Stuff Parents Need

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

Zero Waste Lunch Kits: Fill Your Own (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Last week, my little bunny was sick with bronchitis. She got it from her father. She then gave it to me (we are a generous family, like that). Let me tell you, our little girl handled it better than either one of us. She was such a trooper and took her really icky medicine every time (I tasted it…it really was gross). Afterwards, she would say, “Good job!” and we would agree.

So in the midst of all this sickness, Darah missed an Easter egg hunt with a playgroup. I was bummed out about this, because this would be the first year that she’d be able to participate. So I decided to create a little hunt for her, because even in her sickness, you could still see her playful energy coming out. We had some gorgeous days, and I knew she longed to be outside.

So on a Wednesday, when Tim came home for lunch, I had a picnic ready for us to take to the park down the street (we are SO lucky to have a playground on the same block as our house!). We loaded up our wagon with blankets and yummy food, and headed over. I went ahead and laid out some eggs in the park.
Darah was such a doll. You could just see the wheels turning in her head as she realized that there were plastic colored eggs all over the ground (if you were learning about this tradition for the first time, wouldn’t it seem a bit odd?). And for her basket, she used the cutest little bag, which brings me to our review for today. Isn’t this set adorable?
It’s called a Zero Waste Lunch Kit, and it is made by the company Fill Your Own. There are several things I love about Fill Your Own products. First, I love that the products are stainless steel. Are you freaking out about all these reports coming out that supposedly BPA-free products actually aren’t BPA free??? ARGH! What I’m learning is that the best way to avoid dangerous chemicals in plastic is to AVOID PLASTIC. These stainless steel containers and stainless steel water bottle are so great to have on hand. While they can’t be microwaved, they make the perfect containers for picnics, munchies throughout the day, or to send with her to school.
The water bottle, I might add, is a HUGE hit with Darah. It has a button you push to remove the cover and expose the straw. The lid doesn’t completely come off, which I love, because most kids would lose the lid pretty much immediately. Great design, Fill Your Own!
Finally, the bag is also just precious. I used it as Darah’s Easter egg basket out of necessity this week (Easter decorations are still in the attic…I know…it’s time…). But you know what? I thought it was so cute that if I never make it up there to get those decorations, I don’t really care! Her bag is adorable, and very spring-like, and it holds quite a bit! I think she could get about 2 dozen eggs in there before she might need to stash her loot elsewhere.
I love having reusable products that are the perfect size and design for our daughter. We will be enjoying these for years to come, and I know this to be true because these products are meant to last. Hooray!
Buy it!: Fill Your Own products are available online. Be sure to check out the great variety of products that have the whole family in mind…not strictly the little ones! The kit we received is the medium lunch kit, and it retails for $49.99. Also, Fill Your Own would like to offer you 15% off ANY purchase on their site from now until April 30. Just use code STUFF15 at checkout!
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a small or medium lunch kit in your choice of design! The contest will run until April 26th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be drawn 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 and Canada. Limit one entrant per household, please.
Mandatory entry: Other than the fairy lunch kit, name one other product that is catching your eye at Fill Your Own.
My answer: I’m totally swooning over the Lily Serenity shopping tote!
Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Subscribe to the Fill Your Own newsletter (top left part of the linked page). They tell you about an awesome deal that they offer each and every Tuesday (one product goes up to 60% off!).
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter
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.

My Baby Clothes Boutique $25 GIVEAWAY!!

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It’s time to do another feature of the fabulous company My Baby Clothes Boutique. This is THE online destination for those to-die-for cute outfits for your baby, and all at prices that won’t make you dizzy.

As the sun starts to come out to play more and warm us up a bit, don’t forget to make sure you have some baby hats in your little ones wardrobe. My Baby Clothes Boutique has an outstanding selection! And let’s not forget those tutus! The pink and brown tutu is my very favorite.

