Top 5 Dos and Do Nots of Your Child's First Dentist Visit

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I've now seen two children through their first dental visits, which in blogger terms means I'm now qualified to tell you how to attempt it with your own children. HA! But rather than just take my quasi-tips as gospel, I've actually teamed up with a Perth Kids Dentist, Aim Dental, to let you guys in on some of the insider info from a dentist and a mum perspective on everything from first visits, losing baby teeth and more.

The aim (see what I did there?) is that a first dentist visit for kids should be a predominantly positive experience and there are a few things you can do to help that:

Do NOT

1. Show them that dentist scene in Willy Wonka. You know the one? Where Willy has gigantic braces on, isn't allowed to eat lollies and is abandoned by his dentist father. That one. Yeah, maybe skip that.
2. Show your fear. Are you afraid of the dentist? I can relate, I wouldn't say I'm scared, but I'm definitely not waving any pom poms. Hide it. Bottle it up. In the words of Elsa, "conceal, don't feel, don't let them know". Kids are like dogs, they can smell your fear, try not to transfer your fear to them.
3. Give your kids sugary fizzy drinks and sugary food. You'd think that was a given, but it's not. 41.8% of 5-6 year olds in WA have dental decay in their baby teeth, and 39.6% of 12 year olds have decay in their adult teeth, mostly due to a combination of fizzy drinks, sugary treats and not brushing properly. 
4. Let your kids brush their own teeth. Little kids can't brush properly by themselves, so you'll have to do it for them. Research shows that some kids will need help up until they are ten.
5. Freak out if they cry, scream, refuse to get on the chair, or refuse to open their mouth! A great kids dentist will have a longer appointment booked for a first go, and will work with you and your child to get the job done, but the calmer you stay, the better.

Tricky's been before, but Bobbin's first dental visit went better than anyone hoped

DO:

1. Brush their teeth twice a day! Try your hand over theirs if they want to do it at the same time. Tricky and Bobbin take turns with us - Mum or Dad do it first, then they get to have a go. 
2. Read some books about first dentist visits. My two loved Peppa Pig's trip to the dentist where George is scared. You can also hit up YouTube for some first dentist vids but pre-watch them because some are just weird. The image above shows the titles we read in the weeks and days leading up to Bobbin's first visit last month.
3. Find a Perth dentist who is great with kids - Aim Dental is really focussed on making kids feel relaxed. From the toy box in the waiting room while they fill out their own super cute client forms (OMG it's adorable), to the funky glasses and cool cartoons on the screen while they are in the chair (never bloody had that when I first went!), and a goodie bag with a new toothbrush at the end of their first visit, it makes for a pleasant and tear-free experience. Just look at my two! They even had a professional clean - all for the grand price of NOTHING with no gap kids dental with our health fund.
4. Brush and floss your own teeth in front of the kids - it might mean brushing well before your own bedtime and having to do it again, but seeing that you do it too and aren't just forcing them to do it can be really beneficial. 
5. Reward their first trip to the dentist with something that isn't food! A trip to the park, a picnic, bowling, half an hour on the iPad, whatever they like! 

Just look at those pearly whites!

Now that it's over... book in the next visit for six months time.

For more details from actual professional people, check out Aim Dental's 5 things to do to get your child ready for their first dental visit.

In defence of Blogger blogs

An article was shared in a blogging forum I belong to today, called "36 Reasons Why Having a 'Free Website' is a bad idea". It was shared with the hope of putting the idea of free blogging platforms to rest once and for all. Thing is, I disagree with almost every point and would argue that it doesn't have anything to do with blogging on Blogger. Some of it would be an issue if you're creating a website... but we're talking blogging as it was raised in a blogging forum.

I don't understand the whole "my platform is better than your platform" malarkey that goes on day in and day out. It would seem that some people can't appreciate that what is important to them is not important to others, perhaps?

I remember back when I first started my blog and I had no idea if this little hobby would be something I stuck with for a month or even a week, there was so much pressure to move to WordPress. The person who did the most pressuring ended up having his WordPress sites hacked to the point where he could not retrieve any of the data and had to start again. Yet here I was on my free platform, plodding along nicely.

