Send a Card that Counts- for a Cause!

May 17, 2013 By 1 Comment

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for JOHNSON’s Baby. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Being a mom has given me a whole new appreciation for motherhood. Before I had Shane, I knew nothing about raising a kid. I admit that I took for granted everything that my Mom did for me growing up, because she was my Mom & that’s just what moms do. But now that I’m doing it all for my own child, I find myself thinking of her & what she’s done for me. Whether I’m frustrated that Shane just won’t go to bed or wondering why he needs to cover every square inch of the floor with his toys, I sometimes think about how I did the same things as a kid & I realize my Mom deserves way more credit than I gave her as a kid.

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My mom & I, circa 1989

Being a mom is tough, and joining the ranks is almost like joining a secret sisterhood. I often catch myself giving frustrated moms at the store understanding smiles, reminding them that we’ve all been through the public tantrums {Shane has hit everywhere from Target to the park with his}, the kids who just don’t understand moderation {Shane’s notorious for adding 5 boxes of his desired snack to the cart when I’m not looking}, &the realization that your baby just pooped again only halfway through your shopping trip- and your diaper bag is totally empty. We have all been through most of these moments at some point & we survived. Sometimes, we just need a little reminding that it’s just a small moment in the grand scheme of things.

Shopping with Kids
Guess how many of those cereals were approved?

If you know a new mom or any other mom who could use a little reminding, Johnson’s Baby has made it easy to do just that while actually contributing to a cause at the same time. Johnson’s Baby Cares program has a place on their Facebook page where you can create {or send a pre-made} digital Care Card to send to a mom in your life. &For every card sent, shared or liked, Johnson’s Baby will donate $1.00 to Save the Children {up to $150,000!} to benefit early childhood education.

Johnson's Care Cards- Thank you

I made the card above for my mom- it’s the very, very least I can do after everything she’s done for me. &I’m sending one to my Mother-in-Law, too- after all, she raised her little boy into the wonderful man that I married.

Who will you send your card to?

Filed Under: causes, parenting Tagged With: , , ,

Preparing Kids for Activities in 4 Easy Steps

May 6, 2013 By 3 Comments

I participated in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Wet Ones. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Since he was a baby, Shane has been involved in activities. I signed him up for Gymboree at just 10 months old, and since then he’s usually had some sort of activity. His most recent venture was soccer, which he absolutely loved, but he decided to venture into a new activity starting this week after we went to a preview class at our local Kidville. Starting this week, Shane will be taking a 16 week sports class and I’m so excited to take him to his first class!

Shane playing at Kidville

Shane pretending to look at the clouds with a Kidville instructor at our preview class

Because Shane started in activities so young, you’d think that it would be easy to get him to class without meltdowns. However, whenever he starts a new activity he does get a little bit anxious. Once he’s been to the class, he loves it & can’t wait to go back, but that first day is always a little nerve-wracking. I’ve figured out over time that it’s much easier for both of us if we’re as prepared as possible. So what does that entail?

Preparing Kids for Activities in 4 Easy Steps

Dress the Part: Shane knows it’s a soccer day when I pull out his track pants &favorite t-shirts. He also knows it’s an art day when he’s in sweats & a plain shirt that I don’t mind getting paint all over. Wearing particular outfits on class days helps him to think of the outfits as special, and makes him more excited to wear them.

Stay by their Side: Whenever possible, I think it’s a great idea to have that first class or two include parent involvement. At Gymboree, parents are always involved, but now that Shane is getting older most other places are drop-off or sit & watch. When Shane did his first “season” {9 week session} of soccer, I signed him up for the parent-involvement class first. We played together on the field for the first 9 weeks, and then I signed him up for the more advanced level where he plays with just his friends & his coach. I sit on the sidelines & wonder how he got to be so old.

For classes that only offer drop-off classes, look into taking a free preview class at the location, even if you have to preview a different {non-drop-off} class. Shane is really excited for his first Kidville class, even though it’s drop-off, because he’s been there before with me for a preview & knows how fun the place is.

Comfort in Numbers: When possible, get your child’s friends to sign up with them. When Shane was a baby, we made lots of friends at Gymboree {many of whom I am still friends with today}. Being able to tell your child that their friends will be there is comforting.

