Simple Trick: Traveling with the Fam

We're baaaaccckkk (our dog missed us so much!)! And from our 5-week vacay, I have gained a few tips & tricks for traveling with the family.

1. Before you fly out, make sure you have travel insurance. I got ACE insurance and their family rate is super affordable. Good thing we did coz 1 of our bags was missing when we landed in LA. It took our airline 3 days to deliver the bag. Also, Isabella contracted a severe eye infection that the doctor at the Urgent Care Clinic we went to strongly recommended we bring her to a children's hospital ER. The ER fee alone was over $700! Add to that the cost of antibiotics ($300) and the Urgent Care Clinic's fee ($300)! I also got sick and needed antibiotics so it was really a blessing that we were insured. Just make sure you are O.C. about keeping receipts and other documents to file a claim.

2. Prepare for filling out those Arrival/Departure Cards. Most likely, Mommy will have to fill up the immigration cards for the whole family. Flipping through passports is a hassle (especially for a mommy like me with motion sickness, filling out 4 cards on a tray table of a moving plane). So every time I travel with the fam, I bring my piece of paper with everyone's passport details. Include the passport number, date of issue and expiry (this is tricky coz countries write their dates differently - DDMMYY or MMDDYY, so you need to be alert when filling out this part.), place of issue (mostly Manila, but with the satellite DFAs cropping up these days, you might have an occasional NCR East if you got yours from DFA Megamall) and birthdates (assuming you don't know these by heart). Aside from passport details, I also note down our flight details (dates and flight numbers) and the address of the hotel or house we are staying in at our destination (you also need your PH address, assuming you don't know this by heart). Oh, and of course, bring a pen! If you have travel agency connections, try getting the immigration cards in advance so you don't need to fill them out in the plane or immigration line.

3. Choose the right luggage to bring. You already know from here how I feel about hard-case vs. soft-case top-open luggage (but maybe it's because I don't travel often enough to not need to fill my bags to the brim). You also already know from here that I noticed airport personnel in US domestic terminals are less strict with duffel bags vs. trolleys for carry-on. If you are taking a US domestic flight and are bringing a standard trolley bag as carry-on, make sure you don't fill it to the brim. When asked to check if your bag can fit in the airport's standard steel frame, make sure to slip your trolley in with the back of your bag facing you so it's easier to push the bag towards the back of the steel frame. The front of a trolley bag is typically softer so the front should contract for your trolley to fit into the frame. If your trolley is a standard-sized carry-on, it should fit even if eyeballing the frame makes you doubt it. And if you expect your child to pull one of your trolley bags, make sure you give him the 4-to-6-wheeled one because his shorter height will make it hard for him to lug around a 2-wheeled trolley.

4. Plan your itinerary well. You already know from here that you should avoid planning trips to theme parks during long holidays at your destination. I think Hurricane Sandy took away too many school days so Spring Break was different for every school this year. Thankfully, the crowd was manageable during our recent trip. 

But brace yourself if you're planning to move around a lot like we did: we visited a total of 7 states...

... and slept in a total of 10 houses/hotels. I felt like I was constantly packing (and unpacking) overnight bags for us! So try to make sure you spend more than 1 to 3 nights in every house/hotel. We went back to NYC from New Jersey 3 times in 2 weeks and commuting with a trolley bag wasn't fun at all. Had I planned our IT better, we could have spent one straight week in NYC rather than shuttling back and forth.

5. Organize how you pack your bags. If you're also going on both West and East Coast legs of a US trip, I think it's still a good idea to segregate West-only, East-only and cross-country or East-&-West items, as I posted here. That way, you don't even need to open your East Coast bag in the West, and vice-versa. But I don't recommend combining your family's stuff in 1 bag like I did. I put all our West-Coast only things in one bag. Since our clothes were mixed up in that one bag, I needed to lay out the kids' clothes for the day everyday myself. It wore me out and didn't teach them to be more independent. It would be ideal if each family member had his own 3 bags of East, West and cross-country things. But since airlines typically allow only 2 check-in baggages per person, I suggest putting each family member's say, West-only stuff in a laundry bag (or even plastic/sando bag). This way, the clothes are still segregated per person even if they are together in one luggage. As long as the laundry/plastic bags are tied up, no amount of tossing and shaking will mix up the contents. 

