Best Tips & Tricks - Parenting and Family Tips & Tricks

In each issue of Rexanne's Web Review monthly newsletter, there is a "Tips & Tricks" section, with reader tips, tricks and some I've found that I hadn't already seen or received via email 1000 time already. ;-) This page was created to help you find your favorites without having to go through each archived newsletter or, if you've just cruised in looking for some great family and parenting tips & tricks, enjoy the information! Subscribe to my newsletter to get these tips & tricks plus lots of other useful (and fun) information monthly! Click here to easily subscribe: Subscribe to Rexanne's Web Review

Do you have a tip or trick you'd like to share? Please send it for possible publication in one of the next issues of Rexanne's Web Review and these pages: Click here to submit your tips & tricks:TIPS

Tips on this page:

1) Pick it up With a Spoon!
2) Ice Baggies for Owies
3) Red Wash Cloth for Bloody Clean Ups
4) Removing Easter Egg Dye
5) Wet Yer Hands!
6) Hydrogen Peroxide to Remove Stains
7) Peanut Butter Gets the Stickies Out!
8) Another Helpful Use for Peanut Butter
9) Easy Shortening Tip
10) House Painting Tips
11) Linen Closet Storage
12) Quick & Easy Chicken Soup
13) Renew the Toilet Bowl!
14) Sugared Cereal for Snacks
15) Mail Tips
16) Lighter Fluid
17) Fly Repellent
18) Cleaning up Unpleasant Messes
19) Managing Leftovers
20) Stop Sink Leaks
21) Cleaning Gas Grills
22) Paper Management
23) Great Uses for Coffee Filters
24) Back to School Tips
25) Natural Remedies

1) Pick it up With a Spoon!

One of my all-time favorite parenting tips was from my sister-in-law. She is an angel of a lady who should have had a hundred children but, because of medical reasons, couldn't have any. Well, one Christmas, when my older daughter had just puked all over the carpet in her room, (sorry if this grosses you out but you're really gonna love this tip! LOL!) she advised me to "pick it up with a spoon!" Ya know ... it worked! I won't go into details. I figure the tip is icky enough to imagine as it is unless you happen to be in this very predicament and then you'll think it's a Godsend!

This tip also works for other mishaps ... food spills, liquids, etc. Use your imagination! You'll be toting a spoon around behind your kids for years.

2) Ice Baggies for Owies

One day, at my younger daughter's preschool, one of the munchkins in the play yard tripped and bumped his little bean on the slide. OUCH! He sported a bump the size of a full-grown egg within minutes. His teacher whisked him into the kitchen for an "ice baggie." Huh? Naturally, I followed to make sure the little guy was receiving all the hugs and reassurance he *should* be receiving and also to discover just what on earth an "ice baggie" was! Well, an "ice baggie" is a wet, folded paper towel that has been neatly stored in a zip lock baggie in the freezer. It works as an ice pack, only it molds to the traumatized body part and doesn't drip all over the place.

I immediately went home and made up four or five "ice baggies" in various sizes for future nasty but inevitable events that would befall my kids. I even used one when I burned myself on the stove. Wrapped one of the littler suckers around my fried finger and resumed cooking! Ice baggies can be used for bumps, bruises, burns and even for headaches. Place one on your forehead when the thumping starts and it will relieve some of the milder headaches. They can be used to keep food cold for short spells, too. Throw a few into a picnic basket or a Tupperware container you're taking to Grandma's. I'm sure you'll find other uses for the super little "ice baggie."

3) Red Wash Cloth for Bloody Clean Ups

Here's a super tip sent in by our reader, Martina:

"An oldie-but-goodie tip is to keep a red washcloth on hand to use when a child is bleeding. That way they don't freak out when they see their blood on a white washcloth."

Thanks, Martina! I'm always fascinated by these little tips and tricks of the "trade!" :-)

4) Removing Easter Egg Dye

Here's a great tip sent in by reader Libby:

"To remove Easter Egg dye from little hands, use toothpaste! Works every time."

Toothpaste can be used to clean other stubborn stains from hands and munchkin mouths, like Kool-aid mustaches or any of the other *wonderful* food-coloring dye kids seem to love! Works great on washable sneakers, too.

5)Wet Yer Hands!

