Category: Lifestyle

The Kiddy Hub- One Stop Shop for all your kids related shopping!

Choosing right products for our little ones always comes across as a challenging task. Whether you are buying things for your own children or you wanna gift it to someone, there is a constant tussle on what kind of product to buy, should we opt for clothes, or do we gift some educational product, do we buy some home decor stuff exclusively for kids or settle for some toys. Most of the times taking this decision means checking out number of shops, or number of websites in case of online shopping, and then comparing and going crazy on what exactly to buy.
But no more, leave your children’s shopping woes at bay, and log on to www.thekiddyhub for all your children related gifting solutions.
 
The site offers almost everything you can think of under one roof and thus saves the hassle of checking out numerous shops or websites. They offer everything from customised gifts and home decor options, to great educational products, toys and even clothes. The site also offers wide range of items you may need to plan a party for kids.
 
I was recently in a dilemma when I had to gift something to a 5 year old kiddo for his birthday and this site came as a rescue for me. I actually had in mind to give him something useful, which is both engaging and interactive. I was inclined to give story books and then while searching for books i stumbled upon this amazing thing called as a STORY BOX. The story box is a great combination of a story book along with perfectly curated activities for your little one to enjoy and understand the nuances of the story and almost live the story in real.
 
I chose two story boxes, MAGICIAN and RED RIDING HOOD. First things first, the packaging was very neat and carefully done. Before gifting it, I wanted to personally check the contents and everything and hence I opened the boxes to take a look. Each item was separately packed and the box also comes with a small bag in order to put all your contents in one place post opening the box. I would also like to highlight, that I found the boxes very reasonable. Priced at just Rs 499 for each story box, and the number of contents it has, its totally worth it.

The Little Story Box makes boxes of carefully created and curated stories, supported by activities that bring them alive for children
Each box is built around our 4R approach : Read , Reflect , Retell, Reinvent
Designed to stimulate Creativity, Curiosity and Communication skills
Like the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood is brought to  life with the Little Red Riding Hood box! Read the Little Red Riding Hood Story with your little one , let them retell the story with DIY stick puppets , strengthen their fine motor skills as they enjoy the activity sheets , and let them reinvent their own version as they dress up in a Little Red Riding Hood cape!
Use this as an opportunity to reflect , together with your child , on the important topic of strangers and safety.

And the people behind this magnificent product are doing a fab job too. 

Smile multiplier creates children gifts that support a cause , so that you multiply happiness every time you shop for your child. . The cape in the box is made by the benificieries of the Animedh Charitable charitable trust , where less privileged women are given vocational training , to help them transform their lives.

Isn’t it a fantastic thing, I mean while you spread joys to your near and dear ones, it also reaches someone far away and make his/her life a little more meaningful.

I am totally hooked to this site and I know that whenever I have to buy something for kids, this is my go to place not just because of the products but also because I believe in the cause they are supporting.

Music For Well-Being: 11 Positive Effects Of Music On Health

Music for me is something that soothes my soul, it sets me free, lifts up my mood and helps me unwind in the most relaxing manner.

Music doesn’t provide just entertainment, but also has lots of positive effects on our health. I came across this wonderful article on Music for Well Being: 11 Positive Effects of Music on Health.

Read the full article here

Can You Really Do What You Want for a Living?

Have you ever wanted to make money from just doing whatever you want? It sounds ludicrous, but turning your hobby into a career is a real possibility if you know what steps to take. However, it doesn’t come without its downsides. If you’re interested in turning something you love into a career, then here are some things to consider.

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There’s a tough road ahead of you

Compared to going for an interview and hoping to get a job, trying to turn your passions into a career will be incredibly difficult. There’s no straight path to your dream job, you have to work hard and take whatever opportunities life gives you. As said by the late entrepreneur Jim Rohn, if you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.

Logical step to making a career of a hobby

First, you have to identify what your hobbies actually are. This sounds silly, but there’s a good reason for confirming what exactly it is you want to turn into a career. For instance, you might have multiple hobbies that you think you’re good at, but if you split your time between too many then you’ll spread your time too thinly.

Once you’ve settled on something to turn into a career, it’s time to figure out how you can turn it into a career. The first option is to sell your knowledge. This can be in the form of an eBook you’ve written or you can teach others. For instance, if you’re great at playing the piano then you can start your own private lessons. If you’re good at art, then you could teach art classes on the internet or in person.

