The worldwide pandemic level for swine flu has been elevated to 5 out of 6 – which means there is an outbreak in at least 2 countries within a continent. Maybe it’s time to really think about preparing for the flu, especially if you have kids. Aside from the general recommendations of protection, e.g. cover your mouth, wash your hands, avoid sick people, etc., here are some real practical tips on how to prepare for the flu:

• Stock up on fluids, from mineral water to juices to tea. Swine flu is similar to the regular seasonal flu in terms of symptoms. And sufficient fluid intake is very important to counteract these symptoms. It might also be a good idea to stock up on your child’s favorite food stuffs to save you the hassle of running to the supermarket. If you are not into online shopping for groceries (like me), maybe it’s about time to check out for a reliable provider.

• Have fever medicine which is also suitable for children ready. This would include paracetamol (e.g. Tylenol) and ibuprofen (e.g. Motrin) which are available over-the-counter (OTC). Read carefully the package inserts of OTC drugs before given them to your child. Check out how to “Treat with Care.”

• Stock up on Kleenex and toilet paper. These essentials are often overlooked but they are just as necessary as disinfectants to maintain hygiene.

• Even if you are breastfeeding, have some milk formula and bottles ready just in case.

• Keep your child at home in case he or she develops symptoms. The key to controlling an epidemic is to minimize transmission. Closely monitor your child’s symptoms. According to pediatricians asked at WebMD, children under two showing symptoms should be checked by a doctor. This also applies to children of any age with other medical problems such as asthma and heart condition. Children over two who are normall healthy shouldn’t necessarily come in unless the symptoms worsen.

• Check that your thermometer is working. Fever is a major symptom and an indicator of severity. For very young children, pediatricians say they use a cut off temperature of 100.8 °F to decide whether a child needs to see a doctor.

• Have a plan. What would you do if your child has to stay home? If his or her school is closed? What sort of childcare contingency plan do you have if you have to work outside the home? What if you yourself fall ill?

• Have some indoor activities ready. You might need extra books, games or DVDs to keep little ones happy while being cooped up at home.

• Keep essential phone numbers ready: your doctor, your pharmacist, aemergency services, neighbour or close relative to call for help.

• Be alert but do not panic or overreact. There is no reason to keep your child away from school and lock yourself in the house unless the health authorities have declared school closure. Most important, it is essential that you keep yourself updated, especially at the local and state level.

Sites to get updates on health advisories:

• • Your states’ health services
  • The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) swine flu site.
  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
  • US Department of Health and Human Services
  • World Health Organization swine flu site

How about you? How are you preparing for the flu?

As a Mom of a 3 1/2 year old girl and a newborn boy, it is an understatement to say that I do a lot of laundry. On average, there is one load done per day in our house.

I have become a laundry expert as far as I am concerned.

Do you constantly have laundry piled up in your house?  Do you have a hard time staying on top of your laundry?  Do you forget about stains and wash the items without pre-treating them?

Here are some tips in order to make laundry easier:

Here are some Earth-friendly ways to do laundry as well.

I hope that these tips help you keep your laundry situation organized and more under control!
I’d love to hear some more tips in your comments.

Everyone who has been pregnant knows the mood swings of laughter and tears, of ups and downs. Antenatal depression? Hormone overdrive? Whatever the cause may be, these mood swings sometimes interfere with a pregnant woman’s daily activities.

The American Pregnancy Association as reported by HealthDay News gives us some tips on how to keep those mood swings under control:

• Get enough quality sleep. Short naps during the day can also help.
• Relax and unwind by taking several short breaks each day.
• Get enough and appropriate exercise.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet.
• Spend relaxing moments with your partner.
• Do something fun with a friend.
• Join a pregnancy yoga class or similar activity
• Get a massage – it’s a great way to relay those tense muscles
• Take it easy. Avoid stress.

In other words, don’t worry, be happy.

Easy to say but many of these tips are difficult to do if you have a full-time job, another little kid (or more) to take care of, or morning sickness to get over with.

I guess what we can simply do is try.

From the first moment the stick turns colors or two lines appear, most of us moms start thinking about buying tiny, cute baby clothes, chic maternity items and decorating the nursery.

Quickly, we realize it is all to easy to spend thousands of dollars on the essentials and accessories. Save that money for diapers girl, you’re going to need it!

