Serendipity Mommy

For happy, healthy, thriving moms

How to Keep Your Kids Healthy this Winter

by

There’s no denying the fact that you have concerns about your kids’ health and well-being during the winter months (just like every other season). 

While it’s natural to have concerns, it’s nice to know there are steps you can take to keep them healthy and happy during this time of the year.

If you’re struggling for ideas and have simply hoped for the best in the past, here are five tips you can use:

1. Wash Those Hands! 

This goes for both you and your children. Yes, it can be a difficult habit to teach your children, but it’s well worth it in the long run. It can be the difference between your child always being sick and them making it through the winter months unscathed.

Encourage your children to wash their hands both at home and while out of the house, such as during school hours or visiting with friends and extended family.

This is one of the easiest things a person can do to reduce the risk of contracting an illness and/or spreading germs. Help your children develop this habit early in life, as it’ll stick with them well into the future. 

Note: there is a right and wrong way to wash your hands. Here is a resource to ensure that you’re doing it correctly. If you’re not doing it right, it won’t do you much good.

2. Don’t Forget About Skin and Hair Health

As you’re well aware, the winter months will drain your skin and hair of moisture. Subsequently, it takes a dedicated approach to keep it healthy until warmer weather arrives.

So, it’s safe to say that this is an issue your children are dealing with, too. 

Look into the many products that are available to fight dryness, such as natural hair oil and hair moisturizer. Healthy hair and skin will make your children more comfortable, while also taking one less thing off their mind.

3. Make Sure They Eat Right

When your children eat immune-boosting foods (and consume immune-boosting drinks), they’re better positioned to fight off anything that comes their way.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, other foods to incorporate into their diet include yogurt, garlic, and beef. 

Regardless of the time of year, it’s not always easy to get your children to eat right. However, when you mix immune-boosting foods and drinks into their diet, it definitely helps. And who knows, they may even find a few healthy foods that they actually enjoy!

4. Make Sure They Get Enough Sleep

Just the same as managing their diet, getting your children to follow a sleep schedule is a challenge. This is particularly true if your child is the type who likes to go to bed late and rise early.

Keep in mind that children require more sleep than adults—seven to eight hours is not enough. For instance, a child between the age of 5 and 10 requires roughly 10 to 11 hours of sleep per night. 

Sleep is when the body heals and repairs itself, so it’s essential to the overall health and well-being of your children.

5. Limit Sugar Intake

Yes, your children probably love sugary treats such as cake, brownies, and candy. And while it’s okay to give it to them every now and again, be careful about how often.

Too much sugar suppresses the immune system and causes inflammation, both of which make your child more likely to contract the flu, a cold, or another type of virus. 

Don’t let your child go overboard on how much sugar they ingest. One treat per day is more than enough.

Final Thoughts

Are you the person primarily in charge of taking care of your children—as well as elderly members of your family—during the long, cold winter months?

If so, strongly consider the benefits of implementing the five tips above. Not only will it put your kids on the right path over the months to come, but it’ll also give you peace of mind.

Should you still have concerns, consult with your child’s doctor to ask questions and obtain guidance and advice. You never know when you’ll come across a nugget of information that better positions your child to make it through the winter months happy and healthy. 

Choosing a Commercial Financial Service Provider

by

Taking charge of your finances is one of the biggest steps you can make towards achieving stability and independence. However, the task is much easier said than done as making any financial decision requires much time, consideration, and planning. No investment can be considered risk-free as there will always be a certain degree of risk attached to each one. Nonetheless, some can be more profitable than others depending on the circumstances.

Working with commercial finance providers can give you insight on how investments work and what types of investments you should take based on your needs and goals. Commercial finance refers to a range of products and services that can help you hit your financial targets or generate cash to get proper funding for your business. Whether you plan to take out a short-term loan or get funds from a venture capital, these decisions can vary on a case-to-case basis.

Check out the tips below to help you select a financial service provider, so you can ensure that you make the best investment decisions.

Understand Your Business

Before you do anything else, the first thing to do is to understand your business to know what exactly you need. Get to know the industry you are operating in to know about the type of financing you need and how much you will need. Another question to ask yourself is what you need the funds for in the first place. Do you need capital to set up a business, or do you need additional cash to help your company grow?

Ask About Investments

While working with commercial finance providers, you can get recommendations for your investments. Thus, it is important to ask questions about this while consulting with different providers. Communicate your objective or purpose, risk tolerance, and time horizon, so you can hear about how a provider can assist you. It will also help to ask about the costs related to purchasing, selling, or maintaining the investment, so you can assess which provider you can work with.

Finance providers will often have investment methodologies that they use to help clients make decisions. They are well-versed with market conditions that are crucial to determine the profitability of an investment, so their expertise and resources will be valuable for you and your business.

