Archives for October 2019

Easy Home Organization Hacks for Families

October 28, 2019 By Michelle Yannaco

Clutter is a fact of life for most parents. One mom offers tips for taming the mess and getting your home in order.

Let’s be honest: When you have kids, you accumulate an abundance of stuff. From products to soothe and comfort them as babies to itty bitty figures and the countless toy houses that go with them when they’re a little older, it can get really tough to tackle clutter. While I can be the queen of messes, sometimes I go on epic decluttering sprees that leave me feeling much more sane and in charge of my surroundings-even if neither of those things is actually true.

In the spirit of helping a mother out and making you feel more sane and in charge, I’m sharing eight super-simple organization tricks that my sister and I swear by.

Hack #1: Baskets

In my house, there are baskets everywhere. We have shelves filled with them. They’re in our cabinets and under side tables. They’re next to my girls’ desks and all over our basement. The
reason? They offer an incredibly easy way to contain similar items and hide things that look messy.

Toys are sorted into different categories and the baskets are put onto our shelves. Things my daughters need to put away are in baskets next to their desks. Smaller baskets hold like food items to make it easier to grab and go. And I love the look of nice, cozy blankets stored in a basket instead of haphazardly strewn over chairs. Baskets can also be a great way to store puzzles and card games, which brings me to our next hack…

Hack #2: Storing Board Games

I won’t lie to you–our board game situation was the bane of my existence for a while. I cringed any time one of the girls asked to play a game because I knew that getting a board game out was going to require some serious Tetris skills and would more likely than not end with me getting hit in the head with flying game pieces.

That is until I made the (brilliant) decision to store all of our board games sideways instead of lying them flat and on top of one another. This way, when someone wants to play a game, all you have to do is slide it out of its slot. There’s no delicate balancing act or cursing or crawling on the floor looking for tiny pieces. Pro tip: You might want to secure boxes with a rubber band if you store them this way to make sure the tops don’t slide off.

Hack #3 Kids Dress Up Outfits

I don’t know about you, but I’m a saver. If I think my kids will get use out of it, it stays. That means we have a ragtag collection of old Halloween costumes, party props, and dress up clothes exploding all over the place. While I’ve yet to tackle our mess, I absolutely love how
my sister organized my niece’s dress up.

With nothing more than a hanging rod and a shelf, not only does her dress up look nice, but it’s organized in a way that’s manageable for my niece and makes choosing things much less overwhelming than digging through an enormous mound (which is our current situation). The baskets up top keep all of the loose accessories together and out of view.

Hack #4: Food Containers for Craft Supplies

Like dress up, craft supplies are another area that gets unruly really quickly. For one, I’m kind of a craft supply hoarder. Aside from typical things such as crayons, markers, and glue, I keep an assortment of things that may otherwise have found their way into the garbage. I love seeing
what creative ways my daughters find to use things such as bottle caps or a pair of jeans that got too tattered to wear anymore. (The jeans were turned into a pretty cool throw pillow by my tween.)

The problem? With so many random things on hand, it can be difficult to corral them and then store everything neatly–until my repurposed craft supplies inspired me to repurpose containers to hold them in.

Now I clean and save takeout containers or any other plastic containers our food comes in (hummus containers, for instance, are a great size for holding tiny beads) and store craft supplies in those. Not only is it cheap and eco-friendly, but it keeps things contained and makes it easier to stack them inside our craft closet.

Hack #5: Pill Organizer for Hair Ties

Another kids organization problem always making me crazy is hair ties–especially the teensy, tiny hair ties required for babies’ fine hair and for securing small braids and ponytails. They’re so small they’re hard to keep track of to begin with. Add in varying sizes and kids who get very specific about what color is allowed to grace their head each day and you have yourself a situation that can easily suck up more of your precious morning time than you’d like.

Pill organizers have completely changed that for me. The small compartments are the perfect size for sorting hair ties of different colors, sizes, and materials. It makes it easier to find what you’re looking for and helps limit choices if your daughter has to pick them out herself.

It’s essential to note that, obviously, this is not a great idea if you regularly use pill organizers for actual medicine. I wouldn’t want my daughter feeling comfortable sorting through one for hair ties if there were organizers elsewhere in the house containing medicine that she might find and feel free to explore.

Hack #6: Shoeboxes for Storage

This one is similar to baskets, but it’s a free, eco-friendly version for spots that don’t need to look pretty. You can, however, make them pretty if you need to with a coat of paint or some scrapbook paper.

My kids’ dressers always drive me crazy. They’re constantly digging and pulling things out of there so that it becomes impossible to find anything really quickly. To combat that, I’ve started using shoeboxes to keep smaller items together. I fill open shoeboxes with underwear, socks, tights, and bathing suits to make them easier to find. I can’t even tell you how much time this one little tip saves me.