Oh, and here's a list of things that you need to take with you during every leg of your trip (if you're like us who slept in 10 houses/hotels, you need to remember to pack these items at every leg): electronics' chargers, toiletries, slippers and emergency medicines. Click here for more tips on things to pack (including a bag of toys/books to keep your little one occupied in the plane).

Helps to have a small digital weighing scale. I got mine from Rustan's years ago. It's basically a 6in x 2.5in oblong handle with a tiny digital display and a short strap with clasps that go around the handle of your bag. I cannot travel without it!

6. Make copies of essential documents and cards. Thankfully, this didn't happen to us. But it is best to be prepared in case your purse or wallet gets stolen. Best to scan everyone's passports, visas, credit cards and ATM cards before printing. The printed copy should be packed in a separate bag from where the originals are. And on the off-chance that both bags get lost or stolen, you can request someone from home to email the scanned copies to you. So create a shortcut to these soft files on your desktop too before you leave.

7. Decide on your in-flight attire. You have to decide what's more important to you: comfort or minimizing baggage space. You can opt to wear slip-ons (for when you need to take off your shoes at the x-ray area) and comfortable clothes. Or you can choose to wear your bulkiest items - thickest jacket, knee-high boots. It all comes down to what's more important to you.

8. Shop online a week before your trip. If you're with your kids, chances are there will be limited shopping opportunities. So best to shop online and have it shipped to your first address at your destination. When you arrive, fit what you need to fit and schedule a return/exchange for those that don't cut it. The best part is there's a goodie package to greet you when you arrive!

9. When going out and about at your cold destination, bring a giant eco bag in your purse. It comes in handy it gets hot (say, in museums with heaters or at the theme park at noon) because you can dump all your jackets, scarves, hats and gloves in it. That way, you don't need to stuff them in your purse and carry multiple jackets on your arm. I got my giant Pockets eco bag from the St. James Bazaar years ago. It's about 24in x 18in. The first time I saw it, I remember exclaiming, "What would you need such a big bag for?!". The young woman selling it answered, "You'd be surprised!" And she was right! I use it to lug Christmas gifts, to carry shopping loot from a major shopping spree, even groceries and beach toys or winter wear during family trips. I actually used it as a carry-on going home to Manila for my 5 dozens of Porto's cheese rolls and guava & cheese strudels. :)

To be honest, I am still exhausted from our trip... So I hope these tips help minimize the exhaustion and stress during your family vacay! 

Hope all you're left with are the memorable, fun-filled family moments! Enjoy your family vacation!

Photos of the kids at the World War II Memorial in DC (edited via pixlr) are my own. The other photos are from acupofjo, imjustsaying and annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Simple Trick: Birthdays in School

Noah recently celebrated his birthday in school. After doing this for a couple of years now, I feel I've become an expert - learning what NOT to do one year and correcting it the next.

Before I share the tips & tricks I've collected over the years, let me start with a disclaimer. These tips will work only if our celebration objectives are aligned. I choose to celebrate my kids birthdays in school (during recess or lunch) because I don't believe in yearly, grand (I'm sure you know how wedding-reception-grand children's parties are these days) birthday parties. I prefer a few grand ones (Yes, I'm one of those parents that threw 1st birthday parties for their babies who had no clue what was going on. And yes, we celebrated Isabella and Noah's 7th birthdays in a big way too - without knowing why on earth, 7th birthdays are supposedly special.) and the rest of the years, just simple celebrations that will make the birthday celebrant feel special in a gathering among friends (vs. mommy & daddy's friends at those grand parties). So my goal for these school birthday parties is a simple celebration, planned for & executed in the easiest way possible.

Assuming you feel the same way, here are my school birthday celebration simple tips & tricks:

1. Choose your theme. I let my kids choose the theme of their simple celebration so we always end up with character themes, against my liking. So even if I would have prefered non-character themes like those blue ballerinas or Noah's Ark animals for Noah, I ended up with blech-Barney and Ben10 themes in previous years. But hey, it's their birthday, not mine. Because school birthdays are so short (no time to decorate), there are only 2 things that make your theme a theme: the birthday cake and the loot. So order a cake and buy loot according to your theme. And take photos of the cake & loot so you have proof of a theme (and do it before d-day because it's easy to forget to take photos before you slice the cake and before you distribute the loot).

