Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Lock Down the Perfect Gift: Master Lock Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

· by · 1 Comment

Back in 2006, I got a grill for Tim. It was nothing glamorous, but it was his. It was one of those very basic models – a good “first grill.”

The grill sat on the side of our house for a few days, tucked away behind our garbage can. And then it was time to take the garbage to the road, so the grill was no longer hidden.

That’s when it was stolen. Tim never even got the chance to use it. 🙁

That incident is the main reason why all of our porches since that time have remained completely empty. I haven’t put out any furniture, any large potted plants, and certainly not any grills. I realized that if it can easily be moved, it can easily be stolen.

I was really excited to learn about a product that Master Lock puts out that is actually perfect for things that you’d like to leave outdoors, but that you’d also like to make sure stay where you put them.

These are Adjustable Locking Cables, and they are so useful! The cords are extremely flexible and the locking mechanism is adjustable so that if you need to use your lock to help hold something tightly in place (like a ladder), it can do that!

Other features are as follows:

  • 3/8″ (10mm) braided steel cable for superior cut resistance.
  • Cable end threads through places other cables cannot.
  • Rekeyable wafer cylinder for maximum pick resistance. Can be keyed-alike to any standard M1 key cut.
  • Rust resistant lock and vinyl coated cable for superior weather and scratch resistance.
  • Velcro strap holds excess cable for compact storage.

Now that Tim has a lock like this, he is MUCH more likely to have a grill in his future. It wasn’t an option at all before. This is also great if you don’t have a hidden place like a garage or a shed to store your lawnmower or weed eater. It can even serve as a bike lock!

Master Lock is a really great resource for gifts, whether you need an adjustable lock or something different. They are the world’s largest manufacturer of padlocks and related security solutions. Because they are such a popular supplier of such products, you can find them pretty much anywhere. Check out the list of stores where Master Lock is sold!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win the Adjustable Locking Cables we reviewed (ARV $28.70). The contest will run until July 26th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me one other product from Master Lock that you’d like to have.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Master Lock on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Like Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

How to Keep Coffee Fresh: Friis Coffee Vault

· by · Leave a Comment

I’ve made no secret of my love for coffee. Especially iced coffee. I’m actually sipping on some as I write this post! 🙂
I make my own coffee at home, which does save quite a bit of money. But I have always noticed that even when I use the more gourmet coffees at home, the stuff in the coffee shop tastes better.
I found out why that is the case, and I’ve found out how to better even the playing field. Wanna hear how to keep coffee fresh?

It’s called the Friis Coffee Vault, and let me tell you why this is not just an ordinary container.
It is specially designed to vent away carbon dioxide, which is the primary culprit for making your coffee taste a bit dull.
You see, once coffee is roasted, it is continuously giving off this gas, and they sit, trapped, in your typical storage container. The gas basically eats away at the freshness and flavor of your coffee beans or coffee grounds. That makes sense, because I have noticed that freshly ground coffee tastes the very best. I don’t have a coffee bean grinder at home, though, so I have to make do with the pre-ground stuff.
The Friis Coffee Vault has a patented valve built into the container, and it sends those gases right out, keeping your coffee free from the damage they cause. Pretty awesome, right?!
I can tell you after using the product for a few weeks, I really can tell a difference in how my coffee tastes. Really!
If you have anyone on your birthday or holiday gift list this year who loves coffee, this will be an unexpected but very much appreciated gift, I promise! It’s one of those things that I had never heard of until recently, but now that I have it, I wish I had known about it a long time ago. I shudder to think of all the mediocre cups of coffee I have made for myself without my Friis Coffee Vault!
Buy it!: The Friis Coffee Vault is available in a variety of sizes and quantities (buy more than one to save!). The 16 oz. coffee saver I reviewed retails for $24.95.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Music for Kids: Putumayo Kids World Party Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

· by · 80 Comments

Is your little one in need of a fun new YouTube video and song? Here’s a great one!
This is from the fantastically fun new album from Putumayo Kids called Kids World Party. We have really been enjoying dancing around the house to it! It has a wide variety of artists from all over the globe, and it brings home a really terrific selection of different musical styles and sounds.