I have a tendency to point out all the cute baby clothes available for the girls, but they do also have MANY cute choices for the boys, so be sure to take a look if you have a little boy in need of some super cute stuff!

Win it!: My Baby Clothes Boutique wants to give one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a $25 gift certificate to their site! Woo hoo! The contest will run until April 25th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using 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: This contest is open to anyone who follows Stuff Parents Need by Google Friend Connect, so please make sure you follow me that way, and then let me know in the comments below (I will check, so please be honest!).

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like My Baby Clothes Boutique on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS or email

rare bonus entry: Subscribe to the My Baby Clothes Boutique blog

Disclosure: : I am earning credit in the My Baby Clothes Boutique Fashion Consultant program for hosting a giveaway. All the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Coca-Cola and Peanuts: Some of My Favorite Childhood Memories

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My mother is the daughter of a peanut farmer. She and her 5 siblings were raised on peanuts, and they were also raised to wash them down with Coca-Cola. One trick that she learned growing up was to take a package of salted peanuts and add them into the bottom of your glass bottle of Coca-Cola. There was a practical purpose to this: if you were biking home from the corner store, you only had to hang on to the Coke and could leave the peanut bag behind. But also, believe it or not, Coke and salted peanuts, together, TASTE AWESOME!

I know this to be true because I was raised on this, myself. We would often put together this fine concoction on car trips down to the beach, or even just over to the mall, two towns past our own.

Have you ever tried Coke with peanuts? If you haven’t, do me a favor and the next time you stop at a convenient store, buy them both and give it a try. That little bit of salt added to the soda gives it an extra burst of flavor, and by the time you get to those peanuts at the bottom of your bottle (a plastic 20 oz is fine, but I swear the glass version tastes best), you’ll get to enjoy peanuts that have a nice, sweet flavor. Try it; you’ll see!

While the flavor of Coca-Cola and peanuts is good in and of itself, what I enjoy most of all is the memories that seem to come flooding back every time I do this (which isn’t as often as I should…usually just once a year, or so). I am instantly transported to the back seat of my parents’ car, or to the front yard of my grandfather’s house, or even to one of MANY peanut picking parties that we have every year when the peanuts get harvested. My father brings home a truck full of peanuts on the vine, and we always sit outside and pick them off for hours on end.

I also can just imagine my own mother, peddling along on her bicycle in the late 1960s, with a Coca-Cola in her hand, feeling the sunshine on her face and enjoying the treat she got from the corner store. Coca-Cola and peanuts, together, always remind me that sometimes it is the simple things that can bring the most joy. I look forward to the day when I can teach Darah how to pour her peanuts into her Coca-Cola for something extra special! 🙂

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Coca-Cola® blogging program. If I am one of the first 100 blogs received by SocialsMoms, I will receive a $25 gift card. For more information on the program, click here.

Helping Your Toddler Let Go of the Paci: Paci Pixie (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Going into it, I don’t think any parent out there plans for their little ones to still be using pacifiers when they are 2, 3 or 4 years old. Most of us probably start out with the idea that we’ll lose the paci (or binky, as we call it) by 1. At least that was my thought. I actually wasn’t excited altogether about giving Darah a pacifier, because it sounded so difficult to take away from children. But this kid had such a strong need to suck on something that we gave her a binky the second the pediatrician told us we wouldn’t be at risk for nipple confusion (she was 2 weeks old). Before that, she was sucking on our fingers for comfort. Here’s a picture as proof! We were happy to no longer be her personal pacifiers, I have to say.

But as we got closer to her 1 year mark, I realized that this “give up the binky” idea wasn’t going to go down easily. It’s not like I could just take it and she wouldn’t notice. And we couldn’t really just have a rational “big girl” chat about it and reach an agreement, either. Basically, everything I was reading about how to remove the binky from a child over the age of one could be summed up like this: “Good luck with that. You brought this on yourself.” Gee, thanks.

