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Tag: Dad Tips

  • Pumpkin Carving With Kids

    Halloween is only a day away, and whether you’re ignoring COVID or having a small event just for your household, there’s still plenty to do. In addition to the brief list I released a couple days ago, there’s one major thing with which everyone can get involved: pumpkin carving!

    This is easy with older kids, you give them their own pumpkin and let’m at it. However, with small kids, like my 4 year old and U2, pumpkin carving is more challenging. Young kids shouldn’t be using carving tools, and they definitely shouldn’t be handling knives. So what can they do, and how do you prepare?

    Dad Tip: Don’t carve your pumpkins more than a day or two before Halloween, unless you want them to look all rotten & droopy…

    Preparation

    Start by decking out the kids in short sleeved shirts and painting or art smocks. Although this won’t keep them clean, it will minimize the mess, and potentially save their shirts/pants from getting ridiculously full of pumpkin guts.

    Next, you’ll want to cover your table. If you still get paper flyers or newspaper, that works well. Alternatively, you can use a plastic tablecloth or art paper. We use art paper in our house, and it works great. There’s an added bonus of letting the kids colour all over it first, before pumpkin carving. This allows you to save a bit of time, and occupy the kids with two separate activities.

    Dad Tip: Cut & remove the pumpkin top before you sit at the table. That way, the kids can dig in right away and you don’t need to have anything sharp dangerously within reach.

    Pumpkin Carving

    With little kids, you have to keep anything sharp away. That means they won’t actually be pumpkin carving. There are plenty of other things they can help with as part of the process.

    Ways to Help

    • Pull the guts – Let’s face it, there’s a lot to pull out. If they’re big enough, they can even use an ice cream scoop to clean the insides.
    • Separate the Seeds – Be sure to have a separate bowl, as these are a great snack once roasted up.
    • Pick a Stencil – Plenty of stencils are available both online & with carving kits. Be sure to remove any that are beyond your ability in advance, or you could get stuck with something tricky!
    • Draw the face – Give them a washable marker and let them draw the face on the pumpkin. You could even let them draw out a few test faces in advance to teach them about “prototyping.”

    Alternatives to Carving

    • Foam Stickies – Cheaply available at your nearest craft or bargain store.
    • Pumpkin Push Ins – It’s like Mr. Potato Head, but for pumpkins!

    Dad Tip: Be sure to have 1 pumpkin per child, so they can play with them at the same time.

    Once the face is drawn or the stencil is chosen, it’s easy for your kids to get bored. This is when I had them taking turns separating the seeds for roasting, but it’s also a great time to play a Halloween movie or short. Introducing your kids to The Great Pumpkin or Nightmare Before Christmas works really well (my kids both love the later).

    After Pumpkin Carving

    Once the carving is all finished, let the little ones turn on the lights and pop them in. Then turn off the lights in the house so they can see the full effect. My little ones loved it, and they both tried to give impressions of the two we carved this year.

  • Laundry: The Never Ending Pile

    For the childless, laundry is weekly (or even bi-weekly) nuisance. You lug a basket or two to your washer & dryer (or laundromat), and in two or three hours, you’re done and everything is either put away, or ready to be put away.

    Those of us with small children experience a completely different beast. It’s like singing the Song that Never Ends or being stuck in the Never Ending Story. Laundry quickly becomes a daily, or even twice-daily occurrence. And even worse, the pile never really seems to get dented.

    Time-of-Use Restrictions

    I weep for those poor souls with kids that use the laundromat. Restrictive opening hours, and a reliance on coin use can cause havoc with a schedule. Add one or two kids running around, and it’s a recipe for disaster.

    For those of us with laundry in our homes, we have other restrictions. Primarily, this comes down to electricity rates.

    For those unaware, electricity is charged at a different amount based upon the time of day. This is called “Time-of-Use Billing.” During heavy usage times (typically work hours), the cost per kWH is almost double the evening (after 7:00pm) & weekend rate. There’s a “medium” usage period (roughly 7:00am – 10:00am & 4:00pm – 7:00pm), where the rate is roughly halfway between the two.

    As a Dad At Home, this means I can’t just throw the laundry on in the middle of the day. At least, not unless I really love a skyrocketing electric bill. Also, leveraging evening is one of my top-5 ways to better manage time.

    COVID-19 has resulted in a new “tiered billing”, which charges roughly the “medium” usage rate mentioned above for the first 1,000 kWH in a month. Every kWH above 1,000 is charged at the “high” usage rate. Although this would seem appealing, once you realize exactly how much laundry you need to do, this comes up quite a bit more expensive.