This tip has been around for a while but I think it's worth adding here. Some people might just not realize the importance of wet hands! :-) When forming meatballs, keep a trickle of cold water running in the sink. After every other meatball, wet the palms of your hands. This will keep the meat from sticking to your palms and make rolling those little suckers into a true round shape easier. This tip works great for crispy rice treats, too. When patting the sticky goo into the pan, wet hands will keep it there instead of all over the kitchen.

I imagine there are countless other foods this will work with. Anything sticky doesn't stick to wet hands!

6) Hydrogen Peroxide to Remove Stains

Read this somewhere lately but can't remember the source. it's a great a tip so thank you to whoever posted it somewhere recently! :-) Hydrogen peroxide removes blood stains from clothing and fabrics. Soak the stain and rub until dissolved. Also works well on grease stains. If you're ambitious, you could try hydrogen peroxide on other stains, too. Be sure to let us know what works, OK? :-)

Word of caution: Do NOT let Hydrogen Peroxide soak for too long as it will eat the fabric.

7) Peanut Butter Gets the Stickies Out!

Have you ever sent a piece of your child's clothing through the washer and dryer with a sticker on it? Oh I have! Grrrrr ... I thought it was the kiss of death but one of our readers has a solution:

"Spread some peanut butter on it and rub into the stuck on sticker. Put it back in the washer and it comes out clean."

Thanks for that great tip, Sal!

8) Another Helpful Use for Peanut Butter

Reader Kitty wrote that last week's tip brought to mind another helpful use for peanut butter:

"Another 'tip' to use peanut butter for is when a kid gets bubble gum stuck somewhere on clothing or in hair. It's supposed to work! I've always used an ice cube to 'freeze' the sticky stuff and then it breaks off easily. It worked wonders for gum in the hair (no need to grab the scissors and swear!)."

Thanks Kitty!

9) Easy Shortening Tip

Reader MoBerry shares this super tip with us:

"When you're measuring shortening into measuring cups, try placing plastic wrap or waxed paper into the measuring cup before measuring the shortening. Then, just lift the plastic wrap or waxed paper out of the measuring cup and the shortening comes right off."

Great idea, MoBerry! I'm using this one! Thanks!

10) House Painting Tips

Reader Deneen sent in some super-duper painting tips this week:

"If you are painting and have to use a second paint of coat on a wall for the next day, put your paint roller, and rolling pan in a trash bag. Then freeze it. You won't have to do any clean up on them that night. The next day when you have to paint, just let it defrost and paint away.

Take a hammer and nail and poke four small holes on the rim of the paint can. All the paint will drain right back to the can. Less mess and the lid will not stick.

If you are painting from the can, put a large rubber band or string across the middle. Just wipe your brush on that, no paint drips on the side of the can to worry about.

Don't use masking tape on the windows when you are painting by the glass part of the window frames. Use strips of wet newspaper. They stick great. Just make sure to remove them before they dry. They are easier to remove that way.

Also if you are painting cabinet doors and don't want them to stick to the frame of the cabinet, clip a clothespin at the bottom of the door. It helps keep the door open enough so it won't stick. Sure there will be a tiny spot at the bottom, but that is easy enough to touch up when everything else is dry."

Wow! Thank you, Deneen! These are excellent tips.

11) Linen Closet Storage

"Roll towels before putting them in the linen closet. They take up much less room that way! As for sheets, put the fitted sheet, top sheet, and one pillowcase all into the other pillowcase of each set. Seem to take up less room, are neater, and far more convenient than searching through the pile to find the matching set."

12) Quick & Easy Chicken Soup

I always have the staples for quick and easy chicken soup in my fridge and freezer. This makes life easy when I don't have time to cook. Here's what you'll need on hand to whip up a batch of healthy and fast chicken soup. Yeah ... for the soul! ;-)

4 boned, skinless chicken tenders or 2 boned, skinless chicken breasts.
6 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
1 carrot, sliced into bite size pieces.
1 stalk celery, preferably an inner stalk with the leaves, chopped.
1 cup shells or any mini pasta
1/2 cup fresh, chopped broccoli or any other green leafy veggie in the fridge. (Optional)

Combine above ingredients (except pasta) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Let simmer for half an hour. Before serving, cook pasta in salted water until firm but cooked through. Add 2 TBS cooked pasta to each soup bowl after you've portioned it out.

You can serve this soup with saltine crackers, rolls or bread.

13) Renew the Toilet Bowl!

