kids

We’ve had a pretty warm fall, but as the temperature drops, it’s time to prepare for the start of the cold and flu season. For parents with children enrolled in a child care facility, the big question is: are my kids safe with all the germs in daycare?

Here’s the truth:

C

areLuLu is raffling off 2 presale tickets to the best consignment sale in the Washington DC metro area and one of the best 10 in the country, Just Between Friends (JBF) in Loudoun County! JBF is an excellent opportunity to stock up on fall and winter kid clothes, kid furnishings, toys, books, games, puzzles, arts & crafts selling at 50-90% off! Two lucky winners will receive 1 free ticket to the presale that will take place on Friday, September 20^th 6pm-9pm ($20 value). Presale tickets will give you early access to find the best deals and items before the crowds arrive on the weekend. Tickets may also be used for free admission on Saturday.

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s a home-based day care provider, I am often asked for my best advice to help ease the “goodbye drama” that sometimes happens when a parent leaves his or her child at day care. For new parents, this is a big concern. Will my child cry? Will my child suffer? Will my child understand?

My answer is always the same, “It depends on your child’s age and it may actually be harder on you than on them.” Of course, this doesn’t mean your child won’t cry or cling onto you or sometimes even melt down for a moment, but it does mean that this transition from parent to child care provider or teacher is usually fleeting and absolutely dramatized.

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his weekend as I cleared out the basement in hope of making some room, I found a box full of baby clothes. I was too attached to give it all away, but didn’t really want to continue to have it sit in the basement collecting dust. A brilliant idea came to mind: I decided to give my daughters, Eva (4) and Maya (2), some of the newborn clothes to play with and dress up their dolls. Seeing those sweet items around the house once again reminded me of when they were oh so tiny! It turned out to be a big success, the newborn onesies fit their Ikea dolls perfectly and were the highlight of the day!

What your child will learn:
– Fine motor skills: practicing to put on shoes, tying laces, buttoning onesies, buckling overalls, etc.
– Pretend play, which builds skills in many essential developmental areas.

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CareLuLu now has one hundred child care providers from the DC area listed on our site! All of these daycares and preschools are licensed and meet State or County standards. Many of them exceed those requirements!

For those child care providers that agree to let CareLuLu staff visit their facilities, we created the Verified seal of approval. These Verified providers undergo a much longer and more thorough review process answering over 100 of our questions. For these Verified providers, CareLuLu visits in person to take high-quality, real-world photos. Their profiles feature more detailed information to give parents the most up to date and complete overview. They include verified and in-depth reviews, which are written based on the feedback we receive from child care providers, parents whose children attend (or have attended) that specific center, and our staff that visits the facilities.

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uick question: What’s most important to you in a daycare? Please click here and take a minute to answer this 1 question. Please share with other parents! THANK YOU! 🙂

This weekend we made a colorful and tasty bouquet of marshmallow flowers. It’s really easy and fun to make with your kids.

Here are the 4 steps:

1. Buy straws, jumbo marshmallows, and decorative icing in tubes or pens.
2. Place marshmallows on the straws
3. Use icing in a tube or a pen to decorate
4. Put in a glass or a small vase to dry
5. Enjoy with your kids! 🙂

Simple, easy and fun!

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