I also use shoeboxes for crayons, markers, colored pencils, and stickers. It’s so much easier than trying to keep them in the boxes they typically come in. My girls generally destroy those pretty quickly.

Hack #7: Toilet Paper Tubes for Cords

I realize this one sounds a little insane at first, but hear me out. We had tangled messes of power cords and wires for all of our technological devices spread all over the house. My husband solved the tangling problem with Velcro strips, which at least helped tame them into little circles. But there was still the problem of having cords all over the house and constantly being unsure of where to find the particular one we needed.

Enter toilet paper tube organization! Once the cords are wrapped into tight circles and secured with Velcro, they fit perfectly into toilet paper tubes-which fit nicely into shoeboxes. Now, we line up toilet paper tubes inside of a shoebox (which is so easy to tuck into cabinets and out of sight) and store a cord in each tube.

Pro tip: Use washi tape to make labels for each of your cords to make finding them even easier.

Hack #8: Wine Crates for Storage

Sometimes it’s nice to switch things up a bit. My sister scored a bunch of wine crates for free at a local liquor store. Like baskets and shoeboxes, they are a great way to contain things, but they add a kind of visual feel. While baskets can almost melt into the background and go unnoticed, wine crates are a little unexpected and add a cool touch. They’re also nice and sturdy, which comes in handy if little people are going to be sorting through them.

By Jennifer Garry, a freelance writer and Westchester mom. She writes the blog CuddlesandChaos.com.

Everything You Need to Know When Purchasing and Installing a Car Seat

October 28, 2019 By Michelle Yannaco

The proper car seat and installation can save your child’s life.

Car seat regulations are hard to keep up with and manage, especially because they are constantly changing and are different state to state. Keep this checklist, compiled with the help of Shane Bland, certified car seat safety technician through Safe Kids Worldwide Westchester, and Greg Durocher, CEO and child passenger safety technician instructor at Safe Ride 4 Kids, on your fridge, in your glove compartment, in your purse, or wherever you will remember to reference it for properly purchasing, installing, and putting your child in a car seat.

Don’t neglect the owner’s manual!

We live in a world where we constantly check the Internet for everything. Resist that urge when it comes to car seats. The first thing you should do when purchasing a car seat is thoroughly read the owner’s manual, according to Bland, who is also the manager of Gymboree Play Music Center in Scarsdale. If you have questions, check the owner’s manual. If they still aren’t answered, check the FAQ section on the manufacturer’s website.

Safe Kids Westchester is led by Ardlsey Police Department and provides staff and resources to assist in keeping children safe through programs including car-seat checkups, safety workshops, and sports clinics.

Location is everything

The safest spot in the car for a child in a car seat is the middle rear spot, according to Durocher, who, before coming a child passenger safety technician, was a paramedic. This location protects the child the most from an impact on any point of the vehicle because it is the farthest from the left, right, front, and back of the car.

“Safety is about putting the odds in your favor and looking at the real risk exposure,” Durocher says. “How do we mitigate as many risks as we can?”

Safe Ride 4 Kids is a team of child passenger safety technicians who empower parents to keep children safe while driving.

If you have two car seats, the rule of thumb is to put the youngest child closest to the driver so the driver does not have any trouble getting the child out of the car, and an older child can exit the car on his own on the curbside away from traffic, according to Bland.

Face the trunk for as long as possible

At Safe Kids Worldwide, the recommendation is to keep your child rear facing for as long as she can fit that way comfortably. The purpose of a rear-facing car seat is to allow the car seat to act as a shell in the case of a forward-facing crash, according to Bland. When a car is hit from behind, which is the most frequent kind of crash, the child will be propelled toward the front of the car regardless of which way he is facing. If the child is facing the trunk, he will be propelled into the car seat, which will protect him, rather than into the seatbelt, which will give him whiplash. The seat will protect the head and spine of the child.

Like milk, car seats expire

Each manufacturer will place an expiration date on a child safety seat, which is normally around six years. While passing down a car seat can save money, make sure it is still safe to use.

Be cognizant of recalls

When purchasing a car seat, check for recalls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, nhsta.gov. While NHSTA issues recalls, it does not certify car seats, the federal government issues crash test performance criteria and each manufacturer crash tests its own products in accordance to this criterion. The manufacturer will then certify the product on its own website.

Seat security

After you install a car seat, it should move no more than 1 inch in each direction. This is measured at the seatbelt buckle, in other words at the child’s feet when rear facing and at the child’s bottom when forward facing. This test can be performed by shaking the seat ‘with the strength of a firm handshake,’ according to Durocher.

