It’s summer time which means it’s the perfect time to leave the electronics at home, explore the beautiful outdoors and create camping memories the kids sure won’t forget. Here are a few camping do’s to keep in mind when camping with the kiddos. We’ve also listed a few of our favorite places to camp in Arizona.
Camping Tips:
– Test Run: It’s not a bad idea to do a “test run” in your backyard prior to going on a camping trip. This will give the kiddos and you an idea of what it will be like sleeping in a tent.
– Washing Station/Wipes: It’s a must that you will get dirty camping – it’s so fun exploring in nature for worms, pinecones, fishing, etc. Although at the end of the day, it’s nice to take the dirt away. Bring lots of antibacterial wipes or set up a washing station with a bucket of soap and water.
– Entertainment: Bring along some extra fun things for the kids such as bubbles, squirt guns, coloring books, binoculars, magnifying glass and card games.
– Night Time Safety: Campsites are extremely dark at night and can be scary for kiddos but you can make it fun by bringing headlamps, flashlights, book lights and lanterns.
Family Camping Sites in Arizona:
– Woods Canyon Lake: Woods Canyon is 30 miles east of Payson and a 2 hour drive from Phoenix. You can fish, rent a boat at Woods Canyon Lake and they even have a little market to get supplies/ice cream. Check out more information or reserve your camping spot here.
– Lo Lo Mai Springs: Lo Lo Mai is located between Cottonwood and Sedona. It’s located on the creek and offers restrooms/showers, swimming pool, spa and playground. They also have a little market to get supplies. Check out this fun camp site here.
– Flagstaff KOA: If you are more of a “glamping” kind of family this is the place for you! You can rent tents/cabins, they have WiFi, Cable TV, bathrooms/showers, bicycle rentals and a cafe that serves breakfast every morning. You can get more information about Flagstaff KOA here.
We hope you found the above useful as camping with family is a lot of fun! Relax and enjoy making outdoor memories with your family.
Happy Camping ~
Caring Nannies

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Caring Nannies is wishing you a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. In honor of all of the veterans as well as the active service members, thank you for all that you do. We hope you enjoy these fun Memorial Day snack, craft and decoration ideas to do with your kiddos on this holiday weekend.

How cute and yummy are these patriotic desserts? You can find recipes for these 30 easy no bake patriotic desserts at ahunderaffections.com.

Have some fun getting crafty with these adorable Memorial Day crafts and activities with your kiddos. Go to theunpreparedmommy.com to find instructions on how to create these masterpieces.

Touch up your home with some red, white and blue for your Memorial Day BBQ with these quick and easy patriotic decorations from onecrazymom.com.

We thank you and celebrate you on this day! Happy Memorial Day!
From, Caring Nannies

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Mother’s Day is a celebration of honoring all the amazing mom’s, grandma’s, aunts, sister’s and anyone who has played a motherly role in your life. It’s a day to show these special women how much you love and appreciate them.
As a nanny, here are some suggestions on how to ensure the mom you nanny for enjoy their special day.

  1. Make a craft with their kiddos: A few popular, easy and non-expensive crafts are handprint cards, handprint pots (fill with mom’s favorite flowers), bookmarks, salt dough handprint or check out fun money mom for 11 adorable Mother’s Day Crafts.
  2. Tidy the House: We think all mom’s appreciate a tidy house and can relax easier when they know the house is cleaned. As a nanny, maybe go above and beyond to make sure the house is cleaned, even if it’s tasks you don’t do on a daily basis such as vacuuming, dusting, dishes, laundry or mopping.
  3. Plant Flowers: Take their kiddo to Lowes or Home Depot to pick out some flowers for outside to plant together. Moving forward, the mom and child can water the plant together making it a special time for both.
  4. Redbox: Rent a kid friendly movie ahead of time along with popcorn/snacks so that the mom and kiddo can watch it together creating a relaxing, enjoyable memory.
  5. Picture Frame: Take a picture of their kiddo and then make a popsicle stick frame together. Mom’s love homemade gifts. Check out this cute popsicle frame. 
  6. Time: Give the gift of time to the mama. Maybe go in early or stay late next time you nanny for their kiddo to help with morning/evening routine’s or give them an extra hour or two unpaid to give the mom an opportunity to go shopping/date night/mani & pedi or just to run errands.

We hope you have found these gift ideas helpful and we hope you enjoy spoiling your mama’s! We wish all mom’s out there a very Happy Mother’s Day from Caring Nannies! Enjoy your day – you deserve it!

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We had a great Saturday attending and being a sponsor at International Nanny Training Day at Modern Milk. International Nanny Training Day was created to provide training and support to nannies to help foster excellence in the nanny profession.  Caring Nannies is proud to be affiliated with National Nanny Training Day since it was first initiated in 2012. As with any profession, continued education is vital and when caregivers are trained and knowledgeable, children clearly benefit.

Training began with an amazing presentation by Jill Peterson who is with Hermonia. Jill talked about BE-ing vs. DO-ing, which referenced the impact you have as a nanny and how to chose who you want to be every day. Starting with picking two goals you want to set for yourself for that day. It was very inspirational, motivating and Jill is hilarious! Our next session was by Chelsea Kunde with Building Blocks AZ  talking about super power discipline styles. Chelsea was so sweet and funny giving us a lot of great ideas on finding solutions in creative ways. Some of our favorites is the calm down jar, sensory box, time out box and behavior charts. After our lunch break, Meredith Madsen shared some very informative tools on how to perfect a resume and how to be stellar for an interview! Meredith has so much experience in the field and had a lot of great tips and tricks to share!

