Halloween is coming! Keep those little ones safe!

Top tips to keep your kids safe on Halloween from Safe Kids USA

For parents and children:

• Choose light-colored costumes that can be seen in the dark.

• Decorate your children's costumes with reflective materials.  Give them flashlights and glowsticks to carry in order to see better, as well as be seen by drivers.

• Cross the street safely at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross. Walk, don’t run, across the street.

• Walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible.

• Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.

• Slow down and stay alert - watch out for cars that are turning or backing up and never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars.

• Masks can obstruct a child's vision, so choose non-toxic face paint, make-up, and wigs instead.

For drivers:

• Slow down in residential neighborhoods and school zones.

• Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. so be sure to turn on your full headlights.

• Be especially alert and take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.

• Slowly and carefully enter and exit driveways and alleys.

• Reduce any distractions inside your car, such as talking on the phone or eating, so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.

Treats

• While pedestrian safety is a main concern on Halloween, parents and kids should also be careful when dealing with candy. Remind children to only eat treats in original and unopened wrappers.

Halloween!! (costumes are coming soon!)

Do you have a 4T boy?

We've just uploaded a number of long sleeves tops for the fall/winter season. Check out the website for prices and purchasing, but meanwhile here are some pictures!

Bargain Box sample

I know we've intrigued some of you all with our Bargain Boxes. And yet, you wonder, HOW do they manage to sell them for so cheap?? Well the fact of the matter is, mylittleclothesline (when you include shipping) is not doing this for profit. We are simply torn when we have a perfectly fine piece of apparel and yet some a tiny stain, or a spot that is just a LITTLE too worn makes it fail our quality test. We will never put anything in a Bargain Box that is not functional (i.e. torn, missing button, zipper doesn't work etc...) We simply love that they are still able to used by children around the United States, and frankly, we love being able to offer them as such cheap prices for our loyal customers. Here is a sample of some pajamas that will be in a future Bargain Box:

Disney PJs $1.50

As these sell pretty quickly, we encourage you to click HERE to look at our currently listed Bargain Boxes.

Happy Hunting!

Company Retreat

Announcement: A much needed retreat is about to begin for the staff at mylittleclothesline. We will be gone for a couple weeks, so bare with us when our blog appears to not only slow, but stop. :) We will be back and refreshed before you know it. Please enjoy the rest of your summer and gear up for back to school/fall!

Due to customer demand we are getting those winter clothes up!

Here are some of our boys' collection we've just added. We'll show you some of our darling girls' apparel later. (or you can sneak a peek yourself at any time!) 

Summer fun for kids (and keep their brains busy!)

Summer Fun for Kids

School's out, and your kids want to have some fun in the sun. How can you keep them happy and busy -- and maybe help them learn something -- all the way through August?

By Heather Hatfield (click here for full article)

School's out, the long days of summer are upon us, and your kids are restless. Short of shipping them off to summer camp, how can you keep them happy and busy, and without letting them catch on, make sure they're learning along the way?

Here are tips on what to keep in mind when you're planning summer activities, as well as some easy ideas for little tykes, preschoolers, and school kids that will keep them entertained all the way through August.

Let Summer Begin

When the thermometer starts to creep upward, the first thing you should consider when planning playtime is safety.

"I think with all age groups, parents should consider safety first," says Barbara Roth, specialty consultant for child care for the YMCA of the USA.

With safety in mind, ask yourself, what activities are appropriate for your child's age? What safety equipment should you have on hand, such as a lifejacket if you have a pool, or training wheels and a helmet if your child wants to learn to ride a bike? Will you be home with the child, or working? If you're working, is an adult present?

"Kids should never be home alone, so make sure they're under adult supervision if you will be working," says Roth.

Second, what are your goals for your kids during the summer?

"Beyond simply keeping them busy, you want to keep their development in mind and realize how much learning goes on in play," says Roth.

Learning doesn't stop the moment the school bell sounds for the last time in June. Kids keep on learning all summer long.

"Kids also need to work on social-emotional skills, which is ongoing for all age groups," says Roth. "Make sure the activities your kids are involved in include kids their own age as well as kids other ages."

And last, remember that there is only so much time in the day -- don't overbook yourself and your kids so that summer vacation doesn't include a moment's rest.

"Eliminate stress," says Michele Borba, EdD, author of 19 books on parenting and childhood. "A big, huge calendar on your fridge that can help you keep track of everyone's schedule is a gold mine and really helps avoid overbooking. And make sure there are fun active things going on and also some laid-back activities. It's OK to have nothing to do, to spend some time in the sandbox."

Toddlers

Toddlers, ages 1-2, require constant supervision. Whether you are home with your child or another adult is supervising, these activities will help your kids have fun in the sun.

Bins of fun. "Get some plastic bins and fill them with fun things, and rotate which bin your child gets every day," says Borba. "Use paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes in one bin, which are great for toddlers to use as kazoos and drums. Put play dough in another bin and let them play with that for a while. And old paint brushes with just water are great -- toddlers can paint anything and watch the water change its color, and there's no pick up for you after."