2. Decide on your cake plan. The cake is critical for the candle-blowing photo op. This year, because Noah's birthday fell on a Saturday (a non-school day), I ended up ordering 2 cakes: one for his actual birthday for his birthday dinner with the family and another for his school birthday celebration. If you decide to do the same & serve the cake to your child's classmates...

• On d-day, along with the cake, don't forget to bring the birthday candle/s and lighter or box of matches.

• Conduct the candle-blowing photo op before the kids eat their food. This will give you time to slice the cake while they are eating their, say, chicken & spaghetti.
• ... which means, you need to bring a cake slicer to school (bring a serated knife too just in case your cake slicer needs help cutting through fondant cake icing).
• Don't forget to bring disposable forks so the kids can eat their cake.
• Instead of disposable plates, use disposable lunchboxes - the ones with lids that fold close. So if the kids can't finish their cake, they can bring home their leftovers.

But in 2 years, when Noah's birthday falls on a school day, my plan is to order 1 cake and several cake pops or cupcakes. Noah's classmates can eat the cake pops... And I will get to bring home the big cake for the candle-blowing photo op during dinner with the family. Plus, no need for the cake-slicing task anymore!

3. Decide on your loot bag plan. You can opt to buy themed toys and candies and stuff them in a bag (or your preferred container). Personally, I think stuffing bags & choosing candies & token toys just adds to the pre-work of this supposed easy-to-execute celebration. So I suggest to do away with candies - they might just lead to cavities and don't they get enough candy on Halloween?

I also suggest to pool your loot bag budget and pick one big (still within budget since kids are quite easy to please) toy rather than several really cheapo toys that end up breaking the next day or just turning into clutter later. Choose a fun toy so that you're sure everyone will like them.

For co-ed schools, either ensure the toy is gender-neutral or make sure you know how many boys & girls there are in your child's class before shopping for the toys so you get the right number of girl-toys vs. toys for boys.

4. Order food. (Easy-to-execute celebrations means no cooking required. Okay okay, I have no choice here. I can't cook. Remember from here?). 

• Visit (rather than merely call) the resto a few days before the celebration to place your order. Place your order and get a copy of the contract/order form. You can opt to have the food delivered to your child's school but you'll need to meet the delivery guy there. My brother did this and there were no problems. I'm paranoid so I opt for a pick-up arrangement. I prefer that the kitchen is right there, in case they get your order wrong or forget things like the spoons (which tends to happen with no-rice orders. They just give forks.). I even make sure to schedule pick-up 20 minutes earlier, in case they need the 20 minutes to fix something. (Haha, OC!) Make sure to check that the contract/order form has the correct date & time.
• You can never go wrong with chicken & spaghetti. Every kid eats at least one of these two fastfood staples.
• But do NOT get a chicken & spaghetti meal that comes with a drink. Transporting multiple drink-filled plastic cups is extremely difficult! Remember, those cardboard handles are only good for 4 cups. They don't make those for 15, 20 or 40 cups. Trying to carry this many cups to your child's classroom will inevitably result in some lids tearing and drinks spilling a little. Imagine the sticky mess! And even if the drinks don't spill, the plastic cups get those beads of condensation from the cold drink in it and lugging multiple wet cups will still be... ugh. So opt to order the food a la carte (vs. a meal) and serve tetra packs from the grocery for drinks. Their even, rectangular & stackable shape make even 50 tetra packs easy to lug around. Plus, they already come with a straw stuck to them so that's one less thing to distribute to each classmate on d-day.

