review - Stuff Parents Need

Is Your Child Scared of the Dark? Tips to Overcome the Fear (Giveaway!)

March 25, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 114 Comments

Being scared of the dark is a very common thing for children (and let’s be real, for adults as well). There is something so disarming about not being able to see very well, and when you have a great imagination, as children often do, those shadows in the room can quickly become very VERY scary monsters. Here’s what has worked for us to nip our 3 1/2 year old’s fear in the bud.

1. Monsters have been officially banned from our city. This is one of our favorite stories to tell Darah before bed. It is an intricate tale Tim has spun, all about the time that Darah’s PaPa (that’s my dad) came to Chattanooga and fought off all of the monsters, and then banned them from ever returning. She gets a kick out of the story, and it gives her a lot of peace of mind to know that it just isn’t possible for monsters to be not only in her house, but anywhere in the whole city. After all, the Mole Kings of Lookout Mountain stay on guard to make sure no monsters sneak in (told you it was an intricate story!).

2. Name objects in the room with the lights on. This has been one of the most helpful things we’ve done, for sure! Darah seems especially frightened by the shadows cast in her closet, which doesn’t have a door on it to maximize space. We take just a moment to point out the items in her closet and exactly what they are so she can see them. Then we turn off the light and show her how it looks different. Then turn the light back on again and continue pointing out other “questionable” objects until she is satisfied. After we did this a few days in a row, she doesn’t ask for us to do this very often anymore. Highly effective!

3. Empower your child with a portable nightlight. Darah has been using the Munchkin Light My Way Light and absolutely loving it. Not only does it have cute owl design that is fun, but it also has a handle so she can tote it around. She not only has it in her bed at night time, but she also using it in her forts throughout the day or when she is pretending to explore underwater caverns like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Darah can turn on the light, which has a soft glow, any time she is feeling unsure. It seems to give her a lot of peace of mind, and empowers her to help herself feel better rather than relying on grownups to come in the room and reassure her. In short, it is a very powerful tool, and for the help it provides, it is a complete steal at $11.99 at Target and it is also available on Amazon.

If your little one is scared of the dark, I encourage you to give these tactics a try. They have helped us tremendously so that night time is no longer a cause for anxiety, and that is making everyone in the house rest a bit easier.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Munchkin Light My Way Light!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

The Perfect Easter Basket DVD: The Springtime Collection (Giveaway!)

March 23, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 69 Comments

Have you noticed a trend this year to move away from candy kids’ Easter baskets? I’m not jumping on that band wagon, but I do see the point and I am making some changes in the types of candy I am purchasing. I mean, the type that the Easter Bunny will be bringing. 😉

But I do like the idea of having some non-candy stuff in the basket, and if you are looking for a great DVD option, this is it! Scholastic has just released The Springtime Collection Featuring Max’s Chocolate Chicken. It is going to be released on March 26th and will retail for $24.95. It contains 13 stories over 3 discs and they are all winners!

Disc 1: MAX’S CHOCOLATE CHICKEN…AND MORE STORIES BY ROSEMARY WELLS – also includes “Max’s Christmas”, “Morris’s Disappearing Dog”, “Otto Runs for President”, “Max’s Christmas – Spanish Version”. (Max, by the way, is from Max and Ruby which is currently on Nick, Jr.)

Disc 2: THE RED HEN…AND MORE COOKING STORIES – also includes “Bread Comes to Life”, “How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?”, and “Arnie the Doughnut” (This is one of Darah’s VERY favorite Scholastic DVDs, by the way)

Disc 3: CHICKEN LITTLE…AND MORE ZANY ANIMAL STORIES – also includes “The Great White Man-Eating Shark”, “The Three-Legged Cat”, and “Dooby Dooby Moo”

Darah has asked to watch Max’s Chocolate Chicken multiple times, and it has gotten her very excited about the Easter Bunny’s upcoming visit! If your little one would love some new shows to watch, I highly recommend this set. It has almost 3 hours of quality content! It can be purchased on the Scholastic website or on Amazon.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a copy of The Springtime Collection Featuring Max’s Chocolate Chicken!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post may contain affiliate links. Gotta pay for those Easter eggs!