Reader Sue sent in this great tip:

"To remove scratches and dirt from your toilet bowls, completely drain all water from the bowl. Fill with white vinegar to cover all stains and discoloration. Let sit overnight. Wake up to a perfectly clean toilet bowl! This also works great when you've used a snake to rout out the toilet and have those nasty black scratches."

Thank you Sue!

14) Sugared Cereal for Snacks

A wonderful tip from Elaine:

"Here is a tip, relating to your May 22 review on nutrition and children: My kids were always begging for those "nasty sugared cereals" which I really didn't want them eating for breakfast. So we compromised and bought them to eat as an after-school snack instead. I figured it was sort of like eating "fortified" cookies and milk. They didn't feel deprived, and I didn't feel guilty."

I have already adopted this cereal trick in my home and love it. It works! Thank you, Elaine!

15) Mail Order Tip

Reader Tigerpoo sent in this great tip about mail order purchases:

"If you write the name, address of the company and what you've ordered on the back of the check you send, you'll have the information readily available in case you don't receive the item."

Wow, I love ingenious minds! :-) Thank you, Tigerpoo!

16) Lighter Fluid

Here's a great tip from my father!

Sunday, at our Father's Day bash, my dad reminded me of a trick I should have remembered from my childhood:

Lighter fluid works great for removing Band Aid sticky marks. You know the glue stuff that's left when you remove a bandage? Pour a little lighter fluid onto a cotton ball and wipe the offending area. Comes right off. Naturally, be sure to avoid the reason the bandage was there in the first place.

My dad also said lighter fluid works well for removing crayon marks! Seems this is what my parents used when my sister and I got a little carried away with the coloring. I would do a test patch on any furniture or fabric first.

Thanks for the tip, Grandpa Frank!

17) Fly Repellent

Time to think about keeping those nasty flies out of the house and away from the picnic tables, huh?

Here's a great tip my grandmother used to swear by:

Plant basil around your back and front doors, if you can. Evidently flies don't like it! (Their loss ... ) Also, Nonna Christina used to pick basil leaves and spread them on the tables outside if we were doing garden meals. I have never tried this one, guys and don't remember if it works! LOL!

We are condo-bound and don't do outdoor munching but I am planning on buying basil to grow on the terrace this summer. Now all I have to do is convince my kids they love pesto sauce! ;-)

18) Cleaning up Unpleasant Messes

Linda sent in a wonderfully helpful hint this week:

"When I worked at a convenience store, I had to, on occasion, clean up unpleasant messes. I found that the use of a dust pan, a broom, and a plastic bag made the job quick and less disgusting. This worked for any task from spilled drinks with ice to vomit. My daughter now works as a waitress. I mentioned this to her, and it has already benefited her several times."

I can think of countless times I could have used this tip. Thank you, Linda, for taking the time to share a super trick with us!

19) Managing Leftovers

*Start a leftover list and post it on the refrigerator. A reminder of what is in the refrigerator will help you think of creative ways to use the leftovers. And, the leftover list becomes a menu for snackers to choose from.

*One good way to use leftovers is to try to include as many as possible in your meal plans. Planning leftovers might include preparing extra vegetables from Saturday's meal for Monday's stew. It will make preparing Monday's meal much easier and save on cooking and cleanup time.

*Leftover hot dog buns make good bread sticks or croutons. Simply butter them, season them with a little garlic powder and Parmesan cheese, and toast them in the oven.

*Leftover roast beef or ham can be ground and mixed with other ingredients to create a sandwich spread.

*Leftover waffles can be wrapped individually and frozen. When you want to eat them, pop them in the toaster.

*Keep leftover cookies softer longer by putting two slices of bread in your cookie jar.

*Chicken or turkey can be used in chicken or macaroni salad. Another good dish for leftover is a pasta topping made of chicken, cream of mushroom soup, Parmesan cheese, with pepper and oregano. Simply serve over spaghetti or egg noodles.

*Leftover ham adds to scalloped potato casserole or potato salad.

*Leftover bread can be ground into bread crumbs and used for meatballs.

20) Stop Sink Leaks

Reader Sussy sent in this terrific tip:

"To prevent water from leaking out of a sink while washing dishes, soaking a garment or soaking fruits and vegetables for cleaning, place a good size piece of plastic wrap between the drain and the drain stopper. This will hold the water in the sink a lot longer, if not indefinitely."

I tried this the other day with one of my daughter's T shirts with a nasty chocolate ice cream stain that didn't come out in the wash and it worked great! Thank you, Sussy!