Making a living out of creative hobbies

If your hobby is something creative such as producing music or painting, then you can also go the route of teaching others. However, you can also create things using your creative skills and sell those.

For instance, if you’re good at art then you can sell prints on the internet or you could place your designs onto shirts and sell those. If you’re good at playing an instrument and producing music, then you can record your songs and sell them on the internet or Nationwide Disc Replication to sell at a convention, public event or store. It’ll feel fantastic to be creative, make what you want and be able to make a living from it. There are many ways to sell your creative work on the internet, but it relies on something crucial: social media.

Marketing through social media 

Social media is perhaps the best way to market your services or products. It’s the cheapest way to get noticed and with one or two viral videos, you can quickly build a large following. Sometimes the brand name and your message are more important than your actual products, so don’t neglect the importance of building a name around your work.

As you can see, it’s possible to make a living doing something you love, but it’s not an easy road and you need to make use of every opportunity you’re given.

Keep Yourself Warm, Fit, And Happy This Winter

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Winter is on its way, which means it’ll be getting colder and you’ll just want to hibernate away from everyone. It is also very easy to start eating a lot more – again, the hibernation stage. And then you end up wobbling through the new year wondering how you put on so much weight.

Well, here’s how you can avoid that from happening while having some fun.

Go on a treasure hunt.

Include the whole family in this one and go out on an adventure. Thanks to modern day technology, there are now things called geocaching, which is essentially a virtual treasure hunt in which you use a handheld GPS to find hidden caches of trinkets. It’s actually a lot harder than you would imagine, making it a fun activity for all the family – including you grown-ups. Going on a walk doesn’t sound that interesting, but going on an adventure does. An adventure that requires you to be in a pretty location in the outdoors, surrounded by the fresh air, the ones you love, and a whole bunch of fat burning and muscle toning fun. Just remember to wrap up warm, and look out for wonderful winter wildlife.

Put on your dancing shoes.

Who doesn’t like to dance? Even if you’re no good at it, it’s still a lot of fun to do. It’s a way of releasing all the built up stress and being totally and utterly free for a while. Let alone it being a brilliant way to keep fit. Whether you feel more comfortable doing it from the comfort of your own home with the curtains shut and the music turned up to the max, or maybe you like the idea of taking part in some Zumba fitness for weight loss – just find something you enjoy. As long as you’re having fun, it won’t even feel like a workout. So disconnect yourself from the world for a while, and work up a sweat to your favorite tunes. Your body and mind will thank you for it.

Make play your workout.

Think back to when you were a child. What kind of activities would you do before your parents spoiled the fun by calling you in for dinner? Riding your bike. Rollerblading. Jumping rope. – These are all things that we enjoyed doing so much when we were younger, so why stop doing them now we’re grown? Rediscover that joy that you used to have all those years ago.

Go and explore on your bike and pedal as fast as you can until your legs turn to jelly. You’ll feel invisible, like no one can touch you, not even the biggest sports professionals in the world. And not only that, but think about all the calories that you’ll be burning as you go!

Now you see that there are a number of different ways to get active and keep yourself warm in the winter, you have no more excuses. Don’t let the idea of ‘working out’ put you off. It doesn’t have to be a chore at all – it can be a reward.

Work A High-Stress Career? Look After Yourself First

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Working a high-stress career is simply a must for many people trying to achieve their goals and pursue the life they want. There are almost more high-stress careers than there are low-stress, and so it’s important to tailor yourself to the job market so you can work the roles you truly want. For example, a great chef will only become great if they’re willing to suffer the long hours and hardships of the kitchen. A construction worker will need to become adapted to the rugged physicality of the job, as well as mitigating the overstimulation of the nearby machinery.

High-stress jobs are simply a factor of the working world, as they always have been dating back to antiquity. For these reasons, it’s important to take care of yourself to keep resilient and active in the direction you most want to pursue. We’d like to offer you some health tips for achieving this.

Medical

You must make sure you are well protected during your workplace activities. It shouldn’t take a H+S officer to give you the motivation to read through the safety policy at your firm. Knowing this could potentially give you life-saving information. At the very least, making sure you are well protected regarding the role you play can help.