Here’s a list of the artists and their home countries:
Pakita (France)
Solanna (US)
Famara (Switzerland)
PALO! (Cuba)
Asheba (Trinidad/Tobago)
Sharon Katz and the Peace Train (South Africa)
Tom Freund and Friends (US)
Lucky Ali (India)
Will Street (Canada)
Monedita de Oro (Mexico)
Balentes (Italy)
Eric Bibb (US)
A portion (50 cents) of each album sold goes back to Amnesty International, in commemoration of its 50th anniversary and in support of its work to promote and protect human rights worldwide. I also loved that that packaging for the cd uses no plastic. Way to go on both of these matters, Putumayo Kids!
Buy it!: Kids World Party was released on June 28th and is available for $14.98. If you are looking to bring a global experience to your living room, look no further!
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will snag your own copy of Kids World Party! The contest will run until July 24th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.
Mandatory entry: Have a little listen to the tracks on this cd (you’ll be so glad you did!) and tell me which one you really like!
Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Putumayo Kids on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Drenchers: The Best of Flavored Water and Juices Combined

· by · 1 Comment

I think we all know that we are supposed to have at least 8 glasses of water each day, with each glass being 8 ounces. That’s a great thing to aspire to, and more power to you if you are able to do it every day or even most days.

I’m not so much hitting that mark.

The closest I ever came to it was when I was pregnant. I would get about 6 glasses in each day. And that took a great deal of effort on my part. I would have reminders pop up in my work calendar telling me to stop what I was doing and drink some water. Maybe I need to get those reminders going again, because I swear that’s the only reason I did it. I’m so fiercely loyal to my to-do lists!

I struggle for one main reason: water tastes so boring to me! I wish that it tasted super refreshing to me, but it just doesn’t.

A line of drinks has hit the market that is perfect for folks like me who would like to drink more water, but who find themselves ultimately uninspired to do so. Drenchers are drinks that go way beyond those vitamin or flavored waters you see on the market. I tried out all the flavors from their Fit ‘N Lean line, and I found that they tasted like an interesting combination of a flavored water and a fruit juice drink. The calories are more reminiscent of a flavored water, coming in at 10 calories per 8 oz serving. The sugar is also so low that it is a good choice for diabetics. I love fruit juice, but all those calories and the sugar make it not the healthiest choice. And flavored water, to me, is more exciting than water, but still a little bland. Drenchers seem to have incorporated the best of both worlds, offering a tasty beverage that will give you lots of vitamins and minerals, plenty of great flavor, and very little in the way of calories. Very cool!

Drenchers Fit ‘N Lean has 4 great flavors:

  • Endurance (Grape Apple)
  • Restore (Kiwi Mango)
  • Immunity (Pomegranate Berry)
  • Heart Health (Tropical Passion)

Sadly, there are no stores near me that sell this product. But you can order online!

What about you? How do you get your water fix each day? Do you like plain water? Go for the flavored stuff? Prefer juices?

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Savvy Rest Shredded Latex Pillow GIVEAWAY

· by · 263 Comments

Yesterday you saw my review of the fabulous Savvy Rest Shredded Latex Pillow (aka the pillow of my dreams). Well now you have a chance to win one for yourself! Woo Hoo!

The contest will run until July 23rd at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the continental U.S. (sorry Alaska and Hawaii!).
Mandatory entry: This contest is open to all of my email and RSS subscribers! If you haven’t subscribed yet, now you’ve got a good reason to do so! If you have already subscribed, great! Just let me know in the comments for your first entry.
Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Show a little love to Savvy Rest by liking them on Facebook. Come back here and tell me you did.
2. Blogger love: While you are on Facebook, show a little love to Stuff Parents Need and like my page. Come back here and tell me you did (or already do!)
Rare bonus entry: Follow Savvy Rest on Twitter
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for the review I provided. The opinions I expressed are strictly my own.

Baby Clothing Network: Doing Baby Clothes Trading Right!