By the time Darah was 15 months old, we successfully transitioned to the binky only being used in the crib for going to sleep. I made one feeble attempt to not give her a binky at night, but quickly folded when she started to get upset. I’m just so done by the end of the day that it is hard to muster up the energy to do much of anything other than give her exactly what she wants. Just being honest, here.

So what do those of us with toddlers who still love their pacifiers do about this situation??? Well, today I want to tell you about a very cool book written for us, and it isn’t a finger wagging book (thank goodness!). It’s called The Paci Pixie, and it is a sweet story about how older toddlers have to be brave, and let go of their pacifiers so that the new babies coming can have them. The Paci Pixie gives little ones the strength they need to move on. What I really love about this book is that it comes with a cd. It contains a read-aloud version of the book, as well as a song about the Paci Pixie.

Darah enjoys the song, but so far, is definitely resisting the story! But seriously, a book isn’t going to convince Darah in one sitting to let go of her binky. If it were that easy, she’d be binky-free by now! It is going to be a gradual process for us, and this book is a great part of it. We are starting to talk about the Paci Pixie, and we sing the song from time to time and dance to it. We are also starting to talk more about needing to let go of our binky. I’m going to give the idea a bit of time to take root before we act on it. I’m really glad to have this book as part of the process!

Buy it!: The Paci Pixie is available for $19.95. This is perfect for any child you know who may need to hand over their pacifier in the not so distant future! It is the winner of the Mom’s Choice Award, which means that other moms out there have given it their stamp of approval!

Win it!: TWO Stuff Parents Need readers are going to get AUTOGRAPHED copies of The Paci Pixie. The contest will run until April 23rd at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using 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 anything relevant to the topic of children and pacifiers. How did you get your little one to stop using one? Still struggling with the issue? Anything related to this topic works for me!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” the Paci Pixie on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

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

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

Purex with Zout Review (and GIVEAWAY!!!)

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One thing I knew in theory about toddlers thanks to all my book reading was that they are quite independent, and value getting to do things all by themselves. Despite being aware of this, the reality of it has hit me like a ton of bricks, in some ways. In particular, I am challenged by how this plays itself out at meal time.

You see, I seem to take issue with messy eaters. Which is sort of strange, because I’m not Miss Manners at the dinner table, myself (and goodness knows I don’t have any problem being messy in other areas of my life). But seriously, I cannot stand seeing a kid with food all over her face, in her hair and on the table. Like, I sometimes have to leave the room. Yeah.

So that meant that I was spoon-feeding Darah for longer than most babies. Tim would let Darah try out her self-feeding skills when he was on meal duty with her, which I was grateful for, because I did feel bad that I wasn’t giving her the opportunity to practice. But I didn’t feel bad enough to turn over control to her.

That is, until she DEMANDED it. Oh yes, that day has definitely come. Darah WILL feed herself. On any given morning, you can hear me in my dining room stifling my shrieks as I watch her dump food EVERYWHERE. I give her the smallest of spoons, and yet, she defies gravity with how much food she loads up on them, and then turns the spoon over just a second too soon, getting 75% of it on her bib or the table.

I’ve learned the hard way that meals are best served to a toddler with no clothes on, because she can find a way to get food not just on the front of her shirt, but also the back and the arms! It’s a little bit impressive! But there have been days when it has either been too chilly in the house, or when I just didn’t feel up to getting her undressed (especially during her food meltdowns where she seems to think that she might actually die if she doesn’t eat right that second). Even though we have great bibs, she almost always gets something on her clothes. And even if she doesn’t, her bibs are beyond toast. I usually have to rinse them off in the kitchen sink before adding them to the laundry hamper. Sometimes I miss a spot, as is evidenced by me finding black beans and blueberries IN THE WASHING MACHINE. Ay yay yay!

You know what else is going in the washing machine with those super stained clothes? Purex with Zout. This is a fabulous new product from the company that makes my beloved fabric softener crystals.

