Decisions, Decisions: The Diaper Dilemma

The Diaper Dilemma

I would like to assume as parents we strive to provide our children with the best of things. Considering it’s things they need and sometimes things they want such as rewards. But I came across a funny topic that parents can go on and on, back and forth, and continue to ponder on this subject – diapers. For some, it may be as simple as what is the cheapest and you can kind of deal with it, especially being new parents. But, as you get more educated with your children’s bowel movements, wet leakages, and full blown blowouts, you might want to sit down and figure out this ordeal.

What’s the best diaper for my child, disposable, reusable, or organic and what brand is the all-around best?

Luckily for you all, Pirate Mom is here to add some sunshine to this dark and deepening dilemma. Deciding what type of diapers you want to use for your child is the first hump to get over. Deciding this shouldn’t be too difficult. Think about it and go through this list of questions.

  1. Are you okay with spending a little more money on disposable diapers?
  2. Does your child have sensitive skin?
  3. Does your child have allergies?
  4. Would you be okay saving money on disposable diapers but having to wash reusable diapers often?

Take those into consideration, and you should be able to come to a means of understanding. Let’s say for example you don’t want to wash diapers constantly and your child has no sensitivities or allergies. Go ahead and try out the regular disposable diapers. In this case, Pampers, Huggies, and some generic brands such as Up & Up have high ratings to be mothers best choice of disposable diapers for their little children.

Now if you are a parent that would rather save money and don’t mind the occasional wash of your little one’s droppings then cloth diapers are for you, my friend. Some parents choose cloth diapers because they believe they provide a more comfortable feel with fewer rashes and more money in your pocket but don’t take my word for it. Do keep in mind with cloth diapers some may be better for day use and some may be more fit for night time. Others require you to purchase inserts separately, and some brands even grow with your child, saving you, even more, money in the long run. From my research try one of these top brands and see which one tickles your fancy.

Bum Genius Diapers

  • Bum Genius
  • GroVia
  • Thirties

If your precious baby has sensitive skin and or some allergies to a certain thing you might want to steer away from regular diapers that can contain harmful contaminants. Also if you’d rather not clean the stuff that comes out of your babies bottom, you don’t have to opt out to cloth diapers. There are organic diapers out there that should soothe your child’s bum and be your cup of tea. These three brands have been the most buzzed about eco-friendly, organic diapers around.

Bamboo Nature Diapers

  • Bambo Nature
  • Earth’s Best
  • Honest Company

Now that you have a few to choose from parents do your due diligence. Don’t go all-in to one brand just yet either. Take it slow and purchase a little to see how you and your child likes the diapers first. Within no time you will find what your baby’s bum has been needing all this time. As parents, you’ll be happier as well knowing you took the time to find just the right thing your baby needed. Now dog diapers are a lot easier to figure out, let me tell you! But why buy doggy diapers when you can hire a pet service company to pick up the mess for you? If only we could do the same with our offspring, huh? Thank you to all my followers, and I hope some of the information here has brought you much clarity. I’m off to embark on another adventure. Pirate Mom, out!

Understanding & Respecting Our Children

“Your child is stupid, ugly, and a wast of time.”

Have I got your attention yet? Forgive me, I don’t really feel that way. I have my own child as well and her name is Alexiis. Children young and old all deserve attention, understanding, and respect, don’t you think? I see people criticize our young people and it absolutely disgusts me. That feeling you got when I wrote that about your offspring, is what I feel when I witness things like that. This happens all too often in our world of sin and this is me, doing something about it.

Children

Pirate parents, education is everything. How do you learn to be writer? Educate yourself. Read, listen, and continue to learn. Wisdom is the strongest weapon you can have in your family. So lets start looking within ourselves. How do we react, act, speak, and hold ourselves with our children? Having my first child opened to eyes to a whole lot. It opened my eyes about myself as well. Become really aware of your feelings and why.  Once you start being more open with yourself and being aware of situations can we move forward to being better parents. 

I need this as a reminder as well. Our children are like plants. The more we nourish them and pour goodness to them, the better they will come out. Our words are powerful as well. Calm patience is a great approach to most things. It’s easy to lose our cool, especially having to juggle a hundred things at once and your child decided it would be okay to do something absolutely crazy that day. Always give yourself some time before going in and correcting the situation.

