How to Help Children Manage Grief

As parents, we want to shield our children from the pain of losing a loved one. But no matter how hard we want to protect them, children can’t help themselves from feeling grief. What we can control on our part is to help the child feel safe and to let him express his feelings in his own way. By helping the child deal with the loss, he’ll learn to build a very important life skill that he will need in the future—healthy coping skills.

Tips to Remove Mold From Your Home

Nobody wants mold growing anywhere in their home. Unfortunately, mold can sometimes appear, even if you clean consistently and thoroughly. Mold will most commonly appear in a home’s bathroom due to the moisture, heat, and lack of ventilation. Bathrooms may provide mold with perfect growing conditions, but it can appear anywhere in your home. If you ever have a run-in with mold, try using these household items to remove the mold:

Lemon or Lemon Juice

Depending on the size or location of the moldy area, use a lemon or lemon juice to remove mold. If the area can be reached, cut a lemon in half or into a smaller wedge. Rub the lemon on the moldy surface and allow it to sit for approximately 10 minutes then rinse the area with water to kill the mold. If the location of the mold is hard to reach, try using lemon juice with a toothbrush and scrub the area to remove the mold.

Vinegar & Baking Soda

Sprinkle baking soda on the mold you are trying to remove then spray it with vinegar which will cause the baking soda to fizz. Allow the baking soda and vinegar to settle for a short period of time and create a paste. Once the combination has become a paste, use a cloth or toothbrush to scrub away the mold and rinse with water.

Bleach

Apply a combination of 1 part bleach and 3 parts water to the moldy area using a spray bottle or rag to kill the mold. Tougher mold may require scrubbing with a rag or toothbrush for smaller, hard to reach areas. Even though you are diluting bleach with water, its active ingredients sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide will be strong enough to remove mold. When using the combination of bleach and water, be sure to wear protective gloves and make sure there is proper ventilation.  

This post provided by Michigan Cedar Products, a distributor of white cedar siding and paneling. Visit their website, www.michigancedarproducts.com, to learn more about their products. 

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What to do in Corvallis Oregon

Corvallis is a beautiful city located in Central Western Oregon, and is filled with all sorts of fun activities to do for an evening, day or even a week. It is a must stop if you’re driving north or south through Oregon, and you certainly won't regret it! Here are a few of the top activities you can do while visiting the Corvallis Oregon area.

Oregon State University

Home of the Oregon State Beavers, Corvallis is an exciting college town that has a lot going on during all times of the year. If you plan your trip out right, go tailgate at a Oregon State home game in the fall months. There are also plenty of civic events going on throughout the year, or you can casually stroll through their beautiful campus.

Wine Country

Most people don’t think about wines when they think of Oregon, but the Willamette Valley is an ideal place for growing a variety of wines. Although lots of the big reds that you’ll see in Sonoma and Napa Valley to the south don’t do as well up in the Willamette Valley, they make some great white varietals including Pinot Grigio, Gewürztraminer and Riesling. If you're doing research, try and find a tour bus to take, that can pick up up and drop you off at some of the best wineries around the area.

Corvallis Knights Baseball

A great activity to do during the summer season is to stop by a Corvallis Knights baseball game. They are a local team favorite that gets quite a bit of support, and you get a chance to sit up close to the action and watch a great game.

If you’re ever considering living in the Corvallis area, I would look at some homes while you drive on by as well. Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers is a real estate agency in the area that can help with all your real estate related needs.

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Spring Cleaning and New Projects

Yes, it's that time of year for us. Not quite warm enough to pack away jackets and boots and relax in the sun, but not so cold to where stepping outside requires insulated gloves and a fur-lined jacket. We've decided to participate in the neighborhood yard sale weekend next month, so we're slowly going through boxes in the attic and starting on some home projects we've had on our checklist all winter.

One of said projects is working on kitchen improvements. When we bought our house, the kitchen had some pretty ugly tile. We didn't mind so much at first, especially with little ones crawling about, but now that they're a little older and we have a bigger budget we've decided it's time for the floor to get an upgrade. We're thinking vinyl flooring - the stuff that looks like real wood but isn't. Supposedly it's scratch resistant and doesn't stain, and seeing as it's not wood, spills won't seep into the flooring like it would with porous wood. Anyway, we're just trying to find a good company to go through. A friend of ours recommended this place, Carolina Flooring, so we might be giving them a shot. We're definitely open to recommendations, though!

Another project is working on improving my DH's home office. He works from home about 2-3 days a week and right now his space is a bit of a mess. He also wants some new furniture. Back when we lived in Michigan we used to purchase used office furniture through this company, but now that we're down south, we're trying to find a new place. We're too cheap to pay full price for something new (prices for new, quality chairs are outrageous), so we'd like to find a place that sells used/refurbished office furniture for reasonable prices. He really just wants a new desk and chair, but I've also been looking for storage space so we can get that space tidied up.

Other than that, we're trying to get rid of clothing we don't wear and trinkets we no longer want or need. It feels so great to declutter!

Potty Learning

Now that Tod-lar is a mature 26 months old, the time has come for him to learn to use the potty.  

Rather than adopt a “potty training” perspective, Husband and I have decided to don the “toilet learning” one. Our goal is to have Tod-lar become “one” with the potty before going out in our pool. 

We have decided to use this zen approach because I suffer from a horrible disease common to mental health professionals known as TMI.  This disease can be frightening to the point of debilitating because having it means you have far too much information about the infinite ways you can traumatize your child, possibly scarring him for life.  Potty training is No. 1 on the list of “Ways to Permanently Damage Your Child’s Emotional Well-being.”  So, to insure Tod-lar’s future is not filled with kicking puppies, compulsive masturbation, or Depends, we thought the easing-into-it approach would be best.

