Every year, photographers show up at schools across the nation to take a single studio shot of each and every student present. These pictures end up in school yearbooks and are often the snapshots that get passed out to extended family members and friends. While the school picture is renowned for being an annual glimpse of awkwardness in all its glory, that doesn’t mean you can’t try to mitigate any potential disasters with a bit of creative costuming. Before sending your child off to school in any old thing you can find, consider these tips for ensuring a great wardrobe for the event.

Consider the Color Palette

Most adults take a moment to think about the colors that best compliment their complexion and coloring before dressing for an event at which there’s sure to be a camera, and it pays to take the same approach with your kids’ school pictures. Some packages will offer the choice of a few background colors, while others will use the same backdrop for every student. Find out what colors your child’s school will be using, consider his coloring, then choose his shirt accordingly. Remember that his pants and shoes will not be visible in the photo, so focus on choosing the right shirt. As long as he matches and the pants are in good shape, let his shirt take center stage.

Don’t Choose Fashion Over Function

While it’s absolutely understandable to want a cute school picture, it’s also important to understand that an itchy, binding or otherwise uncomfortable outfit will spoil his entire day at school. Look for classic, timeless pieces that won’t be dated by the time he’s in college to avoid school photos that are inadvertently funny in a decade or so. On-trend clothing might make for a great picture this year, but trendy clothes tend to pass out of style as quickly as they came in, leaving a slew of awkward photos in their wake. Stick with the classics, and you’ll be less likely to cringe when trends change and that precious kindergarten picture becomes a time-capsule caricature of fleeting trends.

Consider School Uniforms and Dress Codes

No matter how high your expectations are for a school photo, you’ll need to keep school uniforms and rigid dress codes in mind. Your child will be expected to adhere to the same dress code that’s enforced every other day of the school year, so don’t get carried away or allow yourself to push the boundaries of uniforms. Play with the customization options available, but don’t stray too far or you may find yourself fielding a phone call from school administrators while your child is supposed to be having his picture taken.

Keep Accessories to a Minimum

A fashionable hat, a dazzling bow or a few hair clips might look great on your child’s way out the door, but unless school photos are taken before the first bell rings, there’s a good chance that they’ll end up bedraggled, repositioned incorrectly or missing altogether. Don’t get too fussy, or a small child will just remove the accessories that are bothering her without a second thought about her school photo.

Consider Kids’ Schedule and Habits

If pictures will be taken after lunch or gym class, you may want to consider sending a second set of clothes with your child to school on photo day. Food stains, sweat or splatters of tempera paint left over from a morning art class are sure to spoil an otherwise adorable picture, and a fresh set of clothing for a quick change may be just the thing to save the day. Make sure that your child understands when he should change, and that having a second set of clothes is not a free pass to destroy the ones he leaves the house wearing.

Depending upon the policy of your child’s school and that of the contracted photographers, your options may be a bit limited when it comes to dressing up for school photos. While you can make an effort to ensure a complimentary color palette and clean and wrinkle-free clothing, remember a happy child who is comfortable will light up the photograph no matter what he’s wearing.

While your live-in nanny is your employee, she’s also a part of your household. That unique mix can make for some challenges in the nanny/parent relationship. Establishing guidelines that work for both you and your nanny is the best way to avoid conflicts and make sure everyone has the same expectations. Here are some guidelines that are often helpful.

Setting the house alarm. Even for young nannies, nightly curfews are too intrusive to be successfully imposed by the employer. However, there is a real safety concern from the family when a nanny comes in after the family has gone to bed. When the nanny is out late, the family can’t set the alarm for the night. Plus the family often doesn’t know if it’s the nanny or an intruder coming into the home. To get around this issue, sit down with your nanny and come up with a plan that allows her the freedom to come and go as she wants to and also gives you the peace of mind you’re looking for. That may be leaving an outdoor light on to indicate the house alarm is off and needs to be set when she comes in. Or it might be a short text from the nanny letting you know she’s getting ready to enter the house. Whatever the plan is, make sure both sides follow it consistently.

Using other areas of the house. Some families are happy to share all parts of their home with their nanny. Other families want their privacy and ask that the nanny limit her use of the home to the kitchen and her quarters. This is a personal decision that depends on your preferences and the type of relationship you want to have with your nanny. Think about how opening up your whole home to your nanny will impact your family time before you make that decision. If you have an outgoing nanny, she may join you for a Saturday night movie in the family room or for Sunday dinner. The good news is this isn’t an all or nothing choice. Some families open up part of their home to the nanny and designate other parts for family only. This offers a great balance for both nanny and parents.

