Vinegar & hard water

Let vinegar sit on surfaces with hard water deposits for a while and watch the hard water disappear after you wipe it all off!

Are these eggs still good?

The freshness of eggs can be tested by placing them in a large bowl of cold water; if they float, do not use them.

Sugar helps burns

A trick I learned years ago and it really helps: Try sprinkling a little white sugar on your tongue the next time you burn it on hot chocolate or a hot beverage. It eases the pain and helps the burn go away faster.

Thyme for coughing

Did you know that the kitchen herb thyme is great for coughs? Simply make a tea out of it (I use a teaspoon for a cupful of hot water) by steeping it in the cup (I use a diffuser but still have to pour it out into another cup over a paper towel or cheesecloth). It not only helps make the coughs more productive, it helps ease them a little as well. I used this for both my 4-year-old daughter (she loved a cup sweetened with honey!) and my baby who was 6 months old (gave it in a dropperful unsweetned) at the time when the oldest had bronchitis this past winter and my youngest had croup (at the same time). Of course we were needing to use other medicines as well and were following the advice of our healthcare practitioner. But the thyme helped tremendously, especially in getting over everything. If you have a cough and don't think you need to be seen yet, try the thyme. It really works!

Hairspray and stains

The cheap non-aerosol hairspray works wonders for stains, especially ink and marker stains! If it doesn't come out the first time, don't dry the clothes (let air dry instead of dryer) and spray again. Let sit for a while and wash again. Don't dry again if it's still not gone. Let air-dry and do it again. I had to do this about seven times to get some permanent red ink out of one of my husband's shirts, but it came out. Sometimes it just takes once. If you don't have time to wash your clothes (you mark on the one you're wearing, for example, and can't take it off), do the hairspray as soon as possible and let it sit for a minute or two and then try to wash it out by dabbing with water. It works really well on other surfaces as well.

First aid for mouth injuries

If you're a parent, you've probably seen plenty of busted lips, bitten tongues and more in the way of mouth injuries for your children. Maybe you've even been lucky enough (like myself) to be the recipient of a few head butts from those adorable heads full silky-soft hair and have gotten some of those injuries yourself. You're wondering what kind of first aid you use for such an injury. Look no further than Gly-oxide antiseptic oral cleanser (http://www.glyoxide.com/ if you can't find it in the oral care section at your store) followed by Rincinol (https://commerce.jbutler.com/consumer_products.asp?nCategory_ID=73&nGroup_ID=394). I've always used the Rincinol liquid but I think they may have it available in something else now. This has taken care of busted lips -- on the inside and outside of the lip -- that I thought might need stitches and at the very least thought might be infected. Before I found Gly-oxide and knew only about Rincinol, it took care of my oldest daughter when she was almost a year old and had bitten her tongue pretty badly. It would not heal for a couple of weeks despite what I did because she would keep biting it and make it worse. I even took her to the doctor, who thought at first it was a really bad burn on her tongue (but it wasn't). I finally found Rincinol and would pour it over her tongue four times a day. In a matter of about three days her tongue was almost completely healed.

Back and neck pain can be helped

I have a herniated disc in my lower back (Note to expectant mothers: ALWAYS bend carefully when picking up and putting down your baby. This happened to me when my oldest was 9 months old as I was putting her down. Use your arms, legs and rear for all the weight NOT your back!). I have also recently hurt my neck. Again (but this time is a doozy). I have found that Robin McKenzie's books "Treat Your Own Back" and "Treat Your Own Neck" are invaluable. I highly recommend them for anyone with even the slightest pain from time to time to pain all the time. If you do his excercises correctly, you will find relief -- if not complete then at least partial.

Umbrella Strollers

I love umbrella strollers! Out of all the strollers I've used, I think this gets used the most. I keep one in the car and when I go into a store to get just a few things (sometimes even a moderate amount!), I put the baby in the stroller and then hook a shopping basket around the handles. Now I don't have to worry about cleaning off germs from the shopping cart and my baby will usually stay happier. This was really a bonus when I just had one child, as she got to be a toddler. She was more manageable in the stroller than a shopping cart. Now that I've got another one, I have to put the youngest in the stroller and make sure my oldest stays next to me. But it's still much easier than using the cart if I don't have to get many items!

Constructive feedback works

I've learned that when you are unhappy with a product, especially when you have paid your hard-earned money for it, you need to complain with constructive feedback. If the company is worth anything, they will either replace the product for you or send you coupons worth the amount you paid or more, or both.

Prenatal Testing

Another lesson I've learned is to get your progesterone levels tested as soon as you find out you are pregnant. A friend and I are pushing for this to become standard testing. Visit http://lowprogesteroneinpregnancy.com for more information.

Barbecued Chicken

I'll start by giving a great piece of advice my mother shared with me a couple of years ago, after my husband got food poisoning from chicken he thought he'd cooked long enough on the grill: Anytime she cooks chicken on the grill, first she preheats the oven to be ready when the chicken comes off the grill. After cooking it, she wraps it in aluminum foil then cooks it in the oven a while longer. You can also baste it again before putting it in the oven. This not only prevents food poisoning from it being undercooked, it makes really juicy barbecued chicken. I've told several friends about this and they have been excited to try it, since nearly all of them have had bouts of food poisoning in their family after grilling chicken. And of course, it tastes great and works!