• Put the tetra packs in the fridge the night before d-day. A cooler is also an option.
• On d-day, carry the tetra packs in a cooler (a styrofoam one with a shoulder strap will be ideal since it's light and you will be carrying a lot of things that day and will need your hands for other things).
• For the cooling agent in your cooler, use those plastic cooling things or seal the ice in ziplock bags so the tetra packs don't get wet when the ice melts. Or bring a rag to wipe the floor if your dripping wet tetra packs make a puddle in the classroom.  
• The chicken & spaghetti combo is not available a la carte. You can opt to order buckets of chicken and a la carte spaghetti. Then nicely request if they can pack it in the chicken & spaghetti meal box. McDonald's Tiendesitas agreed to do this for me this year. :) Make sure they note down this special packing instruction on your contract/order form.
• One of Noah's classmates recently did away with the common chicken & spaghetti fare and went for a gigantic pizza. It seems it was a big hit with the kids so this is an option for me next year. Am thinking it will also lessen the things I need to distribute since the kids will likely want to get up and get their own slice from the giant pizza.

5. Think of your staffing plan. Visualize how many things will need to be lugged to the classroom from your car. This will help you decide how many helpers you need. Remember too that you can't bring a battalion of helpers because you not only need space in your car for all the stuff you need to bring, but classrooms aren't big enough to fit too many additional people.

To help, here is a list of things to bring:

• Cooler containing tetra pack drinks (with straws) and cooling agent (ice in ziploc bag)
• the themed cake (& cake pops/cupcakes if you choose this cake plan)
• Cake slicer (& serrated knife)
• Birthday candle/s
• Lighter or box of matches
• Cake boxes (the disposable lunchboxes with lids that fold close)
• Disposable forks to eat the cake with
• Table napkins to accompany the cake
• Large ecobags to carry your food order
• Loot (in lootbag or not)
• Garbage bags so cleaning up is easy
• your camera (make sure battery is fully-charged & memory card has enough space)

There are basically 3 main tasks during the actual celebration: [1] distribute -- first, the food, utensils, napkins & drink; second, the cake, forks & napkins; and third, the loot (but this one, your celebrant can do). [2] slice the cake. [3] take photos of the celebration.

The decision on how many people you need to do the distribute task will depend on the class size and if it is an option for kids to just line up to pick up their meal from you.

And there you have it: all the tips & tricks I've collected from 5 years of school birthdays. Hope this helps make planning & executing your little one's birthday in school simple & easy!

Photos are from annniegirl, polkadotshoppingbag & lushlee. 

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Simple Trick: Magazine Christmas Trees

Is it okay that I still haven't put up our Christmas tree if I made this one out of an old magazine?

It's actually quite easy to make. In fact, I did it while watching a DVD. :)

I started out with an old Preview mag. A 200-page magazine will make a tree as fat as mine. So pick a thicker magazine if you want a fatter tree (but I read here to not go over 250 pages. Not sure why.).

I folded the upper-right corner of the first page so it meets the inside seam and makes a fat triangle like this...

Then I folded the page again to form a thinner triangle...

Then I flipped the page so the back of the thin triangle page is facing me...

Then made a crease with the bottom flap like so...

Then inserted the flap inside the triangle...

... to make my first Christmas tree page...

I repeated these steps for a couple of pages, then realized there was an easier way to get the excess flap inside the triangle!

I "opened" the thin triangle and folded the flap before "closing" the thin triangle again...

And voila! A new Christmas tree page!

Around halfway through the magazine, this how it looked...

And once all the pages were done, I did the same to the cover pages. But to "seal" the tree, I tucked the flap of the back cover inside the front cover's triangle.

Learned this simple trick from my DIY-expert friend C (who got this idea from the Martha Stewart). C used one of her son's activity books and I think plans to spraypaint it in gold or silver. Pretty, right? 

But if you are like me, who can't reach spraypaint levels, I suggest you pick a magazine with more brightly-colored pages than white ones with text. Or pick a completely white book for a white Christmas tree like this. 

Oh, and one important thing you need to do before you start folding is to break the spine. I didn't do this so my magazine's spine is visible on the backside of my tree. To break the spine, open the magazine out fully, fold it back so the covers touch and crease the spine. Do this at different parts of the magazine. Then... fold away!

Photos are my own, edited via my iPhone's pixlr app, and from here and here.

Click here for incredibly amazing artistry created out of also folding pages of a book. Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Simple Trick: Get Baby to Look at the Cam

Yes, capturing a baby's backside is precious.