21) Cleaning Gas Grills

Found these super tips on cleaning those mangy gas grills in the SCC newsletter. SCC is a terrific daily e-zine catering to seniors but loaded with great reading for all. If you'd like to subscribe to SCC for a nominal yearly fee, contact editor Jim here: SCC Sample Week Jim will be a real gent and send you a sample of his newsletter! Tell him Rexanne sent you. :-)

Here are your treasures for the week:

Gas grills can get messy pretty quickly, but they're not too hard to clean. Materials needed:

Large plastic tub half filled with soapy water
Plastic spatula
Nylon pads
Plastic scouring pad
Grill brushes, made with soft metal such as brass
New lava rocks
Wet/dry shop vacuum cleaner

Before you start cleaning a gas grill, disconnect and remove the gas canister. This makes the cleaning job both easier and safer. Remove the main grills and place them in a large tub of soapy water. Allow them to soak for an hour or so. Remove the upper racks and soak them too. Remove and discard the lava rocks. They lose their effectiveness after a year or two as they're covered with grease drippings.

Take out the lava-rock rack and soak it with the grills. If the rack is rusty, you may need to replace it.

If the grill has a drip guard that prevents grease from getting onto the burners, it probably needs cleaning too. Lift it out and place it in the tub. Use a spatula to scrape burnt-on grease from the inner walls of the grill. Use a wet/dry shop vacuum cleaner to remove the rest of the rocks, food particles and other debris from inside the grill.

Now that you've removed everything from the grill cabinet, inspect the burner and the cabinet body. If the burner appears damaged, replace it. If you notice rust in the cabinet, don't paint it, spread vegetable oil over it. The heat from the grill will bake the oil into the rust and prevent it from spreading.

After the grills, rack and burner cover have soaked for an hour or so, remove them from the tub, and scrub them to remove baked-on grease. You can use a metal grill-cleaning brush on stainless-steel grills, but porcelain grills should be cleaned with plastic or nylon scouring pads: metal brushes could scratch the finish.

If the grills are rusty, replace them. Consider a stainless steel or porcelain-finish grill, which won't rust and is easy to clean.

When you're done cleaning, reassemble the grill. Protect the grill from the elements with a grill cover.

Wow ... pretty complete instructions, huh? Thank you SCC!

Here's a nifty page on the subject: How To Clean a Barbecue

22) Paper Management

If your home is like our home, you've got pounds of paper stacked all over, waiting to be organized, sorted through and put away or thrown away. UGH! It's one of the biggest challenges I face daily ... what to do with the paper piles and where to put them. I found this page on The Dollar Stretcher and knew I'd found gold! Great organizational ideas and tricks to help you (and ME) de-paper our domains. The author is one very organized lady! Check it out: Conquering Paper Piles.

Be sure to peruse the rest of the site, too. Lots of super articles, dollar-stretching ideas and tips: The Dollar Stretcher

And yet another good paper monster tip page: Paper Management 101.This page deals with office clutter but the tips are useful for all rooms where paper piles tend to multiply.

23) Great Uses for Coffee Filters

Found some very useful tips to share utilizing your standard coffee filters. The original tips were touting a name brand coffee filter but we'll ignore the plug in this newsletter, OK? ;-)

~ If you have cork pieces floating in a bottle of wine, run the wine through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

~ Separate your china dishes for safer storage: place a coffee filter between each dish. (I use paper plates for this when packing my good dishes for moving.)

~ Splatter-proof bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave by covering them with a coffee filter. (This works great!)

~ Recycle frying oil by straining it through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

~ Weigh chopped foods by placing ingredients in a coffee filter on the kitchen scale.

~ Coffee filters make great wrappers for tacos and other messy foods! (Wow! Love this one!)

~ Line a flower planter with a coffee filter to prevent soil from leaking through the drain holes.

~ Insert a popsicle stick in a coffee filter to catch the drips. (Love this one, too!)

24) Back to School Tips

Here are various tips and tricks for back to school I've found:

~ To remove odors from thermos bottles: leave crushed newspapers in the bottle (or any smelly sealed container) for a couple of days. Or: fill the thermos with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets. Let it soak for an hour, longer if necessary.

~ Add a sprinkling of baking soda to your child's lunch box each day after school. Wipe clean or shake out the baking soda in the morning before packing their lunch. Keeps that box smelling fresh all year!

