Real Life Solutions

Family Time — The Glue That Holds Families Together

With our busy life styles, finding family time can be hard. Most homes these days are two income homes. Kids are booked with activities from school to church to sports. The older the children are, the harder it seems to schedule family time with everyone in one place.

Family time is an important bonding time. It helps parents stay in touch with what is going on in their kid’s lives. It helps the children bond with each other and their parents. It is a significant element in families that is often pushed off to another time.

What qualifies as family time is up to your family (and I have plenty of tips for you in my Finding More Family Time guide). Not every family can enjoy a trip to Disney or fancy resort. While these are great getaways for the family, they are not the only way to enjoy time with your family. Look for opportunities for everyday family times.

Something as simple as a family dinner is great family time. Though it is often hard to schedule, do this as often as possible. If only a few times a week, it is a great time to gather your children around the table and talk about their day, what is on their minds or things that are happening in their lives or yours.

Even if only one parent can be present, show the children that you care enough to share a meal with them. A bucket of chicken with the fixings, shared together at the picnic table in the backyard, is a great family time.

Find a hobby that parents and children all enjoy. It can be stamp collect or roller hockey, just something that you all enjoy doing. You can find a new activity or enjoy an older love that you haven’t found the time to enjoy lately. The point is to share that time with family. It can be a hobby that is done at home or one that gets you all out of the house together.

Start walking or working out together with your kids. Most parents have goals of getting fitter. This may include walking, running or working out at the gym. Make this a family activity. Walking and hiking are great activities for the family to enjoy together. It is a great time to talk to your children while you are hiking along. It has the side benefit of sharing and teaching the kids about living healthy as well.

Institute a family fun night. A night at home watching movies, solving puzzles or playing board games is a great time for all family members. Let the kids take turns picking out the games or movies each week. Kids really enjoy these activities and doing them with Mom and Dad is even more fun.

You can turn any activity into family time, if it involves family members. Make a shopping trip a fun family time adventure. Get the kids involved. These can be bonding experiences for everyone. Show kids that you are interested in them and who they are becoming.

Need More Help?

Find even more family ideas in the Real Life Guidance to Finding More Family Time Guide. This practical guide will show you how to set reasonable expectations for all family members, balance work and life, get organized and more. Click here for more info.

There is a well-known bikini wax called, “The Brazilian Bakini Wax,” which began in the late 1980s.  The bikini waxing facts about this may or may not encourage you to try it. However, it does seem to be the most popular way to remove pubic hair today.

Professionally done in a salon, you are taken into a private room.  Removing your clothing from the waist down, including your underpants, you lie on a table, and are covered with a clean sheet or paper similar to the kind used in a doctor’s office.  Due to the fact that the bikini waxing can only be accomplished if the hair is a quarter of an inch in length, the professional may trim the hair to the desired length. 

Next, the salon professional will dip a stick into the hot wax, and apply it to your skin and hair. A cloth strip will be placed over the wax so that it sticks to the hair.  When the wax has cooled, she will pull the strip off quickly, and at a 40 degree angle.  If there are any stray hairs, she will most likely use tweezers to pull them out, as well.

In addition, because this is a total waxing method to remove all hairs from the area, she will start from the front and move toward the back.  Once completed, lotion will be applied to the entire area.  You should also be aware that this may be painful, especially if this is your first time.  So too, you may experience ingrown hairs, bumps and redness.  However, if the salon professional has been well trained, she will advise what to do to alleviate the pain and redness.  

The procedure takes about fifteen minutes, and could cost anywhere from $8.00 to $25.00, depending upon the chosen salon.  Once you begin this method of bikini waxing, you will need to repeat it every three weeks.

The Brazilian Wax method isn’t for everyone.  You may wish to purchase a bikini wax kit, and use the application in the privacy of your own home.  Before you do, however, you should not use certain products such as Retin A, since this tends to leave brown spots on your waxed skin.

Before you attempt any kind of waxing, know the bikini waxing facts, and research several salons to find someone who has expertise in this area.  It is certainly not advisable to use a nail salon professional for this purpose.  They are very good at facial hair removal, but that’s the extent of their expertise in this specific area.  There are salons that specialize in bikini waxing, and those are the establishments you should check.  Perhaps a friend can recommend one to you.  Remember, the rule of thumb is to know before you go.

The American Lighting Association shares three easy solutions that budget-conscious households can use to immediately save money.

1. Read your labels
Before you purchase another light bulb, lighting fixture or ceiling fan, look for the Energy Star label. Those products have undergone rigorous testing and meet the government’s strictest new guidelines for energy efficiency.

All of the Energy Star products have easy-to-read consumer guides right on the box. At a home center or large retailer, you’ll have to read the packages carefully when comparison shopping. However, a trip to your local lighting showroom will provide all of the information you need to make an informed decision.

2. Ceiling fans are your BFF
“In summer, it’s possible to turn your thermostat to 78 degrees and, if you’re using a ceiling fan, the comfort level would be the same as if the thermostat were at 72,” says Joe Rey-Barreau, education consultant for the ALA and an associate professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Interior Design. “Obviously, you could turn off the AC and only use the fan. Just remember to turn off fans in rooms that aren’t occupied to avoid wasting energy.”

