Mom Product Reviews

Empower, Educate and Inspire with the Book 365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids

Carrie Anne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:29:37 +0000

As a parent I make sure my kids eat well or at the very least eat. I ensure they have clothes to wear and that they’re clean and healthy. I help with their homework and get them off to school and swimming and whatever other activity is planned that week.

It sounds like I have it all covered right? But what about empowering my children with courage and the belief in themselves, educating and guiding them through the changing world around them, inspiring their creativity and inner spirit. These are important aspects in a child’s life that sometimes get pushed out of the way by day-to-day tasks and responsibilities.

I recently had the chance to review Maureen Healy’s book 365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids. This book provides busy parents with a tool to raise happy, well-rounded kids.

Broken out into three categories: Empowering, Educating and Inspiring, 365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids contains just that, 365 sayings to use and talk about with your kids.

Okay, you’re probably thinking ‘I already talk to my kids. I don’t need a book to tell me what to say.’ That was sort of my first thought. But then I started using it.

For example, my seven-year old daughter has been having best friend issues which has caused her to doubt her own self-worth, to some degree. As a mom I’ve had the conversations about how great she is and friends go through rough spots. But using certain sayings from the book 365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids has actually helped. It’s helped me find the words or ideas I sometimes have difficulty expressing.

I’ve also used the sayings in the Inspirational section to help my son, who is very rigid and rule following, to see outside the square.

In her book Maureen offers you, the parent, a variety of ways to incorporate the sayings into your everyday routine: go through a new saying each day, have your kids pick a saying randomly and discuss and act on it, pick a saying based on a theme you want to explore.

We’ve been following the latter in our house, picking themes randomly based on what the day brings.

365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids has been a great resource to us, to me. It’s now become pretty much part of our regular routine and the kids have come to expect a new saying. My seven-year-old has really benefited from the sayings, repeating expressions we’ve already covered or just reminding herself about something we’ve learned or shared. And because they’re just sayings, it doesn’t require a whole hour of your time. Some things you can say to your kids as they’re getting ready for school or bed.

You can find out more about Maureen and her book on her website Growing Happy Kids

* A copy of 365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids was provided for the purpose of this review

GIVEAWAY!

Maureen knows all parents want to grow happy kids. She is offering one (1) EverythingMom member their own copy of 365 Perfect Things to Say to Your Kids for inspiration. To enter just share with us one of your happy family moments. I'm sure there are many, but all you need to share is one.

This contest is only open to EverythingMom members. Not a member? It’s quick and easy to join. Contest is open to Canadian and US Residents and ends March 25, 2010. One (1) EverythingMom members will be randomly chosen after that.

About the Author

With a background in advertising, Carrie Anne left the agency life to spend more time with her three energetic and active kids (age 7, 5, & 3). She continues to work with marketing agencies testing online programs and has been working with Today's Parent magazine for the last three years testing toys for their annual toy issue.

As the Review Editor at Everythingmom.com, Carrie Anne plans to share her thoughts on products that might be of interest to you and your family. She will put them to the test so you don't have to.

Profile | Blog | Her Main Site | Follow Her on Twitter

Houseworks. A Book on Living Clean, Green and Organized at Home

Carrie Anne — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:43:14 +0000

When I’m working I have no problem organizing tasks and keeping things on track. But somehow when it comes to my own home I’m a disaster: I can never find the school permission forms, I usually end up making grilled cheese AGAIN because I have nothing planned or in the cupboards, I don’t host playdates because of the state my home is in.

I think I found a book that might just help me get my home in the same kind of order as my office. Houseworks by Cynthia Townley Ewer of OrganizedHome.com, a book on how to live clean, green and organized at home.

When the folks at DK Canada first sent this along I thought it looked interesting but wasn’t really for me; I have limited time as is, how is reading a book going to help me. But then I started to flip through the pages. I came across the section Declutter the Closet. Following some simple rules (like only keeping items that fit now, not 10 pounds from now) I actually organized my closet in an afternoon. Wow, now I can find clothes easily.

I think what I like most about the Houseworks is the structure and the concise content. The Declutter the Closet was two pages but it was chunked making it easy to read and the images helped illustrate the point being made. This grouping and chunking content into readable bits is the structure of the entire book. Tips and tricks in each section are highlighted in callout boxes making them easy to focus on too.

Houseworks helps you tackle your home in stages and each stage is broken down into steps, making the task of decluttering or organizing or cleaning doable

Along with decluttering, organizing and cleaning your home, Houseworks also covers

how to plan, save, organize and store food and clothing.
selecting, saving, maintainging and cleaning various surfaces in your house like floors, mattresses, plumbing and more.
Decluttering and organizing specific areas of your home such as the bathroom, entertainment and household storage areas and more.
Setting up an information area and organizing paperwork like schedules, bills and filing.

