Puzzle Place

Use your coffee table for a puzzle-working surface. Turn over a plastic table- cloth, flannel-side up, cover the table. Secure corners with spring-type clothespins or sew down the corners to make a fitted cover.
Create a hiding place behind a large chair by removing plants, floor lamps, and electrical cords. Let this be the childcare's special place and ask them not to crawl behind the other furniture.
Protect your entertainment center by surrounding it with a multiple- sectioned hinged play yard. The barrier will keep small children from trying the buttons on stereos and televisions.

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Keep Away

Place one or two playpens (with or without children in them) in front of your unlit fireplace to discourage children from climbing on or running toward a raised hearth and risking injury.
Use press-on decals with seasonal designs on sliding glass patio doors. Place the decals at children's eye level to delight them and make everyone aware of the glass.
Babies who are starting to walk can push coffee tables into other furniture. Put rubber crutch tips on the bottom of the coffee table legs to make moving the table more difficult.

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Food storage

The best food planning will not work if you cannot find a certain item when you need it. Use these ideas to make storing food easier. Your shelves will stay neat, and you will save food preparation time.
To introduce an unfamiliar food, serve it to yourself, but do not offer it to the children. When they ask why they do not have any, say, “It’s big people food. I am not sure you are old enough to try it.” Tell them you will think about it. On the next day, tell them that maybe you will fix them some tomorrow. By the third day, the children will be eager to try the new food.

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Put a stop to unsavory odors

To keep onions and cabbage odors from spreading through the house, simply boil a cup of vinegar in a saucepan at the same time they are cooking. Remove the onion smell from a pot with a tablespoon of vinegar in hot water.
Use one bottom kitchen drawer just for baby toys. Tie a pretty rattle to the handle. Teach the babies which drawer is theirs, and you won’t have to say “no” as often.
Bake individual servings of meat loaf in muffins tins. If you have extra sections in the muffin tin, place small potatoes in them; the potatoes will be done at the same time.

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Get rid of microwave odor

Clean offensive odors from your microwave oven with a solution of one-cup warm water and one-tablespoon baking soda. Rinse and dry. Alternatively, mix one part lemon juice to three parts water in glass dish. Place in microwave and boil for three to five minutes. Cool, remove water and wipe dry.
Make your life easier by cooking twice as much dinner as you need for your family. Use the planned leftovers for childcare lunch the next day. It will be ready in five minutes with the help of your microwave.

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Bid adieu to disposal waste

Remove food debris, and leave a fresh scent in the garbage disposal. Put in about a half-dozen ice cubes, run the system and flush it well with cold water. Then put in half of a lemon and grind it up. Alternatively, for a warmer deodorizing, pour in one-half cup of salt, then add got water and run the disposal.
Children love tacos, but the shells break and make a mess. Instead, serve taco salad. Break the corn tortillas into small pieces. Place the tortilla pieces in a bowl and top with the rest of the ingredients. Let children eat it with a spoon.

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Are those fajitas I smell?

Plastic storage containers really come in handy for storage leftovers. However, chili, pesto sauce and other strong smelling foods leave them with permanent aroma. Crumble black and white newsprint, and place it inside the offending container. Cover and leave for a day. The smell should be gone when you remove the paper.
Use your potato peeler to remove “strings” from celery for peanut butter and celery snacks for children who are three years old and up. The children won’t complain about strings getting caught between their teeth.

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