Subscribe to RSSPosts Tagged ‘Parent Hacks’
Home Remedies for Sunburns
With the long 4th of July weekend behind us we are all reminiscing of the time we had and perhaps nursing some battle wounds from the long weekend. Of course, I’m talking in particular to sun burns. Sun burns are a sure sign that you had a good time and are now paying for it. Here a few home remedies to help ease the pain and promote healing of your rosy skin.
Milk - The milk should be at or close to room temperature. Take cotton gauze and dip it into the milk. Apply it to the sunburn and allow it to sit for 20 minutes or so. After this time, remove the milk compress and gently rinse your skin to remove any milk residue. If you do not rinse your skin, the milk residue will develop a sour odor and so will you.
Vegetables - a bag of frozen vegetables inside a clean towel and placing it gently upon the sunburned area can offer some minor and temporary relief to an individual. This home remedy helps to cool down the sunburn.
Thinly slice a raw cucumber, potato, or apple. Gently place the pieces on your sunburn. Not only is the coolness of the vegetables soothing to your skin, but also, it is possible that they will help to reduce any inflammation occurring from your sunburn.
Vitamin E - Eating foods that are rich in vitamin E can help to reduce the inflammation caused by sunburn.
Pain reliever – Tylenol or Advil will help relieve pain
Soak yourself in diluted vinegar - Pour one cup of white cider kitchen vinegar into a tub of tepid water and soak yourself in it. It’s very soothing to your skin and helps relieve the pain of sunburn.
Baking soda and cornstarch. - Another recipe for relief, also from the kitchen cabinet: Mix 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1/4 cup of cornstarch into a tub of tepid water and soak yourself.
Oatmeal - If you find the smell of vinegar or milk too intense, you can wrap dry oatmeal in some gauze or cheesecloth and run cool water through it. Wring out the excess water and apply the cloth for 20 minutes every two to four hours.
Make a paste of one Bayer-type aspirin (crushed), aloe vera gel, and vitamin A & D cream from a tube. Mix it together crushing up the aspirin as much as possible to have the large pieces crushed into small grains, as smooth a paste as you can make. I use the back part of a spoon to crush and smooth paste. Place on sunburn and cover up with old clothing. It will make the blisters go down and absorb the redness and the pain goes away also.
Pure Aloe Vera Gel - Squirt some on your hand a rub into the burn. Takes away some of the pain and helps prevent skin cancer.
Noxema – cools skin and provides relief
Cheap Nutritional Treats for Summer
It seems like we are bombarded with sugar filled frozen treats during the summer and like most parents I am constantly trying to limit my children’s sugar intake. Here are a few cheap nutritional frozen treat options for you and your family.
Frozen Grapes: I buy grapes in bulk when I find them on sale ($.99 or less). I will wash them (fruit and veggie cleaner) and divide some up for eating fresh and the rest goes into the freezer. They freeze beautifully and taste like fruit sorbet. Everyone loves these! I cut them into little pieces for my 1 year old and this is a tasty snack that gives him some relief with teething.
Frozen Yogurt: I buy the lite fruit yogurt and freeze it. It makes a yummy after dinner treat. My 4 year old thinks she’s having ice-cream and provides some relief for my teething 1 year old.
Fruit Smoothies - Again, I buy whatever fruit is on sale in the bulk. What I don’t use immediately I freeze for later. I just blend fruit with yogurt and/or milk and ice.
For other bargains for your family check out:
Kid’s Eat Free
8 Cheap to Free Childcare Options When You Need a Little “me time”
Cheap Tricks My Mother Taught Me
FREE DVD Rentals
Going Green: Before it was cool
Going Green - How to make your own non-toxic cleaners
Budget Family Vacations by Exploring Your Own Backyard
Recycle, Reuse, and Replace Bad Plastic Containers
Cheap and Easy Baby-Proofing Solution
Cheap Tricks My Mother Taught Me
With the price of gas, food, electricity (OK, pretty much everything) going up it seems that our budgets are bending till they break. At the very least everyone is becoming more creative with their finances and learning to save money wherever possible. I find myself thinking about all the cheap tricks my mother used to stretch our budget on a family of 6. If you read my article “Going Green before It Was Cool” then you already have 20 cheap tricks courtesy of my mother under your belt. These ideas are, if nothing else, entertaining and if used can be quite practical. Here are 6 more cheap tricks my mother taught me.
Make your own tortilla night: To save money and time my mom would have us make our own tortillas on taco night. She would pre-make the dough: 3 cups flour,2 tsp. baking powder,1 tsp. salt,4-6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or lard, about 1 1/4 cups warm water. Then everyone would take turns rolling out and frying their tortillas. This would not only save money but it would slow my 3 brother’s eating habit down.
Homemade popcorn to ball games: My dad was a high school teach and coach so for family entertainment we would go to ball games. We would get into the games for free and my mom would bring a paper grocery bag filled with air-popped popcorn from home.
Hand-me-downs: I LOVE the idea of hand-me-downs however it is very unfortunate to be apart of the hand-me-down cycle when you are the only girl with a family of 3 boys.
Free Soup at Mc Donald’s: Did you know that if you take ketchup and mix it with hot water it makes tomato soup? If you are hungry and are low on cash you can make a run to a fast food joint and load up on ketchup and hot water. Its mmm, mmm, good!
Following a truck filled with produce (onions, potatoes) does pay off: I grew up in an agricultural community and it was not uncommon to see large trucks filled with potatoes or onions on our rural roads. My mother would follow these trucks and wait for falling produce and stop and pick-up the produce road-kill.
Eating dinner at Costco: My mother loves shopping at Costco. Not just for the bulk food items but for the limitless samples provided by the different vendors. These samples are not just a snack but can be a meal if you play your cards right.
For more cheap tricks: “Going Green before It Was Cool”, “Kids Eat Free”, “Free DVD Rentals”, “8 Free to Cheap Childcare options” and “How to Make Your Own Non-toxic Cleaners”