Family

Next is communication. This is so important. At a certain age, children should be spoken to and they deserve an explanation. On everything. If a child does something wrong, explain to them what was wrong, why it was wrong, the consequences, and anything else they should know. Make sure they understand their actions to its full extent. Talk in a voice where they feel comfortable to speak their minds, open their own minds to new things, but also with enough sternness so they know its not okay.

There has to be consequences to their actions. Just as there are in life, they need to understand this in the home. “If you do this, this happens, do you understand?” I constantly ask my daughter if she understands. Because when the time comes for consequences and we have our talk, she admits and understands that she was warned and was aware of her actions. This is excellent progress if your child can admit their wrongs. Humility is beautiful.

Even if you are having the most horrible day, your child does not deserve you to disrespect them and ignore them. They did nothing to you. Even though they are children they still deserve respect. Even if Michael and I are having a conversation and she has something to say, we will listen and take into consideration what she has to say. Some brilliant ideas come from her amazing brain. I remember when I was child I would be discarded as not being old enough. I wasn’t listened to and my mother failed to explain to me a lot of things. I grew up hearing these lines all time, “do as I say, not as I do,” and “because I said so.” That was it.

I’d like parents to start raising respectful, mindful children. It all starts with the source and the foundation. Which is us as parents and people. Our children grow at a certain rate yes. Their understanding for things grow deeper and deeper as they get older. Keep feeding them the right information, showing them good values, and teaching them ethics. There is so much we can also learn from our children.

Encourage, Believe, Love them.

 

Pizza Bombs, A Snack to Blow Your Mind!

The family is together again and everything is going incredibly wonderful until everyone starts to get the hunger monster. Dinner won’t be ready for another three  or four hours, what are you gonna do? I think everyone needed a snack and quick! Everyone was getting irritable and one of uncles was drinking a little too fast.  For Pirate Mom, easy and quick recipes are the best. Pizza is something most people love, so why not make it small, fun, and dippable? Let me give you my recipe and get ready to blow your families’ socks off!

You will be needing nine simple ingredients to make these explosive little things. This recipe makes about 10-20 pieces.

  • Biscuit Dough ( One Pillsbury Dough)
  • Mozzarella Cheese ( 1 Block)
  • Marinara Sauce (1 Bottle)
  • Butter (4 Tbsp)
  • Italian Seasoning (1 Tsp)
  • Salt & Pepper (1 Tsp)
  • Pepperoni (1 Package)
  • Parmesan Cheese (1 Package)
  • Garlic (2 cloves)

Pizza Bombs PreparationNow that you have your ingredients, lets get started. Prepare your oven at 375 degrees.  Open the dough and flatten them out as shown in the picture. If you have large pieces you may cut them in half and make more. Add a little bit of marinara sauce, a small piece of mozzarella cheese and a pepperoni. Fold the outsides over, flip, and place nicely on your lightly greased pan. I like to put waxed paper down too so the bombs don’t stick to anything. 

Next you are gonna melt your butter, add in the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic and mix well.  Cover all of the pizza bombs with this lovely mixture and top with a little parmesan cheese. Set them into the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes until lightly browned. When done, plate it and add the remaining marinara sauce in a bowl for dipping sauce. Serve and enjoy. Watch out now, it will be wiped out before you know it!  2014-08-04-pizza-bombs-9-680x384

Fun New Things to do at Pearlridge Mall

My family needed to get out and about. We sometimes go out to the park, the library, and to the beach. Peal Ridge Mall is always a pleasure to check out when we get a chance. Especially over the summer, Pearl Ridge has goodies up in the summer. Let us tell you about our adventure.

They have a bungee jumping activity right now, great for the whole family. Alexiis did some back flips and enjoyed it so much. It lasts for five minutes, but those five minutes is a real work out! If you jump high enough you’ll be able to shaka at everyone on the second floor. People have so much fun on this activity.

