Fatherhood Factor

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Fatherhood Factor Team

Tips for Picking the Right Mold Remediation Company

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Mold is nearly inevitable for homeowners. When mold does grow in your home, it’s easiest to call in a remediation team to help. However, not every company comes with the personality, pacing, or plan you’re looking for. Here are three tips for picking the right mold remediation company for your home.

Look for a License Number

Many states or provinces require a mold remediation contractor license. If you’re looking for services, first look for a license number on their site. In regions without contractor license requirements for mold businesses, look for certifications instead. These certifications aren’t the be-all and end-all of a great mold remediation company, but they can communicate the dedication and knowledge of the team.

Seek Out Reviews, Good and Bad

Customer testimonials are an invaluable tool for families looking to hire any kind of home repair service. While you can start with the reviews on the company’s website, these only give you an idea of the company’s best side. Seek out good and bad reviews on review sites to get a more well-rounded idea of how the company operates. Often, the most valuable aspect of these reviews is the company’s responses to them.

Remember to consider the date of each positive or negative review, as some companies grow and adapt over time to improve their service.

Call Ahead To Start the Conversation

It’s always a good idea to call any service company you’re interested in hiring ahead of time. Willingness to answer initial questions over the phone or via email tells you more about how responsive and communicative their team is in person. Calling ahead also gives you an idea of their customer interaction style. As these people enter your home and interact with your family, it’s important to know that they speak to you in a way you appreciate.

These tips for finding the right mold remediation company should help you find a team you trust to get the job done right. Once you find a company you want to work with, remember to prep your home for mold remediation. In the same way that you expect a positive, professional team to arrive, your mold remediation crew wants to work with a friendly and cooperative client!

Best Home Organization Tips for Busy Parents

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Balancing your work schedule with your kids is stressful. It can be hard to keep up with important household chores and projects on top of everything else, but there are a few techniques you can try to make it easier. Continue reading to discover some of the best home organization tips for busy parents.

Start With Yourself First

You should focus on getting yourself ready for the day first thing in the morning. Wake up a little earlier than everyone else and take a shower, get yourself dressed, and have a cup of coffee to put yourself in a positive mindset. Once you’ve got a head start on the day, you can wake everyone else up and work on getting them ready, too.

Create a Routine for the Whole Family

Kids need structure they can depend on every day to help reinforce positive behaviors. Start with a cleaning checklist both for parents and kids that makes it easy for your children to know exactly what you expect of them each day. Offer praise every time they accomplish a task and work closely to figure out what you can do together if they’re struggling.

Have a To-Do List You Update Every Day

The more proactive you are, the more successful you’ll be in accomplishing your goals each day. Once everyone has wound down and you have some time to focus, spend five minutes each night checking off everything you accomplished that day and creating a to-do list for the next day. You can also use this time to update and look at upcoming schedules and remind yourself of any appointments or activities.

Rearrange Your Children’s Bedrooms To Have Fewer Messes

It can be difficult to motivate your children to clean up after themselves, and their bedrooms can generate the most problems. You can make it easier for kids to tidy up after themselves by arranging their bedrooms and belongings in a way that makes decluttering simple and straightforward. Try practices such as paring down their old and unused clothing and toys so there’s less clutter in general.

Hopefully, you can apply some of these best home organization tips for busy parents to your own life. Finding a few moments in the day to slow down and better prepare for the future can be tough, but making the effort is extremely rewarding. Setting a good example for your children can help them grow and learn positive habits, too.

Reasons To Sign Your Kid Up for Piano Lessons

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Many of us have unpleasant childhood memories of being forced to take piano lessons. And if you didn’t grow up to be a musician, it may not have been easy to see the value of sitting on a hard piano bench plunking “Chopsticks” and “Für Elise” once a week.

But even if you had a piano teacher from the Black Lagoon, that doesn’t mean there isn’t value in lessons. Here are just three reasons to sign your kid up for piano lessons.

Help Foster Personal Skills

When kids take piano lessons, they aren’t just learning how to play the piano. The act of learning music teaches a whole host of other skills that they can apply even outside the realm of music. Some key skills your child will develop include:

  • Detecting patterns, which is valuable in math
  • Phonetic awareness, which is valuable in reading
  • Time management
  • Problem-solving
  • Empathy

Other skills are harder to pinpoint. For example, when you learn something new, you usually have to accept the fact that you’re not going to be an expert right away. As your child goes through the process of developing your skills, they’ll learn patience and resilience as they make mistakes and learn from them.

Encourage Self-Exploration

When we’re young, we’re trying to figure out who we are. And part of the journey to get there is trying new things. Maybe your child will be the next Alicia Keys or Ray Charles, or maybe they won’t. Even if they aren’t, helping your child figure out what they don’t like will help them on the journey to finding out what they do like.

