Sanity-Saving Objects for the Overworked Parent

Saving your sanity as a parent is a task best suited for things that don’t talk; namely, anything but other people.  OK, we’re just kidding for the most part, but there certainly are some physical things that can’t walk and talk that can help you find that inner peace you’ve been searching for, if even for only a few minutes.  So kick back, unwind, and pretend that you just don’t have any children with any of these items that an overworked parent should not be without.

Bath Robes

Few things are as relaxing to the major muscle groups in your body, as well as to a pounding headache, as a nice hot bath.  If you’re finding it difficult to get just a few minutes to yourself, a long bath is the perfect opportunity, because once you’re behind the bathroom door, even your kids can’t get to you (just be sure another adult or babysitter is watching them while you soak).  To make the exquisite experience last even longer, you should wear a luxury bath robe after getting out of the tub.  Comfortable, classy, and warm, these types of bath robes help you feel like a million bucks, even if you end up eating boxed macaroni and cheese afterward.

Headphones

When the word ‘headphones’ is mentioned, we’re not talking about that flimsy five dollar pair you picked up at Walmart or CVS.  We’re talking about high quality, noise reducing, comfortable to wear headphones.  Listening to your favorite music can be soothing, and sometimes a five minute break to hear your anthem can rouse you enough to keep going, even on a very long, busy day.

The Chair

The title for this section is vaguely described on purpose, mainly because there are no set descriptive characteristics you need have on your favorite chair.  Whatever couch, chair, or beanbag you decide to use is up to you, but whatever one you do select, it should be off-limits to the kids.  That way, when you need to sink into a comfy seat, there isn’t any competition from the kids, and you can restore your peace of mind before the kids restore chaos to your household.

Just Please Stop Calling Me Please!

I wanted to take some time to warn my readers about an issue I have encountered recently. I know that a lot of you sign up for deals and freebies, I wanted to warn you about two Laser removal companies, I am not sure if they are affiliated or two separate companies, but  one of them offers you a chance to win free laser hair removal. Most of the time, like 99% of the time when you enter a giveaway, sweepstakes or contest, you give your phone number and as long as you are not the winner you don’t get contacted. Sure, occasionally you agree to sign up for their newsletter via email.  With American Laser, if you sign up to win they call you over and over again. You never win anything. At least I never have, but I remember being called and called, even though I didn’t win.  My old best friend had laser hair removal so I was interested in it. My aunt does electrolysis, as in she performs the procedure and I hate shaving. 

The other one is Signature Forum, I actually wanted to contact them for another reason and thinking I could use the form to contact them and ask my question, I wasn’t able to. On Thursday, I went out with my son and my friend, there will be a post about that soon, because it was a fun time, we went to the mall and dinner and ran a couple errands. Today is Saturday.  So, in the last three days I received EIGHT calls from Signature Forums. I didn’t answer because I keep my phone on silent and honestly, if you are going to call me eight times in three days you better be related to me by blood or there is a serious emergency. I almost had my friend answer the phone and tell them to stop calling. 

Here is my call log from them:

Thursday October 6, 2011

#1  8:10 am

#2  8:55 am

#3  12:56 pm

#4  4:56 pm

Friday October 7, 2011

#5  8:32 am

#6  12:33 pm

#7  4:33 pm

Saturday October 8. 20011

#8 4:18 pm

They also sent me two emails.  I finally emailed them after the last call saying please stop calling.  I know that I gave the permission to call me, but not to harass me.  They left me a voice mail the first time. I would have called them back if I would have wanted laser, that bad.  I was curious until they called me a million times. Ok it was just eight, but it was seven times too many.

So, be aware when you see something to enter to win a contest for laser removal. I even tried to fill out the form without my phone number because well, I talking on my phone unless you are a good friend of mine is not one of my favorite things to do. I order pizza online so I don’t have to call.

On another note, if you are thinking about going to college or back to school, don’t give them your number unless you want called over and over again. I get that it is their job to call you, but once maybe twice will suffice.  20 calls is really not going to make me want to go to your school more, it is going to annoy me to the point where I don’t want anything to do with that place.  I watched and read something online about how people give out the number 867-5309 for this very reason, of course that wouldn’t work if you were entering a contest. I remember growing up 867-5309 was a real number. I think it was Pizza Hut.