    Typical Laundry Week

    Your mileage may vary, but with 2 kids we get a lot of laundry in the house. One of our kids is starting to potty train overnight, and the other uses cloth diapers. I’ll do a cloth vs disposable comparison in a future article (as we’ve used both). Needless to say, with cloth diapers, there is substantially more laundry, and you’ll want to do them separate of the rest of your clothes.

    Number of Loads

    • Cloth Diapers – 1 load every 2 days (takes extra-long, see below)
    • Kids Clothes – 2-3/week
    • Adult Darks – 1 per week
    • Adult Colours – 1 per week
    • Medical Scrubs – 1 per week
    • Kids sheets – 1 per week (rotating), with typically 2-3 as needed due to training accidents
    • Adult sheets – 1 every 2 weeks
    • Adult whites – 1 every 2 weeks

    If you count that up, you’re looking at a minimum of 10 loads of laundry per week.

    The Schedule

    MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
    7:00 pm
    Scrubs    		7:00 pm
    Kids’ Clothes (1)    		7:00 pm
    Adult Darks    		7:00 pm
    Adult Colours    		7:00 pm
    Kids’ Clothes (2)    		6:00 am
    Adult Whites
    OR
    Adult Sheets    		6:00 am
    Kids’ Sheets

    11:00 am Kids’ Clothes (3)
    Cloth Diapers Every 2 days, typically at 8:00 pm

    Keeping Laundry Organized

    Laundry Baskets on Shelf - Keeps it tidy & organized
    Keeping organized is key to staying on top of the never ending laundry.

    Laundry finishes after 9:00pm (or midnight on diaper nights). As a result, you can’t fold the same day it’s washed. My spouse and I team up and typically fold laundry when we’re unwinding & watching television in the evening. As this is normally the next day, keeping clean laundry organized is vital.

    Thankfully, we only have a few items that need to be hung up immediately. So they’re taken care of the moment we pull them from the washer or dryer. Everything else we pull into baskets and set up on a shelf. Once folded, if we aren’t able to put it away immediately, the folded basket(s) are also put on the shelf. This makes it easy to see what’s good to go up in the morning, and what still needs to handled.

    Towels, sheets & blankets don’t typically need to be folded immediately. Save these for weekends.

    Important Dad Tip

    Cloth Diapers

    These are a special monster. Not only do you need to do a basic scrub right away, they take a lot of extra time & materials to wash out. Use vinegar in addition to the laundry detergent, as it kills bacteria. These diapers are going right next to your baby/toddler’s skin, so it’s important they’re sanitized in addition to washed out.

    I set the washer to a medium-load with “extra heavy” soil. I also set 2-hour soak in the vinegar/detergent mix, and an extra rinse & spin-out. It took a few weeks to come up with the right cycles to properly get the smell out, but this did the trick.

    I leave them in the dryer overnight and pull it out first thing in the morning. You don’t need to worry about wrinkles or folding.

    • 3 hours total in Washer
    • 1 hour in Dryer
    • 0 minutes Folding Time

    Conclusion

    There’s a lot of laundry, and there’s no way around it. But it isn’t (and shouldn’t) tackled all at once. Nor should the task fall solely on a Dad (or Mom) At Home. Do one or two loads a day, and share the work with your spouse. Many hands make light(er) work, and this is extremely important when it comes to the never ending pile of laundry.

  • Leftovers & How to Store Them

    Here in Canada, Thanksgiving occurred this past Monday. It’s a day of preparing for feasting, feasting, and then studiously avoiding the cleanup from feasting. If your family is anything like mine, we prepare more food than we can safely consume in one evening. There’s never any fear of their being leftover deviled eggs, stuffing, or pumpkin pie. However, there’s always leftovers like potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey, cranberries, dinner rolls, salad, and whatever else may have entered the mix.

    Before determining the type of container, there are a few questions that you need to ask:

    • Will we eat this tomorrow?
    • Will this go into school/work lunches this week?
    • Can this freeze for later?
    Amazon.ca Widgets

    Leftovers for Dinner Tomorrow

    The food you’re going to eat tomorrow, whether its in a hot turkey sandwich, turkey omelettes, turkey wraps, or turkey poutine, you have a lot of flexibility in how you’re going to store it. Since the fridge was just emptied to make Thanksgiving dinner, there’s a lot of room to pop it back in.