Even a baby's feet flailing out of a crib looks adorable.

But eventually, you'll want to capture his face. With Mommy or Daddy trying to catch his attention on the sidelines, you get photos like this.

So how can you get your toddler to look straight at the camera and give you a big happy smile?

This DIY Elmo on your camera will.

Made with a red scrunchie, white & orange felt and two black buttons.

  

Because what kid doesn't love Elmo?

Photos from acupofjo, pinkwallpaper, here and nyctaughtme.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Simple Trick: Iron-Disaster-Proofing

Many of my clothes have been ruined by ironing disasters. Am not really sure if the problem is our iron, our helper or the fabrics of the clothes I buy. The disasters have ranged from some shiny portions on a pair of slacks to tops that burned right through.

To avoid such heartbreaking disasters, I've learned to instruct our helper to iron our clothes inside-out. So even if the iron sticks to our clothes, it's the backside that gets tarnished. I've even had an instance when the underside of my collar got burned. To this day, I wear that buttondown shirt because no one ever sees the burn underneath that collar! It also serves as a reminder to our helper of what can happen if she forgets to iron our clothes inside-out.

Plus, I like the idea that the parts that touch our bodies are sterilized by the heat of our iron.

P.S. In case you're wondering, our helper isn't allowed to iron clothes in her underwear. :)

Photo from annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Simple Trick: Must-Teach Piano Piece

Recently, Noah dug up his old toy piano (you know, those little pianos you can buy from the toy store). He was banging at it noisily (so not music to my ears - in fact, cannot be considered music, by any definition!) so I decided to teach him to play a simple song.

I taught him to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

CC GG AA G FF EE DD C

GG FF EE D GG FF EE D

CC GG AA G FF EE DD C (you can opt to replace D with G, it's just simpler to use D)

Here's why it's the best piano piece to teach your young child:

1. It only uses a total of 6 keys. So it works even on the smallest of toy pianos.

2. It repeats the GG FF EE DD pattern 4 times throughout the song. So it's easy for a little child to remember!

3. The GG FF EE DD pattern is so simple because it just goes down the scale 1 key at a time (vs. skipping keys all over the keyboard).

4. And best of all, when he gets tired of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, it works with Baa Baa Black Sheep and the Alphabet Song as well! So imagine the sense of accomplishment of your little pianist who can suddently play 3 whole songs!!!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

CC GG AAAA G FF EE DD C

GGG FFF EEE D GGG FFFF EEE D

CC GG AAAA G FF EE DD C (again, you can replace D with G)

The Alphabet Song

CC GG AA G FF EE DDDD C

GG F EE D GGG F EE D

CC GG AA G FF EE DD C (again, you can replace D with G)

Here's Noah playing 1 of his 3 piano pieces.

Have fun watching your child turn into a proud pianist!

Photos are my own, edited via pixlr, and from imjustsaying.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

Simple Trick: Organizing Your Closet

I'm sure we all dream of a walk-in closet with closet after closet of wardrobe space. But if you're like me, with a small house here, you probably have very limited closet space. You probably also have too many clothes that your small closet is busting at the seams. Here are a few tips on closet-organizing that I learned from Kat of Space That Works. 

1 Using the same type of hanger for all your clothes instantly organizes your closet! Not only do you get rid of the eye sore caused by different hangers - hangers in various colors, materials (plastic, wood, wire), shapes & sizes, but the uniform hangers also bring your clothes' necklines & collars to the same level - which, I swear, makes a world of a difference. Oh, and make sure your hanger-hooks are all facing the back of your closet.

2 Choose the right type of hanger for your space. I've always been in love with wooden hangers. But unfortunately, these bulky hangers are only practical for big closets.

For small closets, it is best to choose thin hangers. Such flat (as opposed to the bow or curved structure of wooden) hangers allow you to cram more clothes into your tiny cabinet. I personally love the flocked hangers I got from True Value (P1,295 for a box of 30, though I checked recently and they're out-of-stock. Found flocked hangers in Howard's Storage World but they were more expensive). They are not only thin & flat, but their felt-like material keeps sleeves from sliding off the hanger. Their hook swivels too so it's easy to get all your hangers facing one direction.