If you’re on your feet for multiple hours a day, wearing soft crocs or supportive shoes can help your feet health and your alertness over the course of the day. Making sure you mitigate the effects of workplace trauma can help too, for example, tinnitus treatment can help you mitigate the effects of noisy environments, or become active to work again after an injury. Making sure your skin is protected in toxic environments and constantly assessing your breathing environment will give you and even more complete view of safety in the workplace.

Unwind

Giving yourself time to unwind from a stressful day will help you loosen some of the tightness you feel after a hard working period. It’s important that you give yourself this time, where you allow yourself to think about nothing in particular. For some people, this involves resting in front of the television, or consuming video games as a hobby. While these can be beneficial, and it’s more than your right to achieve this, there are better hobbies to help you.

Meditating can help you become more focused in your daily life, and actually de-emphasises the part of your brain responsible for stress. A simply crafting hobby can help you meditate physically, and creative expression is often the best way to de-stress. Reading a great book can help distract you in a completely different world, coming back to your life with added rejuvenation. These tips can help you overcome the difficulty of your daily schedule, and approach it with added caution and ability.

With these tips, your high-stress career will come second to your health, just the way it should be.

 

 

 

When Friendships End

Friendships are an integral part of the human experience. We need our friends to support us, help us out of bad situations, and just to be there to have someone to enjoy life with.

A lot is said about the pain and heartbreak that people experience when a romantic relationship ends, but what about a friendship? While the feelings might not run as deep as they do compared to a romance, you’re still losing someone significant from your life. You will still feel their absence; still miss them; still struggle without them.

The end of a friendship can be a difficult time, full of upset, misunderstandings, and difficulties. To try and understand how to get through this period in your life, read through the below, and try to put your experience into perspective.

Friendships End Naturally and Without Acrimony

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In most cases, friendships rarely end because of a horrible argument. You won’t lose friends to fights and acrimony, leaving you with a feeling of having been wronged, very often. The most common loss of friendship is simply drifting apart from one another, as your lives and experiences go in different directions.

When life changes, our friendships tend to change too. While TV shows and movies tend to depict friendships as existing from cradle to grave, this simply isn’t the case for the majority of us. We might have a few old friends, but we’re more likely to change friends as we go through life, drawing closer to those we share more experiences with. So if you and your former best friend don’t really hang out anymore, that’s not necessarily a terrible thing– it’s a natural part of going through life.

Coping With Bad Reactions When You Lose A Friendship

If you have lost an important friendship — either through an argument or just drifting apart from one another — then accepting this can be difficult. If you felt that person was deeply important to you, losing them can be jarring and upsetting.

If you spiral into destructive behavior, then it’s important to acknowledge it has happened and seek treatment, be it through seeing a therapist or looking for addiction counseling. There’s nothing wrong with grieving the end of a friendship, but you can’t let it drag you under forever. Feel the sadness of the loss, deal with it in an emotionally healthy way, and then allow yourself to put it into the past. 

Look For New Friends Who Suit How Your Life Is Now

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There’s no doubt that it’s tough to make friends as an adult, but the internet makes it easier than it ever has been before. Look at online forums and local Facebook pages and see if you connect with someone who is more on your level. Developing new friendships to replace those you have lost is important, so while it may feel odd to “put yourself out there”, you’ll benefit from it in the end.

Overall, no matter what the reason for a friendship ending, try and accept that it’s a part of life. Move on, with the help of a counselor if necessary, but keep all the good memories. You can then look back fondly, while moving on into the future with new friends, who fit into your life, and with whom you can make new memories.

 

Do You Know How To Act When You’ve Been Wronged?

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Unfortunately for most of us, life doesn’t always go as swimmingly as we’d once of hoped. Life does come with its ups, of course, but we also have downs. And sometimes, those downs start to take over your life. Whether it’s something that’s affecting your health, your livelihood, or just putting you out of sorts, you have to be able to do something about the way you’re feeling, especially if it’s not your fault. You will find that you’ll be wronged at least once in life. But the important factor is, not to dwell on it if you can help it. Instead, you need to know how to take action.

