Mommy Tested » Mommy Tips

Dog treats!

Mommy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:33:12 +0000

All the time on Facebook, my friends post horror stories, warnings, snippets intitled “Don’t do this or this will happen to you.” Today it was a warning against giving my dog chicken strips dog treats. And like usual, I go do a google search to check the validity of the warning posts.

For one of the first times, a post actually had some validity. It seems that those inexpensive, huge packs of chicken jerky we pick up at our local superstores actually could be harming our dogs. According to one article by a vet, something in the chicken actually causes a syndrom in our dogs, making their kidneys go wonkey. Doing further research, I found that this has been going on since at least 2008. No forced recalls that I could find, just voluntary ones.

So by the looks of it, any chicken made anywhere could actually harm your dog. I wouldn’t take a chance on it. Stick to other treats and snacks for now. You can read the 2 articles I read here, http://www.askavetquestion.com/news/2011/chicken-jerky-fanconi/ and http://dogfoodchat.com/kramar-dog-food-recall/.

One thing we did for our omnivorous lab/rott mix was purchase a small bag of a different type of dogfood than we normally feed him. For him it was kibbles and bits. He daily eats IAMS. But for treats and training we’ll give him a few kibbles and bits. It’s inexpensive, different than his normal dogfood so it’s still a treat and it has different shapes and textures to keep him interested. Much less expenive than the $20 for 8 ounces of liver treats he got during training.

Cold Season, How to deal with a Nosebleed.

Mommy — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:36:50 +0000

It’s not uncommon for our kids to get a nosebleed when they have a cold. Nonetheless, it still freaks you out to see blood pouring out of your child’s nose. First rule of thumb is don’t panic, even if you feel paniced inside, don’t let them see it, they’ll be even more scared.

Get a paper towel or tissues to press against the nose. Then pinch gently but firmly the fleshy part of the nose right above the nostrils, below the boney part at the bridge of the nose. Keep pressure on it and usually within 10 minutes the bleeding will stop. Make sure they tilt their head forward and not backward. If it bleeds down into their throat it can cause gagging, coughing and if the blood pools in their stomach it can make them nauseous. All of which in turn can cause their nose to bleed again!

I stumbled across a great website that has some tips on our kids health! Kidsheal.org has a plethora of information!

New Section

Mommy — Fri, 05 May 2006 14:22:16 +0000

I’ve added a new section, Mommy Tips:Faqs. In this section I’ll be putting things like what to do when your kid has a fever, when to call the doctor, potty training, bottle weening and topics along those lines. Feel free to email me any suggested faq questions at mommy @ mommytested. com.

Happy Easter!

Mommy — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 17:14:21 +0000

Happy Easter everyone! Regardless of religion, it’s still a great celebration that helps bring in the spring!

Ever since I can remember, we’ve done the coloring the eggs, hiding the eggs, finding the eggs and baskets. My husband, son and I all 3 get into coloring eggs. We use regular crayons to decorate them with our names, hearts, dots, anything we can imagine. We also make our own dye for the eggs. 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of water and drop in food dye until you achieve the desired intensity of color. You can test it with strips of paper. (I was suprised at how many people didn’t know you could make your own colors with plain old food dye.)

Happy Easter all!

Sponge Tip!

Mommy — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 13:20:15 +0000

You know how those sponges get stinky and full of nasty germs? Well, kill those nasty germs by nuking your sponge on high for 30 seconds in the microwave!

Vegetable tip!

Mommy — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:22:57 +0000

One thing we’ve gotten into the habit around here is having carrots and celery sticks cut up and ready to eat. Not only are they good, nutritious snacks but having them already cleaned makes them easy to add to recipes and for a quick salad. I take the celery and carrots, cut em up more and add them to one of those “bags” of salad they sell for $1.50 at our grocery store. A fast easy salad you can add to any meal.

Just clean the veggies, cut them into sticks and toss them in a big ziplock bag! They stay fresh for a long time! If the carrots start looking a bit sad just give them a quick wash, don’t dry them and put them back in the bag.

Christmas Fun

Mommy — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:38:17 +0000

Every year I’ve given my son an Advent Calendar. At first it just started out with one of those little cardboard ones you can open and inside each day was a chocolate. Somewhere along the way my mother-in-law gave us a Santa Shaped reusable one covered with 24 little pockets to fill.

The first few years I searched, scoured and slaved to find things tiny enough to fit in the 24, 2 inch squares. I did a combination of chocolates and little toys. Let me tell you, finding little toys is quite the chore! And I felt like the horrible, bad mommy if I just filled it all up with candy.

One year when the budget was tight and I ran out of tiny treasures I decided to create some coupons to fill in the blank spaces. Simple things like “I’ll take you for an ice cream.” and “1 hourof Monopoly.” handwritten on little cards made from spare gift wrap. The little advent coupons were such a hit that the next year I did more coupons and less treasures and candy.

This year I asked my son if he wanted coupons or toys. Of course with gems like “Stay up all night.” coupons, he picked all coupons, no toys. He not only looks forward to opening each day’s coupon, but I suspect he sneaks peeks and reads ahead. He loves it, I have fun creating the coupons for him and I get the whole family involved providing personal coupons.

Some examples of coupons he gets:
1 hour of board games with Mom.
1 video game rental.
1 get out of trouble free.
Bike ride with Mom.
Play catch with Mom/Dad.
1 pass on any 1 dinner item.
1 sleep over.
1 Go Fishing with Dad.

Any special thing you’d normally say “Aw not right now.” or “Maybe later honey.” can be used as a coupon. The trick is the child gets to use it when THEY want to and you can’t say no. Some have restrictions to them, but very few. Such as staying up all night can only be used on weekends. You’re pretty much only limited to your imagination.