~ At the beginning of each school year, buy an accordion file folder. Add all the school papers as they come in. You can sort them when you have time.

~ Bring home an unused large (or extra-large) pizza box from your neighborhood pizzeria to store art work and large paper projects that you or your child will want to keep. You can stash the pizza box under a bed for easy storage.

~ Buy a rubber stamp or order self stick labels with your child's name and grade for identifying books, field trip permission slips, lunch money envelopes, etc.

~ If you can persuade your child to wait just two or three weeks for school supplies (back packs, lunch boxes, etc.) these items will be in the clearance section by mid September with huge discounts. The kids can get by with last year's stuff while they wait.

~ Write a love note, silly poem or an inspiring message to your child on their lunch napkin.

25) Natural Remedies

A friend sent these natural remedies via email. Makes a whole lot of sense and hey, my father (Grandpa Frank) is a nutritionist ... I asked him about these remedies and he concurred with each one! You might find the perfect natural cure for what's ailing you!

Headaches - Eat plenty of fish. Fish oil helps prevent headaches. So does ginger, which reduces inflammation and pain.

Hay Fever - Eat lots of yogurt before pollen season.

To Prevent Strokes - Prevent buildup of fatty deposits on artery walls with regular doses of tea.

Insomnia - Use honey as a tranquilizer and sedative.

Asthma - Eating onions helps ease constriction of bronchial tubes.

Arthritis - Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines actually prevent arthritis.

Upset Stomach - Bananas will settle an upset stomach. Ginger will cure morning sickness and nausea.

Bladder Infection - High-acid cranberry juice controls harmful bacteria.

Bone Problems - Bone fractures and osteoporosis can be prevented by the manganese in pineapple.

PMS - Women can ward off the effects of PMS with cornflakes, which help reduce depression, anxiety and fatigue. (Hey, what about chocolate? LOL!)

Memory Problems - Oysters help improve your mental functioning by supplying much-needed zinc. (Oh yuck ... I'll stay stoopid. ;-) )

Colds - Clear up that stuffy head with garlic.

Coughing - A substance similar to that found in cough syrups is found in hot red pepper.

Breast Cancer - Wheat, bran, cabbage. Bran and cabbage help maintain estrogen at healthy levels.

Lung Cancer - A good antidote is beta carotene, a form of Vitamin A found in dark green and orange vegetables.

Ulcers - Cabbage contains chemicals that help heal both gastric and duodena ulcers.

Diarrhea - Grate an apple with its skin, let it turn brown and eat it to cure this condition.

Clogged Arteries - Mono unsaturated fat in avocados lowers cholesterol.

High Blood Pressure - Olive oil has been shown to lower blood pressure. Celery contains a chemical that lowers pressure, too.

Blood Sugar Imbalance - The chromium in broccoli and peanuts help regulate insulin and blood sugar.

Continue on : Rexanne's Web Review - Best of Tips & Tricks - page 2

Do you have a tip or trick you'd like to pass along? Please send it for possible publication in one of the next issues of Rexanne's Web Review and this page: Click here to submit your tips & tricks:TIPS

Subscribe to Rexanne's Monthly Web Review now! Get all new tips, tricks, family & parenting articles and site links, food & cooking sites and recipes, time wasters and more! Click here for easy subscribe:
Subscribe to Rexanne's Web Review

Bookmark to save this page!

Like this site? You'll love Rexanne's Community Forum - our fun, friendly family & parenting forum.
Please join us:
Rexanne's Community Forum - Register Today!

[Rexanne.com - Main Index Page & Site Map] [Rexanne's Community Forum]
[Parenting & Family Articles] [About Your Baby] [Children's Room Accents]
[Shopping for Parents & Family]
[Rexanne's Web Review - Newsletter] [Parent Links] [Kid Links]
[All Holidays & Celebrations] [Ladies One & All ] [Birthdays by Rexanne]
[Baby Showers] [Graduations] [Teacher Appreciation] [Help Pages]
[Humor Pages] [Graphic Links] [About Me] [Advertising Information]
[Link To Rexanne.com] [Privacy Policy] [Email]

All material on these pages ©2001-2008 - Rexanne Mancini unless specified otherwise
Please contact Rexanne for reproduction or reprint permission.

This site provides general information and the web master's opinions. It is designed for informational purposes only. Always consult with a healthcare or other professional if you have any concerns about the health or welfare of your child.