Shop Around for Loans

Commercial finance companies typically offer loans secured by assets for added security on their part. Similar to other financial institutions, the lending terms will vary for each company, so you can look at various companies to check out the loans they offer. This route is often recommended for businesses that are already highly leveraged and thus cannot get additional debt.

If you need to take out a loan for your business, you will need to check for things like the maximum available funding, loan duration, loan to value ratio, and others. As such, while choosing between different financial providers, it is important to ask about all the important points about their loans to ensure you know what you are getting into.

Commercial finance providers can offer valuable advice and recommendations on investments and financing for your business. Thus, choosing the right professionals to work with is crucial to ensure that you make the right decisions. Take your time getting to know the many providers, so you can find the best possible provider.

Four Things You Should Do When You Are Looking for a Gift for Your Loved Ones

by

Family and truly close friends are one of the greatest blessings that you can have in your lifetime. You acknowledge that they are very important people and want to impress them by offering the best gift. But more than impressing them, you want the gift to convey that you value and appreciate these people. Hence, coming up with gifts for your loved ones can either be very enjoyable or downright difficult.

We understand that it can be quite difficult to have the most thoughtful gift, especially since various people with different personalities would require a different gift-giving mindset. Your practical friend may prefer a birthday registry while your big sister may want a new houseplant. But do not fear! We have provided a few things that you should consider when thinking of the perfect gift for your loved ones.

You should know your receiver

Try to think about your receiver for a moment. Are you aware of their likes and dislikes? Do you know if they really want or need a certain item, but they are holding it off due to budget constraints? If you do, then great! You are already one step ahead towards giving the perfect gift. But if you still don’t know, you can still do something about it. You can ask your other friends or family if your recipient has anything that they need or if they dropped a hint on something that they really want. It all boils down to being attentive to the little details about your recipient.

It would be best if you created a plan

After you identify the perfect gift, you should start planning. Planning prevents you from bailing on a relatively expensive gift that would otherwise be very significant to your recipient. If you know that your sister needs a new laptop for school, you can search for an affordable student-friendly laptop or ask your family to lend a hand for a specific model that your sister wants.

It would help if you tried to make the gift more personal

You can make the gift more personal in various ways. For tangible gifts, such as clothing or books, you can attach a handwritten note or letter that contains a heartfelt message. For digital gifts, such as a computer game or a birthday registry, you can create a PowerPoint or an illustrated message. You can browse Pinterest for ideas or gimmicks that can make the gift-giving process more fun and memorable.

When in doubt, you can ask the person

If you are at a dead-end and you really do not know what your recipient wants, you can ask them directly. It might take the surprise away, but it shows that you care about them enough to want to know what gift they want to receive.

Conclusion

Gift-giving is one of the best things you can do if you want to do something that shows thoughtfulness and gratitude. It takes some thinking time and effort. It can also be quite challenging, especially to those who are generally lost when giving gifts. But at the end of the day, it is rewarding when you see your loved one smile and say their heartfelt thanks.

Understanding The Features Of Smart Toilets

by

A smart toilet is simply an advanced, fully automated toilet with integrated smart technologies, or technology capable of linking and interacting with the individual user. These toilets are extremely popular in high tech areas like Japan, where they are widely used. These toilets can do many things, from play music to flushing by the touch of just a button, while still saving water in the process. There are now many models available that will allow you to activate the flushing by just pressing a certain icon, which many people find very convenient. Some will not turn on until the volume of the toilet has reached a certain level, another very convenient feature.

There are several models available with these additional features, but the most advanced and useful is the electric toilet, which has the features of both a thermostat and a self-cleaning sensor. The thermostat will keep the heating on until it reaches a pre-set temperature, while the self-cleaning sensor will activate when it senses moisture in the air. Once triggered, the toilet will switch itself off until it drops into a self-cleaning mode. The toilet will then automatically flush itself, taking up to half a minute off the clock.

These two technologies together are what makes smart toilets what they are. The thermostat keeps the temperature regulated so that it is comfortable for the person using the bathroom, while the self-cleaning sensor allows the toilet to self-clean without being bothered by any unnecessary noise or activity. These two systems make it very energy efficient, which is why they are becoming more common across different types of homes and businesses. They also reduce the amount of water that is wasted each time a flush is made, especially since most of these toilets use a combination of water and sewer heat. The combination of these two makes smart toilets an excellent wastewater purifier.

The other great thing about smart toilets is the added functionality that they offer. Some smart toilets can adjust their timing to better match the regular flushing of the water flow from your household’s main plumbing. Other smart toilets can adjust the duration of the “flushing” process, which can save you a lot of time when trying to do a long-term flush. And, of course, smart toilets also can be directly linked to your home’s HVAC system, making for convenient “on-demand” cleaning.

