Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays

I wanted to post this on my Parenting Blog. Unfortunately, it is still out of action. I guess everyone is on holidays and there is no one to look at my submission for review and restoration.

Anyway, I just want to take this opportunity to wish readers of this blog or any of my other blogs a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2013. May you have a good year ahead of you.

Christmas Cards For Blog

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How Not To Get Overwhelmed By Housework

I find that the best way not to get overwhelmed by housework is to break them into little tasks. For example, I can easily get overwhelmed by the number of clothes I have to wash and iron, the dishes I have to do, the mopping, the toilets to clean etc. 

Breaking all of these tasks into smaller more manageable tasks helps me get through the day more easily without feeling overwhelmed. I clean at super express speed too. For example, I will give myself just 10 minutes to clean the toilet and voila its done.

I iron the clothes intermittently a few times a day so it does not seem like a lot to iron. I will eat at super speed and while the kids are still eating, instead of nagging at them, I will iron one or two outfits and chat with them while they are eating. Considering the fact that we eat several meals a day, the ironing gets done before I know it. It is not back breaking to iron just two or three at a time instead of a whole basket or line of clothes.

That's it. My short household tip for the day. The way not to get overwhelmed by housework is to break it up into smaller tasks and do it real fast!

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The Kids Love To Help Around The House

At ages 8 and 10, the kids still love to help around the house, so I am making full use of this helpfullness before they outgrow it and reject helping altogether. At the moment, they love it when I ask them to

• fold the clothes
• hang up the clothes
• wash the dishes
• cook the rice
• make the bed
• change the bedsheets
• sweep the floor
• mop the floor
• wipe the dust off the tables and shelves

They even offered to wash the toilet. Now is the time to teach them some good habits and to give them small tasks since they are so willing. I'm glad there is no need to 'bribe' or 'pay' them for their 'services'. 

There is just one 'problem'. This is what I saw when the kids were helping me to hang out the clothes. 

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They Grow Up So Fast

My kids are going to be 9 and 11 next year. I can't believe it myself. They grow up so fast. When I first started blogging, I was still breastfeeding my firstborn and now she is a tween. I can't imagine the challenges I will have to face when I have two teens in the house in a couple of years.

However, in the meantime, I shall still enjoy my babies. They will always be my babies no matter what age. Just the other day, I was looking at some brochures of baby clothes. I have been getting so many pamphlets and leaflets from departmental stores recently in view of the holiday shopping season.

I looked at the baby clothes and felt a twinge of melancholy especially when I look at the cute baby onesies and baby sleepers. I remember laying the babies down gently on the baby sleepers, putting their tiny hands through the sleeves and buttoning them up all the way, from one leg to another. Oh how I miss that! I showed the kids the Dallas Cowboys Baby Clothes and told them about how I used to wear these cute little clothes for them. They love to hear stories like this about the time when they were babies or younger and we would all have a good laugh together travelling down memory lane.

Kids really grow up so fast. I wish that every parent will realize this and spend more time with their children when they are younger to form strong bonds with their kids. These days, so many parents are so busy trying to make more money to make a more comfortable living for their childrens' future (really nothing wrong with that) but sometimes this is done at the expense of the present moment which should be treasured.

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Do You Vacuum Your Mattresses?

My son's eczema is giving him problems again. He has a few spots on his legs, itchy spots that just grows and grows, the skin around those areas just keeps on getting thicker and sometimes it bleeds when he scratches too hard. The doctor said he may be allergic to dust mites and she advises us to vacuum the mattresses but how does one do that?

I couldn't bring myself to use the same vacuum I use for my floors on my bed, even though we have different nozzles for it. So, do I get another hand held vacuum to use just for the mattress? I'm at a loss on what to do. So, for the time being, I've got a dust mite spray to spray on the mattress but the doctor said that was not good enough. She said that even if the dust mite gets killed, we need to vacuum them away or they may cause problems too.

Not only that, me and my children are constantly sniffing and sneezing which could also be caused by dust mite allergies. However, now with the maid gone, I've got to deal with the rest of my housework first before I even think of getting Miele Vacuum cleaners.


I've been thinking of getting a dishwasher, dryer, deep fryer, steamer and more! I have so much to do and so little time and now there are so many devices that can help us but not enough money to get them all!

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Let Down

I feel disappointed and let down by my maid. We had good relations and there was no reason for her to leave so abruptly. Even, if she did not want to continue with her contract, the least she could do is to tell us about it. We would have understood, if it was something that her family wanted for example.

That is the thing about hiring maids. We form human relations with them and that is one of the reasons why I am not getting a new maid and considering getting a dishwasher instead. At least a dish washer won't let you down. If it breaks down, you just send it to the repair shop.