Lied To By A Friend

First of all, let’s tackle something sensible but not completely soul destroying. Being lied to can hurt. It’s definitely one of the wrongs that most have of us have had to deal with. Whether you find yourself being lied to by a friend, family member, or even a partner, it’s important that you know how to act. Firstly, you’re going to want to confront them, but in a non-threatening manner. If you’re ever going to accept the situation that you’re now in, it’s important that you can clear the air and move forwards, or put that relationship in the past.

Defrauded Financially

Next up, something a bit more serious. Having fraud committed against you can be a really stressful situation. Not only can it make you anxious, but it can also set you back in life. Whether you’ve been scammed online, or you’ve had your card cloned and money withdrawn from your bank account, you need to act. Speak to your financial provider to see if they can retrieve the money. Going forwards, you need to take more precautions with your finances, and even spread money between accounts.

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Hurt In Public

And what about being injured? By now, you’re probably more than aware that you can start a lawsuit for moments like this. So you’re going to need to speak to an expert in the field, such as Patino Law Firm personal injury attorneys, that can take on the case for you. Because you may need the funds to finance your medical care, and to pay your bills if you’re unable to work.

Cheated Out Of What’s Rightfully Yours

Then, there are the times that you’ve been cheated out of something that’s rightfully yours. This is the kind of wrongdoing that you’re either going to have to investigate yourself, like when a colleague takes credit for your work and lands the promotion, or hire a law firm for, such as land or an inheritance that has been taken out from under you.

Attacked Or Victimized

And frighteningly so, it is entirely possible that you could be attacked at some point in your life, or even victimized. When this is the case, you need to speak to the police. Or another professional body that can assist you, depending on the incident and where it took place. But the important thing is that you speak up, as keeping things to yourself will not bring justice down on those who deserve it.

 

 

Fighting Fit: Staying Healthy At Work, And For Work

It’s a real fight sometimes staying fit and healthy at work. However, it’s definitely worth doing, and this is for two reasons. The first is that no job is worth sacrificing your health for. After all, it’s really the only thing we have when you take all the trappings of life away. The second is that poor health can endanger your job. Leading to excessive time off sick and even resulting in you no longer being able to work and support your family. With this in mind read on for some advice on how to stay healthy at work, and for work.

Look at your work environment

The first thing you do to keep healthy at work is to look at the environment that you work in. Is it conducive to health and wellbeing? If not, what can you then do, or ask your employers to do to improve it?

It may be that you work in a shop or restaurant and are on your feet all day so you can decide to swap from heel shoes to flats. Something that will put less strain on your back and knees. You may work in an environment where the risk of infection is high, such as a hospital or public building. In this case why not ask your employers to provide hand sanitizer, and items like automatic doors, that can reduce the risk of infection? If you work in an office environment and are indoors all day, you may choose to start taking your breaks outside. This can help you stay healthier because you can access natural light that helps your body to create D vitamins, as well as getting a break from your desk.

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Just remember whether it is a change that you or your employer makes your environment can have a big impact on your health.

Use work health benefits

Next, a good way of staying fighting fit at and for work is to use the health benefits that your company provides. They may offer a free or reduced-priced gym membership. They may even be generous enough to provide health insurance. Although it is always worth asking what is covered by your policy, as not all grant access to eye health services as well as medical help. If this is the case with yours ask to add vision to your business insurance plan that your employer provides. They may even offer to pay for this for you, especially if you can prove that your eye health is vital to your job.

Manage your stress

Next, to stay fighting fit for work, it’s absolutely essential that you acknowledge and deal with stress. Just pretending that it isn’t affecting you will not stop it having a negative impact. Instead, you need to find constructive ways of dealing with it, ones that you can use while you are at work.

To this end, consider short guided meditations at your desk, taking breaks outside of the office, or even using a stress relief app like the ones here to help you manage any negative feelings. This will then help to stop them building up and causing more major health problems later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Fall Is The Perfect Time To Try Something New

It can be all too easy to start feeling blue around this time of year. The skies are getting a little darker, the days are getting a little colder and everywhere you look people seem just a little grumpier and more ill tempered. This is a shame because there’s a lot to love about the autumnal season. The reddish brown leaves of the trees, the slight mist that pervades in the air, the slightly smoky scent carried on the breeze. It’s a beautiful time of year! The trouble is that when the sun starts to retreat behind the clouds and the nights grow longer most of us find ourselves starting to feel down through no fault of our own. Fear not, however, you can mitigate the effects of these seasonal blues by shaking things up and trying new things.

