So you’re dating a mother of small children, and your plans for the evening got derailed because the babysitter bailed. Your date’s coming over in a few minutes, but she’s bringing the kids with her. Looking around your place, you realize your apartment is full of things dangerous and
tempting to curious toddlers. What do you do?

Start With The Small Stuff
Toddlers put everything they get their hands on into their mouths, and that includes things like loose change, thumb drives, lighters, prized vintage Star Wars figurines, and more. As a rule of thumb, if it’s roughly the size of the kid’s fist, they can probably fit it in their mouth. Even seemingly harmless things like old McDonalds’ receipts can be potential choking hazards if the kid tries to swallow it.

Block or Bind Cabinet Doors
Toddlers love to open things. Drawers, cabinets, especially those under kitchen or bathroom sinks. Unfortunately, these are also the places people tend to keep dangerous chemicals and medicines. When possible, block the cabinet by placing something in front of it. Failing that, a rubber band connecting the knobs of two cabinet doors should be enough to keep them closed, or at least slow the munchkin down long enough for you or the mother to intervene.

Put Away Valuable Electronics
Kids loving getting their hands on valuable, and sometimes, fragile electronics. MP3 players, digital cameras, cell phones, remote controls, etc. can easily turn into bludgeoning weapons in the hands of an intrepid child, or they can become entangled in the cords. While it can be amusing to entertain a carefully supervised child by letting them play with your camera or cell phone, you’re better off putting away those devices and bringing them out only when you can devote time to it.

Dating a mother of small children can be a daunting, and at times awkward adventure. Many young men avoid dating women with children because they consider such women to be too complicated, or because they don’t want to be saddled with unwanted responsibility. This article presents some
advice that could be helpful.

The Children Come First
If you want to have a successful relationship with a mother of small children, you absolutely must come to terms with the idea that the children will be and should be higher on her list of priorities than you. Small children require a phenomenal amount of attention and care, and you can expect your plans to be derailed again and again because they’re sick or fussy or because the babysitter bailed. Be patient and be flexible. You’re better off making loose plans to see each other and then play it by ear than having a set itinerary.

Kids Aren’t Scary
Helping out with the kids is a great way to gain the affection of the mother. Small children are actually pretty easy to deal with – feed them when they’re hungry, change them when they need it, put them to nap when they’re tired. If you don’t know what to do, ask their mother – there’s no shame in being unsure. And remember, storytime is your friend.

Don’t Feel Obligated To Play Daddy
At least in the early phases of the relationship, don’t feel obligated to act like the father. You don’t have to provide financial support and you don’t have to be the disciplinarian. In fact, you’re better off not doing so – leave those realms to the mother. Whatever you do, do not demand that the kids call you Daddy and don’t allow their mother to force that title on you – if they come to that decision on their own, that’s one thing, but don’t try to force it on them.

One of the most common and best forms of gifts for babies is clothing. It is quite common for baby cupboards to get messy and overburdened with clothes, so much so, that it gets difficult to ascertain the relevant pair of a certain item.

Depending on the size of the closet/wardrobe of your baby, it would require to be arranged and re-arranged quite frequently. The baby boy dress clothes may be hanged or neatly arranged on the racks of the closet. In case you want to hang them, you will require small sized hangers or dividers, which are quite cheap and readily available in your local stores. You may also make them at home with certain wires and relatively soft material, if you intend to save money.

Hangtags, as are commonly available on the market and local stores, may also be used to organize your baby boy clothes. You need to figure out the clothes, which are being used and the ones that are not. Those that are not being used may be sorted out and packed in boxes (ideally covered in acid-free paper to avoid discoloration) which are clearly labeled as to the type and size of clothes that it contains. So, no matter who is packing the boxes, any one who later on intends to use it may be able to figure out the contents of it.

Chester drawers may be utilized more effectively by dedicating them to your baby’s clothes, which are small, and hence, do not take much space. However, there may be other heavy clothing items such as sweaters and over garments such as snowsuits, which do not fold easily and must be kept separately; ideally, in a hand basket.

Little post it notes or tags on every compartment of the drawer or closet/wardrobe can be an excellent way to organize your baby’s closet, which will clearly demarcate your baby boy clothes from other accessories and clothing items.<!–

Every book says to begin babyproofing when your baby is a couple of weeks old, but very few really begin to take the steps until their babies become mobile. However, an accident can take only a matter of seconds. Babyproofing begins from the second you bring your baby home because it is
ensuring your baby is safe at all times from everything. It goes way above and beyond outlet covers and drawer latches.

When you first bring your baby home, figure out what hazards might be posed to your baby. Perhaps it is getting a family pet used to the newest member of the family. Always supervise interaction between your baby and your pet because a cat can scratch or a dog can bite at a moment’s notice. Pay particular attention to fur. A baby can suffocate on a furball, choke on hair they attempt to eat, or lose circulation from hair getting tightened around a finger or toe. Make sure to keep all fur and debris away from your baby at all times. These are your first babyproofing steps.

Ensure your crib is safe. This means making sure the mobile can’t be accessed by the baby, check your crib for recalls, ensure if there’s a dropside that it isn’t defective in any way because a faulty crib can result in injury or death to your baby. The most important thing you can do is to ensure your baby can’t grab onto curtains or blind strings because a baby can get hung up and be strangulated by these items while you think they are sleeping peacefully.

Fun ways to document your child’s growth – Everyone that has kids or nieces and nephews knows how fast they grow. You could buy a growth chart but they are kind of boring. You can mark directly on the wall but you won’t be able to take the wall with you if you ever move. After thinking
and thinking on what I could do to document my own child’s growth beyond the baby book and growth charts I came up with a couple ideas.

The easiest and smallest way to document growth is to simply make projects out of tracing their hands and feet or painting their hands and feet and putting them on something. I do tons of these projects but got to thinking that they don’t really show how tall my daughter is getting.

The first idea I have is quiet simple. With a big roll of plain white butcher paper roll it out until your child can lie completely on the paper. Trace around your child and have them color the paper in. Now you can hang it in your favorite room or simply let it hang on their wall in their bedroom.

For a more abstract design, take the silhouette of your child outside and tape it to a piece of scrap plywood. Fill up water balloons with home made paint or watered down paint from the store. Give your child the balloons with the instructions to throw them at their silhouette. Kids will love this idea!!! Let it dry out in the sun before hanging it on your walls.

For decorations for the outdoors, instead of paper have your child lie down on a sheet of plywood and trace around them. Make sure and tell them to be still so they don’t get splinters. Have them lay with their hands and arms up, down, and to the sides and any other way they can lay.

Next use a jigsaw to cut out the drawing.

Using a belt sander, or hand sander although it will take more work and more time, sand down the cut edges.

Paint the plywood silhouette any way you want it. You can even put one of your child’s shirts on it if you want.

Now display it in your front yard, climbing your fence, in the garden, sitting in a tree, anywhere you want it.

This also makes a great gift for grandparents to add to their yards.