Visitors. Not every family is comfortable with their live-in nanny having visitors over. This is an issue that should be discussed in detail before offering her the position because it can have a huge impact on her overall happiness in the job. It can be hard to balance the nanny’s need for a social network and your need for privacy in your own home. Are you comfortable with her inviting people over? Do you want to meet and get to know them before they’re extended an invitation? Are they welcome to enjoy the other areas of your house (e.g. the family room, the kitchen) like your nanny is, or would you rather they stay in your nanny’s quarters? Think about any restrictions you want to put into place too. Some families are fine with occasional visitors, but draw the line at overnight guests, especially those of the opposite sex. Some families also restrict the length of time a visitor can stay. Coming over for a Friday night movie is fine, but staying for the weekend is not allowed. Talk with your nanny about any restrictions you’re considering and get her input before making a final decision. Too many restrictions can be a real hardship for some nannies and may make a difference in how long she stays in your job.

Food. Providing your live-in nanny with room and board is a standard benefit in the nanny care industry. That includes meals in the home, both on and off duty. However, there are lots of questions that come with that benefit. Everyone has different ideas about what’s reasonable to provide, so this is another topic that should be discussed before your nanny moves in. Some nannies are on a restricted diet or eat mostly or all organic foods. This can be expensive, and if your family doesn’t eat that way, may seem excessive. Decide ahead of time if you have a specific food budget that you’d like your nanny to stay within. Also decide if you’ll provide her with cash or a credit card for shopping, or if she should simply add things to your grocery list. This simple topic can be a source of conflict if the parents and nanny don’t have the same expectations.

Having a live-in nanny can be a challenge, but with the right guidelines in place, it can be a great set-up for everyone.

Whether your child has a medical condition that requires him to regularly take medication or you’re treating a temporary illness, you’re probably aware of the lengths that some kids will go to in order to avoid taking medicine. From tantrums to evasion or downright refusal, there are almost as many weapons in a kid’s anti-medication arsenal as there are reasons behind his reluctance to take the medicine in the first place. Before you resort to force-feeding, threats or bribery to get much-needed medication down your child’s throat, consider these methods of making the process a bit less of a battle.

Consult Your Pharmacist

One of the most common reasons kids resist taking liquid medication is the unpleasant taste. Older kids who have been prescribed pills may also have difficulty swallowing them. In both cases, a conversation with your family pharmacist may do the trick. Many pharmacies keep a supply of flavoring syrups on hand to make liquid medication more palatable for finicky kids, and your child may be more willing to take his medication when he’s been able to choose the flavor himself. You may also be able to get liquid versions of medications your child is taking in pill form, but you won’t know unless you inquire about alternatives.

Use a Chaser

Just as imbibing adults tend to chase strong liquor with something that helps the brew go down a bit more easily, your child may benefit from a dose of juice to ease the nastiness of a liquid medication. If you’re in the habit of diluting fruit juice for normal drinking, providing an ounce or so of pure juice may be more effective. Cranberry juice is particularly useful when it comes to masking unpleasant flavors, but it’s tartness may just compound the taste issue for a picky child. Look for cranberry juice blends that add a bit of sweetness, if necessary. Just be sure that the medication your child is taking isn’t prone to loss of potency before mixing it with anything acidic like orange juice, applesauce or soda.

Lend the Illusion of Control

For fiercely independent kids, the majority of the medication battle can be based upon a simple refusal to take part in a process over which they have no control. Instead of using a syringe to squirt medication into your child’s waiting mouth or holding a specially-designed medication spoon for her, let your child take a bit of control over the administering of her own medication. Some kids will give up the fight when they’re able to take the medication on their own.

Explain Why Medicine is Necessary

When your child is old enough to be verbal, a simple explanation may be enough to help her take medication without a struggle. Without one, you’re simply asking her to swallow something that tastes bad for no discernible reason. Talk to your little one about why she has to take her medicine, how it will help her to feel better and that she’ll be able to start doing the things she likes again when she’s no longer sick. This approach may be more effective when it’s paired with one that makes the medication more palatable, but it’s not one you should ignore.

Think Twice Before Crushing Tablets

Unless they’re of the chewable variety, it’s not always wise to crush pills in order to hide them in food or liquid. Depending upon the type of medication, crushing the tablets may affect their efficacy or cause irritation to your child’s stomach lining. It’s best to double-check with a pharmacist or your child’s pediatrician before you take matters into your own hands when it comes to administering tablets.

Never Refer to Medicine as “Candy”

In a moment of desperation, a parent will call medicine anything other than what it is in an attempt to coerce a reluctant child to take it. The last thing you want to do, however, is tell a child that you’re giving her “candy” or a “treat” when she’s being given medication. That will only create confusion that could have tragic implications later. Be clear about what medication is, why it’s used and that it should never be taken unless it’s administered by an adult.