What does this approach entail?  Don’t ask me.  It should be quite obvious from this post I have no idea what I’m doing.  But as far as I can tell, this approach involves a lot of talking about the potty, a lot of sitting on the potty, but no actual peeing or defecating in the potty – at least not yet, but we've only been at it for three days. 

The first day was a little tough because Tod-lar refused to even sit on the potty.  He just kept saying, “Can’t do it.”  Fortunately, I was prepared for this and had some nifty motorcycle stickers on hand with which to bribe him.  He’s been sitting on the potty ever since – in fact, he’s still there now as I write this post. 

My goal is to have him using the potty for its true purpose and not just a lounge chair by the end of the year.  In the interim, we’re helping him work on dressing and brushing his teeth by himself.  (I read somewhere – and there goes TMI, rearing its ugly head – that a toddler’s reluctance to potty train has to do with an unwillingness to take over the caregiver’s duties.  In the child’s mind, it’s like giving up the caregiver.)  Next, we’ll teach him to use the microwave.  Hopefully, he’ll be ready to get his own apartment by the summer. 

In the meantime, the question remains: Will this toilet learning approach work?

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In Their Shoes

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

[This time of year, there’s a lot screaming at the mall as parents, desperate to obtain cute photos of their tots with the bringer of toys, force their scared little ones onto Santa’s lap.  Just imagine how this must feel from the child’s perspective . . .]

Boy, there sure are a lot of people here.  I wish Mama hadn’t dressed me in this stupid outfit.  Now I’m kind of embarrassed.  And what is this stupid thing hanging from my neck anyway?

I’m bored.  Why are we standing here?  And why is that kid screaming?  What . . . OHMIGod!  OHMIGOD!  What is THAT?  Is that a person?  It has two legs, two arms, and head, but I don’t see any mouth or skin.  Maybe it’s an animal . . . or an alien!  Wait . . . what is that mama doing?  Why is she handing over her kid to the giant red, fuzzy alien animal?  RUN, KID!  RUN!  I don’t know what that thing is, but I bet it eats little kids!  I mean, look how FAT it is!  QUICK!  RUN, KID! 

Where’s that flashing coming from?  Is that . . . is that a camera? Is that green thing with the pointy ears taking a picture?  OHMIGOD!  I get it now!  This is like some weird fetish thing!  They’re taking pictures . . . and the kid’s Dada is taping his kid getting eaten by a red, fuzzy alien animal!  They’re probably going to sell this on the internet.  WHAT KIND OF SICK PEOPLE ARE YOU?!  RUN, KID! OVER HERE!  RUN TOWARDS ME!  MY MAMA WILL PROTECT YOU! 

Mama?  Did you see that?  Did you see what the other mama did?  CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?

Whew.  The mama finally rescued that poor kid.  Oh, thank God.  Can we go home now, Mama?  This whole thing has just been so upsetting.  I mean . . . wait, what are you doing?  Where are we going, Mama?  WHY ARE WE WALKING TOWARDS THE GIANT RED, FUZZY ALIEN ANIMAL, MAMA? WHAT?!  YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!  ARE YOU CRAZY?  DID YOU SEE HOW THAT THING ALMOST ATE THAT OTHER KID?  NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT I’M AT THE STRANGER ANXIETY STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS? 

NO, MAMA!  NOOOOOOOOOO!  OHMIGOD!!  I’M SITTING ON THE ALIEN ANIMAL!  MAAAMAAAA!  HELP ME!  HE’S GOING TO EAT ME!  WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?  SMILE?  ARE YOU SMOKING CRACK?!  I’M ABOUT TO BE EATEN ALIVE!

What . . . what did you just say to me, you alien animal?  WHO YOU CALLING “HO?!”  I AIN’T NO HO!  AND I GOT ME SOME LADIES DOWN AT THE PARK TO PROVE IT!  STOP SAYING “HO!”  Oh, God.  It does have a mouth, and I can see its teeth every time it talks!  MAAMAA!  IT HAS TEETH, AND IT KEEPS CALLING ME “HO!” 

Was that a flash?  ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES?!  GET THAT CAMERA OUTTA MY FACE, DADA!  I HATE YOU!  I HATE YOU ALL!  I got to get out of here.  Run.  I have to run.

Oh, MAMA!  FINALLY!  You saved me from the red, fuzzy alien animal. YOU MEANIE!  I HATE YOU! 

Hold me.

A Review of Children’s Fiction - Watership Down

(Puffin Modern Classics)

Watership Down is excellent children’s fiction, written by Richard Adams and published by Puffin Books. The book is an excellent children’s book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading for the second time. A classic to be found at any children’s books online store. Now that I have just finished the book I am not at all surprised that this book was ranked the 42nd greatest book in a survey of the British Public by the Big Read in 2003.

The book starts with a premonition by one of the rabbits that their warren will be destroyed and so the five rabbits decide to abandon their home. This is the beginning of their epic travels across the country and their close scrapes in the search for a new home. 

There has been quite rightly criticism for the role that female rabbits play in the book. The females do not have anywhere near an equal role to the male rabbits. The only role that the females bring is to allow for reproduction to take place. If there is reproduction then the longevity of the Watership down warren is then assured.

The book certainly has green credentials, through the rabbit world that the reader is taken into. I do not think there is any doubt in this. The only question is how green is the book? Is the book all green or almost green? Finally, I come down on the side of almost green despite the destruction of the rabbits their environment and warrens.