Turns out I did stick to it and my blog turns seven this year. Woah. So I have six years of experience with Blogger being NOT TERRIBLE. Sure, way back in the beginning there was less functionality, so perhaps people are writing these articles from how it used to be?

But I'm going to come out in defence of Blogger for no other reason than I'm tired of people assuming I'm stupid for choosing it. It suits my needs. I'm not saying it suits yours. So here is my point by point rebuttal:

1. Extremely slow websites

In my experience the slowest websites are those who have massive images, and it has very little if any to do with the platform those massive images are held on.

2. Unprofessional web addresses

Um, heard of buying domain names? Mine costs $10 per year.

3. Trial service is not really free

Doesn't apply to Blogger.

4. Hidden charges for free website

Doesn't apply to Blogger - unless you want to buy your own domain, but you have to pay for that no matter which platform you choose.

5. They can lock down your data

Migration services are not a problem if you've been backing up your blog. See that? I'm all for migrating platforms if your needs change!

6. Irrelevant advertisements on your website

You can choose to have Adsense running on your Blogger blog or not. If you choose to have it, it uses magic sparkle power to figure out which one will work best - i.e. an algorithm to find key words and put up an ad that it thinks will match. You don't have control over the specific ad shown but you can say no to all ads if you wish. This is for any site that uses Adsense though, not just Blogger.

7. They can shut down your website

Technically yes! They can come along and boom! All gone. If you've been backing up, this shouldn't be an issue. But I'd like to point out that your hosting company can also do this. If your content promotes horrible nasty things like killing kittens or listening to Nickelback, or breaks the law they can remove it. I personally know a case where a small hosting company didn't like a review they got from one woman and held her content to ransom if you will. Unless the server is in your own house, someone else has an element of control.

8. These companies can disappear at any time

As can your host. I'd like to think that a company as big as Google would give me a little notice when it shut down a service. They've shut down things before, usually with six to twelve months notice. So I can scurry along and find another service then if I need to.

9. You will lose your site address

Again, heard of buying your own domain?

10. They can sell your information

I absolutely agree that if you're not paying for something, you are the product. And that's fair, because companies need to make money. But free services are not the only ones that sell off their mailing lists to other companies.

11. No site building tools

Sigh. There's plenty. And look, we're talking about blogs here, I'm not trying to convince Myer to move their website to a Blogger blog.

12. No WordPress

Yeah, that was actually part of the appeal of Blogger for me back when I had zero skills. If you aren't capable of maintaining plug ins and backups, then WordPress might not be for you. SHOCK! HORROR! If you can't run the back end, then you're leaving yourself open to security holes and hackers. Not everyone wants to control the back end. Add euphemism here if you wish.

13. Limited WordPress

See above.

14. Malware distribution

Again, not for Blogger. You have the power of Google behind you. You know what is notorious for malware? Plug ins! Third party apps and widgets and whatnots. There are some fabulous, well respected, awesome plug ins, no question. Keep them updated and it usually isn't an issue. Usually.

15. You may become part of a link farm

Do they grow baby links?

16. Limited bandwidth

Again, we're talking blogs here, not companies with big websites that also have a blog to show you how hip and relatable they are. How much bandwidth do you need?

17. Low disk storage

My storage is always telling me I've used 0%. Six years of blogging and it's still not enough data to even register. I remember it went up to 1% once, and not long after all the storage allocations were increased.

18. Vulnerable to hacking attempts

Anyone with third party widgets is open to hacking if they aren't kept up to date. Blogger only allows pre approved widgets meaning they're going through Google security first. You can add your own at your own risk if you wish.

19. HTML only sites with limited number of pages

How many pages do you need for a blog? Big website, sure, go for pages and sub categories it's important. But, um, there is no limit to the number of pages on Blogger blogs.

20. Low credibility among your users

I'd argue that any poorly maintained blog (or website) lowers credibility. I've been trying to convince Tricky's school to fix their website for two years now - their expensive, self hosted, ticks all the right boxes website. Because it stands there with "under construction" on most of the pages, and images that are twelve megapixels big creating massive load times. That looks extremely unprofessional despite it being a you beaut, self hosted website. Spelling mistakes, broken links, poor font choice, missing data and being unable to correctly number list items are things that make a site look unprofessional.