Another new activity they have right now is called the finger coaster. Before starting this cool ride you come to a touch screen where you lay out your very own roller coaster with a touch of a finger. Go left, right, up, down, and even do loop-dy-loops if you want! When its complete, the host will have you seat up to four people. They use the VR headsets to give you the feeling of being on a real roller coaster. The seats move along with you actually giving you that scary, slow motion going up the roller coaster, and the immediate down that makes you hold on to your chair for dear life. Its an experience to remember. Look all around you and you can see the ocean, the other rides, and the blue sky. Its amazing.

 

Virtual Roller Coaster

Keep Your Eyes on the Gold

Never take your eyes off the prize. Once you do you start to lose the momentum you’ve built up thus far. In my last post, I was talking about having a goal and picking it at day by day until you get it. Here, I wanted to talk about keeping yourself grounded and motivated on the goal you wish to achieve. So keep on dear pirate, its right out of your grasp.

One tip I have is to have a vision board. Having a vision board is such a strong thing to start with. Have your children make theirs, your husband, and yourself. Or even better make a family vision vision board. Take cut outs from magazines, print out quotes or pictures online, and pull creative images from books. I have one myself. My family puts these together with things we desire. My husband even wrote a check of a hundred thousand dollars. I put up my dream car, a white range rover. My daughter wants us to have twins so there is a picture of random twins. This board should be displayed where you can see it everyday. Look at and really imagine these items, words, or quotes to be reality in your life right now. And watch how sooner or later your vision board starts to come true.

Vision Board Example 1

You also have to change your mindset. Start acting like this is real in your life right now. If you wished to be a millionaire, (well who doesn’t, right?) you have to start acting like it. And I don’t mean go out and start spending money you don’t have, I mean change your whole demeanor. Start believing you are and not just wishing. Maybe start by changing how you look at yourself, change how you take care of yourself, change how you present yourself in public. Do small changes and they will make a tremendous difference in time. You’ll thank me later.

Vision Board Example 2

So get your family ready for your future and start flooding your vision board with some incredible images. What do you have on your vision board. Any specific words? What about quotes from anyone famous? I’d love to see your vision boards, post them in the comments! And remember to keep your eyes on the gold! You’ll do just fine.

 

Don’t Just Think of Being Savvy, Be Savvy

Calling all pirates! It’s time to stop thinking about it what you’re going to do and start taking imperfect action. Yes I said imperfect action. Whatever it is you all would like to accomplish in this lifetime you can. There’s that saying if there’s a will there’s a way. Find that way and keep digging away until you reach your gold. There’s no such thing as I can’t, there’s no way, and there’s no but’s in my vocabulary. I will be deleting them as of now and you should too. Here’s why you should.

Your mind is a powerful thing and if you think you can, you very much can. If you think you can’t, what if you fail, but this may happen, and you focus on negativity, then ultimately you will get only negative results.  I still struggle with this and I tend to forget myself sometimes. So let me remind you. You are great! And filled with an abundance of talent that only you possess. Share it with the world and see what you get in return.

I admit I still have my days where I start self doubting and questioning things. Maybe things aren’t going the way I had planned or foreseen. That’s okay too! Always look on the bright side and think that your glass is half full, never half empty. Take yourself away from reality for a second. Get your mind and body into a zone where you have no other choice but to thrive! Push, dig, run, jump, and do whatever you have to do to reach that goal. Because the more you focus on something the more it will be attracted to your energy and it will become yours, I promise you that.

Have you ever had a bad day? Starting off with maybe waking up late. Then you start complaining about this, and that, and you feel like the list of things that suck in your day just never ends. Sound familiar? Now lets say you had changed your mindset. As soon as you realized you were thinking negatively you turn it around and start thinking about only positive things. Today is beautiful! I am so happy for this opportunity right now! My hair looks amazing! Keep doing that! Your day will change for the better and you will totally forget that you even had a bad day. What is that anyway?

When reaching for a goal, don’t overthink it. Don’t try to plan everything out to the T. Yes have a course of action, don’t jump in absolutely blind but don’t spend two months of your time thinking about how you are going to accomplish things. Take a step towards it everyday. Move out of your comfort zone and into the realm of possibilities. Which is where the magic happens!