· by · Leave a Comment

I’ve been a member of a baby clothing and gear trading website before. The concept was awesome. The execution…not so much. It is hard to find someone, for example, who is in need of size 3 month baby girl clothes and has size 2T baby girl clothes that she needs to get rid of! If she has a girl, she wants to hang on to those bigger sizes (I know I would!). In my experience, finding clothes that you wanted was easy. Figuring out a trade that worked for both parties was very difficult.

There’s a new site that has launched and that has really streamlined the process of trading clothes, and I want to strongly encourage you to check it out (it’s free to join, after all!). It’s called Baby Clothing Network. This site is, as the name suggests, just for clothes. So this isn’t the place to swap your books, baby gear, or anything else. It’s all clothes, all the time here!

Here’s the basic information you need to know about how Baby Clothes Network (BCN) works.
1. Clothing is shipped in bundles put together by individual members. There are two sizes of bundles, medium and large. A medium bundle has between 10-20 items (you will know exactly how many as the person who made the bundle will specify). A large bundle has 20+ items. Each bundle must be size and gender specific.The shipper is to use a flat rate USPS box which can be picked up from the post office for free.

2. The person requesting the bundle pays the shipping cost ($10.50 for a medium box and $14.50 for a large box) plus a $2.00 transaction fee. The person putting together the bundle is able to print the shipping label that the buyer paid for so that they don’t have to get reimbursed for shipping costs. Very easy!

The idea is that you can get gently used clothing for roughly $1/piece and have it sent to your door. You also don’t have to find someone to do a swap with you, but can simply “buy” from whoever has what you need. When you send away a bundle of clothes, you get 1 point on the network. To request a bundle, you are deducted 1 point. You can send a bundle or request a bundle to start (so you can have a negative balance). But the purpose of the point system is to give the community a sense for who is giving and receiving fairly. In that sense, it sort of monitors itself, as those with high negative numbers will likely be denied by the people whose bundles get requested. Make sense?

The Baby Clothing Network walks you through how to put together a bundle so that you can be sure you do it right and present something that someone else is going to want (no stained clothing, please!).

I am absolutely fascinated by this idea. I have TONS of clothing that got picked over when I tried to put it in a consignment sale. There was nothing at all wrong with the clothes, they just couldn’t beat out the Baby Gap and Gymboree items sitting right next to them. The Baby Clothing Network is the perfect place to go to so that I can find new a new home for this baby clothing. And I can also try to score some great play clothes for Darah to have now or grow into while I’m at it.

The price is also very fair. You are just paying for the shipping plus a $2.00 fee. You’re basically paying garage sale prices for the clothing without having to brave the heat and drive all over town to go to garage sales! It saves time and money. Gotta love that!

Give Baby Clothing Network a try. Browse over the bundles that are currently being offered. I bet you’ll find one (or more!) that you’d like to have. That will inspire you to part ways with some of the stuff your kids have outgrown. Everybody wins! 🙂

Special thanks to Baby Clothing Network for sponsoring this post. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

The Best Fluffy Pillows: Savvy Rest Review (Giveaway Coming Soon!)

· by · Leave a Comment

Different people have different pillow preferences. My husband has the flattest pillows. They completely confound me. I don’t even understand why he has a pillow at all if he’s going to have one as flat as his.

As for me, I’m a fluffy pillow gal all the way. I grew up with feather pillows, actually, but as I developed allergies over the years, I have been told to steer clear of those.

So now I have a pile of 3-4 pillows (not kidding) that are each very flat but that when combined are tall enough for me.

Are you surprised to hear that I have serious neck pains? Shocking, I know….

Getting the Right Pillow
I’ve known for quite some time now that I needed to invest in a quality pillow that would properly support my head and neck and also be fluffy, just like I like. But it can be a real challenge not to be short-sighted when making a pillow purchase. At my age, I know better than to buy a cheap pillow that will wear out in 6 months, and yet, I find myself doing it again and again rather than saving up for a pillow that will perform better.

The wait it over. Finally. I am the proud owner of a Savvy Rest Shredded Latex Pillow. Let me tell you why this is a particularly excellent choice for a place to rest your head.