Whether your child is a musician or not, music is still a great way for them to get in touch with their emotions. Being exposed to music from a young age will help kids learn how to explore their emotions and express themselves.

Offer More Performance Opportunities

Let’s say your child does fall in love with music later on. Having the ability to play the piano gives them a head start as a performer. Learning to play the piano teaches music skills that will help them pick up other instruments. And, if your child wants to be a singer, they will be able to be their own accompanist.

How To Make Piano Lessons Better for Kids

So clearly, there are good reasons to sign your kid up for piano lessons. But how do you avoid them having the same unpleasant experiences you had? Here are a few ways to make piano lessons go better for your child:

  • Make sure your child is interested in the piano
  • Wait to sign them up until they’re mature enough to handle it
  • Research the teacher or music school before signing up
  • Don’t overstress perfection
  • Give your child a say in the practice schedule

Also, if your child is taking online lessons, make sure they have the equipment they need to be successful. That means a computer, a piano, and your unmitigated support.

Tips for Introducing Your Kids to Fly Fishing

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Fly fishing remains a pastime for people worldwide, and the sport is only growing more popular as families venture back out into nature. Here are some tips for introducing your kids to fly fishing as a new way to spend time together:

Bring the Right Tools

Introducing anyone, not just your kids, to a new hobby is much easier when you equip them with the appropriate tools for the job. Rod size does matter some when it comes to fly fishing, but quality is truly key for kids’ fly fishing rods. As kids might not handle a fishing rod with the same amount of care, a sturdy one that your kids can comfortably hold is ideal. Other supplies to remember include:

  • A change of clothes in case someone gets soaked
  • Snacks and drinking water
  • Sunscreen and bug repellent
  • Slip-resistant shoes
  • A standard rod

Issue Plenty of Praise (and Patience)

Fly fishing involves muscle memory, visual cues, and a general sense of the activity that develops over time. Hobbies that rarely provide immediate success are hard for kids to attach to without the right encouragement. So when you’re teaching, provide gentle guidance and celebrate every win with verbal praise. Don’t forget to make it a huge deal if your kids catch something, no matter the fish!

It’s also important to stay patient. Kids who have experience fishing might pick up the nuances of fly fishing on day one, but it’s okay if they don’t. Allow your child to figure it out so they can develop the same instinctual understanding you have or are still working on yourself.

Make Each Trip Special

Fishing is an incredible way to step away from day-to-day life and enjoy the scenery, water, and peaceful nature of waiting. While you know to value these times with your family, kids are living in the moment, and they’re looking for something exciting each time they go out. Find ways to make the trip special for you both, with shared lessons and stories as well as little adventures led by the curiosity of your kids.

While it’s a great idea to start in local spots or ponds designated for kids’ fishing, one way to help your kids adore the sport is to take them on a grand trip. Once your kids develop their foundational fly fishing skills, consider introducing them to the fly fishing spots that they’ll never forget. In the US, Florida offers incredible fly fishing destinations with tons of family activities.

Introducing your kids to fly fishing is a fantastic way to expand on their relationship with the wilderness, their family, and even the food on their table. If you’re looking for an activity to share with your kids, spending time together by the lake or seaside is a terrific option to create long-lasting memories.

Ways To Prepare Your Lawn for This Upcoming Winter

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With shorter days ahead of us, it’s time to put a pin in the lawn care season. Although, there are still several ideas and tasks to take into consideration. Here are a few ways to prepare your lawn for this upcoming winter.

Remove Leaves

Dealing with fallen leaves is one of the only negatives about autumn. It’s tempting to throw in the towel when the yard is full of leaves; however, that’s when the fun truly begins. Leftover leaves and other debris on your grass won’t be noticeable when it’s dead and covered in snow. But the side effects are apparent before those April showers come rolling in.

Snow mold can occur, which is a definite eyesore and a pain to eradicate. Furthermore, it’s not like the leaves are magically going to blow away, so it’s better to be proactive in November rather than reactive in April. Your lawn will thank you.

Cut It Short

To prevent that annoying snow mold, you’ll want to set your mower lower than usual. Putting the blades two inches shorter will protect your grass from attracting funguses and keep it greener longer. Be sure you check the blades to make sure they are sharp enough to get the best cut possible, or else all this preventative care will be for naught.

Pull Weeds

Few things are more unsightly than weeds, especially when they turn into dandelions. Their seeds will spread throughout the soil and took root, siphoning off precious water and nutrients. Like leaf removal, being proactive is the key, and pulling weeds and prepping the lawn for winter will minimize the growth of unwanted plants.