21. Limited design choices

Not really. There are so many templates within Blogger and literally thousands of combinations to choose from. If you don't like those there are a stack of free templates you can install or you can pay for a custom template if you want. I've never paid for a custom template (yes, we can tell I hear you say), I've always just tweaked bits here and there and figured out what to do with tutorials.

22. No help or customer service

There is less Blogger customer service representatives, yes, but that doesn't mean that there is no help. Because it is such a widely used platform there are thousands (yes, thousands!) of websites offering tutorials - written and video, so you can choose one based on how you learn best.

23. You can't run advertisements or make money

Um, yes you can. The article states you can't add Adsense... It's a Google product, of course you can put it on your other Google product.

24. There are no backups

Yes there is. You are responsible for your own backups. But wait, you say, I'm not responsible for my backups with my host! Well, the standard backups for most hosts are not guaranteed, you have to pay extra for a full guarantee backup. Which is great if you want that security, but there are backups in Blogger.

25. Difficult to get rid of

There's a button that says delete blog. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Or you could just hide your Blogger blog if you wanted to. Or make it accessible to only a few, invite only VIPs.

26. No statistics or decent analytics.

The article states you get free statistics about your site's visitors and can even install Google Analytics if you go self hosted. Newsflash. Blogger has always had this.

27. You will be targeted with email offers

The only targeted offers I get are for Adsense dollars, which anyone who signs up for it will get, regardless of their platform.

28. No support for mobile phones

I can update my blog from my phone or tablet if I want to. There's an official app for that. And a few third party apps, too.

29. No responsive designs

I click a button that says "enable mobile site" and by magical fairy powers it transfers my theme to a mobile one - yes, even my completely self modified template. Totes hard.

30. No branded email.

I've had a branded email from the moment I bought my own domain. It's called Google Apps. It's also free.

31. No contact forms or email forwards

There is a contact form within Blogger, you can choose to add it on your blog as a widget if you wish. With Google Apps, the emails come straight from Google to me.

32. Limited file upload features

To be honest I've not tried to upload more than six images at a time. But that is more than the one image at a time that the article states.

33. 

The original article has skipped number 33. My favourite bloody number, too. Bastards. See number 20 for details.

34. No way to setup redirects

OH LOOK! One that is actually true!

35. Investing time on a free website is unwise

It depends on what your intent is! I think it is unwise to pay a lot of money for hosting when you are just starting up and have no idea whether you're going to be blogging for more than a week. I think it is unwise to pressure people in to choosing a more technically advanced platform that they might not be comfortable with. I think it is unwise to recommend a site to a beginner because your own website needs more functionality. It's like recommending I get a 21 seat coaster bus because YOU have a big family that uses one and finds it fabulous. My little family does not need it.

36. Not even for practice

This isn't a reason. But I still disagree with it. Ha! f you've got a website and aren't 100% sure on your coding, a free platform to play on that doesn't screw up your other one is a great idea if you're unfamiliar with HTML checkers.

There is nothing wrong with using a free platform if it suits your needs.

I'm not saying that one platform is better than the other - they are DIFFERENT and will suit DIFFERENT people for their DIFFERENT needs. But if you're going to come out and say one is better, then maybe do your research, because out of the 36 reasons above (35 if you realise one is missing - 34 if you realise the last one isn't a reason), only one is really a downside to Blogger, and that's redirects. Which for me personally, is not an issue.

My Blogger blog is perfect for what I want it to do. I am not after world domination, I am not trying to have a business, and I'm not trying to use it to sell products. I just want to vent the crap in my head and maybe get some pocket money every now and then. If I change those plans at some point, which is highly unlikely, then I might find the platform doesn't suit my needs any more. But as it is, it looks like I'll hit the seventh birthday still on Blogger. Still suiting me great.

If you wish to read the original article you can find it here.

The Mallen Child

Mallen Streak: A decrease or absence of melanin in hair (poliosis), particularly in one area, giving rise to a "Mallen Streak".