Basically, it is a detergent and a pre-treater all in one. I can tell you from personal experience that it has removed all sorts of berry stains (blueberry, raspberry, marionberry, strawberry) from Darah’s clothes and bibs. It has also gotten out baked bean sauce! And I didn’t even have to pre-treat the clothes, which is amazing.

It contains the following three elements, which is what makes it so effective against so many different types of stains.

  • protease: works against protein-based stains such as grass and blood
  • amylase: works against starchy stains such as chocolate and tomato sauce
  • mannanase: works against guar, which is used as a thickener in many foods, such as ice cream, barbecue sauce, and salad dressing. it is sticky, which means that it sticks to clothing, too.

If you’ve got a messy eater in your house, I’d say this is a must-have for your laundry room. And I love the price point (ARV is $3.49…budget-friendly!). Look for it at your local Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger and Publix stores! Also note that it comes in a fragrance-free formula, for those of you with folks in the home sensitive to fragrances. Yippee!

You want to try it, don’t you? Good news! You can get a free sample of Purex with Zout right now!

Win it!: TWO of you will be scoring a free product coupon for Purex with Zout! Woo hoo! The contest will run until April 22nd at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond 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: This contest is for my Facebook fans, so for your mandatory entry, please like me on Facebook and come back here and tell me you did (If you are already a fan, great! Just say so for your first entry).

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Purex on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect

Rare bonus entry: Tell me how you dealt with/hope to deal with the messy toddler eating stage! All tips welcome! 🙂

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.
Disclosure: I am a Purex Insider, which means that I received complimentary products for review in exchange for my honest opinion, which I have given!

Saving Money on Breakfast While Going Organic: Tropical Traditions Organic Thick Rolled Oats (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Have you found that choosing organic foods for your family often comes at the expense (no pun intended) of saving money? I know I have. But today I want to show you one way that we have incorporated an organic item into our breakfast routines AND we are saving money in the process!

Tropical Traditions sells so many wonderful products, and the one I am highlighting today is the their Organic Thick Rolled Oats. They are sold in 5 lb or 10 lb bags and are useful for anything you’d normally put oats into (cookies, breads, and of course, oatmeal).
Tim really loves to eat oatmeal. I try to watch for coupons and in-store deals on instant oatmeal, but thanks to the wonderful blogosphere, specifically the blog The Simple Dollar, I learned that if you are a regular oatmeal eater, making your own is more cost-effective.
Let me break it down for you! Typically, a store-brand variety of instant oatmeal costs .20/package. If you go organic, the standard price goes up to about .62/bag. Yikes. We made our own packets using our Tropical Traditions oats, and our cost per bag came out to .14 (not including the small bit of sugar and salt we added…so let’s just say .16/bag). I totally hear you that this isn’t a far cry from the store brand price, but remember that the store brand stuff is NOT organic. This is MUCH cheaper than buying instant organic oatmeal and even a little cheaper than buying the store brand non-organic stuff. Pretty awesome, right?!
So what’s the down side? Well, 2 things. First, you do have an initial cost of all the plastic bags you will be using. But since they are just holding your dry ingredients, you can use them again. We are on round two of using our plastic bags for making oatmeal, so there was no additional expense for us this time around. This isn’t the right idea for someone who eats oatmeal once a month, but if you and your family members eat it a few times each week, this is definitely worth doing!
Second, thick rolled oats aren’t instant. We did some experimenting, and reached the conclusion that they just had to be cooked on the stovetop. It takes 10 minutes, which is much longer than the 1 1/2 minutes that instant oatmeal takes. BUT, you may just find the texture to be even better than the instant stuff (we did).
So, even though we have to spend a bit more time preparing it, we are very pleased to be making organic oatmeal that is delicious for a fraction of what it costs to buy its instant counterpart in the stores.
Buy it!: Tropical Traditions Organic Thick Rolled Oats come in a 5 lb bag for $11.75 or a 10 lb bag for $23.45. If you are an oatmeal eater, but a little extra time in and go organic! Your body will thank you and your wallet won’t hate you! 🙂
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a 5 lb bag of Tropical Traditions Organic Thick Rolled Oats! The contest will run until April 22nd at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using 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: Share one way that you have gone organic. Has the decision impacted your overall budget, or did you find a way to make the choice not so expensive?
My answer: I also buy organic whole grains (bulgar, millet, etc.) for Darah, to add to her meals. I use the bulk bins to save some dough!
Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter and be the first to know about all their great sales!
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by email or RSS
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary item for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