4 Key Tips for Promoting Healthy Habits for Kids

March 22, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 12 Comments

Wednesday afternoon I participated in a very informative conference call with Michelle Dudash, a certified Cordon Bleu chef and author of the highly praised book, Clean Eating for Busy Families.

Michelle had SO many great tips for those of us looking to encourage healthy habits for kids and get more nutritious food into the tummies of our little ones. She also shared some news about the Walmart Foundation that REALLY impressed me. This nonprofit arm of Walmart has dedicated $2 BILLION in cash and in-kind donations through 2015 to help fight hunger in America. That is simply outstanding!

One of the ways that money is being spent is through a $6.7 million series of grants to 5 national nonprofits that are providing 250,000 Americans with access to school breakfasts and nutrition education programs.

During our conversation, Michelle shared some of her top tips for encouraging healthy eating habits in your family. Here are the ones that really stood out to me as things I need to implement:

Get Kids in the Kitchen!

Darah likes to help me prepare food, but as we all know, when little ones want to “help” it really just means more work for the head chef! However, studies have shown that children are more likely to eat food that they help prepare. I need to keep in mind that spending an extra 5-10 minutes on dinner because I had a little helper will pay dividends in the form of a peaceful meal with no whining and complaints such as, “This is yucky!”

You Can Prepare Breakfast Ahead of Time!

My family loves to have a hot breakfast. I try to accommodate that wish as much as possible, but there are certainly days when I just don’t have time. And truth be told, I usually reach for a box of cereal or a bag of bagels that is made with enriched flour. Michelle shared that she actually makes a batch of boiled eggs once a week and keeps them in her fridge. They are one of the very best sources of protein, and as compared to other protein sources, are also one of the least expensive. What a great idea! Reaching for an egg is even faster than reaching for a bagel!

Tips for Getting Through a “Food Funk”

I think we’ve all witnessed our kids clinging to a particular food for a few days or weeks or maybe even months. My oldest gets on a cracker kick that just can’t be stopped. Same goes for peanut butter. Michelle reminded us all that the child will move past those finicky habits eventually, but while we are waiting them out, we just need to make sure we are giving them the most nutritious options possible. For example, if you are making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for one of your kids, be sure you have switched to whole wheat bread, a peanut butter with no sugar added, and a natural jelly. If your kid balks at that option, maybe they are ready to come out of that particular food funk! 🙂

Organic or No High Fructose Corn Syrup…Which to Choose?

I asked Michelle which one was the lesser of two evils…non-organic produce or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I asked this question because we have to watch our pennies in the store, and that means that I can’t fill my cart with every single thing I’d like to get for my family. I simply have to choose. Michelle gave some really helpful advice here. She said that nutritionally, there isn’t too much difference between organic and non-organic food, so while she recommends purchasing it whenever you can, she says to skip it if your budget just won’t allow for it.

As far as avoiding HFCS, Michelle is definitely in favor of doing so, but she said, “If a product is $1 more because it is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, it doesn’t make a difference. Sugar is sugar!” I don’t think Michelle is saying not to worry about HFCS, because it really is a nasty ingredient, but rather, to be more concerned about sugar consumption altogether, whatever its form. Don’t be so quick to assume that you’ve purchased a “healthy” product just because the sugar in it isn’t HFCS. That’s a light bulb moment for me!

What questions would you love to ask someone like Michelle? And do you have any tips for encouraging healthy habits for kids? Please share! I think we could also use some helpful hints!