If nothing you try seems to have any effect on your child’s willingness to cooperate, it may be time to contact his pediatrician in order to make more reliable arrangements for treatment. She may also be able to provide you with alternatives to oral medications you can administer at home, or have other ideas regarding ways to encourage your child to take the medicine he needs.

Going back to school is a time that’s bittersweet, both for parents and kids alike. While you may be excited to get back into a routine, it can be difficult for kids to adjust having a set schedule again and for parents to not having the kids at home all day. Instituting a back-to-school tradition can help get everyone excited about the changes a new school year brings. Whether it’s a picture snapped right before school or a special breakfast served up before the kids head out for the day, there are many ways you can commemorate the start of a new school year. These 20 blogs will help you find a back-to-school tradition that will have everyone smiling as they head out the door.

Last Days of Summer

For a tradition that spans the last days of summer, consider taking the kids for one last hurrah in the days leading up to the first day of school. This tradition can be anything from a fun weekend away to a trip to an amusement park or to their favorite park with a picnic lunch.  These five bloggers show you how they celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year.

• Back-to-School Traditions To help the kids get used to getting up and moving early again, this mom wakes her kids up early, takes them to breakfast and then runs various errands with them during the last days of summer.
• Back-to-School Traditions On the weekend before back-to-school this blogger let’s her child pick a fun activity to do to celebrate the end of summer and start of a new school year.
• Oh Back-to-School Donut Tradition The day before the first day of school this mom takes her son to get donuts for breakfast as a way to commemorate another summer coming to a close and another school year beginning.
• End of Summer Traditions To celebrate the last days of summer, do something fun with the kids, like taking them to a movie or getting them a treat.
• Great Back-to-School Traditions This blogger takes her kids picnicking and running around doing something fun the day before school starts.

Say Cheese!

Many people snap a quick first day of school picture with the kids dressed in their new school clothes. This year dress up this tired tradition by having the kids hold up a sign or a chalkboard showing off what grade they are starting. Or do something totally different and shoot the kids with their friends on the first day.  For more unique photo choices for the first day of school, take a look at these five blogs.

• Back-to-School Traditions Take a picture of your child holding a chalkboard with the grade that they are starting to remember the first day of school.
• Back-to-School Photography Inspiration Try to take pictures of your kids in a way that shows their personality. If your son loves clothes, then take a bunch of model type shots. If he’s really into sports, throw in his soccer ball. There are hundreds of ways to highlight your child’s unique personality in a back-to-school picture..
• 5 Simple Ways to Create a Back-to-School Photo Tradition To show how your kids grow and age, print an adult-sized T-shirt with your kids’ graduation year on it and take a picture of them in it each year.
• 6 Creative Back-to-School Photo Ideas There are lots of ways you can turn a boring back-to-school picture into something fun. For instance, have older kids dress up in mismatched clothes and look silly for their back-to-school shots.
• Priceless Back-to-School Tradition Using a simple handheld chalkboard you can create memorable first day of school pictures.

Start the Day Right

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not fix the kids something special to eat before they head back to school? Serving up their favorite foods is a great way to get the kids even more excited about the prospect of a  new school year. Don’t know where to start? Check out these five bloggers for inspiration.

• Three Fun, First Day of School Traditions Before sending the kids off to their first day of school, make the kids their favorite breakfast or take them out to breakfast.
• Back-to-School Traditions Each year on the first day of school, this mom takes the morning off from work and cooks a special breakfast for her kids.
• First Day of School Celebration Check out the fabulous breakfast table in this post that has back-to-school supplies to celebrate the first day back.
• Supermom Moment: Back-to-School Breakfast To make the first day back special, create a breakfast table that is fancier than normal and put flags in the muffins.
• Back-to-School Breakfast Bash Make a weekend style breakfast on the first day of school and send the kids off with a home-baked goodie for a treat later in the day to celebrate the first day back in the classroom.

Surprises

Just about everyone loves surprises, so send a special note in your child’s lunch box or decorate the front door before they get home from their first day back in school as a way to surprise them and celebrate their first day. You could also serve your child’s favorite meal at dinner or ask them what they want to eat that night. These bloggers have come up with several ideas for new traditions that you can start this year; take a look!

• Back-to-School Traditions to Start This Year Celebrate the end of the first day of school by hanging streamers and balloons in the doorway with a welcome home sign.
• Back-to-School Traditions Make a special dinner for the first day of school.  The kids can help plan the menu or you can surprise them with their favorite foods.
• Back-to-School Traditions Sometimes going back-to-school can be scary, so this blogger suggests sending a felt heart in your child’s pocket just in case he gets nervous on his first day. He’ll feel like a part of home is with him.
• Back-to-School Traditions, Ideas, and Free Printables Send a special snack for the first day of school that commemorates what grade your child is in.
• Simple Back-to-School Traditions Decorate the kids’ rooms like it was a party to celebrate their big first day of school.