No More Dark Circles: Olay Has the Answer (GIVEAWAY!!! 5 WINNERS!!!)

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What’s your biggest trouble-spot when it comes to doing your makeup? Mine is the dark circles under my eyes. I’m very fortunate that thus far in life (knock on wood), I don’t get bags under my eyes. No puffiness, really. But those dark circles are definitely there, and they get more and more defined as time passes.
Foundation doesn’t cover them. Nope, not one bit. Most concealers I have tried either don’t work at all, or look too light, giving me these bizarre reverse raccoon eyes, if that makes sense. I do have one concealer that works, but it is from a company that you have to have a rep to work with, and I don’t have one in my new hometown. And frankly, I’m reluctant to get one, because in many cases, those reps hound you to buy more. I’ve tried the line…I only like 2 products…I only need to buy them twice a year. So I’m not really a great catch as a new customer, and I just don’t feel like doing the awkward dance with someone who wants me to buy more.
Anyway, so all this is to say that if I could find a product at a mass merchandiser that worked as well as my old standby, I’d be all over it.

And guess what? I found one!!!!! You may have seen some advertisements for Olay Total Effects Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush. This is a line and dark circle minimizing brush, and it works beautifully, in my opinion.

I think the applicator, itself is very cool. There’s a button at the bottom that you push, and it dispenses the perfect amount of product onto the brush. The brush is then used to sweep the product under your eyes. I sometimes use my finger to get it exactly how I want it, and there are some parts that I put more product on, and some less, just depending on how dark it is in that spot. The color is a bit darker than my stand-by concealer, but it looks fantastic…it gives the area under my eyes a flesh color, which is just perfect. I tried to take some before and after shots for you, but I guess the lighting was bad by my mirror, because they just didn’t turn out good. But I have inspected my eyes again and again with and without this product, and I can say with confidence that it works, and that I will be buying it again when I run out!

Wanna know what made me try the Olay product, when I could have tried any of the billion other products out there? YOU did! I recently asked about your favorite beauty products, and SEVERAL of you said that you trust Olay. Growing up, my mom also used Olay products. I thought the odds were good that a company trusted by so many women probably was doing a good job with their expanded line. I’m so glad I tried it!

If you love Olay, too, be sure to check out their Facebook page, as they keep you up to speed on coupons and contests!

Win it!: Yes, ladies, Olay wants to help you look your very best by giving 5 lucky Stuff Parents Need Readers a Total Effects Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush! The giveaway will run until April 21st at 11:59pm EST when winners will be selected using Random.org. The winners 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 about your biggest beauty trouble-spot. Do you have a solution? Still looking? Anything relevant to the topic works for me!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Olay 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.

Nature’s Perfect Superfood: Sun Chlorella (GIVEAWAY! TWO WINNERS!!!)