One especially nice feature is the interactive seat. A person can use the integrated touch screen to select the right settings, such as water temperature and bidet length. When someone selects the settings, the seat will change with the selected temperature and length of time. If someone wants the seat to automatically switch to the mode with the lowest water temperature, all they do is press a button. This is a nice feature in that it helps to conserve water, but it also offers the convenience of the seat being able to customize settings to suit the user instead of having to go into the bathroom and manually select a model.

A second feature of the smart toilet that is useful is the nightlight. The nightlight works in conjunction with the bidet to allow for more hygiene during the night. The bidet will spray water at a very high temperature and the nightlight will activate and add that extra bit of light to the room. The two systems work in tandem to provide you with a cleaner night, and to help keep your bathroom much cleaner when it is nighttime.

In addition to all of this, a smart toilet will also have what is known as a heated seat. This is something that many traditional bidet models do not have. Instead of sitting on a cold, ceramic surface that can be painful after a short while, you will sit in a heated seat. This helps to reduce any soreness that you may experience after using the bidet. It also makes the act of defecating easier because as you get older, the chemicals from the dryer can burn your skin if it is left on for too long.

These are all great features that the smart home should have. Not only are they hygienic but they are also very convenient features. When you consider the amount of money that you will save by using a smart toilet, it is worth it to make the switch. Your family’s comfort and your cleanliness will be much better once you have made the smart choice. Take a look today at the many smart toilets that are available to you and your home and see just how much they can improve your life.

3 Things to Consider if You Wish to Renovate or Rebuild

by

Certain decisions have a significant impact on your adult life. These decisions should never be made hurriedly. One such significant choice is deciding whether to renovate or rebuild a house. It is crucial to take some time and consider the advantages and disadvantages and weigh all the opportunities according to your situation before making a final decision. It is recommended that you hire knock-down rebuild in Sydney for the best prices and experts who can help you with hassle-free rebuilds.

Whether you end up renovating or rebuilding a property in Sydney is a good investment. Currently, the average house price in Sydney is over $1,000,000. If you plan to purchase a home, you can opt for a low deposit home loan of 5%. However, you will need to prepare a deposit of over $51,000.

Consider the value of the house 

It may be a challenge to knock down and rebuild a house since it has a lot of sentimental value to you. In many cases, a property has been part of your family legacy, and you want to protect it. Some houses have a unique character as well as an architectural style that you want to preserve.

When you consider the advantages and disadvantages, you also need to factor in the extra costs to get special fittings that match your current house so that everything is well-designed. Your home may require specially customized fittings, which are costlier than standard parts. All these details will add to the cost of the renovation.

Examine the space you have

If you live in a small house and want to expand your family home, you will need more space. It would help if you made arrangements for it. If there are vacant spaces in areas around your property, you may want to consider building a house extension and constructing additional rooms depending on the available space.

If you find that the foundation is firm enough, you should consider building an additional floor. But you will need to obtain building permissions and approvals before you construct it.

If you find that the house placement is odd and you are dissatisfied with the lighting and positioning, keep in mind that renovation will not cause significant changes. You may need to consider rebuilding, so you can reposition the house and build it from the ground to get your dream house.

Rebuilding and renovation

If you are considering building properties across Sydney, it is a good investment. Like the rest of Australia, Sydney has a burgeoning construction industry that generates over 360 billion in revenue. This industry produces 9% of Australia’s GDP. It is projected that the construction industry in Australia will have a growth rate of 2.4%. Most businesses in this industry are either sole traders or tiny firms that employ fewer than 20 people.

When you opt to rebuild, the process is a lot smoother. Experts can come up with a concept and plan for the knock-down rebuild in Sydney. Once the design is approved, it can be constructed right away. The site manager will provide you with updates on each development. You won’t have to be involved in the process directly.

In contrast, renovations are more challenging since specific things need to be done in a particular way. You need to be involved in the entire process to achieve the desired results. Because of this, the renovation company you hire is crucial. You must be confident that they will work for your interests and are reliable in assessing the work and renovation quality.

Conclusion

Sydney is a thriving metropolis with large pockets of suburban areas. Properties in the city are predicted to kick up in the next year, so it is worth investing in the area. Sydney covers more than 12,000 km². It has more than 500 interconnected neighbourhoods with its unique character. Because of this, choosing which area in Sydney to live in can be overwhelming. Since the majority of residents in Sydney are born overseas, the city is diverse and multicultural. You can quickly meet new people and have exciting experiences. But the best thing about Sydney is it is a place to call home.

get children’s educational toys from dhgate.com

Recent Posts

Calling All Moms!

Welcome to Serendipitymommy.com! The woman and parenting resource brought to you by a mom, for moms. I also write articles about travel, business, finance and many more subjects to take your super-momness to the next level!