This is a sponsored conversation with The Motherhood. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Four Lessons I Learned in My First Two Years of Blogging for “Stuff”

March 21, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 21 Comments

It isn’t uncommon for me to get emails from readers asking about how I got started blogging, and what advice they would give to folks who want to become bloggers, particularly in the niche of product reviews and giveaways. I’d love to share a few of the lessons I have learned and some changes I have made recently that are having a positive impact on my bottom line (my income).

So without further ado, allow me to impart some wisdom!

Blogging is easy

If you want to blog, it is SO ridiculously easy to get one set up. If you have something to say and you want to share it with your friends, your family, or even the whole darn world, then what are you waiting for? Jump right in and start banging on that keyboard! The beautiful thing about owning a blog is that YOU OWN IT. You don’t have to meet any particular deadlines or answer to anyone or write content that you don’t like. There is so much freedom in that!

Blogging for more than 3 months is hard

Ok, so it is true that blogging is super easy and that you can do whatever you want with your site. But if one of your primary goals is to earn money with your site, that’s a whole other can of worms. Today I want to share a few things that learned in my first 2 years as a blogger that have helped me have staying power and are a huge part of the reason that I’m still going, and that I’m still growing.

What I wish I had known on day 1

When I started my blog in September 2009, I really felt as though I had SO much to share with everyone. After all, I had been a parent for 7 1/2 WEEKS….so I was pretty much an expert by that point, right?! I kid at myself now, but at the time, I really felt that way. And that’s totally fine. It’s all the motivation I needed to get started. But I also wanted a piece of that pie….the STUFF pie. I didn’t know that bloggers actually earned money, but I knew that they got a whole lot of free stuff. Sign me up, baby!

darah and tiffany the week Stuff Parents Need launched

Darah and me the week Stuff Parents Need launched

Do you sometimes think the same thing? Its ok if you do. I’m being totally honest in sharing with you that I thought it. And I get asked all the time how I get so much “free stuff.” But here’s what I have learned: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE STUFF, at least not when it comes to blogging. Something is free if it is given to you and you have no obligation, either implicit or explicit, to do anything in return. I have never had a company send me something without a request to write about it. And blog posts DO NOT write themselves. They are hard work. When I write a post, I have to choose to not do something else, be it spend time with my kids, prepare a meal, have a meaningful conversation with my spouse, or even stare at the wall. I can’t do anything other than write. So I trade my time and my talents for the stuff. In many cases, the blogger is on the losing end of that trade. Several times early on, I traded away an hour or more of my time for a product that retailed for $6 or 7, and it may not have even been a product that I would have purchased on my own. I think this is why many product review and giveaway bloggers burn out…it seems like such a swag-tastic gig, but in reality, it is a whole lot of work for some stuff that you may or may not have wanted in the first place.

The other lesson I want to share with you today was one I learned at my first blogging conference. One of the keynote speakers said this to the audience:

Before I heard those words, I was so afraid of disappointing people who were reaching out to me to work together that I said yes to almost everything, even though in many cases, it would mean doing a lot of work for very little pay (and at that point, the pay was still only in products, not money). That is the single most important lesson I have learned as a blogger. I realized that I was headed down the road to blog burn out, and if I kept agreeing to arrangements that didn’t make any sense for me, I wouldn’t be a blogger much longer. Now I ask for what I need. And I often get it. I also often DON’T get it, and that is perfectly fine. I’m at peace letting those opportunities go to others, because I now realize that they were not good fits for me and that I would be frustrated as I performed the work agreed upon. That is SO liberating! And after learning this lesson, I also started to get brave about asking for money. And I’ll tell you more about how to do that in a future post! (And there’s a little bonus tip for you: leave your audience wanting more!).

I have a lot more to share with you about my journey as a product and review giveaway blogger, but for now, I want to share with you a tool I have been using for the past month and that has already resulted in some very positive changes in the way I run my business (and yes, my blog IS a business!). If you are a blogger or are thinking about starting a blog, you need The Blogging Planner.