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I’ll be honest with you; I don’t really know much about vitamins, minerals, superfoods and other “healthy” stuff. It was never something emphasized in my home, and it just never took root with me as something to pay much attention to in life. And while I don’t have guilt over not being an amateur nutritionist, I do wish that I paid a bit more attention to what my body really needs to thrive and what I need to do to make sure I provide all of those elements.

sun chlorella

So when the opportunity came to review a product called Sun Chlorella, I thought I’d take it and teach myself a thing or two about nutrition.
I’d never even heard of chlorella until I got this product. Have you? Here’s what it is: a freshwater green algae! Gross, right?! Well, happily, Sun Chlorella comes in powder or pill form, so you don’t feel like you are eating slime (ha!). The company refers to chlorella as nature’s perfect superfood, and that’s because it contains all of the following:
  • Fiber: one serving contains more dietary fiber than many leading fruits and veggies.
  • Prebiotics: it helps promote the growth of good bacteria and improve your body’s digestive health.
  • Greens: one serving is equivalent to one serving of fresh green veggies (minus the pesticides!)
  • Protein: ounce for ounce, chlorella has more protein than steak or soy.
  • Chlorophyll: Sun Chlorella has the highest chlorophyll levels of any plant-based food source. This aids in expelling harmful toxins from the body, providing natural and gentle detoxification.
I don’t think you have to know a lot about nutrition to realize that all of these elements combined into one product is a very good thing, indeed! I continue to struggle to serve enough vegetables in this house, so supplementing with Sun Chlorella is a very good thing for us. Additionally, as we age, fiber does become more and more important (embarrassing to admit, but it is true!).
Since most people don’t already have chlorella as a standard part of their diet, the company recommends introducing it a bit slowly, taking 1/3 of the recommended dosage for a week, and then 2/3 for a week and then getting to the full dosage. That’s the plan I’ve been following, and it has worked great. I’ve tried the powdered form (which I have sprinkled over ice cream with fabulous results…seriously!), the smaller tablets (you have to take 15 each day…not my favorite) and the larger tablets (just 6 a day…much better). I really like that they have a variety of ways to get your chlorella in, depending on your personal preferences.
In the few weeks that I have been taking this product, have I noticed any dramatic improvements in my health? No, but I also haven’t had my skin turn green or had any negative effects, either. Based on what I have read about chlorella, I’m quite confident that my insides are pleased to have it on board to help keep me healthy! And Tim came down with bronchitis this week, but I have managed to avoid it. This could be a coincidence…but maybe not!
Buy it!: Sun Chlorella products are available at Amazon.com and Drugstore.com

 

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. 

Putumayo Acoustic Dreamland CD (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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It’s time to talk about some new music selections for the little ones!!! Today I’m highlighting Acoustic Dreamland, the fifth CD in the Dreamland series by Putumayo Kids.

Let me back up a bit and tell you about Putumayo Kids! It is a record label that is committed to introducing kids to cultures all around the world through music! They have two primary series: Playground and Dreamland. Today’s feature is the newest Dreamland cd, and it joins a great group of other cds that are already out, including Dreamland, African Dreamland, Asian Dreamland and Celtic Dreamland.

The CDs in their playground collection are too numerous to name, but they have an incredible selection, with some of my favorites being Animal Playground and Caribbean Playground!

Ok, so back to Acoustic Dreamland. You guys, this is such a sweet cd. I adore it! It has this mellow, folksy vibe, and you just can’t help but slow yourself down once you start to listen to it. Quite simply, it is the very best cuddle music I have yet to find! I also like that the songs are pretty easy to pick up, so that you can start singing right along with them. You might even recognize some of the tunes, as the CD includes songs originally recorded by the Allman Brothers, James Taylor, Wilco and Mary Chapin Carpenter!

This cd is just perfect for the time right before bed, when we need to start winding down and relaxing. The play time is 31 minutes, which is absolutely perfect. I very highly recommend it if you are looking for some music to play to help set the mood for dreaming!

Buy it!: Acoustic Dreamland is available for $13.10 on Amazon! It’s a great buy!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to have their child’s bedtime ritual get much dreamier! You will win a copy of Acoustic Dreamland! The contest will run until April 19th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond 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 the lullaby you love to sing to your little one!

My answer: Baby Minee from Dumbo!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Putumayo Kids on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need via RSS or email

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.