Pack the Eessentials: Be sure to carry water {especially for sports}, snacks and Wet Ones in your bag. Shane gets tired if he doesn’t eat enough before class, so sometimes he’ll have a snack in the car on the way there or right after class. &We use Wet Ones all the time- whether he touched the dirty soccer ball, got paint all over his hands or just made a mess with his snack, Shane’s almost always asking for a wipe after class.

Wet Ones help us stay prepared for anything

Being prepared for class makes it easier on both of us. &Wet Ones help us to be prepared all the time, not just during those weekly sessions. We bring them along to clean our grocery carts, clean up after a snack, and even wipe noses in a pinch. Cold & flu season is finally coming to a close, but germs are still out there & we don’t want to waste the perfect Spring weather by staying inside with a virus!

How do you stay prepared with little ones?

Note: This post is not affiliated with Kidville or Gymboree, I am just sharing my own personal experiences for reference.

Filed Under: health, kids, parenting, tips Tagged With: , , , ,

Fun Outdoor Activities for Preschoolers {&Giveaway!}

April 23, 2013 By 52 Comments

Spring is here, and before it gets too hot we’ve been spending lots of time outside. Whether he hit the park or just play in our yard, we’ve been trying to get back on track with getting outside &attempting to soak up as much sunshine as possible.

We live in the middle of a city, so we don’t have a giant backyard. It’s big enough for a few trees & a deck, but we would have to remove the trees to fit a swingset, and we can’t fit any other fun stuff like a trampoline or bounce house. So we get creative & play with smaller toys. Here are some of our favorites:

Fun Outdoor Activities for Preschoolers from @NotQuiteSusie

1. Chalk. Sometimes we just draw scribbles, but usually we use the chalk to work on phonics. Shane has been learning to draw some things and even make a few letters!

2. Hopscotch. Okay, so this game uses chalk too, but it’s a whole separate activity & so much fun! While we draw the board & while he hops, Shane helps me count the squares. &It’s a good tool for fine-tuning gross motor skills too!

3. Bean bags. Shane is perfectly happy just throwing bean bags on the ground & running to pick them up, but we also play “The Color Game”. I put one different-colored bean bag on each cement square on our driveway, and then when I yell a color Shane runs to that square.

4. Throw & Catch. We have various tools to use for throwing and catching- a tennis racket & ball, two water rackets & a squishy ball, big plastic balls… if you can throw it without hurting the other person, we play with it. Shane is getting to be really good at throwing- and it lets him get all his throwing out so he doesn’t want to throw his inside toys as much.

5. Jumprope. Shane’s too short to use it by himself, but when Daddy & I each hold an end, he can actually jump over it {sometimes}! Even when he doesn’t succeed, he has fun trying- and as an added bonus, all that jumping tires him out.

Playing Hopscotch

As you can guess, Shane has a lot of energy. Some days I need some help to keep up {and some days I just want something yummy!} so I make myself a cup of coffee. People always make fun of me & joke that I really make a cup of Coffee-mate since I take my coffee white, but I can’t help it because it’s just so good.

Coffee-mate Coupons

Before your little one drags you out the door, complete your morning with Nestlé! If you like your cup of coffee as much as I do, be sure to download the $2 off Nescafé and $1 off Coffee-Mate coupons so you can have enough energy to get back on track spending time outside! As a {huge} bonus, now when you buy Nestlé products like Coffee-Mate & Nescafé, you are also helping to fight national hunger. During April, Nestlé is teaming up with Walmart and their Fight Against Hunger campaign to donate over 728,155 meals across the country.

Nestle Banner 3

Win It: Want a chance to win a gift card to Walmart to pick up everything you need to get back on track this summer? Whether that’s toys to play with, sunscreen or especially Nestle products, Walmart has you covered. Just enter using the simple form below- and be sure to check out Trisha’s post on how she’s getting ready for summer!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What do you like to play outside with your kids?

Note: This promotion is solely sponsored by Lunchbox and has not been endorsed or approved by Walmart/Nestlé or its subsidiaries or affiliates. By entering, you agree to look solely to Lunchbox or {Not Quite} Susie Homemaker for any claims in connections therewith, and not to Walmart/Nestlé or its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Filed Under: coupons, education, food, giveaways, money, parenting Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Sick Day

February 14, 2013 By 16 Comments

I’ve been lucky in that Shane rarely gets sick. He’s had a couple of minor colds in his life, and that’s about it. I think that’s why when he does get sick, it breaks my heart even more to see him suffering.