Fertilize Thoroughly

Generally, you want to ration off your fertilizing since too much will actually harm the grass during the summer. However, with winter coming, that is no longer a concern because it will die anyway. A few weeks after storing the lawnmower, you can get out the fertilizer. Your grass will thank you for feeding it during this trying time, rewarding you with luscious green topgrowth once it’s free from snow.

Aerate

If you’re a golfer, then you’ve seen those little holes on the fairway that left behind by groundskeepers to aerate the grass and soil. The purpose of aerating is to stimulate and protect roots, dimishing impacted soil around them. You can aerate your yard with a machine, or you can get some special aerating shoes with spikes on the soles and stomp the grass. Doing this task bright and early when a morning dew yields the best results, seeing as dry ground is harder to penetrate.

Following these ways to prepare your lawn for this upcoming winter gives you a head start on being the homeowner with the perfect property. Be the envy of the neighborhood!

Outdoor Adrenaline Activities To Do With Your Children

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Finding common interests for you and the whole family may be challenging, especially for your children. Kids’ attention spans don’t last very long, so you need to use some fun ideas to get and keep their excitement levels high. These are some outdoor adrenaline activities to do with your children that will keep them wanting more.

Go on a Fun Hike

When you explain hiking to your children, you may get some glary-eyed look questioning your reasoning. Otherwise, you might be on a long, winding walk with a giant whiner. Therefore, having a prize at the end of the rainbow is a fantastic way to get your kids interested. Pick a trail where you may see wildlife, a majestic waterfall, or an impressive cliff along the way. Knowing they will get to see something unique really helps get their adrenaline going while keeping them interested.

Ride Bikes Together

Teaching your child to ride a bike is one of the proudest moments a father can have. Thus, you can take their newfound skill and passion and show them the world. Well, if not the world, at least a pleasant and easy path or trail to ride on. Biking together gets the blood pumping a bit more than hiking does, so the odds are your children will respond positively to this adventure.

Kayaking

Kids love playing in the water—that’s a fact. Taking your kid to the pool will entertain them for hours, and it’s a lot cheaper than going to an amusement park. Ergo, combining the idea that children will do anything in the water with something exhilarating like kayaking is a guaranteed success.

You’ll want to follow some tips and tricks to keep your children safe and keep them engaged throughout your voyage down the river. But exploring new areas and seeing new things together will make for a memorable experience for everyone.

Scavenger Hunt

A simple yet effective activity that brings excitement to your child’s life is arranging a scavenger hunt. Once again, giving them an objective is something that helps invigorate them with a problem-solving goal. Geocaching is a more in-depth version of a scavenger hunt that gets your children excited to head outside, making those hikes and walks much more enjoyable.

These outdoor adrenaline activities to do with your children let you connect with your kids and do something you both enjoy. Even if these activities may not spike your adrenaline, seeing the excitement on their faces when they find an item on their hunt or see a magnificent waterfall is well worth it.

The Importance of Having a Family Emergency Plan

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As a father, you want to keep your family safe at all costs. A family emergency plan can help you protect them in the event of unforeseen circumstances. We all like to think that the stuff we see on TV—floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and the like—will never happen to us, but the truth is, emergencies don’t discriminate, and it’s better to be prepared than unprepared.

The importance of having a family emergency plan is something we can’t understate. Here’s why creating a plan for your family is a must.

Emergencies Come in All Shapes and Sizes

When you hear the word “emergency,” you likely think of significant events, like a tornado ripping through a home or floodwater that reaches the rooftops. But not all emergencies are major. An emergency can be something as small as a temporary power outage or someone tripping down the stairs and hurting their leg.

These situations are scary and inconvenient, but as long as you’re prepared to handle them, they aren’t devastating. With an alternative food supply, you can keep your family fed while the power is off or when the fridge isn’t working, and with a first aid kit and quick access to emergency numbers, you can handle that hurt leg.

Keep Your Family Safe

The biggest reason having a family emergency plan is important is it will help you keep you and your family safe. An emergency plan gives you the peace of mind that, if an emergency strikes, you’re prepared for it.

With an emergency plan, everyone will know exactly what to do in the event of an emergency—where to go, how to act, and how to stay informed.

Be Prepared

The last thing you want to do in the event of an emergency is panic, scramble to get your family somewhere safe, and hastily scrounge together supplies. With an emergency plan in place, you don’t have to. You can get your family to safety and grab all the supplies you need in a matter of seconds—and in emergencies, seconds can make all the difference.

Want to create an emergency plan for your family? Ready, a government site, has all the information you need to make an emergency plan and kit.