Child: A person between birth and full growth; a boy or girl.

Mallen Child: A person between birth and full growth who, through their shenanigans, cause their caregiver to go prematurely grey.

I have this child. She's amazing. When people ask me what she's like, I say she's full on but a lot fun. A handful, but good value. Because she is.

She is feisty. Smart. Strong willed. Adventurous. A leader, and completely and utterly fearless.

Which translates to her being a skilled talker, which I can handle and find advantageous (except when she is arguing with me), and a climber with skills waaaaay above her years... which I cannot.

She is my Mallen Child. She is sending me grey with worry and stress. No seriously. I have a streak of grey hair - a Mallen Streak, on the left side of my head.

I *thought* I had a climber when Tricks was little. Ha. HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How wrong I was. Because Bobbin has taught me what a true climber is.

She flies to the top of play equipment in seconds, and has done since she was about 18 months old. She sees a play house and within the blink of an eye, she's somehow on the roof of it. That window ledge? No problem, up she gets without anything to help her reach. She'll be sitting on a bookshelf if you stop paying attention. The middle trapeze on the swing set? Climbs up the edge and shimmies across. Then half the time she jumps down - from things two and three times her height. My heart is in my mouth the entire time, but if you try to help you're met with screams of "I do it myself!". So she does. And I get greyer and greyer.

Then the other day, when I thought I'd seen it all, I was schooled in what a Mallen Child really is.

I was on the toilet, no doubt luxuriating in the fact that neither child had followed me in, when Tricky called out to me.

"Mum, Bobbin did a wee on the car"

What? On the car? He must be mistaken. Not that she'd done a wee, because my previously 95% toilet trained toddler has decided that she no longer wants to be toilet trained and is back to weeing everywhere (but that's another story, and another Mallen Streak). Maybe he meant a toy car? A dinky car? A remote control car that would now be sodden and not working? My brain rattled off the scenarios as I made my way outside to where they'd been playing before I'd answered nature's call.

And there she was...

ON THE FUCKING ROOF OF THE FUCKING CAR!!!

She'd stripped off, climbed on to the bonnet, done a wee, then climbed up the windscreen on to the roof of the car. Where she was pretending to be a puppy dog, wagging her knicker-less bottom around and woofing.

Kill me.

As I moved toward her, she'd move closer the edge. She was out of reach despite standing on tip toes with my hand outstretched to her the whole time. If I backed away, she'd settle in the middle of the roof, somewhat safer. The only thing to do was to talk her down. We were like a police negotiator and a tiny terrorist.

Not thinking anyone would believe me, I turned my phone on to record and shoved it in my top. It recorded me talking her down for two minutes. Not a long time... unless your butt naked child is on the roof of a car, in which case it might has well have been five fucking hours.

Send help.

Now a Mallen Child is not a bad thing. If I was trying to make this a bad thing I wouldn't have given it such a cool name. Mallen Streaks are kinda cool... think Rogue from X Men, Anna from Frozen, Lily from The Munsters, and Sweeney Todd from the Demon Barber of Fleet Street... OK maybe not the last one.

But on the whole, the Mallen Child is like the Mallen Streak: funky and a little badass in the best way possible. People dye chunks of their hair different colours to replicate the look, so it must be cool (says the woman who does this). My own real Mallen Streak wasn't discovered initially because I cover my false Mallen Streaks with whichever colour happens to float my boat that month. I was unknowingly covering the grey with pinks, purples and blues. It wasn't until the blonde started to grow out that this streak of silver was visible.

So I'm embracing my Mallen Streak, and I'm embracing my Mallen Child... because if I hold her tight enough, maybe she won't climb anything else and move on to being the Heart Attack Child.

Do you have a Mallen Child?

8 things that broke these school holidays

It's the last few days of the school holidays here in the west and parents everywhere are rejoicing.

I'm normally a fan of the holidays and having my kids home. I get to pretend to be a teacher or a Playschool presenter (dream job!), or whatever, and get messy with glitter and all that fun shit. As a bonus the kids quite like it, too.