Summertime lends itself to lazy days of going to bed late and sleeping in, but those days never last, and before you know it the first day of school will be right around the corner. School mornings can be stressful and hectic if you are not organized and prepared, however, there are strategies you can employ that will keep your mornings calm and efficient.  Start getting organized now so that the first morning of school has everyone in smiles instead of tears.  These 28 blogs will share some helpful organizational tips.

Night Before Prep

Do as much as you can the night before.  Make sure that the kids take baths or showers at night. Ask the kids to lay out their clothes, pick out what they want for lunch and anything else you can think of that will ease the chaos in the morning.  These bloggers have experienced the chaos and have come up with tips that they can share with you.

• De-Stress Your Morning Routine
• 4 Simple Parenting Habits for a Stress-Free School Day Morning
• How to Ensure a Back to School Stress-Free Morning Routine
• A Stress-Free Morning Routine for Back-to-School!
• Back-to-School Organization
• Back-to-School Tips for Busy Parents & Stress-Free Mornings
• Tips for Your First Day of School

No-Stress Breakfast Ideas

If you can, set the table for breakfast the night before.  Create a shelf in your pantry that is full of healthy breakfast choices that the kids can choose for themselves. Prep fruit the night before so that it will be ready and waiting in the refrigerator when the kids need it.  The more ways that the kids can be self-sufficient the better it is for everyone.  Check out these seven blog posts that contain more stress-free breakfast choices.

• Tips for Keeping Your Back-To-School Mornings Stress-Free
• Getting Ready for Back-to-School & a Breakfast Smoothie Recipe
• How to Beat Back-to-School Stress
• Create an Easy-to-Follow Morning Routine
• Back-to-School Fridge Organization
• Back-to-School Breakfasts {Eat Well, Spend Less}
• Easy Back-to-School Breakfast Ideas

Morning Routine Chart

Sometimes kids forget what they need to do in the morning, but you can alleviate some of that forgetfulness by creating a morning routine chart that lists everything that needs done before leaving for school. These seven blogs have all sorts of ideas for morning routine charts that are sure to make your mornings easier.

• How to Make Your Own Printable Morning Routine Chart
• Back-to-School Organizing: Establishing a Morning Schedule
• 5 Easy Tips for Back-to-School Success
• Kids Back-to-School Morning Routine
• Back-to-School A Morning Routine Chart
• Morning Routine Organization
• {Back-to-School} My Biggest Sanity Saver is Our Morning, Afternoon and Evening Routine Charts

Create a Backpack Station

A backpack station is a place where your kids can hang their backpacks when they get home at night.  All homework is removed and can be placed in a special place depending on how you organize your backpack station.  Once homework is done and you’ve checked it, the kids can put everything for the next day back into their backpacks.  When it’s time to go to school in the morning you will know exactly where the homework and the backpacks are, so there will be no last minute panic looking for something.  Take a look at these seven blog articles, which explain how to create your own backpack station to keep your kids and home organized.

• Reduce Back-to-School Stress Starting Now
• Back-to-School Prep: For Moms and Kids
• Five Organizing Tips for Back-to-School
• Putting Together a Backpack Station
• DIY Chalkboard Backpack Station
• Backpack Station
• Our Backpack Station & a New Favorite App

You and your child have managed to survive and hopefully thrive during the elementary school years, which makes the next big hurdle to tackle middle school. Along with that transition will come new challenges, opportunities and potential problems. If you’re wondering what you and your child may encounter and how to deal with it, check out these 20 blog posts.

Challenges of Homework

The increase in homework in middle school can be very stressful for a new 6^th grader.  Make sure that your child has a designated time and place to do his homework.  Work with your child on his time management skills so that he can keep up with the assignments that he has and complete them on time.  These five blog entries explore different tips to help your child with homework.

• Tips for Helping Middle Schoolers Manage Homework To promote homework success, designate a specific time every day to do homework and set aside a quiet place for your child to work.
• Back to School: 7 Tips for Parents of Middle School Students Support your child’s budding independence by reminding them about the homework they need to do without badgering them.
• Tips to Help Your Children with Homework: Middle School Help your child learn how to manage his time by encouraging him to say no to time-draining activities.
• Homework Tips for Parents … Help Your Kids Make the Grade Make sure that you tell your kids that, while grades are important, putting in the effort is a big part of success.
• 8 Tips to Ease Homework Time Stress Break down big assignments into three to 10 parts, depending on the size of the assignment, and add it to the daily workload.