    For this sort of leftover, a larger snap-tight glass containers works well. You’ll likely want cranberries, turkey, and possibly even mashed potatoes (they’re good if you fry them up). Larger containers because you’re not really going to pre-sort your food. You’ll have turkey in one, potatoes in a second, etc.

    School & Work Lunches

    For school/work lunches, you’ll want to get this sorted as quickly as you can. If you leave it in a larger container, like the snap-tight one mentioned above, it will either disappear or go bad before it ever makes it into a lunch. I recommend using partitioned plastic containers. If your kids are anything like my son, they only want to open 1 container for their lunch.

    These plastic containers are perfect for keeping food from getting all mixed up, allowing you to add your cranberries to the turkey at lunch, instead of having soggy turkey that’s been soaking in them all day. It’s also great for putting dip in one section, and something healthy (like carrots sticks) in another.

    Freeze Leftovers For Future Meals

    Finally, when it comes to freezing food, there’s a number of issues with storage. A glass or plastic container, unless you push parchment right up against the food, tends to fall victim to freezer burn. Disposable plastic freezer bags, well, they’re pretty bad for the environment and tend to tear if you neglect to sort out a bone from the turkey.

    Thankfully, there is another option: reusable silicone bags. We use these a lot in our household, and they work fantastic. Push the excess air out before you seal the bags. The food freezes pretty good, and it’s easy to pull it out without worrying about it making a mess.

    To Sum Up

    With big meals like Thanksgiving, there’s bound to be leftovers. Glass containers are good for a big meal of leftovers the next day. Plastic containers with compartments are preferred for school & work lunches. And silicone bags are my recommendation for storing it in the freezer. Where possible, you’re going to want to keep any leftovers out of your compost bin. This is good food, and with kids (especially boys), there’s no point throwing it away.

  • Temperature – A Day Out in the Fall

    If you haven’t already felt a chill in the air, you will soon. As we approach Thanksgiving here in Canada, temperatures begin to drop below freezing for much of the country. We’ve already seen a couple of nights below zero here, with the temperature generally ranging from 1° – 2° Celsius to 14° Celsius over the course of the day.

    With such a range of temperatures, there are some unique challenges. I’m going to focus on clothing & how to tote it all around. This was a particular challenge for me, so I’m sure it’s something that’s come up for others as well.

    The Right Kid’s Clothing for the Temperature

    There’s going to be a lot of clothing. You’ll need to crack out long sleeved shirts and pants for the kids. And if that weren’t enough, you’ll need sweaters, jackets (wind & waterproof recommended), toques, and mittens or gloves. A regular hat for when the temperature peaks will be important, as it typically grows too hot for a toque.

    Where I am, it’s a wet Fall, with almost as much rain as we typically see during the Spring. As a result, rubber boots are a necessity, but they do nothing to keep kids feet warm. This makes it especially important to double-up the socks at the start of the day. Remove the extra set by midday. Although you’ll likely want to swap out both pairs, as they’re likely soaked from jumping in muddy puddles.

    Clothing Checklist

    • Long-sleeved shirt (2 – worn & packed)
    • Pants (2 – worn & packed)
    • Sweater (1)
    • Fall Jacket (1)
    • Toque (2 – they’ll likely lose 1 or get it very wet & dirty)
    • Hat (1 – to be put on as it gets to warm for a toque)
    • Mittens/Gloves (2 pairs – and they’ll likely lose 1 hand of each pair, hopefully not the same hand)
    • Rubber Boots (1 pair)
    • Socks (4 pairs – double up at the start of the day, swap out over the course of the day)
    • Sunglasses (optional, but recommended)

    This list is really just the bare minimum. It doesn’t take into account anything special, like if they’ll be playing soccer or football, which come with another set of clothes, including shoes. If the temperature ranges warmer, you may wish to consider a pair of shorts and short-sleeved shirt. This isn’t typically an issue this late in the fall, but stranger things have happened.

    How do you carry it all?

    Even if you were able to find a baby-bag that wasn’t overly feminine, chances are your kids have long outgrown it. When my wife is takes the kids out, she upgrades from a “phone-wallet” to a “kitchen-sink” purse. Unfortunately, that really isn’t an option for most men. Some might be able to get away with it, in some cities, but things trend a little more conservative here.

    There are three options that really stand out: duffel bag, backpack, or a messenger bag.

    Duffel Bag

    A duffel bag is certainly big enough for everything you’re going to carry. In addition to the long list of temperature-appropriate clothing, you’ll need all the regular stuff (including the spare lovey). With a pocket at either end, and usually a smallish one on the side, there is some ability to organize, but not much.