If  you have a maid, you can read my post on my personal blog to find out What To Do When Your Maid Does Not Return From Her Holiday. It will certainly help to be prepared.

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My Parenting Blog Deleted

My Parenting Blog was deleted for spam and is currently under review. My blog is not spam. It is a Parenting Blog that has been online for 8 years. I wonder what triggered this, maybe my account was compromised in some way.

Before the deletion, I had problems using google on my handphone. It kept on asking me for my password but when I keyed in my password,  it kept on saying it was the wrong password. So I used my desktop to enter the password and I vaguely remember, I had to request for a code to be sent to my handphone twice before I could enter my account.

After that, I found only 1 blog on my dashboard out of my 5 blogs. Yes, I have 5 but 1 of them is dormant at the moment and not made public. Anyway, I managed to quickly restore 2 more blogs. I can't remember how I did it. However, 1 more blog which was marked as deleted could not be restored. I had to fill up a form to request for it to be reviewed and restored.

After 2 days and still no news, I decided to post in Google groups to see if the process could be expedited. I really hope to get my blog back.

It is a diary of my kids activities, the crafts we did, the education issues we face and more. I always use google search to search for an event in our lives when I can't remember it and now its gone in its entirety and I can't access any of my posts. I want my posts back. They are my diary and that is what a blog is after all isn't it? A blog is an online diary. Only, the danger of an online diary compared to a pen and paper one is, the online diary can disappear overnight without warning.

I really hope to get my blog back soon. I feel so sad to see it gone.

Updated: My blog was restored after I posted in the Blogger Forum but after 6 days it was deleted again! I feel like pulling my hair out!

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List Of Household Chores Which I Hate The Most

Since my maid left, I have been busy being a full time housewife. Now, isn't that just fun? Household chores take up a great percentage of my time. I  hate doing housework. To me, they are a great waste of time, time that could be better spent with my children or on my blogs.

Anyway, here is a list of the household chores which I hate the most in the order in which they appear. What are yours?

1. washing the toilet
2. washing the dishes
3. ironing clothes
4. washing the drain
5. cleaning the aircons and fans
6. mopping the floor
7. wiping the whole house, table tops, shelves, tv, cupboards etc
8. cleaning the windows and grilles
9. laundry and there's so much of it, clothes, shoes, kitchen cloths, table cloth, bedsheets....
10. cooking which is so time consumming

I HATE HOUSEWORK!

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The Best Corporate Christmas Gift Baskets

Each year, we look forward to receiving our Corporate Christmas Gift Baskets. I love to see how nicely they are presented and wrapped and want to keep it that way for a while. However the kids delight in unwrapping them to reveal the goodies within so they usually don't stay wrapped up for very long. After that, we usually keep the nice ribbons, flowers and other wrappings in our craft cupboard to be used for our crafts.

We haven't received any corporate Christmas Gift Baskets yet this year. I wouldn't mind receiving any of the following best corporate Christmas gift baskets below.

Here are the best 5 corporate Christmas Gift Baskets I found on Amazon. If you are looking for a Christmas gift basket for your business client and have not ordered one yet, you can consider them. These Christmas Gift Baskets also make an excellent hostess gift.

The Corporate Show Stopper Christmas Gift Basket

Art of Appreciation Gift Baskets Large Sweet Sensations Gourmet Food & Snacks

Art of Appreciation Gift Baskets Old World Charm Gourmet Food and Snacks

Art of Appreciation Gift Baskets Sweet Sentiments Gourmet Food and Snacks Tower

The Corporate Collection Extra Large Deluxe Gourmet Foods Christmas Gift Basket

Gift Baskets featured on this page are from:

• Gourmet Gift Baskets
• Art Of Appreciation Gift Baskets
• Organic Stores

Pamper your best customers or clients, family, friends, co-workers or hostess with the best gift baskets during this holiday season with these 5 best Christmas occasion Gift Baskets.

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Free Baby Products

There is no such thing as a free lunch ... or is there? In fact, there is and I'm talking about free baby products. Did you know that you can get free baby stuff online? Yes, there are many companies which are giving out free baby samples such as free baby bottles, free baby diapers (and we all know how expensive diapers can be), free baby cribs and more.

How do you get hold of free baby stuff? One way is to register yourself with an online company that works with baby product sponsors so that you can be notified whenever there are free baby stuff available. Caring for babies is expensive. There are so many things a baby needs.

In fact, you should start planning and saving for baby as soon as you are pregnant. Apart from free baby products, another way to save is to accept hand me downs from friends and relatives. Never be too shy or too proud to ask for hand me downs. Babies grow really quickly and quite often most of the second hand items you receive for baby are still new and useful. These are just some of the ways to save when you start having a family of your own.

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