Let’s recap. What is the goal here? Don’t over think it, and work towards it little by little everyday. Think positive and radiate that greatness you were born with. Share and help others along your journey to your greatest version and see what happens. Be savvy and live great my friends!

Be Aware of the Signs, for a Better Behaving Child

Really understanding our children early on is a great benefit for both mommy and daddy. Being able to distinguish if your child is tired or really acting out can play a huge part on how they are to have consequences. It can be a little difficult to pick up on these signals if you’re unaware of what to look for. So let me help you out a bit. Because it is all the parents responsibility than it is on the child, remember that.

As young children grow, they play hard and I like to think they sleep hard. My daughter does anyway. As their bodies and mind grow they need a lot of time to nap and sleep. Let me give you an example of what to look for in this situation. In the evening you are at the playground and you child throws a tantrum and is being mean to another child. Is your child misbehaving and needs to have consequences or is your child acting out because of something you could have prevented? Let’s see. Ask yourself this. Does your child normally act in this way? Why was your child acting in this way? What happen? Could it be possible your child is tired? Are their eyes a hint of blue? From here you can distinguish whether to give your child consequences for their actions or take them home. Either way when your child has calmed down and is ready to talk, explain to them the right way to have handled the situation. It is also your job as a parent to help make sure that your child is in a position to be successful in these types of situations. Sometimes it’s not the child’s fault, but the parent.

When our children are sick or hurt its any parents automatic instinct to panic. This is probably the worse thing you can do in a situation. Our children look to us for guidance and if they see is worried and in a panic, they will panic as well. One sign to look for in a situation such as this is to see if they aren’t being themselves. If a child is sick, it’s a sure fire sign something is wrong when they aren’t being their normal selves. If it’s a normal cold usually some cold medicine, lots of water, and rest is the best remedy. Definitely make a doctors appointment when they are acting normal.

Talking and understanding them is very important. When my daughter gets in trouble for something I make sure that when she calms down and is ready to talk we talk things out. I let her speak as I listen and I also try my best to explain to her the situation at hand. How she should deal with certain things, the right way. Consequences should be given according to what they did wrong and severity of it.

What are your parenting tips and tricks? Any suggestions for Pirate Mom and her mateys? Please share and comment!

Morning Energy

Ever wonder why when you wake in the morning you have so much energy? Your mind is so refreshed with all the things you want to do, need to accomplish, and new ideas that magically pop up in your mind. Then here comes the evening time when nap time seems to be perfect. That cup of joe is the only thing keeping you going. And you forgot about the other half of the very important things you needed to get done. What happened here?

We can’t force our minds to be on top of everything all day everyday. But what we can do is be very aware of how our mind and bodies work and use that to our advantage. Let’s just come to terms with this. Our minds as we sleep is basically resetting itself. It’s filing away non important things from the day before. It’s storing the data that we find very important. Our minds is clearing its slate for the new day, when we awake from our slumber. We can conclude from this the best time of the day is….

Morning! Things we need to remember comes to us with ease. Our mind is clutter free and anxious to think about this and that. We think of great ideas! The morning time is the absolute best time to get the most important things out of the way. For Michael and I we work on our business from home. Therefore we get up and Michael has his coffee, I’ll grab me a matcha green tea, and Alexiis has her cereal. Michael goes straight to work and crushes what he needs to do for the day. We jot notes as things pop up in our still newly awake brains. Alexiis does her summer school work and I get to working as well. prioritize your day where you get the biggest and most important stuff completed in the first half. Before long, your mind will drift. And now a simple task that should take you a merely thirty minutes may take you an hour or more.

By noon, you start getting hungry. Your mind starts to think about minuscule things like I wonder whats this…and its starts wondering away from the task at hand. Concentration slowly depletes from there. It gets harder to stay energized. I understand energy drinks and coffee could help the situation but I also think too much is not good for you at all and can have the reverse effect on you too. Taking a break could help, but usually for me it makes it worse. Its already time to wine down. Creativity has left the building and zombie mode just got kicked up a notch.