Getting Organized

Many times middle schoolers will have trouble keeping up with worksheets, notebooks and other assignments.  When your child sits down to start his homework he needs to have the supplies as well as the correct text book and schoolwork to complete the assignment.  In these five blog articles you can read about tips to help your middle schooler get and stay organized.  These skills will not only help your child in middle school, but will continue to help him in high school and beyond.

• Organizing Your New Middle-Schooler Help your child find and label all of his notebooks and folders, hang a dry erase calendar in his room and go through his backpack daily so that he stays organized.
• Keep Your Middle Schooler Organized Several different strategies are outlined in this post that can help your child keep up with assignments and get them turned in on time.
• The Other Transition: Elementary to Middle School Tips Get your child an assignment book or planner to help keep track of assignments.
• Tips to Prepare for the Middle School Transition Watch this video to learn tips for how to help your child not get lost and to plan for additional homework.
• Tips for Starting Middle School Set up a filing system at home to keep completed assignments, that way when it comes time for end of term tests you can find all of your work.

Bullying

All kids will probably experience some sort of bullying in their life, but how they react to it is what will make the difference.  Ignoring a bully is often the advice given, and in some cases it might work, but your child needs to know that whatever the bully is doing is not acceptable.  If kids don’t tolerate the actions of a bully, the bully will be forced to stop bullying.  For more tips on dealing with a bully, read these five blog posts.

• Advice for New Middle School Students This advice comes from a 9^th grader who encourages students to be kind to each other and to not worry about popularity.
• 8 Tips to Helping Middle School Students Deal with Bullying Listen to your kids and address concerns of bullying right away to help your child deal with the problem.
• Real Student Tips on What 6^th Graders Should Know to Rule the School When someone bullies you just ignore them; reacting will only entice them to continue.
• Tips for Dealing with Bullies Travel with a group; most bullies won’t say anything when you’re surrounded by friends.
• Melvindale: Anti-Bullying Expert Gives Tips to Allendale Middle School Instead of just ignoring a bully, tell them with your words that how they are treating you is not okay.

Internet Safety

Now that your child is in middle school he will be using the Internet more for school work and for socializing with his friends. Internet safety is a huge concern these days.  Make sure that your child knows what your rules are for using the Internet.  Keep the computer in a public area of your home so that you can walk by and see what your child is doing at any time.  To learn more tips for keeping your child safe on the Internet, check out these five blog articles.

• Students Get Tips on Internet Safety Once a picture is posted on the internet, it is there forever. Make sure your kids know they need to be careful what they’re posting online.
• Internet Safety Tips for Middle Schoolers by a Middle Schooler This student gives tips to keep middle schoolers safe, like not giving out personal information on the Internet.
• Internet Safety for Your Middle Schooler Take a quiz on My Space Safety and then have your middle schooler take it to make sure that he understands privacy issues online.
• Internet Safety Guidelines for Middle Schoolers Watch these videos with your kids about what they should not post on the Internet.
• Internet Safety for Middle School Kids Go over guidelines with your kids about what sites they should and should not be going to.

Six out of 10 Americans own some type of pet, which shows what an integral role pets play in our everyday lives. Pets have become ingrained into our societies, and it’s not unusual to want to celebrate their presence in our lives. Whether you want to dress your pet up, shower him with new treats and toys or bring him into work to show him off, there are myriad ways you can celebrate your pet. These 20 blog postings will make you laugh as you look at all of the darling pictures of pets and the different ways you can celebrate your own.

Dress Up

Many pet owners enjoy dressing up their pets in pet-size clothes, and it’s easy to see why. Tiny sweaters to keep a small pet warm during the cold months and costumes to celebrate Halloween are just a few of the ways you can indulge in clothing for your pets. There’s even a holiday in January specifically celebrating dressing up your pet! Take a look at these five blog entries to see how people are dressing up their pets. 

• Celebrate National Dress Up Your Pet Day! Indulge in National Dress Up Your Pet Day by picking out the perfect outfit for your favorite companion.
• 10 Dogs Celebrating National Dress Up Your Pet Day This post showcases several adorable dogs that are all dressed up.
• It’s a Celebration: Today is National Dress Up Your Pet Day While this holiday is actually in January, you can dress up your chicken any day of the week.
• Dress Up Your Pet Day: Share Your Furry Photos Take a look at these furry friends in all their finery as they celebrate Dress Up Your Pet Day.
• National Dress Up Your Pet Day You’re sure to draw inspiration for your own pets after you check out these adorable pet pics.