My philosophy most of the time is if I don’t recognize the number I won’t answer it, unless I know someone is planning on calling me. They can leave me a message if it is important.

Direct Buy Membership

Direct Buy is a service that many people have heard of, but do not really know much about. Direct Buy is a company that has been saving people money on some of the largest purchases of a home. A Direct buy membership is all you need to get started and this is something that can help you to get all of the things you need for your home.

You can use your membership to help you with a new home, or an existing home etc., to help you get all of the things you need for a discounted price. You will have access to many of the major brands. You will also be able to purchase these top brands at the dealer’s price. This can be very different than going into a store and paying for the mark up. With this service you are eliminating the middle man and buying straight from the source.

At Direct buy, you can choose from products like appliances, hardwood flooring, cabinets, and more. This can help you to find many of the things you need for your home without overspending for these items. You will have many resources to look at and this can help to provide you with ideas and you will also have many different manufactures at your fingertips. This will allow you to do everything you need in one spot. You will not have to drive from store to store looking for the things you need. This can help you to save time and time is something that many people need more of.

Obtaining a Direct buy membership is also very easy. You will be able to provide some basic information and you can begin using your membership right away. This can make it very easy to get your membership started you will be able to transform your home right away and this is a very easy way to get your home updated and in a condition that you will love when complete.

You can take full advantage of a free day pass and this can give you a rare, inside look into what this Direct Buy membership can do for you. When you use this pass, you will be able to really check out all of the benefits and this can help you decide if this is a company that you would be interested in working with further. You can also use this time to sign up and become a true member.

Getting Older.....What's the Big Deal?

As I was eating dinner, I had an idea for a post. QVC or HSN happened to be on the TV and they were talking about some anti aging products. I started thinking about my grandma Rose, and how beautiful she was.  I was thinking about how she didn’t use anti-aging products, how she didn’t dye her hair and she just aged. Granted all the women in my family on my mom’s side have great genes where we look younger than we are. I think that had something to do with it.  Even if we didn’t have good aging genes, I don’t think my grandma would have ever got Botox or dyed her hair or get anything like that done.  She got permanents but that is how she wore her hair.  I still remember her hands they were wrinkly and I used to lightly pinch her skin on the back of her hands to make it stand up.

 My Grandma Rose was beautiful and she was naturally that way.  I started wondering, what is wrong with being old or looking your age?  You can’t watch TV without hearing the words anti-aging. You can’t read a magazine without seeing an ad for the latest anti aging product.  Our grandmas didn’t need all of those products. I know that most of them were not around back then.  I think little old ladies are absolutely adorable.  I like to think that they earned every wrinkle they have. Maybe a wrinkle on my grandma’s face was from when my uncle Gene was in his motorcycle accident. Maybe another one was from when I choked on a lifesaver when I was four. My Grandma Rose used to say that she earned every one of these wrinkles. I used to call my grandma an old lady, it was in good fun and she called me kid. She didn’t care if she was wrinkled.  She was truly happy with the way she looked.

 I don’t see why wrinkles are considered a bad thing.  Everyone is so obsessed with looking young and beautiful with their magic potions and their boxes of hair dye.  As I am writing this the movie Death Becomes Her comes to mind. The two characters are so obsessed about being young and winning that they end up being hideous and not to mention dead at the end of the movie.  Women poke and prod themselves and get all sorts of peels and pulls and inject themselves with who knows what. For what, exactly, nothing is guaranteed.  Women go under the knife and get surgeries just  to look better.

   

There are women that go over board and end up looking kind of messed up like Joan Rivers or Suzanne Somers. Who were both beautiful women and if they weren’t so concerned about looking younger than they would look a lot more natural and less like clowns.  Those women are not looked at as young looking women, they are looked at as weird looking. I don’t think people would be like wow they look old, and if they do, they probably are.  Everyone gets old, if they live long enough.  There is nothing wrong with being old. It is a fact of life that I wish more people would embrace instead of denying  it to themselves. 