    You’ll want drinks & snacks at one end. Quick toys, spare lovey, and other “occupiers” at the other. Tickets, passes, wallet, and phone will likely go in the side pocket. Don’t keep these in your pants. It becomes very awkward when you’re holding one kid’s hand and trying to balance a swinging duffel while you reach for your (inevitably) cross-body pocket. Trust me, this is not considered a good yoga posture.

    The top benefit of a duffel bag is its storage capacity. A fair-sized duffel beats out most backpacks and all messenger bags. Making the duffel bag ideal if you’re taking the kids to soccer, or if you need to lug extra supplies.

    The Downside of the Duffel Bag

    Sadly, the duffel bag’s large, main storage area is also its biggest weakness, as it typically offers no sorting capability. It’s literally one big section. This means everything gets mixed up and bounced around, no matter how well you try to keep things organized. If you only have clothing for one kid, it’s not a big deal, as you’ll have a plastic bag for anything soiled. But you’re in real trouble if there’s more than one kid. Trouble can also arise from sports gear, diapers, wipes, picnic goods, etc. Additionally, if the temperature stays cool, your fingers will get frosty before you can sort through everything. So keep that in mind.

    An additional drawback with a duffel bag: shopping. Far too many stores require people to check/leave their bags and backpacks at the front before they enter the store. Although this never seems to apply to a purse or a baby bag, it always applies to a Duffel Bag or Backpack.

    Backpack

    One of the premium offerings, the backpack has numerous different pockets making it easy to sort everything for quicker retrieval. Most backpacks have 2 or 3 large pockets (one of which is typically padded to protect a laptop or tablet). Add 2 or 3 smaller pockets on top of those. If you’re lucky, there’s a small pouch dangling inside of of the larger pockets. Sometimes there are places to put pens, a small notepad, and a few other small items at the very front.

    Additionally, most backpacks have a bottle pouch on either side. There may even be another pouch, typically big enough for small battery charger or mp3 player (if you still have one of those). If you’re really lucky, there’s a flat pouch that rests directly against your back. This is ideal for important documents, tickets, etc. Some backpacks also have laces, clips, or velcro straps, which you can to attach a plastic bag or shoes.

    If we’re talking about convenience, this is definitely a great option. There’s plenty of space for everything you need for a typical day. There’s also plenty of options for how you want to have it sorted to be suit your family’s needs. If all the straps are adjusted correctly (including a chest strap), the backpack is one of the most comfortable bags you can wear over a long period (especially if you’re hiking).

    The Downside of the Backpack

    As mentioned when discussing Duffel Bags, you may be forced to abandon your supplies. If there’s a “No Bags” policy, they’re very militant on taking away your backpack. If you have multiple kids, and one of them is very small, you will not be able to wear them. You could wear the backpack on your front. From my experience however, this is more awkward and difficult than it’s worth.

    Messenger Bag

    Of these three options, the Messenger Bag has the least amount of storage space. If you aren’t great at packing things, the messenger bag is not for you.

    Typically, a messenger bag has two larger pockets, plus a handful of pockets of various sizes, safely beneath the flap. Sometimes there’s pocket in the flap, and another large one on the back of the messenger bag. Additionally, there may be 1 or 2 bottle holders and small pockets on either end.

    Although typically not as comfortable as backpack, Messenger Bags have 1 huge advantage: quick access. When worn right, you can slide the bag from your back to your front without ever taking it off.

    If that sounds somewhat like a baby bag, there’s a reason for that. Many baby bags are (typically smaller) messenger bags. To make a messenger bag actually work well though, there’s a few things you’re going to want to do.

    Messenger Bag tips
    1. Don’t fold your kid’s clothing, roll it. You can actually compress it a lot smaller this way. Plus, by storing it “end up” you’ll have an easier time retrieving it from the bag when you need it. Given the range in temperature, this is going to be vital.
    2. Tighten the strap. A messenger bag should not hang next to your body (like a duffel bag or purse). It should be tight across your back. Leave it loose enough that you can pull the bag from your back to your front without pulling it over your head. If this description leaves you scratching your head, I highly recommend this article on messengerbags.com. Their article has has a few great pictures to demonstrate.
    3. In an easy-to-see colour, write “kid’s bag” in big letters on a visible part of the strap. Shockingly, by looking similar to a baby bag and that label, most stores let you ignore the “no bags” policy. This is especially handy when you’re in aisle 5 and your toddler starts screaming for goldfish…

    Wrap-up

    Of the three, messenger bags are my preferred option for toting around the kids stuff on a day out in the fall. With such a range of temperature, you’re need to put away or swap out that long list of clothing quickly. Quite often, there just won’t be anywhere to put your bag while you do it. This makes the messenger bag essential for fall outings.