Houseworks also includes examples throughout the book as well as some handy forms and planners you can duplicate for your own home. You'll also find a handy list of additional resources found on the web.

I may only have one closet done but I’m well on my way to better organizing my home.

* A copy of Houseworks was provided for the purpose of this review

GIVEAWAY!

The folks at DK Canada know how hard it is to balance a chaotic home so they’re offering one (1) EverythingMom member their own copy of Houseworks. To enter just tell us one aspect of your home you would like help organizing.

This contest is only open to EverythingMom members. Not a member? It’s quick and easy to join. Contest is only open to Canadian Residents and ends March 24, 2010. One (1) EverythingMom members will be randomly chosen after that.

Affresh for a Cleaner Dishwasher

Carrie Anne — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:24:20 +0000

I use my dishwasher everyday, sometimes twice a day. Some people might view owning one as a luxury, but with three kids and non-stop schedules, I consider my dishwasher a necessity.

I take care of my dishwasher, using the recommended detergent, ensuring the filter is cleaned and scrapping any extra food items off before putting them in the machine, but I’ve never thought of cleaning it. I mean, it’s cleaned all the time when it cleans my dishes, right?

However some days, when emptying my clean dishes, I notice my dishwasher doesn’t have the freshest smell. I use to just think it was the residual smell from the detergent in the heated dishwasher, but now it turns out it could be caused by food and mineral residue build-up.

Affresh is a cleaning product designed specifically for your dishwasher. A little skeptical, I had a sample sent over to me to try first hand.

The first thing I noticed was the wonderful lemon scent, even before opening the package. I love the scent of lemon in the kitchen. A standard bag consists of six individual tablets but you need to use two for each cleaning, that means one bag is good for three-months. I was thrown off at first by each tablet being packaged individually. I thought I only needed to use one tablet per cleaning, but if you read, you put one in your soap dispensor and one sitting loosely in the bottom of your dishwasher.

You use Affresh with your dishwasher empty, setting it on the heaviest cycle using the hottest water. While the dishwasher was going I could smell the lemon scent slightly near the end of the cycle. With the wash over, I opened to inspect the dishwasher. I was worried I would find grit or other deposits from the tablets but the dishwasher was clean. I must admit I was a little disappointed the lemon smell wasn’t as lemony as the original tablet but surprisingly my dishwasher didn’t have the previous odor. I didn’t notice any odd odor on my dishes either, which sometimes has occurred, especially with Tupperware items. Even after just one use, I’m impressed at the difference Affresh has made. I’m curious if I will notice a greater improvement over time, using Affresh on a regular basis.

* Product was provided for the purpose of this review

GIVEAWAY!

The folks at Affresh want to help you get ready for Spring by offering one (1) EverythingMom member a Spring Cleaning Gift Basket containing a year’s supply of Affresh plus other cleaning supplies. To enter leave a comment telling us how often you use your dishwasher.

This contest is only open to EverythingMom members. Not a member? It’s quick and easy to join. Contest is only open to Canadian Residents and ends March 23, 2010. One (1) EverythingMom members will be randomly chosen after that.

PDP Performance Designed Products: Video Gaming Accessories

Carrie Anne — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:02:09 +0000

I love games. My kids love games. My husband, well, he plays them with us. I admit it, we’re a bit of a gaming family and by gaming I mean video games. Nintendo Wii. Playstation 3. Nintendo DS. Yup, we love them all.

Most families spend their time together watching a movie, our Friday nights are usually game night.

I discovered the company PDP (Performance Designed Products) online when looking for a new charger for our Wii system. PDP designs and manufacturers accessories for all the gaming platforms, including our personal favourites: Wii, DS Lite and PS3. They helped feed our gaming need with a few of their cool accessories.

DS Lite Transforers Kit ($19.99US)

My two older kids each own a DS Lite and it comes in handy for car trips and airplane rides. The Traansformers Kit consists of a case for the DS and a stylus. But were not just talking a case with a logo printed on it. This transformer case is fashioned like an actual 3D transformer gadget (before it transforms into a robot). My son tried the BumbleBee set (his hero). He was so excited when it arrived that he slept with it, in the packaging, that first night. The case snapped on easily and the cutouts don’t block any of the buttons or access areas. There’s also a built in compartment that can hold two game cartridges.

The stylus looks as though it would be cumbersome to handle, but it is designed to fit naturally in your hand. My kids actually found these easier to use then the small stylus that comes with the DS. The only draw back of course is the Transformer stylus doesn’t store with the DS itself so you have to keep an eye out that it doesn’t get misplaced.