Proper buckling

In a rear-facing, five-point harness car seat, the hole where the strap goes through on the back of the car seat should be at or below the child’s shoulders, according to Durocher. In a forward-facing, five-point harness car seat, the loop should be at or above the child’s shoulders. The difference is, in a forward car crash, a forward-facing child will lean into the seatbelt when it is higher up rather than having it compress their spine. If the child is rear facing, a lower seatbelt prevents the child from sliding up the back of the car seat.

When determining how tight a harness should be, perform the pinch test. If you can pinch the webbing, but not enough that the straps completely touch each other, the straps are secured properly.

“The straps should be ‘snug as a hug,’” Durocher says.

Five-step test

When determining whether or not your child still needs a booster seat, you should perform the five-step test as referred to by the National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration.

Make sure your child’s back is touching the back of the seat.
Do her feet touch the floor?
Do her knees bend comfortably at the edge of the seat?
Does the seat belt cross the shoulder and the lap belt sit low on the hips?
Can the child stay seated, comfortably, this way for the entire duration of the trip?

While many parents think the defining moment to take a child out of a booster seat is only his height, you still must determine that the child passes each of the steps above, despite his height. The ultimate goal is not a certain height, but rather proper seatbelt positioning, according to Durocher.

“Seatbelts are not designed for children under four-foot-nine and do not protect your young child on their own,” Bland says. “The booster seat ensures that the seatbelt is placed appropriately on the shoulder and the lap belt sits comfortably on the hipbones.”

From MommyBites.com

Time to Ace the School Team Tryouts

October 28, 2019 By Michelle Yannaco

For many students, back to school means more than just returning to the classroom. For those who hope to be student athletes, it’s time to make that first impression and work to secure your spot on a team.

Tryouts for some fall season teams might already have been held during the summer, but there are some teams that won’t conduct tryouts until after the start of school. For instance, most high school baseball programs have at least a preliminary tryout during the fall because of the weather, even though the season won’t start until spring.

Playing a sport in school is a great way to add to the school experience — plus give your child something to add to that college resume. Being on a team helps give children an easy path to making friends and finding their niche, not to mention set a foundation for a lifestyle of health and fitness.

Among some of the sports that traditionally begin in the fall are swimming, football, volleyball, cross-country, soccer, bowling, golf and fencing. Besides baseball, teams that most likely will stage tryouts during the fall are those that take place during the winter, such as gymnastics, wrestling and basketball.

The larger the number of students who try out for a team, the more difficult it probably will be to make the final cut. Here are some pointers to give your child a leg up on making a team:

Make sure your child sees the doctor for a physical examination. That will surely be a requirement for being on a team. Get it out of the way early. See if your child’s school offers these exams on site.
Find out when tryouts are being held. If your child misses tryouts, that’s the first sign to a coach that his or her dedication is lacking and will certainly be considered. Your child should be proactive and seek out when and where tryouts will be held. If there are no announcements, he or she should go directly to the athletic director’s office for information.
Be punctual. If a tryout is scheduled for 10 a.m. on a Saturday, your child should not be sauntering in at 10:05. Arrive at the tryout site at least 15 minutes before they are scheduled to begin in order to be ready to participate at the scheduled starting time. Anyone who fails to do this will delay the session and that is not a good way to impress the coaching staff.
Look like an athlete. Don’t wear jeans or collared shirts to a sports tryout. Make sure to dress for the sport you hope to play, right down to the footwear, and bring the proper equipment. The school will supply some items, like soccer balls, for instance, but your child should not expect to borrow a potential teammate’s golf club. And with wood baseball bats now mandated, your child should have his own. If he borrows someone else’s and it breaks, you should be prepared to replace it.
Attitude counts. Being attentive to the coach’s instructions and making sure not to disrupt the tryout are important. Showing hustle and a solid work ethic are qualities coaches appreciate. Advising your child to treat the tryout with the seriousness it deserves can make or break his or her goal of making the team.

Best of luck to all the young athletes who try out. Have a great season — or seasons!

Local sportswriter Joe LoVerde coached youth sports on Staten Island for nearly 40 years. He’s now joined by his son, Mike, sandlot baseball player on the Island and a senior at Lyndon State College in Vermont, where he’s on the baseball team and majors in Electronic Journalism Arts.

First Day of School Photos

October 28, 2019 By Michelle Yannaco

The first day of school is one of the most picture-worthy moments of the year. So we asked Staten Island parents to send in their best back-to-school snapshots and, boy, did you guys deliver! Check out the cheese grins on all these cuties. Good luck to all of Staten Island students on a successful and enjoyable school year!

Want to add your child’s photo to our gallery? Click here to submit a picture and we will add it in.