Parking Pal giveaway winner
I-Dog Clip -- great for cool kids and uncool moms
Boo! Free Shipping from Lands End
To get FREE SHIPPING & HANDLING on any Lands End orders:
1) at checkout, on the Billing Infomation page, go to the section labeled “Promotion Code” (above the credit card payment box) and manually enter the Promotion Code and PIN.
1) Enter the Promotion code NOVEMBER and the PIN 975286164 at checkout
2) Call 1-800-800-5800 and give your "Promotion Code" and PIN to the customer service representative.
Here's something scary: the free shipping offer only lasts for 4 more days, till October 29!
Parking Pal hits the spot
** Giveaway alert**
Now you can try the Parking Pal for free! I'm giving away 1 Parking Pal magnet on Halloween, Oct. 31. To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your email address so I can contact you. I'll draw a winner at random on October 31. For full contest rules, click here.
Singing the praises of Tooth Tunes
How do you get your kids to brush their teeth for the right amount of time? My kids can barely stand still for 2 seconds, let alone 2 minutes. Here are some ways we've tried:
* Use an hourglass timer. We had one but keep losing it because the kids take it out of the bathroom to play with it.
* Use an egg timer or a watch. Booooring.
* Use an electric toothbrush with a timer in it, like Philip's Sonicare. Booooring.
* Count to 120 or sing Happy Birthday 10 times. Tedious -- which means I always rush through it, making it inaccurate as well.
Enter ToothTunes, the musical toothbrush that plays fun kids' tunes for the recommended 2 minutes. What a great idea! 3Po and Jammy, my two Tooth Tunes testers (how's that for a tongue twister), really look forward to brushing their teeth and listening to the music the whole time. I don't have to time them or nag them to keep brushing, keep brushing . And I like that they make different ToothTunes brushes with different tunes so kids can choose the ones they like best. They even have ToothTunes Junior for preschoolers and Turbo ToothTunes for older kids.
The only problem is that much as the kids enjoy it, you're essentially getting just another timer for $9.99 -- and a disposable one at that. I do wish Tooth Tunes had made their toothbrush electric -- imagine a Philips Sonicare that plays music and spins its bristles and stops everything after 2 minutes. The combination of timed music and timed electric brush head would be unbeatable!
Antarctica: The Global Warning
A Frightfully exciting sweepstakes!
Giveaways around the blogosphere
* mod*mom is giving away 2 vacuum cleaners from Dyson;
* Rose is giving away some apple sauce at her lemonade stand;
* BlogHer is giving away a $300 JC Penney giftcard;
* Mummy's Product Reviews is giving away a Once Upon a Potty book.
Hurry on over and join!
Real Simple, Real Life.
Surprise one: the two couldn't be more different. The Martha Stewart Show is almost like fantasy (this is what a perfect ganache looks like! see the fantastically carved pumpkin!) while Real Simple, Real Life is hard reality. Host Kit Hoover and a team of experts (beauty, fashion, organization, finance, fitness, design, motivation, food) go into busy women's homes and give their chaotic lives a makeover.
Surprise two: The woman in the first episode is ME. Seriously! Okay, her name is Emily and she lives in Pasadena, but otherwise she's me. She's an MBA turned SAHM, former product manager, has an older girl and twin boys 2.5 years apart, a pack rat, loves to shop for bargains, blogs. See? SHE. IS. ME.
So it's no surprise that I loved this first episode. I can totally relate to the feeling of overwhelming helplessness in that horrible (yes, horrible!) first year of the twins' life. Man, I reeelly could have used that Real Simple team of experts four years ago. They cleaned out her garage, organized her home office, streamlined her closet and gave her a makeover. The experts do a great job -- the "Before" and "After" shots were quite dramatic -- and also share useful tips with viewers (I like the idea of keeping only current items in your closet and packing away out-of-season items). Go watch this show!
A Journey of the Heart
One day at school I ran into the mother of one of The Pea's classmates. She was carrying a children's book -- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane -- and pressed it into my hands. "Has The Pea read this? No? Here, I'm lending it to you, you simply must read this, it's a wonderful book!"
There is truly nothing like the recommendation of another parent, so I took the book and handed it to The Pea. I had intended to read it with her at bedtime, as her friend's mom suggested, but yesterday she read it all by herself.
When she was done, she came to me with her face all red and blotchy. "What's wrong, honey? Didn't you like it?" The story, and the tears, came pouring out. "I liked the story but there was this girl and she had a toy bunny called Edward Tulane and she lost it and a fisherman found it but it got thrown away in the garbage and this old woman found it and..." -- lots of sobs here -- ".. she NAILED the bunny to a fence!! And then a boy rescued it and gave it to his sister, " -- even more sobs -- "but she dieeeeeed..."
Yikes! I had guessed the story might be a bit sad at times, rather like The Velveteen Rabbit, but this sounded like the Grapes of Wrath! I resolved to read it myself.
When I finished the book, I was in tears as well. Don't worry, it's a happy ending. The Pea neglected to tell me that the little bunny started out as a cold, unfeeling toy, and the real journey was in his heart. About how he meets people who love him unconditionally, and how he learns how to love them back. The Pea and I both love this book. We're just big, soft crybabies with big hearts. Just like Edward Tulane.
Gymboree Fall Sale
Gymboree is having a fall sale, with items up to 60% off! Just in time, too -- the weather is turning really cold, really quickly. They have the cutest Halloween shirts right now, and I've been waiting for their boys' puffy vests to go on sale. With the in-store tv playing all sorts of kids' programs, I can even take the boys shopping.
The PlayDoh Ice Magic Swirl Cream Shoppe -- it's sweet
Keeping track with the SnackerTracker
The Pea's second-grade class is currently doing a unit on nutrition. They are learning about the different foodgroups and the importance of a varied diet. I thought this would be the perfect time to introduce the SnackerTracker, a nutritional tracking system for kids and their parents.
The SnackerTracker is like a food journal for kids -- only it's a whiteboard fridge magnet that breaks down a child's daily nutritional requirements into blocks. Every time your child eats a serving of some basic foodgroup -- grains, dairy, protein, fruits, vegetables, water -- you simply cross out one of the blocks. The kit also comes with a dry-erase pen and a nutritional guide with tips on serving sizes, snack suggestions and exercise guidelines.
So far the kids have responded with enthusiasm. The Pea and Jammy are constantly fighting over who gets to fill in the blocks (actually they've gone a step further and actually draw what they've eaten instead of just checking the box off). Throughout the day they think about what they need to eat to fill up all the boxes on the chart. Do we always get there? Hell, no. But at least the SnackerTracker making me more aware of our nutritional shortcomings.
Goodnight Bush
Discounts from The Children's Place
The Children's Place is one of my shopping mall staples; I can't pass by one of their stores without dropping in for a peek. They have some great styles, and you can't beat their prices, especially when they go on sale (which is all the time). Recently they sent me a couple of those "discount for you and a friend" coupons in the mail. It's good for 15% off your total purchases until November 2. I won't be using them, so in the spirit of holiday giving, I'm sharing them with everyone:
T2866MCGA8
T28V9ATXA8
T29UYWG7A8
T28F9UAVA8
I don't know whether these are one-time use coupon codes or not, so it's first come first served.