“Ceiling fans are a great way to make any space more comfortable, add a decorator touch, and save energy at the same time,” adds Cliff Crimmings, vice president of marketing for Craftmade International of Coppell, Texas. “It circulates the air around, taking away heat in the process. The small expense of running a ceiling fan compared to running an AC compressor results in saving hundreds of dollars per year in energy bills.”

“Before purchasing a fan, do your homework,” Crimmings advises. How large is the room? How high is the ceiling? Do you want the fan to blend in with the ceiling or become a major component in the decor? Would you like it to have a light that will take the place of a lighting fixture? Would you prefer to operate it via a remote control or with a wall switch?

“These are all important things to think about, because your fan will last for years. All ceiling fans, because of their design and low energy consumption, will start to save you money from day one; the new Energy Star-qualified models will increase those savings even more,” Crimmings says.

3. Choose the right light source
“Since lighting accounts for approximately 20 percent of a home’s energy cost, changing the most frequently used lights to more efficient fluorescent versions can make a tremendous difference,” says Terry McGowan, ALA’s director of engineering and technology and the owner of Lighting Ideas in Cleveland. “The key is to consider the hours of use — the savings are greater and bulb life is longer when fluorescent lighting remains on for longer periods of time.”

You may have received a compact fluorescent lamp in the mail from your electric company or purchased them on sale at a home center or mass retailer and been disappointed in the quality. According to Rey-Barreau, finding the right CFL for your needs requires a little know-how. “All incandescent bulbs have approximately the same color quality. Therefore, when you buy an exact replacement for your 60-watt incandescent, the color quality will always look the same,” he says. “With CFLs, the process is more complicated. A CFL produces about four times the light for the same amount of energy as an incandescent. To find the CFL that will produce the same amount of light as your existing incandescent, divide the wattage by four.” For example, to replace a 100-watt incandescent, you need a 25-watt CFL.

Then there’s the matter of color. “CFLs are available in three colors, and are often described as warm, neutral, and cool. The warm color will usually be the closest to incandescent,” Rey-Barreau says.

“By far the easiest way to find the right CFL for your home is to go to a lighting showroom,” Rey-Barreau explains. “Many have light boxes that allow you to try out different models and compare them directly to incandescent bulbs and to each other.”

Using CFLs in a room that is also lit with incandescents can offer the best visual balance while saving money. “Light layering is an excellent technique,” McGowan says. “There are situations where CFLs and standard incandescent lamps can be mixed so that lighting quality is enhanced. A lighting showroom can help you see this for yourself.”

When replacing incandescents with CFLs, it’s important to consider the application. “CFLs are not ideal for all locations,” cautions Craig Wright, product manager for Progress Lighting of Greenville, S.C. “For example, decorative fixtures with shades pointing downward (or in chandeliers) will reveal the bulb to the living space, which could possibly increase glare and detract from the ambience.” In those cases, using controls such as dimmers and occupancy sensors for incandescent bulbs will help minimize energy use.

For more information about energy efficient lighting options, or to find an ALA lighting specialist near you, log on to the American Lighting Association’s Web site at www.AmericanLightingAssoc.com or call (800) BRIGHT-IDEAS (800-274-4484).

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Here are some tips to help you reduce spending, cut back on running around and find extra time at the end of the day to relax and spend time with your kids.

1. Share errand duties with other moms.
That to-do list never seems to go away, and it shouldn’t surprise you that other moms are also feeling overwhelmed. Wouldn’t it be easier if you pooled your talents with some neighbors or good friends? One mom can hit the grocery store, another, the department store, while a third watches the children.

By teaming up and sharing duties once a week, you only have to do one job (which can be rotated weekly), cut down on gas money and impulse shopping expenses and have a weekly play date already organized for your children.

2. Shop garage sales.
If you have older children, this can become a fun scavenger hunt while you look for clothing and household items. Plus, garage sales get you and the children out of the house and into your neighborhood where you can socialize, bargain for good prices and potentially find a treasure.

3. Use MommySavesBig coupons.
Sure, clipping the newspaper is a good start, but online sites like MommySavesBig.com are designed especially for you. First of all, the coupons are tailored to moms who are looking for deals on grocery and household items, clothing, presents for family members, etc. Second, MommySavesBig.com was started as a blog by Anna Teoli, a mom herself, who posted a couple of printable coupons on her blog and then began receiving more and more coupon information from other moms.

Now MommySavesBig has more than 3 million visitors and carries printable coupons, promotional codes for online shopping, free stuff, mail-in rebate forms, free catalogs and magazines, sweepstakes entry forms and contest information. With those kinds of deals, there’s no way you can’t save money every week.

4. Bargain and trade.
As your children grow bigger, you’re probably looking for larger clothes and different toys, and potentially a way to get rid of those items your children have outgrown. This is an excellent chance to bargain and trade and doesn’t require much — if any — money. First contact your network of moms to find out if anyone else has children who are outgrowing their clothes and toys. Then go online and look at auction and trading sites, or pack everything in your car and visit stores that specialize in used items for children. Just think of how much you will save if you don’t have to buy an entire new wardrobe for your children every year.

To find coupons online, visit printable-coupons.blogspot.com. To find coupon codes online, visit coupon-codes-online.blogspot.com.

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