Category Archives: Fun stuff for parents

SquidSoap

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Ages 10-13, Cleaning & Cleaners, Fun stuff for parents, , , ,

"Awww… you made me ink!"  That is one of my favorite lines from Finding Nemo.  Did you know that your kids can have fun with ink?  No, not the kind in a pen but the SquidSoap kind which is actually vegetable dye.

          SquidSoap by Airborne® is designed to teach and
train proper hand-washing technique to children. It’s the only
liquid-soap dispenser with a specially designed pump that stamps a
child’s hand with vegetable dye. It takes about 20 seconds of thorough
hand washing to remove the ink mark, leaving the child with clean
hands. So it literally takes the guesswork out of whether or not your
kids have washed their hands thoroughly. It’s easy, fun and effective.

I have to admit that Sebastian, 8 years old, was a little bummed that he had to put ‘ink’ on his hands at first.  However, after using SquidSoap a couple of times he thought it was cool. Eight year old boys just don’t have the time to stand around washing their hands.. silly me.   Now I simply require that the kids wash their hands in the kitchen where I can see them use vegetable dye on the top of the SquidSoap dispenser and then check to see that the dye is gone when they have finished washing their hands.

This is a great product. One that every parent should have in their home.

WEBSITE: SquidSoap

Table Topics – a conversation starter and more

Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Ages 10-13, Educational Toys, Fun stuff for parents

TabletopicsWe all know how important it is that the whole family eat dinner together every night, but do we always
have something to talk about?  When I ask Sebastian what he did at school today, he says "not much". "Did you learn anything?", I ask.  "not really", he says. When he wants to talk, he’ll talk until we ask him to please stop. He can talk your ear off.  When he doesn’t want to talk though, it’s a different story. Dinner time is one of those times when it’s hard to get him to talk to us.

Now that we’ve got Table Topics Sebastian enjoys dinner time. He knows that he can tell us stories, and ideas, and give us answers to all sorts of questions like "what would you do if you were invisible for a day?" and we won’t tell him to stop talking. We do however, put a time limit on his answers as he tends to go on and on and on if we don’t.

Table Topics take up minimal space on your table and come in a clear, attractive container that will match any room decor. 

There are currently seven Table Topics themes including family, girls night out, teens, couples, and more.  I have found that the dinner table isn’t the only time to whip out the Table Topics cards. When Sebastian can’t seem to find anything to do except watch TV, I choose a Kids Topics To Go card with a question that would spark his interest and ask him to turn his answer into a story. He really enjoys writing stories and the Kids Topics To Go is a great starting point.

Times to use Table Topics and Topics To Go:

  • Dinner time
  • When kids are bored they can’t write a story based on a Kids To Go question
  • While traveling
  • At a restaurant
  • Slumber parties
  • Playgroup (for the moms)
  • There are many more times and places to use Table Topics and Topics To Go

Get your kids talking again with Table Topics!

WEBSITE: Table Topics

Announcements Galore – baby birth announcements and more

Age 0-1 year, Announcements & Stationary, Fun stuff for parents, Personalized, Store Reviews, , ,

Announcementsgalore
I hated having to go to the mall to pick out and order Sebastian’s birth announcements from Papyrus.  I am all about convenience now and Internet shopping is about as convenient as it gets. Besides being able to buy clothes, electronics, books, etc, you can also design and order birth announcements on the Internet.

Announcements Galore, created by a mom, offers a beautiful selection of
4×6 photo announcements for just about any occasion including birth, graduation, weddings, and invitations.  Dawn started the business to provide high quality photo announcements at reasonable prices.

The announcements are printed on high quality photo paper and can be customized with the design, font and text of your choice. 

WEBSITE: Announcements Galore

COUPON CODE: Use coupon code INSIDER15 to get 15% off.

CardStix – greeting cards that stick

Announcements & Stationary, Fun stuff for parents, Holiday, Personalized

Cardstix
I can’t tell you how many times Sebastian has been to a birthday party and the recipient had no idea who gave him the gift because Sebastian forgot to make or bring a card. Card Stix solves that problem once and for all.  Card Stix stick to wrapped gifts, gift bags, bottles, and I’m sure you can come up with plenty of other places where you can stick these cheery cards.

So you are probably thinking that Card Stix must be outrageously priced.  Wrong! A collection of 12 Card Stix is just $12!  That is way less than what you would pay at the drug store.  Add $5 to have your Card Stix personalized with a name and/or greeting. What’s even better.. Insider readers get 15% off your Card Stix order! Use coupon code insider15.

Card Stix collections include ‘Wine Stix’, ‘Wedding Stix’, ‘Baby Stix’, ‘Holiday Stix’, ‘GrownUp Stix’, Kids Birthday, Tween Boy, and Tween Girl.

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Card Stix – greeting cards that stick.

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Insider readers get 15% off your Card Stix order! Use coupon code insider15.

Stop Violence in the Home Hi-Shine Lip Treatment

Beauty & Skin Care, Fun stuff for parents

Bodyshoplipshine_2

Bodyshopbubble There are hundreds of thousands of women in the United States who would love to have a dream as simple as mine.  But their dream is much more complex and hard to make a reality. It’s a dream of getting out of an violent situation in their home. It’s not easy to get yourself much less your children out of a violent situation. That’s why there are programs across the country that need our help to fund their campaign to stop violence in the home and The Body Shop is making it really easy for us to help.   

I love The Body Shop. I have shopped there for almost twenty years.. since I was a teenager.  Well, The Body Shop is asking for our help with their Stop Violence in the Home campaign and there is a really easy, and fun way you can participate. Buy The Body Shop’s Stop Violence in the Home Hi-Shine Lip Treatment. That’s it!  This stuff is great!  I am always a bit apprehensive about trying new lip treatments because I have super sensitive lips.. they turn bright red when I eat spicy food and put poor quality lip stick or gloss on. No kidding.  I have an appointment with the dermatologist. Anyway, this ultra-shiny, subtly scented lip gloss offers intense moisturization and conditioning for the lips which makes it great for my sensitive lips as it glides on smoothly.  Not only does this lip gloss have a great scent, and smooth texture but it is also super sexy!

Lips of all sensitivities, shapes, full or thin, color, and sizes will LOVE The Body Shop’s Hi-Shine Lip Treatment.

Proceeds (all profits) go to local campaign partners as part of The Body Shop Stop Violence in the Home Campaign.

I’ve made it easy for you to help. Click the link to go to the Hi-Shine Lip Treatment page on The Body Shop’s website, buy this product and you are helping to Stop Violence in the Home. It’s that easy. Period.

The first FIVE readers to email me with a reference to this post will get a Hi-Shine Lip Treatment FREE.. thanks, The Body Shop!