Birthday

A fun way to celebrate your pet is to throw him a birthday party with other dogs you may know.  If you don’t have room at your place or are not comfortable with a bunch of extra dogs in your house, you may want to meet at a local dog park for the party. Dog-approved cake mixes are available for dogs now, or you can make dog-friendly cupcakes and party favors using the blog posts listed here.

• 7 Ways to Celebrate Your Dog’s Birthday New York Style Read all of the suggestions listed in this post for ways to celebrate your dog’s birthday.
• Celebrating Your Pet’s Birthday! Treat your pet to a spa day on her birthday or spend some extra time with your pet to celebrate her special day.
• Pets Dogs/ How to Celebrate Your Dog’s Birthday Learn how to throw a birthday party for your dog that includes all her canine friends.
• Do You Bring These Birthday Traditions to Pets? Take a look at these human traditions that you can do for your pet.
• Daily Delight: Celebrate Your Furrbaby’s Birthday The recipe for this dog-friendly cupcake is perfect for celebrating your dog’s birthday.

Gotcha Party

A ‘Gotcha Party’ is a celebration of the day you adopted your pet and welcomed him into the family.  Most of the time there’s no way to know when a pet’s birthday really is when you get them from a rescue situation, which is why people have started celebrating the day that they got their pet.  For ideas on how to throw a ‘Gotcha’ party, read these five blog articles.

• Celebrate You Pet’s “Gotcha Day!” If you don’t know your pets actual birthday, celebrate their “gotcha” day instead.
• Happy “Gotcha Day” to Scooby! Read about how this pet owner celebrates her pet’s gotcha day.
• Sunday- Final Day of Yoko’s 20^th Gotcha Day and Birthday Party! A rather humorous post from a cat’s perspective.
• A Happy Gotcha Day Party Weekend! This is a funny post written as if there was a real party for three cats.
• Happy Gotcha Day to me my Human! Check out this cat’s blog post, which discusses how she celebrated the day she picked out her human.

Take You Dog to Work

“Take Your Dog to Work Day” is the perfect way to show off your favorite furry friend.  This day is meant to not only celebrate your dog, but to encourage other people to adopt pets of their own.  To learn more about these efforts look at these five blog entries.

• Celebrating Take Your Dog to Work Day! Celebrate your pet by taking them to work with you.
• Celebrate Take Your Dog to Work Day Go through the steps to make sure your dog is ready to go to work with you.
• Celebrate National Take Your Dog to Work Day Friday at the Annual Dog Mob & Fair Learn how other people celebrate their dog at this annual event.
• Celebrate Dogs and Encourage their Adoption With One Easy Step! Get a little history of the ‘Take Your Dog to Work Day’ event.
• VPI Celebrates Take Your Dog to Work Day Check out these helpful tips before you take your dog to work.

StampGirl / Shutterstock.com

Meeska, Mouska, Mickey Mouse! Thanks to Disney for bringing back the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so another generation can enjoy Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and all of their friends every day on television. Don’t be surprised when the love of the mouse prompts your kids to want to have a Mickey Mouse themed party. From invitations to decorations to kid-friendly foods and games, there’s no shortage of ways you can bring Mickey Mouse to life during a party! These 30 blogs will show you how to accomplish all of these tasks.

Invitations

Mickey’s silhouette and his trademark red shorts with yellow buttons are easily recognizable, which make them the perfect outline for a party invitation. Take a look at these six blog entries to get the step-by-step instructions for making your own Mickey Mouse invitations.

• DIY Mickey Mouse Invitations and Party!
• DIY: Mickey Mouse Invitations
• Grandma’s Unique Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party Invitation
• How to Make Mickey Mouse Invitations
• DIY Mickey Mouse Party
• DIY: Mickey Mouse Invitation

Decorations

Red, white and black are traditionally the colors used when putting together a Mickey Mouse party, and you can use these colors as the basis for your decorations. Of course, Mickey has gone on many adventures, so you can also tie in more than one interest when decorating for the party.  These six how-to blog posts will get you started on party decorations.

• DIY Mickey Mouse Party Centerpieces!
• DIY Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Party Decorations
• DIY Mickey Mouse Birthday Decorations
• DIY Mickey Mouse Decorations
• DIY Minnie Mouse Decorations
• Homemade Mickey Mouse Crafts and Decorations

Menu

Labeling the food with clever Mickey inspired names will add that much more fun to your food table.  The easiest item of all is the Hot Diggety Dog song that allows you to serve a kid favorite of hot dogs or cocktail wieners.  For more inspiring food ideas read through these six blog entries.

• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party Toddler-Friendly Food Ideas
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 1^st Birthday Party—Part 1
• Minnie Mouse or Mickey Mouse DIY Cupcakes! Easy!
• Minnie and Mickey Mouse Oreo Cookie Pops
• Sprinkle and Chocolate Covered Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Pretzels
• Homemade Mickey Mouse Birthday Party Menu

Activities/Games

What party would be complete without games and activities?  You can put together a craft table for older kids and tweak some traditional games for younger ones. For instance, instead of playing Duck-Duck-Goose, you can play Mickey-Mickey-Mouse. These six blog articles have tons of clever games you can play at your child’s party.

• DIY Minnie Mouse Birthday Party Games!  Pin the Bow on Minnie Mouse!
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party
• Mickey Mouse Birthday Party –Part 2 of 3
• Mickey and Minnie Party Games
• Celebrate that Special Occasion with Fun Mickey Mouse Party Games
• How to Keep the Mouseketeers Busy at Your Child’s Mickey Mouse Theme Party

Party Favors

Once the party is over you will want to send your young party guests home with a little memento or favor bag.  To find some creative ideas on how to tie in the bags and boxes to the theme look through these six blog posts.

• Minnie Mouse Party Favors
• Mouse in the House
• Mickey Mouse Party Favors
• Cute Nautical Mickey Mouse Birthday Party
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Do you ever feel like choosing what to make for dinner is too much of a chore? Well, with hundreds of apps for foodies on the iPhone, you no longer need to stress. Planning and making dinner will take no time at all once you’ve downloaded these 10 apps that bring meal planning into the 21^st century.

• Ucook – Over 60,000 recipes are provided with this free app, making choosing what’s for dinner a much easier task. There are some great search features, too, which will allow you to filter by region, preparation time and even by the equipment you have in the kitchen. You can also find all those essential missing ingredients with a feature that searches local stores.
• Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner – Dinner Spinner is an iPhone app favorite. The innovative functionality takes all the work out of searching for recipes. You simply enter all the ingredients you want to use and the app returns a list of recipes for you to create. Still too much work? You can just shake your iPhone and Dinner Spinner will choose a random recipe for you. This app is highly rated and free to download from iTunes.
• iFood Assistant by KRAFT – Have you ever wanted to just look at an empty package and find out where you can get a refill? Well, with iFood you have the next best thing. A barcode scanner, voice or text search feature will source all your favorite foods in stores that have the items in stock. Once the free app directs you to all the ingredients you need, you can then utilize thousands of recipes to whip up a great dinner for the family.
• Healthy Recipes – Looking for a healthy approach to dinner? Use Healthy Recipes, another great free app available for the iPhone. Simple categories will guide you through recipes for your breakfast, dinner and summer salads. To help personalize the experience, Healthy Recipes has a completely customizable database where you can alter or create your very own recipes, too.
• How to Cook Everything Essentials – Based on world renowned chef Mark Bittman’s book  “How to Cook Everything Essentials,” this free app is packed full of dinner ideas. Although there are only about a hundred recipes, each one has a number of variations, which gives you thousands of meals to experiment with. There are also a number of cooking guides that will help you source ingredients, time your meals and teach you advanced cooking techniques.
• Easy Recipes – No matter where you are, Easy Recipes has your cooking needs covered. The offline function means that you can access recipe ideas even if you don’t have full cell-phone coverage. The search function is clean and easy to use, so you won’t spend too much time looking for the recipes that you love. The app costs $0.99 and is available for download from the App Store.
• Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List – This app is a two-time winner of the ASME Award (National Magazine Awards for Digital Media). With over 30,000 gourmet recipes available for you to create, dinner will never be boring again. Icons and keyword search will help you find exactly what you’re looking for, and new recipes are automatically added to your device every day. This free app is absolutely brimming with other great features, so explore them at your leisure.
• Whole Foods Market Recipes – If you, a family member or friend has special dietary needs, then this is the recipe app you need to have on your iPhone. Whole Foods Market Recipes has over 3,000 recipes that you can filter by course, cuisine, special diet and more. Staying on budget is easy, too, with an intelligent cooking guides feature. This is another great free app for the iPhone.
• BigOven 250,000+ – In case you hadn’t guessed, this free app has an astounding 250,000+ recipes for you to try. Synchronize the app with a BigOven account to store all your created menus, leftover ideas and share your recipes with friends and family. The drag and drop feature is ideal, as you can quickly add menus to your meal calendar for forward planning.
• Martha’s Everyday Food – If you love Martha Stewart’s recipes, you’ll really love her new and improved app. For $0.99 you get recipe shuffle at the flick of a wrist, detailed video tutorials, and daily articles from Everyday Food editors. There is also a great shopping list feature, which allows you to easily add ingredients from any recipe.