Now its the end of the day. Your mind can no longer think. You start to forget things you may have just heard a minute a go. Your mind does not have an infinite amount of energy and it can happen that you just deplete it. If so, don’t even waste your time trying to put something together worth a lot of thought. It will come out plain, simple, boring, and nonchalant. I’ve had my days where I’m thinking I need to grab something quickly, walk into a room, and totally forget why I’m in there. Thats horrible. Thats the moment I know I’ve used up just about all of my brain power and it will now take me ages to get things done.

You can help your brain to recoup from this by taking power naps. This is super helpful. Think of it as restarting your computer. All of the windows and tabs that were open, shut it off. Everything is completely off, and now lets restart our minds to start new. This will work for a good amount of time but eventually you will run out of juice again because you only restarted, you didn’t give it time to reboot, I guess you could say.

This is something my family does and I highly recommend a good amount of time for naps and sleep which is crucial for our mind and bodies. It’s great for our children especially as they grow. Keeps them in a better mood and more eager to learn new things and remember them well. Lets stay healthy and I hope my tips help you for a better day to day operations. Keep it Saavy!

One Man’s Trash is Another Person’s Treasure

Being frugal can be hard for some people. But for hard working parents these days you may feel you have to be. With todays bills, groceries, household necessities, etc. it can get tight on your wallet real quick. I know it can get rough for us at times but making most of what you already have makes the process fun. It forces you to be creative and and think outside the box.

One fine example is reusing items you may tend to simply throw away when you’ve used it all up. Take baby wipe containers as an example. They usually come in a small travel size container that you may refill or a larger size for home. These containers are sometimes easily thrown in the garbage. I like to reuse them. Put small trinkets in them, rubber bands, batteries, bandaids, etc. Whatever you can think of. You could even decorate it to your liking. I’ve even seen someone use it to plant vegetables. Similar containers are cleaning wipe containers and flushable wipe containers too. Use it for what your heart desires! Become an organizing professional or creative whiz.

Some other bright ideas that I have yet to try is using mason jars. Im guilty for this, thinking i’ve used it enough times and I threw it away!  You can reuse this item and turn it into a reusable soap dispenser. Take you old soda can or canned foods and turn it into simple pencil holders. Take your old paper toilet rolls and fancy them up into little gift boxes. Using the container your eggs came in for a planter is genius. What I’ve seen to be super cute and useful is using tic tac containers for small storage for your sugars and spices. There’s so many awesome ideas and its already getting my creative senses tingling inside. These ideas are easily found online, just simply google and you’d be surprised at what you can find.

Does your family reuse your household items? What do you use them for? I’m open to new ideas. Reuse your items and save money for more things that matter in life. Everything is a treasure in life and it is only what you make of it that matters!Baby Wipes Reused!Mini Sugar And Spice Containers! Planters! Coffee Creamers turned Into Containers!

Summertime in Hawaii

It’s summer everybody! Lets go camping, take our children to the park, and go fishing at the beach! What to you like to do on summer vacation with your family. This is our first summer all together. Usually Alexiis has summer school and Michael and I are working. We can all picture  summer time to be filled with blue skies, sandy beaches, crisp waves, green grass, etc. Especially in Hawaii where the weather is always gorgeous. This summer has been a little different for us but I’m kind of digging it. This time around its a gloomy, rainy, muddy mess.

Its just about June as I look out my window now. Its dark and gray sky, bringing down the rain. Don’t get me wrong. I love the rain. So does Alexiis because she gets to play in it with the other children that is outside too. Not for long though, we don’t want anyone to get sick. Michael and l get to work on our business, make food, and clean the house. I already did the laundry, clean the bathroom and bedrooms yesterday. I guess its the kitchen and on to folding the clothes today.

Alexiis has things to do in her day too such as her language arts and math workbooks. I bought them online from Tri-C publications Inc. We work on them in the morning. The rest of the day is spent doing activities and making sure she eats her snacks and takes a nap. Sometimes she will play with her friends in the neighborhood. I should really limit her iPad usage. Does you child love their iPad or tablet?  It’s literally ’til death do us part, type of thing with her. What do you do when trying to limit your children’s usage. Any fun suggestions?

Hawaii is a beautiful place with beautiful weather usually. Hopefully the rain passes so we can have a day to go to the carnival. What is your family doing over the summer?