  • Whole Wheat Pancakes (Lactose-Free)

    Who doesn’t love pancakes?

    When they’re light and fluffy, they make a great meal that’s sure to be a hit with almost any family.

    Skip to Recipe

    Get Your Kids Involved

    It’s also easy to get the kids involved in mixing the ingredients, and choosing any extras, like blueberries or chocolate chips, to add to the mix.

    My eldest son began helping me mix ingredients when he was about 2 1/2 yrs old. Cooking with a toddler can be a challenge, but it’s also a lot of fun. First you let them use a spoon or whisk with just the dry ingredients. Then you let them go at it with the wet ingredients, and once they’re ready, you can even have them measure & pour everything into the bowl. My eldest is 4 now, and I’ve let him spoon the batter right into the frying pan (with supervision of course).

    He loves cooking with Dad, and I greatly recommend getting your kids started in the kitchen early.

    The Problem With Pancakes

    The main problem with pancakes: they don’t help the waistline very much. In addition to having a lot of sugar, most recipes are made with milk, which is not particularly friendly for a significant portion of the population. Add the issues that come with using white flour, and you have a long list of reasons why pancakes may not be the greatest.

    It took some work, but I’ve finally hammered out a recipe that tastes great, and avoids a lot of the issues that usually come with pancakes.

    It’s 100% whole wheat, only has half the sugar, and uses unsweetened almond milk. Sure, we’re still going to add maple syrup afterward, but at least the base pancake is a little healthier.

    Some Important Tips & Tricks

    There are a few things that can really help you out with making pancakes, or that pancakes can help you out with overall.

    Here’s a few of them:

    • Pre-measure your dry ingredients and keep them in jars. Basically, this creates a pancake-in-a-jar. You just need to add the wet ingredients, and your pancakes are good to go. It’s a great time-saver in the long run, as are these 5 ways to find time.
    • Pancakes do refrigerate & freeze well, so you can make extras and save them for later.
    • Even without syrup, pancakes can make a tasty snack-on-the-go. So you can pop one out of the fridge and snack on it when you have to run to the store at 2:00 pm and realize you haven’t had anything to eat since you got up at 5:30.
    • Use a rubber spatula to get the last of the batter out of the bowl. This may lead to one pancake being supersized. Save yourself some sibling rivalry, and take this pancake for yourself. You made the meal, you get to have that last one fresh from the pan.
    • If you have more than 1 kid, give them the exact same amount on their plates initially, and only give them 1 extra pancake at a time, after they’ve devoured their plates. When they’re still small, they don’t really count beyond what’s in the plate at the time, and by limiting the refills to 1 at a time, you give everyone a chance to go back for a little bit more before it all disappears.
    PrepCookTotal
    10 minutes20 minutes30 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cup (200 grams) whole wheat flour
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 teaspoon stevia
    • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 1 2/3 cups (395 ml) unsweetened almond milk
    • 1 large egg
    • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

    Want to mix things up?

    You can add 1/2 cup of fruit or 1/4 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. Pre-coat berries or chopped fruit in whole wheat flour and gently fold it into the batter before cooking.

    Recommended Sides

    These pancakes are great with Bacon and/or Breakfast Sausages. Personally, I’d stay away from beans, toast and hashbrowns, as the pancakes are already pretty heavy, especially once you add Real Canadian Maple Syrup.

    The Original Recipe

    I have to give credit where it’s due. I did not come up with this recipe 100% on my own. Like most people, I tried another recipe and began to tweak it to fit my taste, my family’s dietary restrictions, and any lifestyle choices that may get in the way.

    This pancake recipe was inspired by Adam and Joanne Gallagher’s Easy Delicious Whole Wheat Pancakes. Theirs uses milk, 1/2 white flour, more sugar, less cinnamon, and less vanilla. If you have more flexibility in your diet, be sure to try their recipe at Inspired Taste.