Here are five easy ways to save on the nursery:

• Borrow. The sad thing is parents often spend days searching for the perfect bassinet or perfect bouncy chair and the kid hates it or only uses it for three months.

• Check your local parent groups, parenting magazine and churches for baby sales. Growing in popularity, baby sales allow parents to unload the ever growing collection of kidstuff and new parents reap the rewards of barely used, very cheap items. My favorite? Moms of Multiples sales!

• Buy bedding separates. I know, the bedding collection is always so cute and always full of things you don’t need and that you can buy separately and pay less. Because of SIDS, parents are advised not to put large, soft blankets in the beds with babies and not to use bumpers. That’s two key items down.

All that is left is the dust ruffle and fitted sheet. Buy the dust ruffle in a color that will coordinate with just about anything add three fitted sheets in fun colors and you’re set. As for the diaper stacker, random pillows – does anyone really use the diaper stacker?

Use wicker baskets – toss in a liner or receiving blanket and stack your diapers there, plus when the kids are older you then have a nice little bin for toys.

• Paint carefully. Don’t get roped into the traditional colors. Be sure to give yourself a backdrop that can change as the child grows older.

• Get creative. Instead of Wallies or other expensive wall stencils, hit the local discount store for foam shapes or foam paper and cut out your own large shape and place them on the wall.

I transformed our girls’ room with foam flowers. They came precut in a tub and I added them to the crib, my older daughter’s bed, their closet and around the room. It was a simple, easy theme and sticking them on with a glue stick preserves the walls for years to come.

Decorating the nursery is the fun part of the pregnancy. Enjoy it, but remember a few things:

Leave the painting or refinishing of a piece to a friend or partner – fumes + baby are a no-no.

If you’re borrowing a crib or using an older one, check to make sure it’s not on a recall list and that the slats are no further than 2 3/8″ apart.

And if your last DIY project ended with you gluing yourself to a lamp – get a creative friend to help!

There has long been some debate about whether vegetables are better for you raw or cooked. Recent research by the University of Parma printed in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry has shown that the level of antioxidants (the nutrients in fruit and vegetables that are good for our immune system and overall health) varies depending on how the vegetables are cooked. Broccoli, for instance, has more antioxidants when steamed than it did when raw, but in other cases the cooked vegetables had less antioxidants than the raw versions. It seems that there is no pattern that is best for all vegetables, some are best boiled, some steamed and some raw.

This research only covers the levels of antioxidants, other vitamins, minerals and enzymes still need to be researched. Another area that needs to be studied is whether cooking enables the nutrients to better absorbed.

Further Information

Cooking Veggies May Not Cut Nutrients

Living and Raw Foods

Being a new mother means having a million new thoughts in your head. So it’s no surprise that things go missing, or that keys get misplaced.

When my daughter was a few weeks old, I locked the keys in the car when we got home. Luckily, my daughter wasn’t inside the car too, but it was pouring down rain. Not a fun situation.

Ever since then, my paranoia about a repeat offense has given me some ideas. Have they worked? Knock on wood, but I haven’t locked my keys in the car since that day.

When your child is in the backseat (where they should always be), you have to get out of the driver’s seat, go into the back, unhook the car seat or harness, and retrieve your child. Sounds simple, right? So what do you do with the keys in the meantime?

Here are a few things you shouldn’t do with your keys.

Don’t put them in your pocket, because they may fall out. Don’t put them in the baby’s car seat, just in case you stop the exiting process, closing the door with both the baby and the keys inside. Don’t lay them on the seat (you’ll forget them). And don’t leave them in the ignition. You don’t want to leave the car running with the baby locked inside, and you make it easy for a carjacker.

So here are some ideas that may work.

Get a wrist attachment for your keys. When you take them out of the ignition, put it on your wrist for safe keeping. Or attach it to the loops on your pants with a belt clip.

If you’re very attached to your purse, immediately put the keys in your purse, keeping it on you during the exiting process.

If your baby is in a forward-facing seat, reach back to unhook the harness. That’s one less step you have to deal with when you climb in the backseat.

Whenever you’re about to close the car door, put your keys in your hand before you close it. Better yet, lock your door with the keys after you close the door (not before).

If all else fails, be sure you have a cellphone with you to call for help. A relative or neighbor should always have a spare key to your car, and you need to be able to reach them. Of course, having a cellphone is essential for calling an emergency service if the unthinkable happens.

Good luck!