A couple of weeks ago, he was fighting something pretty hard. It lasted a few days, &the very first day was the sickest I’d seen him in awhile. He slept in until 11:30 {he usually gets up at 9:45 on the dot} and even then when he got up, he started to walk toward the bedroom door but then stopped to take a nap on the dog’s “bed” {the comforter that she has claimed as her own}.

kid sick on floor

The poor kid was so tired that he didn’t even have the strength to go downstairs. He told me his legs were going slow because he was tired, and said that he needed to lay back in bed. Usually, getting Shane into bed is an epic struggle, so to hear him ask to go to bed was a huge red flag! So we got back into bed & under the covers, and I made sure he had plenty of liquids & Kleenex for his alternately stuffed up & runny nose while we watched a Rugrats marathon. I let him play with his LeapPad in bed, and I finally got him to eat a granola bar a couple of hours into the day. Finally, at around 3pm, he was ready to get out of bed & play.

At that point, he was like a brand new kid! He started running around the house in circles, literally, to show me how his legs were moving fast now because he wasn’t tired anymore. He acted just fine the rest of the night, except for the occasional need for a tissue, and it went on like that for almost a week until finally the sniffles were gone &he was back to normal!

He never did get truly sick, but that first day I was sure he was getting a nasty cold. But even though he didn’t, I was prepared to build forts under the sheets & make shadow puppets, read stories & watch Disney movies. Now that I think about it, maybe I should get a cold…

Show someone you love them by sharing kindness with them when they’re in need. You can send a Kleenex Care Pack with someone you love today!

Kleenex brand, America’s softest tissue*, knows that once one experiences the softness of Kleenex brand tissues, they will be eager to share it with other cold and flu sufferers, friends and strangers alike, as a way to show they care. This cold and flu season, make the care complete with a Kleenex Brand Care Pack, and together we’ll turn a seemingly-small gesture into something bigger, to make everyone feel better. Visit kleenex.com/softness to learn more.

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Kleenex via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Kleenex

Filed Under: health, parenting Tagged With: , ,

Prevent Getting {or Spreading} the Flu with Wet Ones!

February 11, 2013 By 6 Comments

When I was a kid, I was always sick. I missed a lot of school because I got sick so often, and while I was lucky that it didn’t hurt my grades, I still hated it because my friends were at school & I missed a lot with them when I was gone.

Because of this, it’s especially important to me to keep Shane away from other kids when he’s even just the tiniest bit sick. If my classmates’ parents would have kept them home when they were sick, I wouldn’t have gotten sick so much. &As a parent, I feel like it’s my responsibility to stop the chain of sickness when it gets to my son.

wet ones

That’s why whenever we’re sick, we stay home- and when we aren’t, we protect ourselves by using Wet Ones whenever we touch something that strangers- who could be carrying viruses- touch, like the gas pump, shopping carts, or even hand rails for stair cases.

But sometimes, that’s not enough. &Since this year has been a particularly nasty season for illness, Dr. Benjamin Tanner, a microbiologist, has developed a few handy tips to keep you and your family healthy this cough and cold season:

-Practice Good Hygiene for at Least a Week After a Cold. Cold viruses can be found in nasal secretions of children for two to three weeks after the onset of symptoms. That’s a long time for an unwanted guest to stick around!

-Keep Your Immune System Healthy. Studies show that maintaining a healthy body weight with proper nutrition reduces risks of infection, and also may prevent inflammation (potentially damaging immune system hyperactivity).

-Keep Up on Cold and Flu Germs. Colds are most infectious during the first two to four days people are infected. And you can’t outrun their germs: droplets from sneezes can travel at a velocity of 45 miles per hour and cover a distance of 10 feet.  Wash your hands and face regularly; when soap and water is not available use Wet Ones® Antibacterial Hand Wipes to kill bacteria on your hands.

-Don’t Touch Your Face. Most cold viruses are spread by contact with surfaces through “self-inoculation” when hands pick up cold viruses, and then touch the nose or eyes to start an infection. In fact, a study of kids showed that a program to discourage touching the face reduced colds by nearly half.

Hopefully you get through this season without so much as a sniffle, but if you do wind up sick, be sure to use Wet Ones to prevent your germs from spreading to others! The pocket sized ones are perfect for quick trips to the park, and the travel packs are perfect for purses.

When do you use Wet Ones?

Note: I wrote this review while participating in an Ambassador Program for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Wet Ones® Antibacterial Hand Wipes and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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