    Step-by-Step

    Make Batter

    1. Whisk flour, sugar, stevia, cinnamon, baking powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Leave a depression or well in the center of the mixed dry ingredients.
    2. In a 2nd bowl, whisk almond milk, egg, oil and vanilla extract until well blended.
    3. Pour the liquid ingredients into the depression you left in the dry ingredients, and whisk until mostly smooth. Because almond milk is thin, this will not be a very thick batter, and you should not need extra almond milk beyond the stated ingredients.
    4. Allow to sit 5 minutes before use. This actually allows the batter to rise slightly, making the pancakes fluffier.

    Cook Pancakes

    1. Add 1 tablespoon (approx) of vegetable oil to a large frying pan and heat on medium-high.
    2. Once up to temp, decrease to medium or medium-low. Spoon 3-4 pancakes onto the pan. Be sure to leave about 1/3 – 1/2 inch of space between each pancake. Put a lid on, if you have a glass lid. This allows the top to cook slightly, so the pancakes don’t run when you flip them.
    3. When the edges begin to brown, look dry, and/or bubbles start popping on the top of the pancakes, flip it over, about 2 minutes. I press flat with my spatula, because we’re paranoid about ensuring its cooked through, but it makes a flatter pancake than you may prefer and is completely unnecessary. Cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked in the middle.
    4. Keep warm in the oven until all pancakes are cooked. Trust me, if you serve 1 kid, the other is going to throw a fit. If you serve both of them and wait to cook another round before you eat, well, you won’t be eating…
    5. Serve warm with maple syrup (and/or butter, icing sugar, cinnamon, nutella, or whatever you & your family enjoy).

    Want to see more photos? Check out our post of this recipe to the Just Cookin’ board on Pinterest.

  • Your Child’s Lovey

    There comes a point where every child needs a lovey, or they just won’t think about going to sleep. Many kids want to keep their lovey with them all the time, and get very possessive. When the lovey is missing, damaged, or dirty, you’re in big trouble.

    I’m not talking about a mildly upset child. I’m talking about full on, face down on the floor, wailing on it with the arms. We’re talking about crying in bed and quivering in fear because <insert your kid’s name for their stuffed whatsit> isn’t there to keep them safe. Kids become very dependent on their lovey, whether we really want them to or not.

    I have two kids, a 19-month old who has a white stuffed llama, and 4-year old with a stuffed kitty. They both need their stuffies. Inevitably, they get pretty gross: an ear tears, it falls in a muddy puddle, drool, etc. If the stuffie doesn’t need repairs & cleaning, it’s misplaced. Whether it’s at the park, forgotten in the backyard sandbox, or trapped behind a dresser, it doesn’t matter. The lovey is either missing or needs to be removed temporarily.

    My wife & I learned that very quickly with our 1st son. Unfortunately, we didn’t think about how important the lovey would be until it was already too late. There was no sleeping without his kitty, even though she was at the “vet” for surgery to get her malfunctioning voicebox repaired/removed, and was due to go to the “spa” afterward for a cleaning. We ended up having to quickly re-sew the kitty and give her back, still-dirty, so he would sleep. We snuck the kitty away again the next day to run her through the wash.

    Important Tips about your Child’s Lovey:

    • Buy 2 or more identical stuffed animals. I recommend a crate of them, but you can usually get away with just 1 spare.
    • If there’s a part attached by a couple threads (like the pumpkin in the image), clip them off before giving it to your child.
    • Never let the child see them both together. They’ll need both if they do.
    • Rough up & wash the spare stuffed animals before swapping out the 1st time. This way a stuffie doesn’t suddenly look “new”
    • If you end up repairing one, “repair” the spare in the same way. The child will spot the difference and may reject or, even worse, name the replacement. Suddenly you’ll need twice as many spares, because they’ll still be demanding their lovey back.
    • If you’re heading out, be sure to have the spare in your bag in case the original gets dirty. If it does, you use a wipe and pretend to clean the original, while actually swapping it for the spare.
    • Encourage your child to tell its stuffie what’s scary. Let your kid know that the stuffie is there to help protect them from those things. This really cuts down on the number & duration of middle-of-the-night nightmare runs.
    • If you can’t find the stuffie, they’re “shopping” and are just putting away their things. This will give you a chance to get the spare from wherever you’ve hidden it.
    • Tell your kid stories involving their stuffie. Encourage them to draw the stuffie, write its name, etc. In addition to being their lovey, you can use the toy as a teaching tool, which can help with language, math, art, and other skills your child will need growing up.

    Your tips?

    There’s a tonne more that any Dad (or Mom) at Home could add to this list. If you’ve some important advice on how to take care of & use your child’s lovey, please send comment below or send us a message of Twitter or Facebook.

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