The arrival of warm weather means that you’re likely going to be spending more time outdoors, which also means your chances of getting bitten by bugs vastly increases. While it’s impossible to prevent every bug bite, there are a variety of ways you can ward off the majority of them. When bites are unavoidable, you’ll need an effective way to take away the pain and itch quickly. Check out these 21 blog articles to find solutions for bug bite prevention and treatment for both you and your favorite four-legged friend.

Preventing Bug Bites

Bugs are attracted to tight, dark clothing and strong fragrances, so it’s important to wear loose, light colored clothing and minimal perfume or deodorant. Mosquitoes, which are prevalent in the warmer weather, thrive on standing water, so make sure that you rid your yard of any standing water. You’ll also need some type of topical treatment to deter any bugs that aren’t put off by these preventative measures, and the following seven blog posts are full of different treatment ideas.

• Preventing Insect Bites According to this blog post, insects don’t like vitamin B1 or thiamin. By taking this vitamin regularly you will emit a fragrance that keeps bugs away.
• Avoiding Mosquito Bites and the West Nile Virus Try to avoid being out at dawn or dusk when mosquitos are most likely to bite and be sure to wear bug repellent containing DEET.
• Mosquito Prevention and Treatment, Updated Make sure to empty any standing water and wear light colored loose clothing if you have to be out at night to help repel mosquitos.
• Lemon Oil Prevents Mosquito Bites Without Irritating Sensitive Skin Lemon oil and citronella oil can be used undiluted on the skin to deter bugs. Catnip and clove oils should be diluted before applying, but are also effective bug repellents.
• How to Avoid Mosquito & Insect Bites During Your Gap Year If you are trying to avoid DEET, you can use DEET-free sprays that contain Picaridin instead.
• Preventing Bug Bites When Camping When camping, avoid doing so near bodies of water and make sure to build a campfire – the smoke from the fire will repel the bugs.
• How to Avoid Bug Bites: Jungle Secrets for Mosquito Control Wash with Irish Spring soap and apply cinnamon oil mixed with witch hazel to your pulse points to avoid bug bites.

Treating Bug Bites

Typically, bug bites aren’t life threatening unless you are highly allergic, but that doesn’t make them any less of an irritating nuisance. Sometimes you can find some relief simply by applying some ice to the bite. There are many ways to treat the pain and itch of a bite, and you can find several methods for doing so in these seven blog entries.

• 7 Ways to Treat Bug Bites (Slideshow) Dab lavender oil onto the bite a few times a day and the bite should go away quickly, according to this post.
• Relax!! It’s Summer!! Tip for Treating Insect Bite or Sting Learn how to remove the stinger if you or your child is stung and how to treat the site of the sting.
• Fast and Effective Mosquito Bite Remedy (That’s Probably Already in Your Kitchen) Rub the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite to not only stop the itching, but also help it heal faster.
• Homeopathic Bug Bite Bustin’ Learn about several homeopathic remedies you can use on mosquito bites and bee stings.
• Natural Health Remedies for Insect Bites and Stings Crush an aspirin, make it into a paste with water and apply it to the site of the sting for some pain relief.
• Natural Remedies for Insect Bites and Stings This post is full of helpful tips, such as how the cut side of an onion will stop the itching of bug bites and vinegar on a cotton ball will stop the pain and itch from a spider bite when applied.
• Annie’s Surefire Mosquito Bite Remedy Apply ammonia to a cotton ball and dab it on your mosquito bites and it will take the pain and itching away within a few minutes.

Protecting Your Pets

Unfortunately, pets are not immune to bug bites and stings and they can have allergic reactions just like humans can.  What pets can’t do is prevent these bites or treat them after they happen to prevent infection, which is where the owners come in. There are pet-friendly topical sprays that are safe to use on your pet to keep bugs away. If your pet has already been bitten, use these seven blog posts to find treatments and remedies that will provide them with some relief.

• Homeopathic Treatment and Prevention for Bug Bites Improve your pet’s immune system and he will be less likely to get certain bugs like fleas.
• Protect Your Pets from Fly Bites Treat your pet with preventative methods for insects as you would for yourself, however avoid spraying an insect spray around the face and ears.
• Protect Your Pet from Mosquitos Keep your pet inside during prime insect time and use a topical insect repellent on him.
• Pets and Insect Bite Reactions If your dog has a swollen muzzle due to an insect sting you can give him antihistamines, but you will need to work with your vet to find out the dosage.
• Essential Survival TV—Essential Oils for Insect Bites & Stings Watch this video to learn ways to use essential oils for your pet and how to make your own flea collar.
• Using Benadryl to Treat Dogs for Allergies, Bites and More Learn when and how you can use Benadryl to treat allergies and allergic reactions to bug bites.
• 3 Summertime Dog Bug Bite Remedies Find out how to deal with a tic attached to your pet and how you should remove it properly.