Baby Talk: How to Encourage a Reluctant Older Sibling

 

Having a new baby is always so exciting, especially for the parents and grandparents. However, some kids are not quite as eager to meet their new tiny sibling.

I am currently pregnant with baby number 3, and I certainly remember how my oldest first reacted to the fact that we were going to have a new baby in the house – Let’s just say it didn’t go well. Since I have already lived through that experience, I am hoping that this one will be more smooth. Some new baby anger is inevitable, though the degree depends on the ages of the two (or three!) children, whether or not their personalities are similar, and quite a few other factors that may or may not apply in your own personal case.

Children over age three or four usually welcome a new baby into the home, and sometimes these children, at least on the surface, don’t seem to be jealous. For instance, my daughter just turned four, and she is very excited to meet the new baby, and she even said that she would change diapers! Being verbal helps them deal with the changes. However, it’s not unusual for kids younger than three to be upset for a while.

One of the best ways that I have found to “soften” the blow of having a new baby intruding into the household is to give both of my older kids more responsibilities and freedom. One of my daughter’s favorite things is jewelry, and I decided that it was about time she had a grown-up jewelry box. I was actually lucky enough to win a beautiful jewelry armoire  on DealDash. They have them up for auction every so often, and I was very happy to win the one in the white finish to match her bedroom furniture. If you’re interested in furniture of any type check out the Home, Garden, & Tools section on DealDash.

Acme Didi Jewelry Armoire, White FinishLinon Grace 4-Drawer Jewelry Armoire

 

My son will be 8 when my new baby is born, and I have already started giving him extra chores as an opportunity to prove how “grown up” he is, and he loves being able to earn extra ipad time in exchange for loading laundry or bringing in the garbage bins for me. If you’re looking for an ipad, try DealDash. They seem to have them up for auction almost daily.

Apple iPad mini 4 64GB Wi-Fi, Space Gray

Besides these small suggestions, the biggest one that I have is to try and spend the most time with your older kids as possible, before and after the baby arrives. Before the newbie is born tell your kids about when they were a baby. Even if they have heard the stories a million times before they still enjoy them. Look through old baby pictures, and if you have any of their old favorite outfits or toys bring them out and exclaim about how tiny and cute they were when they were babies…And how they are still cute, but so grown up now! When the baby is napping or with another family member try and take that time to spend some 1-on-1 time with your other children. Kids thrive on attention, so try to give them as much positive attention as you can on your limited time schedule.

 

After reading this article I hope that you have a better idea of how to deal with sibling rivalry with a new baby. If you’re looking for any baby or kid supplies check out the Toys, Kids, & Baby section to find some awesome products. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

DealDash

How I Decide What to Bid On

There are so many great items to bid on when you go to DealDash sometimes it’s hard to choose what you really want.

I really think that the most important thing to do before you make any kind of bidding commitment is to do your research! Once you have found something that you would really like to win and you feel like you can commit yourself to going all the way to the BIN price if you have to, then start checking out every auction for the item you want, as well as similar items.

For instance, if you are interested in a certain outdoor grill then make sure that you put every grill that’s even remotely similar with the similar BIN price on your watch list. You can put them on your watch list by clicking the little star in the upper right corner, and DealDash will save the auction for you so you can come back later and check it out. It’s one of my favorite DealDash features.

George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbeque Grill Backyard Grill 17.5-Inch Charcoal GrillChar-Broil Patio Bistro Electric Grill

The reason that you want to put the other similar grills onto your watch list is that some people aren’t too particular about name brand, color, etc. and they are just trying to win a grill, any grill. You will especially find this to be true when people are doing their Christmas shopping and they are bidding on DealDash to pick up gifts for people.

Once you have all of these grills (or whatever item you are interested in of course!) on your watch list you should try to watch each and every grill auction, and take note of what day and time they begin, and what the final auction price is. That way you can get a better idea of when might be your best time to take the plunge and start bidding. Just make sure that you get your first bid in before the auction hits $5 or you will be locked out.

So, DealDashers, that is how I decide what to bid on when I visit DealDash. Sometimes the plan works out beautifully and I won an awesome item, and other times I end up Buying It Now and using my bids a different day. That’s the fun of DealDash, you never know who will win! So go ahead and check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on and WIN! See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

How To Conserve Your Bids

The next best thing to buying cheap bids on sale is conserving the ones you already have!

You might ask “How am I supposed to win if I am being thrifty with my bids?” Well, there are a few different ways to try and conserve your bids for another day, and I will try to teach you about some of the easiest ways to save your bids for later.

The first way is pretty obvious – only bid on items that you are willing to “go all the way” on, do your math so you know when to stop bidding to break even with your bids + final auction cost, then stop bidding! Remember, if you do your math calculations and you have reached the BIN price, use the “Buy it Now” option and pay retail price for the item. DealDash will when refund all of the bids you used on that item, and you can try again another day.