DS Lite Nerf Armor ($14.99US)

Like the Transformer Kit, the Nerf Armor is a case for the DS. It has a thin metal shell that is covered in that all too familiar Nerf sponge coating. Again, this just snapped on and the cut-outs for the stylus and buttons and plugs didn’t interfere with using the DS at all. My daughter had this on her DS and loved the extra girth it gave to her machine. She thought it gave her more to hold on to and rest on her lap. I’m guessing the Nerf shell would provide some extra cushioning when the DS is dropped countless times on the floor of the van next road trip. The Nerf Armor doesn’t include a pen like the Transformers Kit.

Nerf Wii Wheel ($9.99US)

One of the games we like to play as a family is Mario Cart. All the kids can play it without getting too bogged down in how it’s played. And we’ve all really enjoyed actually steering the car with the wheel that comes with the game. So will using a Nerf Wheel make that much of a difference? Surprisingly yes. The foam grip was not only nicer to hold, the Nerf shell gave a great feel when gripping to make a turn, but I honestly felt it gave you more control or at least it felt that way. You felt more like you were using a steering wheel versus a gaming wheel.

I noticed the Wii-mote sits more in the middle of the wheel versus sitting up higher in the circle on the original wheel. I thought this might cause interference with where you would grip the handle, but we didn’t notice this during any of our game play. We compared our hard plastic steering wheel to the Nerf Wheel and the Nerf won hands down. The problem of course is we only had one so the winner of the race got to use the wheel the next race. Then the competition started.

Dual Trigger for PS3 ($4.99US)

These little snap on buttons seem like a strange thing and perhaps something only serious gamers would be interested in, but if you have kids and use the PS3, you know how little finger mix up the L/R2 buttons with the L/R1 buttons on the controller. These little button covers easily snap over the L/R2 buttons (the buttons that are on the lower front portion of the controller. The only way I can really describe it is like a lip for the finger to rest on, instead of the button curving downward.

I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s hard to understand how these work from looking on the site and I’m sure my description isn’t that much better. But even without starting the game, we all found the controllers, these buttons, easier to find and control. This was noticeable with the kids and their little fingers, but I even noticed the change.

So if you have a gamer in your house or you like bonding with the family over a friendly game of Mario Kart or Little Big Planet, then you won't be dissappointed with these accessories to enhance your enjoyment. We'll also be reviewing PDP's Enigerzer Flat Panel 4x Charging System in the next few weeks so stay tuned.

* Product was provided for the purpose of this review

GIVEAWAY!

The folks at PDP (Performance Design Products) want make your little gamer happy. They are offering two (2) EverythingMom Members a chance to win either one (1) DS Lite Transformers Kit (Megatron) or one (1) DSi Nerf Armor. We only have one of each so along with randomly choosing the winner, which item they receive will also be randomly choosen. To enter just leave a comment below with your email address.

This contest is only open to EverythingMom members. Not a member? It’s quick and easy to join. Contest is open to both Canadian and United States Residents and ends March 12, 2010. Two (2) EverythingMom members will be randomly chosen after that.

Lego BrickMaster by DK Books: Book and Lego as one

Carrie Anne — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:02:13 +0000

My 5-year-old son loves Lego. I don’t think that’s all that unusually for a boy his age. He loves to make his own creations but he’s a big fan of Lego sets, you know the ones that provide you with instructions on how to build a police car or a space ship.

So when I discovered the BrickMaster sets from DK Canada I was intrigued. They kindly sent over the Pirate set for our review (there’s a Castle set also).

The BrickMaster set looks like a large hardcover book. The inside cover has a pouch that holds all the required Lego pieces (140 bricks and 2 figures in the Pirate set). The book portion contains six pirate related scenes that can be built with the pieces provided. There’s a table of contents listing each set with a finished picture.

Each section includes a little description or one paragraph story about the scene you’ll be building, followed by a pictured outline of each Lego item you’ll need. In great Lego fashion, the building steps are all visual and numbered, making it easy to understand and build. I think Lego’s simple yet clear instructions have fostered my own son’s ability to stay focused and build a whole set on his own, without any frustration on his part. I love that about Lego. I'm glad to see DK Canada has maintained that feature in the BrickMaster set.

The BrickMaster set is designed for kids 5+. The story and other words in the BrickMaster book are a nice large type for early readers. My son loved reading the little scene set-up prior to building. They helped him set the scene for play once he was done. And play he did.

My son has built all six different scenes at one time or another. He’s also built his own creations or created hybrid creations by combining ideas from two or more of the BrickMaster designs.

Any pieces not being used we store in a bag and put it back into the inside cover sleeve. My son owns a lot of Lego building sets and he loves following the instructions to build but usually he only builds the set once. DK Canada's design of having these plans in a book format, something we can easily store, has made it easier for him to rebuild the different sets over and over again. And he has done just that.

The Lego BrickMaster sets by DK Canada retail for $29.99 (either the Pirate set or the Castle set)

* Product was provided for the purpose of this review