  • The soft, shredded latex is designed to conform to your head and neck for lasting comfort
  • The pillow is custom fit to your preference. It comes over-stuffed, so you just keep removing stuffing until you get the pillow exactly how you like it
  • The materials in this pillow are natural and non-toxic

I’ve been using the pillow for several weeks, now, and I’m excited to tell you about my experience. Even though I do really love fluffy pillows, the Savvy Rest pillow really and truly is overstuffed. I don’t think anyone would want to sleep on it as is! But removing the shredded latex is easy to do. It took me about 3 nights to get the pillow exactly how I wanted it. I erred on the cautious side when removing the shredded latex, as I sense that putting the stuffing back in would be similar to putting toothpaste back into a tube. Better to just remove a little bit at a time until you get it where you like.

Once I got it to the right place for me, I started to enjoy sleeping even more. I have noticed a significant positive difference in how my neck feels. My neck pains are not completely gone, but they are much improved.

I have resisted getting a higher quality pillow for so long. Have you done the same? I can now tell you from experience that I believe they are worth it. I feel so much better sleeping on a quality pillow. It makes a difference in how tired/cranky I feel all day long. Now I see that this is something I should have done a really long time ago. I’m now very curious about the natural latex mattresses offered by the company. I bet they feel like clouds!

Buy it!: Savvy Rest Shredded Latex Pillows come in 4 sizes and start at $89.00. Savvy Rest also has other pillow types that you should definitely check out. While you are browsing around, check out Savvy Rest on Facebook. They have a lot of really interesting info there!

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I’ll be hosting a giveaway for a shredded latex pillow!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Headboards: Why Did We Wait So Long To Get One???

· by · Leave a Comment

Tim and I have been married for 9 years. For 8 of those years, we did not have a proper bed. By that I mean that we didn’t have a headboard of any sort. After the pain of buying a nice mattress, we just didn’t have any money left over and we assumed that bedroom furniture would easily cost $1,000!

When we bought a house in Memphis, we found a beautiful bed at a garage sale that had been in someone’s guest room, pretty much unused. We got the whole thing for $350 and promptly tucked it away in our own guest room. We were very pleased with how nice that room looked, while our own room continued to be a complete afterthought.
It was only when we moved that we decided to claim the bed for ourselves. It really is quite lovely, but if we didn’t already own it, I would have found something else for us by now. There are headboards for queen size beds in such a wide variety of styles and colors. It really is amazing, and not at all like the options that our parents had when looking for furniture. There’s no need for your bedroom furniture to look just like your neighbors!

I think if I were looking right now for something, I’d want to go with an upholstered headboard. That seems to be a bit more my style. I secretly wish that I could paint the bed that we currently have, but I can objectively recognize that the wood is very pretty, though not perfectly my style, and I just can’t bring myself to do it!
Headboards for full size beds are just as varied these days. If you have a little one making the move from toddler bed to full-size bed, take a bit of time to look for a headboard that fits in with your child’s personal sense of style (because they do each have one!). You’ll no doubt be able to easily find something that is functional and attractive. While you are at it, why not find an affordable one? The days of having to pay an outrageous amount of money for a nice bed are over, especially if you shop online!

Parents Magazine Subscription for $4! Hurry!

· by · Leave a Comment

As a parent (especially those of us who are doing it for the first time!), it seems as if there are always new situations that arise and you have absolutely no idea how to handle them. Thankfully, many other parents have been through these situations before and are able to help us with their experiences and advice. Thanks to Parents magazine, that information is all compiled into a monthly magazine for easy access!

If you haven’t had a chance to browse a Parents magazine yet, I strongly recommend taking a look at one. It’s full of information about behavior and discipline, development, health and safety, education, fun activities, food and recipes, and much more! It’s a great magazine for expecting moms all the way up to parents of older children.

The yearly rate for Parents magazine is just $12, which is already a great bargain. But now, Purex Detergents is partnering up with Parents and offering Stuff Parents Need readers a full year’s subscription for just $4! That’s only 33 cents an issue – you really can’t beat that!

If you’d like to take advantage of this great offer, head over to this link: https://www.purex.com/parents-promo and use this special promo code from Stuff Parents Need: PX0891. This offer is only good until July 22nd, so be sure to use it ASAP!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Purex; I have written this post so that I have a chance to win a gift card.