How to Travel with Young Children

If a road trip is in your future and you have young children, it is imperative that you are prepared.

Plan your route carefully.  Know where you are going and how long it will take you to get there.  Now add time for rest stops and eating.  Pack plenty of snacks and games to keep the children satisfied.  Learn how to play several games that may be played on-the-fly.

While traveling, if you approach a rest area, be sure to ask your spouse and kids if they need to stop.  You will be sorry if you pass up a rest stop and then find out that your children need to use the restroom when you are in the middle of nowhere.

Keep plenty of refreshments on-hand and make sure they are easily accessible without having to pull over.  One good idea is to fill several plastic bags with their favorite cereal.  Be sure all drinks are served in containers with resealable tops.

Teach your children to play some games before the trip.  Take some crossword puzzles or word find puzzles along as well as some of your children’s favorite toys.  Play the “alphabet game”, which involves spotting and calling out letters of the alphabet as they appear on billboards.

Stop often for stretch breaks so that everyone stays as comfortable as possible.  Enjoy traveling with your children and make every trip an adventure.

Always Remember to Remove Your Baby from the Car

I am heartbroken each time I watch the news and learn that another parent has forgotten their baby in the car and returned to find that something horrible has happened. I will be a parent soon and these are the things that keep me awake at night. After careful thought, I would like to offer some free and relatively easy solutions that may help new parents to overcome unexpected diversions that too often direct your attention away from your baby.

Develop a new routine to always check the back seat of a vehicle before you leave it, whether it is yours or not. Another important thing to do when you approach a vehicle is to look completely around it for hidden obstructions like children or toys. When you reach your destination and exit the vehicle, immediately open the back door and look into the back seat. Do this whether you know that you have your baby in the car or not. It is imperative that this becomes a habit for both parents and for anyone who will ever transport your child. If you are certain that you dropped the child off at the daycare or if you know that today is not your day to drive them, remember... making a careless mistake on the wrong day has needlessly cost the lives of too many young children.

If you are an employer, you have the ability and should make it a priority to watch after employees who transport young children prior to coming to work. Designate several rows of parking spaces for parents only. Have a few people routinely walk through the parking lot each morning to check those cars for forgotten children. This is a perfect job for security guards whose job is to patrol the parking lot anyway. Offer them an incentive to perform these checks. Also, post signs in the entrance of your building with a reminder about leaving small children in vehicles unattended.

Become better acquainted with your co-workers and develop a habit of asking other parents of young children how their children were doing this morning and what color shirt did their teacher have on this morning. Just that type of reminder may cause a person to remember that they never actually dropped the child off. Pay attention to small details. When you walk into the building from the parking lot, keep an eye out for car seats and casually look into cars as you walk past.

For the parents of small children who take them to daycare daily, be sure that your daycare has a list of emergency numbers, including several work numbers. Ask that they call each number and let someone know if you have not dropped your child off with them after a certain time. Check your cell phone each morning after arriving at work to be sure nobody has left messages for you. If you use Microsoft Outlook, set daily reminders asking whether you remembered your child. If you carry a briefcase with you to work, always put it in the back seat in the floor beside your child's car seat. That way, you will have to open the back door to retrieve it and you may discover an important surprise when you least expect it.

Hopefully, some of these tips will help parents to remember what is most important. If work becomes too stressful and you have difficulty focusing on the things that you are supposed to do, stop for a moment. Take a deep breath. Exhale slowly and ask yourself, "Why am I at work?" Your most obvious response is "to make money." Why do you need money? To take care of your family because they are important to you. Do not forget this! Take an extra 10 seconds out of your hectic morning commute to simply check the back seat of your car!

If you are a parent and you are reading this article at work, stop what you are doing and go check your car. Do it right now! Tell your boss that you need a breath of fresh air. If this article helps save just one child, then it will be the most important thing I've ever written for this website.

Tips & Warnings

• Your family should be your top priority!
• Protect them and think of them every minute of the day!
• If you carry any one particular item with you to work that you will need throughout the day, be sure to place it in the floorboard in the back seat, beside your child's car seat.
• If you are a parent and you think that this could never happen to you... you are WRONG!
• Be sure that your daycare has multiple emergency numbers and that they know what time to start calling them. Take a sick day sometime and put them to the test.

Finding the Best Deals at a Children's Consignment Sale

Why pay retail prices for children’s’ clothes and toys when you can pay a fraction of the price for lightly used items at a children’s consignment sale

The basic idea behind a children’s consignment sale is that someone gives an organization, often a church or school, some articles of clothing or toys which are clean and lightly used.  The organization will tag the item with a price and a reference to the seller.  The general public is admitted and when someone buys the item, a large percentage of the money goes to the seller and a small portion to the organization, so both parties benefit.  These consignment sales may be listed in local newspapers or even mentioned on web sites like Craigslist.org.  Friends who also have young children are also good resources for discovering new consignment sales.

Most organizations who conduct consignment sales will offer a discount to the people who consign their items.  Volunteers who help with the sale also may receive a discount and be allowed early entrance to the sale.  Early entrance is a great privilege because it will give you access to the best items at the best prices.  Also, you get to shop with a much smaller crowd.  Some popular things to search for at children’s consignment sales are the “boutique” items, which are normally isolated in their own section.  These are high dollar items like fancy dresses and shoes and usually cost more than the average items.

If you do not consign or volunteer for a sale, but you do want to shop, be sure to arrive early and bring a container, like a clothes basket to carry your purchases.  Also be sure to bring some cash as many consignment sales are not equipped to process credit cards.  Be prepared to navigate through a highly motivated crowd.  Due to the low prices and crowded spaces, it is not uncommon for tempers to flair and for people to get into arguments over items.  It is best to avoid these confrontations if possible.