Yearly Archives: 2019

Are nannies cheaper than daycare?

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If you have a young child and you’re ready or need, to go back to work, then you’re probably debating about the best way of looking after your child while you’re not available. There are very few businesses that let you take your baby to work!

The main choices usually come down to using daycare services or a nanny. Of course, you’ll need to find a reputable daycare center that you’re comfortable leaving your child with, or you can go through the process of interviewing different clients to look after your child.

But, the bottom line, as is so often the case, is what’s it going to cost you? Which is the cheaper option?

You probably won’t be surprised to find that a nanny is more expensive than daycare. But, before you write off the services of a nanny, you should consider the benefits of a nanny.

Convenience

A daycare center is generally not flexible. You’ll have a set time to drop your child off and to collect them, which makes it difficult if you need to stay late or simply get stuck in traffic. It can often mean you end up with extra charges at the end of the month.

In contrast, a nanny, especially one that lives in, will be much more flexible and continue to look after your child until you get home. This will make it easier to do your job properly.

Consistency

A nanny will provide one-to-one attention for your child and they’ll get plenty of time with them because that’s their job. This means your child can quickly adapt and be comfortable with the arrangement. Consistency is important when they are young as this helps to build safe and secure environments. In turn, this creates children that are confident and aware.

Logistics

Even if your nanny doesn’t live in your home, you’ll find the logistics are much easier to arrange. For example, if you work irregular hours or often start at midday and finish late in the evening you’ll probably find it difficult to locate a daycare center that can match your hours. However, you can find a nanny and hire them on the understanding that those are their hours.

This will make it much easier to manage your own life.

Control

The problem is that you’re not going to leave your child with anyone. While you can inspect and check a daycare center, you can’t control staff turn around, won’t be sure of the care your child is actually getting, and will probably find it hard to judge if it’s beneficial or not.

In contrast, you’ll have a lot more control over what a nanny does with your child and how they behave around them. Of course, you’ll have to carefully vet them and potentially interview lots of clients. That’s why most parents find it easier to use reputable nanny services, they do the hard work for you, all you have to do is decide if you can get along with the nanny or not.

A nanny is more expensive, but it does bring a number of benefits that can offset the extra cost, the final decision is yours.

Dental Hygiene: How to Care for Your Child’s Teeth

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It’s no secret that most children have a sweet tooth. This means that parents are constantly fighting to minimize sugar intake while ensuring their children do receive treats from time to time. It’s a difficult balance but an important one.

You’ve only got to look at the facts to know that you need to do more to look after your child’s teeth. It’s estimated that one in ten children have cavities or are missing teeth.

You need to make sure your child understands and implements good oral hygiene procedures.

The Right Dentist

Good tooth care actually starts with a good dentist. You’ll find it beneficial to use someone who is practicing holistic dentistry. This means they are doing more than looking at the state of your teeth, they are looking at your overall health and prescribing the best possible care for both in one package.

Remind Them

Children are very good at ‘forgetting’ things they don’t want to do, and there is generally little appeal in brushing their teeth. However, building a good dental routine while they are young isn’t just a good way to stop childhood cavities, it will also help throughout their lives.

In other words, remind your children on a daily basis to brush their teeth and make sure they do it.

Using Toothpaste

Toothpaste helps to remove bacteria and other nasties inside your child’s mouth. However, you can’t just use toothpaste, you also need to adopt the right brushing motion. The best approach is to only use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.

This can then be brushed around tour teeth, making sure you brush all of them in the process. It should take at least 2-3 minutes to brush all your teeth.

Brush Right

Brushing is important but you can overdo this. When you’re brushing your teeth you need to cover all the teeth and where they join the gum line. However, you don’ need to brush too hard, if you do you may damage the gum line which increases the tooth’s exposure and makes tooth decay more likely.

While brushing it’s a good idea to do the tongue as well, this will help to wipe any bacteria off your tongue and keep your mouth healthy.

Floss

Children don’t generally need to start flossing until their teeth start to touch each other. However, you don’t need to wait to introduce the art of flossing. Let them see you doing it and help them to try it. If the teeth aren’t touching it will have very little effect, but it will serve as good practice to help ensure your children floss properly as they become adults.

Inspection

 You’ll need to go to the dentist regularly. But, that doesn’t mean you and your child shouldn’t inspect your own teeth. After all, you probably know them better than anyone else. Regularly inspecting them will help you to realize there is an issue and get a dental appointment. That’s actually one of the best protective measures you can take.

What is a Ghost Tour? Read This Before You Go

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If you’ve read about ghost tours before you may think that it is simply a glorified ghost hunt or an opportunity for the locals to make some money from visitors. But, if you try out a good ghost tour, such as the rocks walking tour, you’ll realize there’s a lot more to it than this.

The Ghost Tour

A ghost tour is a well-organized event that leaves at a designated time from a designated spot. You’ll then be taken on a walking tour of the designated area. The route will be the same every time although different guides may have different extra pieces of information.

As you walk you’ll learn about the history of the area, the ghosts that are said to haunt the town, and you may even get to see some evidence of this.

Some tours, but not all, will actually include a section when you get to try out the latest ghost hunting equipment. You may be unimpressed by the results or completely spooked, that will depend on your level of belief.

But, whatever you believe, you will learn an array of interesting facts about the area. You should also have a lot of fun on the tour.

Levels Of Tour

It’s important to be aware that there are different levels of the tour. The most basic option is the family-friendly tour or the beginner’s tour. This is the least spooky and great to introduce yourself and your children to the world of ghosts. The tour will be designed not to have intense shocks but still to be informative.

The higher level of ghost tours will definitely increase the atmosphere of the paranormal, you’ll probably feel the hairs on the back of your neck going up.  Your choice will depend on your paranormal beliefs and experiences.

Sunset

The majority of ghost tours happen as the sun is setting. This increases the atmosphere of the tour which makes it more believable or scarier.

Of course, because the tour happens as the sun starts to set, the temperature will drop, you should bring a coat or other warm garments to make sure your attention is on the tour not on the fact you’re shaking. (and it’s not ghost related).

Bring An Open Mind

It’s best to go on a ghost tour with an open mind. Even if you’re not a believer it’s a good idea to suspend that disbelief and just see what happens. When using the ghost hunting equipment you may be surprised by how the results affect you.

It’s also worth noting that a ghost tour will give you a unique perspective on the area. It’s a fun experience on vacation but it can be a real eye-opener if you do it where you live. Chance are you’ll be very surprised by what you learn about your own town or city.

In short, a ghost tour should be seen as a bit of fun with the potential to learn about the area and even develop a better understanding of ghosts. That makes it worth trying.