From SAD to GLAD in 22

Bring the outdoors inside with bright cheerful house plants

It’s SAD (seasonal affective disorder) season and apparently today is Blue Monday - saddest day of the year. While I don’t subscribe to labelling days I think it’s always a good idea to have a good list of things or steps we can take, as moms (and humans in general) to get out of a bad funk. Here are 22 things that can help you go from SAD to GLAD. Hope it helps 💜

1. Cook/Eat Happy Foods (like dark chocolate, oats, bananas, berries etc. Even better if you make a happy smoothie)

2. Get Sunshine or Vitamin D ☀️ 

3. Improve your lighting indoors

4. Clean/Tidy/Organize your home

5. Bring nature inside with a plant 🌱 

6. Circulate fresh air in your space daily 

7. Fill your space with pleasant scents

8. Rest (when you can and when you must)

9. Healthy Inner Conversations

10. Meditation 

11. Journaling

12. Sing/Dance to some music

13. Art Therapy 

14. Individual Games Crossword/Word Search

15. Group Games

16. Watch a good Movie 🍿 

17. Watch a Documentary 

18. Have a heart to heart conversation

19. Take a stroll 

20. Practice emotional hygiene. Eliminate or take a break from anything that increases stress. 

21. Learn or practice a new skill

22. Take a trip, plan a trip or reminisce about a memorable moment that brought joy.

After Birth Checklist

So you’ve survived labour and your bouncing beautiful babies are here.  Here are some administrative and or lifestyle things that many newborn moms consider after baby is here. 

Medical

Identifying highly recommended caregivers, especially if you don’t already have a Family Doctor for your little one(s). You can also ask your birthing centre or hospital for recommendations as a start; but be sure to do your own due diligence. 

• Paediatrician 
• Paediatric Dentist 
• Optometrist 

 

Administrative 

Birth Registration & Certificate

Legacy planning. If you have a will, update it to include your newborn and key information such as what your wishes are for their care incase something happens to either parent. If no will. Look into creating one with a lawyer, financial institution (especially if you are interested in setting up a Trust for your child) or online will writing service. 

Health/Life Insurance. Add your newborn to all your insurance policies. 

Banking Information. Check with your bank to see who is listed as beneficiary on your investments and update as needed. 

Education fund. Tertiary education is pricey so there’s no time like the present to start saving toward’s your little one’s College/University education. 

Passport Application 

Religious/Cultural

 

Circumcision(For Baby Boys)

Ear Piercing(For Baby Girls)

Baby Blessing/Baptism/Christening & God Parents 

Child Care

Caregiver Training/Briefing. As a new mom you’re often encouraged to take all the help you can get from your village. I want to add to this by saying that it’s important to go over childcare basics and safety with your friends or loved ones who may not be accustomed to caring for a small child or for those who have not done it in years. The last thing you want is to leave your child with someone who is well intentioned but ill prepared to care for your littlest one. 

Drop In Day Care. Identify a good quality drop in daycare centre close to you in the event you have urgent need for child care. 

Day care registration/Waitlist. For longer term childcare in the event of going back to work etc. The earlier you register for a daycare; the better. Words spreads fast in Mama world and the best daycares usually get booked up faster. 

Sentimental Planning

They grow up so fast may be sound like a cliche but it is so true. So now is a good time to determine your budget for capturing memories. Do you want professional newborn and milestone photos or do you want to DIY? Both have different budgetary demands. One this is certain is that you need to figure out how you plan to store all the cute photos and videos. Will you get an external hard drive, extra memory cards? A photo book service extra cloud storage? These are all things to consider. 

• Newborn Announcement
• Update Baby Book

5 Non-Sexual Ways To Induce Labour

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice just the lived experiences of a mama. Consult your healthcare professional for medical advice.

So your due date is here or near and your little womb tenant is showing no indication of vacating the premise. So you wonder, what are some ways (short of an eviction notice) that you can safely encourage your tenant to happily leave their cozy home? 

Below are some strategies that expecting moms have used to induce labour. Keep in mind that none of these strategies may work for you. Sorry to be so blunt. 💜 

Here goes:

Strategy 1: Take a long walk. Even if it doesn't get your contractions going it's great exercise pre labour and a good way to destress especially if you bring a loved one (s) along.

Strategy 2: Eating spicy food. Apparently the secret is in the spice. It may be spicy enough to make your baby want out. 

Strategy 3: Eating a whole pineapple. If it doesn't get the baby out at least you would have enjoyed a delicious fruit, that is normally shared, all by yourself.

Strategy 4: Drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea. Many expecting moms swear by this.

Strategy 5: You can try talking to your tenant (I mean baby) as calmly as possible and see if they will listen and willingly vacate the premises. 

Happy and safe delivery to you mama! 💜

Corona Wellness Plan for Littles

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice just a mama sharing her experiences. Please consult your healthcare professional for medical advice. 

A new variant is making it’s rounds and while researchers are gathering evidence about it’s effects and especially as it relates to children; it may be another few months before we get a definite action plan for keeping little ones safe or helping them heal from a Covid 19 variant. In this post I'm sharing 5 tips for helping your little ones to recover from a cold:

Tip 1:  Prevention is the best defense. Be very discerning about where you go, if you have to go out with your little ones. Prevention is better than finding a cure. 

Tip 2: For stuffiness, a cool mist humidifier works  great for adding moisture to the air especially in cold/flu season and especially in places where the air is drier. Moisture helps loosen the mucous so it can make it's way out of the body. You may also use a vaporizer or steamer if it's all you have but be careful not to leave children unattended while it's in operation as the steam poses a burn risk if they get too close. Additionally you can run a vapor bath. Fill their bath tub with warm water and eucalyptus run the shower so the bathroom os filled with steam then place the child in the tub for normal bathtime. 

Johnsons Vapor Bath Soap

Tip 3: For an achy chest or chest cold, Vicks Baby Rub may help your child to breathe and sleep better. Children two and older can use the regular Vicks Rub. Try rubbing some on the soles of their feet (then placing them in socks) and also on the chest and back. Tiger Balm may also be used as an alternative on kids 3 and up.

Tip 4: For kids over the age of one you can give a little honey with lime/lemon and a bit of crushed garlic to ease a sore throat and help get rid of the virus. For kids ages 4 and up you can try getting them to suck on a cough drop to ease a sore throat. For this to work they nees to suck the cough drop produce more saliva in the mouth which when mixed with the lozenge, helps to soothe a sore throat.

Tip 5: The mucous needs to leave the body. Mucous is the body's way of binding the virus to eject it from the body. Drinking lots of fluids; water, juice and even milk helps loosen the mucous to help the body get rid of it. For breast fed babies, breast feed on demand. 

For the older kids encourage them to spit out the mucous when they get the sensation to cough it up. For the younger babies you an help them by squirting a few drops of saline in each nostril and sucking out excess mucous with nasal bulb or snot sucker. There are quite a few on the market. 

Takeaway

Any strain of the cold or covid is a virus that cannot be cured but has to run its course as the immune system works to expell the virus. Most cold medications for kids only work to alleviate symptoms such as fever, pain and sore throat. With all the above mentioned tips and consistency you should have success in helping your child to heal from the cold/covid virus.

Be sure to monitor your child's symptoms, especially in the event that they appear to be getting worse as the days go by. They may need immediate medical intervention.

Feel free to add your own experiences and recommendations in the comments below to help another mama out. 💜