Treating Dry Skin in Winter

Winter can be very hard on your skin. The air is dry and cold, and your skin gets chapped and dried by wind and household heat. For some people, dry skin can become quite problematic in winter, resulting in flakes, redness, or even eczema.

Here are some tips and ideas for helping heal your dry skin, and preventing it from getting too dry again.

Night Creams

Night creams are generally formulated with oil rather than water. This is important for wintertime moisturizing – water-based lotions may be fine for summer, but in the winter you need something oil-based that will seal in moisture, sources say. Night creams tend to be oil-based.

Not all oils are created equal, though, and not all parts of your body will respond well to certain oils. For your face, experts point out that non-comedogenic oils are best. Jojoba and sweet almond oils are said to be good for the face, as they most closely resemble your body’s natural oils. For dry hands and feet, castor oil-based creams can be very effective.

“Spa” Footies and Gloves

Many of us like to slather on the moisturizer at bedtime. But then it all ends up getting wiped off on the bedding. An effective solution is thin cotton mittens or gloves and footies. You can usually get these for very little at your local pharmacy, drug store, or health food store. You can also use cotton socks.

Apply moisturizer heavily to hands and feet (start with your feet), and then cover them with the socks and gloves. The socks and gloves will hold the moisture against your skin all night.

Moisturizing Make-Up

One of the keys to healing and preventing dry skin is to use moisturizer daily. But it can be easy to forget, so using a make-up with moisturizer is a good way to get your skin moisturized each day. Some of these moisturizing make-ups are lightly tinted, while others provide more opaque coverage.

Moisturize the Air

Wherever possible, get moisture into the air in the winter. It will also make the air feel warmer. Sources recommend using a humidifier in the wintertime. If this is not practical, take some other humidifying steps: leave the bathroom door open when you shower; hang your wet laundry up in the house; leave pots of water on heating vents or on wood-burning stoves (safety first, of course).

Minimize Soap

Speaking of showers, we often unknowingly exacerbate dry skin in the shower. Many people scrub themselves all over with soap each time they shower, but this is really not necessary and can even be harmful. Instead, use soap “where it counts” (under the arms, for example) only, and just go over the skin of the rest of your body with a soft washcloth and water. Use soap on your body maybe once a week, and make it a moisture-rich cleanser.

Stroller Jogging Fitness – How to Get Rid of Leftover Baby Weight

Your first post-partum look in the mirror can be daunting. Then come the questions – how are you going to get in shape when baby takes so much time? How soon should you embark on a workout program? What’s the best method?

As long as you have your doctor’s go-ahead and have completely healed from the birth, a jogging stroller is a great solution.

Benefits of Jogging

Jogging is a great way to get in shape. Here are some of the benefits of jogging.

* Jogging helps burn calories, which is the key to weight loss.

* Stubborn fat, especially belly fat, is said to succumb to jogging.

* Jogging provides a full-body workout. Legs, arms, and core are all involved, which may help you feel a lot better all over.

* Heart health is said to be greatly enhanced by jogging. You get your heart rate up and keep it up for the duration of your jog.

* Muscle strength is increased by jogging. Moms need all the muscle strength they can get! Muscle tone, too, may be helped by regular jogging. It also is said to help build muscle as well, and the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn, even while sitting still.

* Bone density is increased with use, and with the right shoes and diet, the impact from jogging can help build bone. This is important particularly for nursing mothers.

* Studies show that exercise improves mood, particularly lifting depression. This can be a welcome effect for new mothers, who may suffer from post-partum depression.

Why a Jogging Stroller?

A jogging stroller provides all those benefits of jogging, but you get to take your baby with you. That fact helps solve one of the big problems many new moms face – not enough time to exercise. If you have to find a babysitter each time you went to work out at the gym, it’s not likely you’ll get there very often. But a jogging stroller is something you can use in your own neighborhood.

Another advantage of a jogging stroller is that babies love it. Older babies in particular really like moving fast in a stroller, and when they get old enough to ask, love to ask Mom to run while pushing the stroller.

Jogging strollers are designed differently than a regular stroller. Their design takes safety into account. While regular strollers have wheels, the similarity ends there. Jogging strollers have a three-wheel design, and the wheels do not pivot like they do in strollers designed for easy maneuvering at slow speeds. Jogging strollers are designed not to flip or tip the way umbrella strollers and other types might do when moving at the speed of jogging.

Fun Valentine’s Day Ideas for the Whole Family

There’s no reason why the whole family can’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. If you’d like to make it a special day for everyone, here are some ideas to help you get started.

Start a Tradition

You can start a whole new tradition, or maybe revisit one from your childhood. Traditions are one of the main things that make holidays memorable and fun. For example, you could begin by putting a little gift at your children’s place at the table in the morning. It could be a small box of candy or piece of jewelry. Waking up and finding something at the breakfast table can be really exciting for kids.

You could also have a tradition like making a favorite dessert or special meal together. Many of the ideas that follow can become traditions.

Love and Togetherness

Let Valentine’s Day be the loving holiday it’s intended to be! Make it a day of family togetherness and fun activities that everyone can enjoy. it can be a family movie day or game night, or maybe you could have a small gift exchange.

Crafts

A good craft project can get everyone involved. Some crafts are great for using up excess Valentine candy (such as those message hearts that somehow end up everywhere). For example, you can glue them into a heart-shape on a piece of card stock to make a card.

Other ideas might include making an edible flower arrangement for Mom (Dad and the kids can get together to do this one), or Mom can get together with the kids to make a special dessert for Dad. And of course, making Valentine’s cards out of construction paper, craft foam, glitter, and so forth is always fun.

A fun way to include a little gift with a card is to glue a “pocket” to the front of the card and slip candy or a small gift into it. You make the pocket simply by gluing 3 edges (2 sides and the bottom edge) of a square piece of card stock onto the front of the card.

A Special Meal

Try making a heart-shaped pizza and break out the non-alcoholic, sparkling “wine.” Kids really like to feel “grown up” enjoying this sparkly beverage in wine glasses. You could serve red Jell-O for dessert – maybe even cut into heart shapes.

You could also put together a red-themed dinner – maybe a beet stew (borscht), strawberries, and pink butter on bread (just add some food coloring to soft butter and mix). You can cut heart shapes out of the bread if you like.

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