3 Organize your clothes according to how you decide what to wear. If you pick clothes by color palette, then go ahead and organize your closet by color. If you choose your outfit for the day according to type - Do I wear pants or a dress today? - then put all your dresses together, all your bottoms together, all your tops together. Within a category (say, tops), you can opt to sort them by sleeve length: sleeveless together, short-sleeved together and long-sleeved together. For the dress category, you can sort them according to length (mini, knee-length and floor-length).

If you have very specific groupings like say, weekend clothes vs. office clothes, you can opt to divide your closet accordingly too. For seldom used groupings like beach and winter/travel, use underbed storage boxes (or store them inside luggage so you aren't wasting the space inside your Samsonite, Rimowa or LV trunk).

Also, not all clothes need to be on a hanger. Some clothes-categories like t-shirts, tank tops (sometimes, even pants) and especially underwear need to go on shelves or drawers versus hangers.

Oh, and remember to brief your helper on your organizing strategy so she can put the clothes back in their proper places after getting washed.

4 Purge. This is Kat's first requirement. Get rid of clothes that don't fit anymore, that "don't love you back". She says you should only keep clothes that you love AND love you. Meaning, clothes that make you look fabulous. Everything else must go. That they will come back in style, or that you will fit into it again when you lose those last few pounds, or that "this is expensive!" or a certain brand, are all excuses Kat does not allow (in her nice, sweet way).

This is the most painful part. So here's my last quick tip: instruct your helper to let the hanger-hook of newly-laundered clothes face the opposite direction. Then every morning, try not to pick the clothes on these hangers. If, after 3 months, majority of the hangers are still facing the back of your closet, then you know these are the clothes that need to go to the Donate bin. The fact that you chose other outfits over them for 3 whole months means that you either don't love them or they don't love you. So it's time to let go of them. And think of it this way... the closet space they will empty out is license to shop!!! But note that the rule from now on is in-and-out: when something new comes in, something new must go out.

These closet-organizing tricks certainly changed my life. An organized closet will put you back in control of your closet - and your life.

Follow these tips and email me before & after photos! :)

Photos from annnniegirl, heritage, polkadotshoppingbag, deliciouslyorganized and here.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series. Click here for the down-in-the-dots version of this post - a DIY trick that's not simple at all. 

Simple Trick: Busy Mom's Reviewer

My 12-hour workdays make it impossible for me to make my own reviewers & practice tests for Noah. So here are simple tricks that allow me to still provide my young gradeschooler with practice tests.

For previously answered worksheets, all you need are some post-its and a pair of scissors. Just cut out small strips (in this case, squares) of post-its to cover the old answers.

I love that I get to use my stacks of freebie post-its from here and there. 

All you need to do is go snip-snip on the part with adhesive and stick them on top of old answers. And voila! A reviewer ready for Noah to practice on!

Here's Noah busy working on the practice worksheet I "made" for him in 2 minutes.

The only problem is that I don't know what to do with the leftover strips of post-it ends - the parts without adhesive. :(

Now for unanswered worksheets, I remembered Pat-of-101gramsofeyecandy's quick tip here to use clear acrylic sheets. I didn't have such sheets, but I did have the plastic cover that some folders come in.

So I tucked the unanswered worksheet into the plastic cover flap and took out a whiteboard marker.

And they worked perfectly! Of course, I don't know how long this plastic cover will last so Pat's acrylic sheets might be a much better long-term idea.

The great thing is that Noah enjoyed writing with the marker more than his pencil so we even used the plastic-covered folder for his spelling review (I dictated the words and he wrote on the plastic with the marker). He had fun and we got to save a tree!

I love that Noah gets some advance practice and his teacher doesn't even have to know about it! :)

Oh, and I found a use for the leftover strips of non-sticky post-it parts... I used some as whiteboard marker eraser! Of course, we didn't get to use the whole stack so if you have any ideas on what to do with my leftover strips, please do email me or leave a comment on this post. 

Now, my 12-hour workdays don't need to interfere with my motherly (tutoring) duties.

Photos are my own, edited with pixlr, and from annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.