 

The next way to conserve bids is to enter the auction late. On most days at DealDash you have to get at least 1 bid in before the auction price has hit $5. These are called “No Jumper” auctions, and it basically means that DealDash doesn’t want someone who has no bids invested in an item to get to win it with just a few when other bidders have been trying hard (for hours sometimes) to win the item. However, DealDash has decided that $5 is the magic price, and as long as you get your first bid in before then you are good to sit back and wait until the competition is less fierce, say when there are only 3 or 4 people left in the auction. Some days the No Jumper auctions start at $3 instead of $5, but it’s always marked very clearly at the top of the homepage, so there’s no confusion.

The last way to conserve bids that I would like to talk about today is a little bit on the risky side – Going Mobile!! Sometimes there’s a particular auction that I am interested in that I won’t be at home to catch, so normally I would just load up my BidBuddy with the appropriate number of bids to break even if I win, and hope for the best. However, now that DealDash has made a great mobile site it’s easy to bid “on the go.” This way I can monitor the auction from my phone and step in at just the right moment instead of bidding from the beginning and probably losing to someone who started at the $3 or $4 mark. I say that this is a “risky” way to try and conserve bids because there have been MANY times that I have planned on monitoring an auction from my phone, but by the time that I remember to check it’s already passed the $5 No Jumper limit. So if it’s something that you are extremely interested in I would suggest setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the auction.

That’s it! Those are just a few simple ways to save your bids and get the most out of your bid pack purchases. Pay attention to what you’re doing, check out the auctions and see what you would really like to bid on, and try my tips to save bids. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

How They Try to Make You Crazy With Mind Games

Most people think about romantic relationships when the phrase “mind games” comes up. However, mind games are also a common theme on DealDash.

 

What’s in a name? Did you think carefully about your bidding name when you signed up to DealDash? I can tell that some people thought very seriously about their name before they signed up, and their main thought was either to gain sympathy with a name such as “SingleMomof12Kids” or “WoundedKittenRescuer” or to intimidate with names like “IwillBiduntiltheApocalypse” or “IwillBiteyouIfyouBidafterMe”.

Other people take a different track, but still in the realm of playing mind games – have you seen anyone with a name such as “IonlyBidonlaptops” or “GiveMeAlltheMixers”? This track is slightly more subtle than the sympathy or intimidation names, but it gets the point across. If you were in an auction for a set of drums, and it was down to the final two, and your competition’s name was “ImADrummer” who do you think is definitely going to go to the end? I would bet my money on the person who has based their entire DealDash experience on the fact that they are a drummer.

If you’re looking for an even more subtle way to play mind games on your competition I suggest using a combination of your BidBuddy and single bids. If you aren’t using your BidBuddy regularly I strongly encourage you to give it a try. It’s really simple to use, each auction page has the bid button that says “Bid Now” and the BidBuddy, which is below the bid now button. Click your mouse on the white area and enter the number of bids you want to use and click “Book a BidBuddy” your BidBuddy will now be set. The BidBuddy will bid up to the number of bids that you booked. Most people are familiar with the BidBuddy, so if you are in an auction and you are using your BidBuddy but you start throwing in random bids here and there it can really throw people off.

 

 

A bold way to play mind games with your competition can actually earn you free bids! After you have won and received your auctions you can get free bids by taking a photo of yourself holding the win and posting the picture on social media with a quick message like “I got this -name of item won here- @DealDash for -number of bids used- bids & $ -final auction price-. #DealDash also gives #FREE shipping!” If you are looking to play mind games with people then only pick the biggest and best prizes that you have won and put them on social media. That way, people think that you always go to the limit and win big! Think about it, would you be more impressed with someone who won a bunch of $20 DVDs and small household items or people than seem to continuously win laptops and other high-end prizes? If you skip posting your small wins and only stick with your over $200 prizes then people will assume you “go big or go home”. Here’s a link to get the full details on how to get even more free bids, it’s easy to do and is a great deal.

I hope this helped you think about playing DealDash using some strategic mind games! If you’re interested in reading even more tips and tricks check out the “Tactics & Tips” section on DealDash. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

 

 

 

1000 Free Bids go to…

The best photo of the week goes to Donna Lee‎. Congratulations! You just won 1000 free DealDash bids for posting this great photo of the Lenovo 15.6″ Laptop B50-45 valued at $304.39 that you won for only $35.17.

I could not be happier now that I won this #Lenovo 15.6" Laptop B50-45 for only $35.17 and I used 778 bids! The final selling price was $70.34, but @Deal Dash was having a 50% off sale so I saved over 50% on the total win and it was Shipped Free! Thank you Deal Dash, I'm going to post with ease!
I could not be happier now that I won this #Lenovo 15.6″ Laptop B50-45 for only $35.17 and I used 778 bids! The final selling price was $70.34, but @Deal Dash was having a 50% off sale so I saved over 50% on the total win and it was Shipped Free! Thank you Deal Dash, I’m going to post with ease!

Have you collected your free bids for your posting your winning photos to Facebook? If not, you’re missing out on hundreds of free bids and a chance to win 1000 bids awarded weekly for the best photo.  Learn about how you can claim your free bids here.

Looking forward to seeing your photos!