Overall, we had so much fun learning and enjoying our day International Nanny Training! Many thanks to our friends at The Nanny Joynt for hosting this amazing event for nannies to come together to collaborate.
~Caring Nannies

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Caring Nannies Volunteer Event at Gathering Humanity

On Saturday, April 6th Caring Nannies had a fun morning volunteering at Gathering Humanity. “Gathering Humanity is a organization that works hand in hand with 4 Federal refugee resettlement agencies in Phoenix to support refugees being resettled in the Phoenix area”. They collect household goods, help set up apartments for the refugees and provides them with groceries and meals. Our morning was first spent hearing about their story and getting a tour of their amazing, well organized warehouse. We then helped assemble kits such as hygiene bags and backpacks for children. We had a wonderful morning and we really enjoyed our time. We are looking forward to many more volunteer events at Gathering Humanity.

If you and your family are interested in assisting Gathering Humanity there are many ways to help:

  • Prepare a meal
  • Set up an apartment
  • Warehouse volunteer
  • Group & Eagle Scout
  • Donate items
  • Provide groceries
  • Amazon wishlist
  • Assemble kits
  • Dollar donations

To find additional information or to sign up, check out Gathering Humanity’s website here.

“Do small things with great love” – Mother Teresa
– Caring Nannies

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How to keep kids safe and protected with cell phones

There are many pros and cons to your child having a cell phone. There is peace of mind when your child has a cell phone, it allows you to be more connected with them when you’re apart. It gives you the opporotunity to contact them at any given time and vise versa. Along with peace of mind, comes the worry from a parent questioning “is my child safe” with inappropriate web content, cyber bullying to screen time addiction.
Luckily, communication and supervision can dramatically lessen the risks. How?
Understanding the 3 C’s:

  • Contact: Does your child know the person they are friending on social media?
  • Content: Is the content your child is watching/engaging in appropriate for their age?
  • Conduct: Is your child being bullied or bullying others while being online?

Speaking to your child ahead of time about the 3 C’s and being present daily will be beneficial for all parties.

Using the Bark App:

Bark is an amazing app for parents to help monitor text messages, emails, YouTube and 24 different social media networks.  This app helps gain peace of mind for parents. You will get automatic allerts for cyberbullying, adult content, online predators, depression and more for only $9.00 a month. Bark is a great parent app giving parent the relief of keeping children safe online while building trust with their kids.
Get more information about Bark here.
Another wonderful rescourse for parents is the book called Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World. The book offers great advice on helping kids navigate through texting, gaming and social media. You can purchase the book on Amazon for $7.93 here.
We hope these tools were helpful for keeping your kiddos safe and protected with cell phones.
– Caring Nannies

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Read Across America

“Today you are YOU! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is YOU-er than YOU!” ~ Dr. Seuss

Read Across America is a day held to encourage children, parents, nannies and teachers celebrate the joy of reading. This fun holiday began in 1998 and has been observed every year on Dr. Seuss’ birthday! Here are some fun fan-seussical activities to do with kids:
Read:

  • Visit the library and check out a few of Dr. Seuss classics. We especially love Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, Wacky Wednesday and Ten Apples Up on Top.
  • Check out story time at Barnes & Noble or your local book store.
  • Sit back, relax and read with your kids while enjoying the magic that comes from reading.

Create:

Entertain:

  • Lots of Dr. Seuss online games at seussville.com
  • Dr. Seuss mathing game, order it here.
  • Watch some of Dr. Seuss’ entertaining movies, such as: Horton Hears a Who, Cat in the Hat, The Grinch and The Lorax.

Eat:

  • How cute are these Truffula Tree Cupcakes from the story The Lorax.
  • These are the perfect snacks for any Dr. Seuss party!
  • Of course you can’t go wrong with the traditional Green Eggs & Ham. Check out this dye-free recipe.

We hope you’ll enjoy Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

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Happy New Year from Caring Nannies

It’s a New Year which means a new you! Looking to be more organized for 2019? We are here to help! We have found some amazing apps to help busy mom’s and nannies stay organized and on top of crazy schedules.

Baby Connect: Baby Connect is a tracking application to help record feedings, nursing, naps, diapers, milestones, baby’s moods, temperature and what kind of games they are playing. You can also attach pictures!  Baby Connect with synchronize information with your spouse and nanny, it’s a great tool to use for learning what is going on with your baby while you are away.

Toilet Finder: Potty training can be a little challenging, especially when leaving the house.We think this app is helpful for all ages – not just toddlers! This app helps you find a nearby toilet in an instant.

White Noise Ambience: This app comes in handy when trying to get your child to sleep when your out and about.The app has a variety of comforting ambient sounds.

Big Oven: Looking for meal ideas? Look no further. Big oven has all the tools you need to provide amazing meals for the family. You can find recipe inspiration, plan meals, create grocery lists, help reduce food waste, and more all on one device.

Daily Nanny: This app is great for nannies to clock in, add shifts and keep track of over time hours. The app does the math and keeps track of it all for you.

We hope these wonderful apps can help make a difference in 2019. These apps will make you more organized and will help you get more done with less stress.
Happy New Year,
Caring Nannies Staff

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