:00AM and so on till to get the hang of it. This helps you ensure that you listen to your body and ease it into a new routine and don’t spend your whole day feeling tired and restless.

Try to turn off your phones and laptops an hour before you want to go to sleep, because the bright lights suppress the hormone melatonin, messing up your sleep. Avoid using electronics or looking at screens before going to bed, studies have shown that it makes us difficult to fall asleep. Waking up early means you have to sleep early because we need to get the proper amount of sleep needed by our body.

If you can manage to instill the habit of getting up early in your children as well then you can have a nice and peaceful bonding time with them. You can do activities together like going on a walk or reading. It will just make it more fun and give your kids a chance to enjoy an activity in harmony with you. You can have a proper family time before they go off to school, you can teach them how to do things and have them help you prepare breakfasts. You can also teach them meditation and yoga to start the day right. The possibilities, that waking up early brings, are endless.




« Previous Page
Next Page »