I know it is considered rude to ask an older person their age.  I know some women lie about their age to hide how old they are.  I am so glad that my mom doesn’t lie about her age, if Noah asks how old she is, she will tell him or if anyone asked for that matter.  She is comfortable in her own skin.  I just wish everyone else was comfortable in their own skin and just aged gracefully and enjoyed life.

How Safe is Your Water?

If you drink water straight from the tap, you may want to consider installing a whole-house water filter. Our public tap water supplies often contain tons of gross and unhealthy chemicals that can reach you and your family. In fact, there are said to be 35,000 pesticides containing 600 chemical compounds in various water supplies. Some of you may already know of certain chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride, but other toxins in your water may shock you.

In some areas, there are things like arsenic and methane gas found in the water. Chemical fertilizers used for farming and various pharmaceutical drugs are also commonly detected in public water. Although you may not taste it, these chemicals could possibly be in your tap water. The negative effects of bad water are very noticeable, even if you don’t know the cause. They can cause problems such as nerve damage, birth defects, and cancers. You certainly don’t want your little ones drinking this stuff!

It’s not healthy to shower or cook with impure water either. When you shower in water with water filled with chlorine, you may develop unpleasant symptoms such as migraines and irritated eyes and skin. You also increase the chance of long-term problems like pelvic or bladder cancer. When you cook with tap water you might think that you are eliminating unhealthy toxins, but this is not always the case. Certain chemicals can survive the heat and remain in your food. You don’t want your family drinking and eating dangerous chemicals.               

                                                                                                                                   Installing a whole house water filter will filter the water throughout your entire home.

To prevent these nasty ingredients from entering your household and affecting the health of you and your children, you may want to install a whole-house water filtration system. PuriTeam filters will provide your family with healthy, clean water free of chemicals and toxins. You not only remove the negative content when you drink your water, but when you shower and cook with it as well. When you install the system, you will have clean water throughout every water supply in your household. If the health of you and your family is a priority to you and your family,and learn more about the benefits of a water filtration system.

 

Gerber Grabbers Review

Noah loves squeeze pouches. You know those little pouches, that are drinkable fruits and vegetables. Noah loves fruit, but doesn’t really like veggies. He loved them when he was a baby and toddler but now that he is older, he will hardly touch them, except for the occasional carrot or piece of celery.  He is an extremely picky eater.  I really like giving him squeeze pouches because I know he is eating vegetables without even really knowing it.  Sure, if he asks me what it is, I will tell him but it doesn’t seem to faze him.  So, when I had the opportunity to try out some Gerber Grabbers I jumped on it.

Everyone knows about Gerber and Noah was definitely a Gerber baby. I was excited to see that Gerber came out with Gerber Grabbers because this product concept started out as an organic food. I am all for organic but not the organic price. I was looking for something that Noah loves and honestly is affordable. I know that Gerber products are affordable. He was eating other brands, but they were all just fruits. I know that he needs veggies in his diet and so I was really excited to see that some of the flavors contain veggies as well.  I knew I could kind of sneak some veggies in his diet with these.

Made for Toddlers:

Easy for toddlers to self feed

Encourage independent eating skills

Come in a re-sealable pouch

 Pouch is easy to take on the go

Fun to eat

Good for Toddlers:

Made with 100% natural fruit or fruit and vegetables

No artificial flavors or colors

Excellent source of antioxidant Vitamins C & E

2 servings of fruit or fruit/vegetables per pouch*

5 Flavor Combinations:

 Banana Blueberry

Apple, Pear & Peach

Apple & Sweet Potato with Cinnamon

Pear & Squash

Apple, Mango & Strawberry

When I opened the package, I didn’t get to look at them before Noah was asking to eat one.  I let him pick the kind he wanted and it was gobbled down. He really liked it a lot, because we got the package on Saturday and it is now Sunday night as I write this and we are down to one. He would have eaten the last one if I would have let him.  I know first thing in the morning he is going to ask me for the last one.  He eats them by not what is in them but what color the package and cap are.  He would say which pouch he wanted by what color it was. He has really enjoyed them all.

For more information on Gerber  products, please visit their website

You can also find Gerber on Facebook.