I say normally though, because these holidays have kicked my butt. A few weeks ago I was officially counting down until school began. Only two weeks! With a public holiday in the mix! You can do this, they can smell fear, just grab the paper plates and pipe cleaners, you can do it!

Things that were broken these school holidays:

1. the LG tablet screen when the Trickster accidentally dropped it - though shattered is probably a better descriptor.
2. a doll's bed - because Bobbin pretends she's a doll and uses it despite it being weight rated for a rag doll.
3. a remote control car Christmas present - one bloody day after Christmas
4. the sound barrier when my kids screamed at each other for 1000th that day - oh dear gawd, the screams! 
5. the dog's bowl after being run over by Bobbin's scooter.
6. Bobbin's scooter - the dog bowl incident had no survivors.
7. my headphones as they were unceremoniously yanked from my phone by a small person who is not allowed to touch either phone or headphones.
8. my spirit, my resolve, my faith in myself as a parent - see item 4 and others for details.

There were probably more things, but I've either erased them from my memory in order to protect my psyche and prevent me from rocking in the corner, or there was just so much fighting and screaming that my brain shut down and didn't register them in the first place.

Seriously, where did my gorgeous kids go? The picking, the fighting, the hitting, the body slamming!!! Where did they even learn that move?! One minute they'll be playing lovely together and the next they are at each others throats, trying for blood. Is it an age thing? I bloody hope so, because it's fucking exhausting refereeing tiny anarchists.

Yet now, a few days out, and I'm all sad panda because the holidays are almost over and I will miss Tricks so much when he isn't around! Contradiction much?

Do you love or loathe school holidays?

Easy DIY Rocket Packs

My gorgeous little nephew turned one yesterday. ONE! *Insert OMG how does time move so fast sentiments here*

On the weekend he's having his first birthday party and it's SPACE themed. If you know me at all, you'll know I love a themed party! So what could I do when my kids were invited to an out of this world shin dig? DIY Rocket Packs! BOOYAH!

A quick glympse at Pinterest (collating the best bits from a few different styles) and I knocked up these bad boys in an afternoon.

You'll need:

• two empty soft drink bottles (thanks to that shape, everyone can tell ours are from Coke)
• gaffa tape (ours was silver)
• silver spray paint
• red, orange and yellow felt
• scissors
• marker
• hot glue gun

1. Spray your empty, dry bottles with paint - I put mine on sticks and stuck them in the garden so I could spray the whole thing without touching it. Leave it to dry for as long as the instructions on the paint say... don't take it off early or you'll get silver all over you. ASK ME HOW I KNOW!
2. While the paint is drying, figure out what shape you want your flames to be and draw a rough outline on the felt with a marker. Leave a tab at the end so that you can easily glue it to the bottom of the rocket later.
3. Cut out the first shape and use it as a template for the next. Keep going until you have the three layers (or two, up to you!).
4. Using a hot glue gun (and not burning off your fingerprints like I did), glue the layers of flame together. I went right to the tip of each flame because I know my kids would pick them apart if they were loose.
5. When your bottles are dry, tape them together using your gaffa tape. If you can't find silver tape, do this step before you spray them so that you don't have to do it all again.
6. When everything is dry, place more hot glue on the tab and push it in to the neck of the bottle, pressing down firmly until the glue sets. 
7. To create straps, pull out two lengths of gaffa tape and fold each in half length ways so that they are now silver strips, and thread them through the gap where you secured the bottles together. If it doesn't fit through, add another piece of tape. To secure them on to the kids you can either tie the strips together in a knot, or use a small piece of tape to fasten them all together, much like a four point harness. This worked best for my robust lot. 

It's that easy! And you can sing the Mr Maker theme song the whole time like I did, if you want!

If you can't be bothered with all the felt and burning of fingers, then you could easily substitute crepe paper, or even draw a flame on cardboard and let your kids colour it in.

My two zoomed around the yard and went for giant space walks (on the trampoline) for about an hour before I pulled the plug and said they had to keep them in one piece so we could wear them to the party! At which point they cried and I yelled, and it was bath time and OMG don't be so ungrateful I just made you a kickass jet pack. Kids, hey?