Going back to school

It’s this time of year when kids and college students are going back to school which lends the season a certain frisson of excitement and opportunity. Just because your school or college days are behind you, doesn’t mean that you can’t energize yourself by trying something new. As we get older we tend to fall into the same habits and behavioral patterns and our brains go on autopilot as it’s not required to make new neural pathways. That’s why the days seem to last forever when we’re young and months go by in the blink of an eye when we get older, it’s because back then our brains were making new pathways all the time and we felt stimulated and excited. No matter how old we get, fall always seems like the start of the new year so now’s the time to reignite those feelings again.

Image by Pixabay

Change your eating and drinking habits

Even if you enjoy a healthy, balanced diet now is the perfect time to open yourself up to new culinary experiences. If you only ever drink white wine, try red. If you only ever drink vodka try whiskey, which can be an intimidating drink but there are plenty of more accessible starter whiskeys. Check out this Kikori review for a great example. The food we eat is a great way of understanding the various cultures of the world so trying a new cuisine is a great way of broadening your cultural horizons (without having to read subtitles). If you’ve always likes your food on the bland side, open yourself up to trying Indian, Thai or Malaysian foods. While these richly flavored foods utilize a broad palettes of spices to create dynamic and interesting flavors there are often plenty of accessible dishes to ease new diners into the flavors.

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Take a class

If you were a drama queen at school, join a local amateur dramatics society or (better yet) get yourself an agent and try and get some paid acting work in your free time. Or, why not learn a new craft. Most community centres and colleges offer classes in all kinds of arts, music and dance as well as sports. These are great ways of keeping in shape (why wait till new year?) while teaching new new skills and introducing you to a whole new circle of friends.

 

 

 

 

Don’t Wait Until The New Year to Break Those Bad Habits

If there’s one phrase guaranteed to make eyes roll the world over it’s New Year’s Resolution. This ancient custom has been with us since the days of ancient Rome and while we’ll never know for sure, it’s a good bet that those ancient Romans sucked at keeping them as much as we do. And they didn’t have nearly as many temptations as we face in the modern age. Let’s face it, we all have habits we’d prefer to kick and it can be all too easy to mollify ourselves into indulging our bad habits as we embrace fall and face the coming prospect of winter. After all, ‘tis the season to be jolly (and for jolly read gluttonous). As the skies darken and our hibernation instinct kicks in it’s tempting to spend every available moment huddled under a duvet quietly stuffing our faces, vaguely assuring ourselves that we’ll kick our bad habits utterly and completely (and this time we really mean it). There is, of course, one problem with that logic…

Image by PxHere

If it’s difficult now, it’ll be even worse in January

Sure, it’s getting darker, colder and drearier outside. The thing is, come January, it’ll be really dark, cold and dreary outside. As hard as it is to stay motivated to develop healthy habits in the fall, it’s much, much harder at the height of winter. Instead of deferring your self-improvement for a few months, this is a better time than ever to work towards a happier healthier you.

Now is the time to get in shape

It’s around this time of year when many of us begin to experience the onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. While this can lead to a sharp decline in motivation and energy, the natural endorphin spike that exercise provides is a great antidote to this affliction. Start your day with a trip to the gym or even a brisk jog and you’ll start to feel brighter and more positive as you go about your day.

Now is the time to admit you may have a problem

The upcoming festive period brings certain temptations with it, and these are often accompanied by a spike in alcohol related crime and illness. If you (or those close to you) are worried about your current alcohol consumption then you may need support over the coming months or risk lapsing into problem drinking. If you admit that you may have a problem now, you stand a much better chance of staying strong when the temptation is at its greatest. Check out https://broadwaytreatmentcenter.com/treatment/detox-program/ for examples of treatment that may be beneficial to you. Even if you don’t feel that formal help is appropriate to you, now is the perfect time to open up to someone you love. There’s no reason why you should face your troubles alone.

Now is the time to treat your body to some real nutrition

Of course your brain’s telling you to load up on fatty, sugary, salty convenience foods, but these will only feed the cycle of lethargy and unhappiness. Treat your body to fresh, natural whole foods which are scientifically proven to beat the winter blues and give your metabolism the boost that will help mitigate the wobbly effects of the inevitable indulgence of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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