I have tried for the past 3 years to fit my blog work into traditional planning calendars and it has never worked. What DOES work is having a calendar just for your blog! I am able to keep detailed to do lists, calendars of post dates, keep up with income generated (and invoices due…very important to know who still owes you money!). It also has dedicated space for brainstorming or ideas you might get while reading blogs are doing some professional development. There’s even a section for PR contacts to help you keep track of the folks you want to touch base with from time to time, just to make sure you are on their radars.

The Blogging Planner is the creation of two professional bloggers who created it after an exhaustive search for a planner that would work for a blog business. That search came up empty. Necessity is the mother of all inventions, and this is a fantastic one! I will absolutely FOR SURE 100% be purchasing another Blogging Planner when I have used mine up. It has given me a separate space for my work commitments, my goals and my dreams. It really is a mental game-changer for this stuff to not be on the same list as “fold the laundry.” Both are important. But one pays the bills, so in my book, it gets first dibs on my time. 🙂

The Blogging Planner can be started at any point in the year. It isn’t a January-December kind of thing. You fill in the calendar starting exactly when you want to start! So why not start right now??? I firmly believe this is a good investment for anyone who wants to monetize their blog or start out on the right foot as a new blogger and not give your your time away, as I did. You can purchase The Blogging Planner for $57.99. Yes, that’s a chunk of money, but a good planner is worth its weight in gold. And this is so much more than a good planner. Promise.

Next month I’ll let you take a peek inside my planner to see all the juicy details!

If you have any questions about The Blogging Planner, or about blogging in general, I’d love to hear them!

I received a complimentary planner for review purposes and am sharing my honest opinions here with you. The post contains affiliate links. I only sign up for affiliate programs when I’m NUTS about a product, so that should tell you something!

Product that Encourages Sensory for Toddlers (Giveaway)

March 20, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 53 Comments

The Montessori method of education gives a very strong preference to using multiple senses during the learning experience. Whether you have an infant, toddler or preschooler at home, I want to encourage to make it a goal to find sensory activities to do at some point every day. Touch, taste and smell are all very important components of memory development, and they also help pique interest when used together.

Learning Resources has a terrific product available that can be used for years and years and for so very many uses. This summer we will be working on sensory for toddlers as Layah becomes a young toddler (oh…don’t make me cry!!!) and we will be working on sensory for preschoolers as well. The Primary Science Sensory Tubes will be getting a workout, holding all sorts of fun discoveries that we can study more closely.

This is a set of 4 sturdy, clear tubes. They can be opened on both ends and have high quality lids that can be screwed on of off. They come with an extra set of vented lids just in case you want to smell what is inside or if you have small creatures in there than need some air. LIke Ariel, for example.

We have already made an “under the sea” sensory tube. Darah really enjoyed scouring the house for anything that made her think of the ocean. She has quite a collection of sea shells!

I very highly recommend the Primary Science Sensory Tubes for parents of toddlers. Each product comes with 4 tubes, so you can even keep some and give others away as gifts.

What sensory activities have you been doing in your home, whether intentional or not? I’d love to hear!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a set of Sensory Tubes for Learning Resources!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Reusable Food Pouches: EZ Squeezees (Giveaway!)

March 18, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 62 Comments

My very favorite type of food to pack for both of my girls when we are taking a road trip, or even just running errands for a few hours, are reusable food pouches.

I’m sure you are familiar with food pouches, also sometimes called squeeze pouches. Most every brand that makes baby and toddler food now carries them because the kids love them so much. But are you confused about the “reusable” part? Aren’t they all disposable?

Well, most of the ready to eat food pouches from the store ARE disposable. But for the most part, that’s not how we roll! I don’t like being that wasteful, and even more importantly, I just can’t afford to give those pouches to my girls on a regular basis, as they are at least $1 each, and that’s when I shop the sales and match them up with a coupon! Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Introducting EZ Squeezees.

It looks pretty much just like a squeeze pouch you would buy from a store (though perhaps a bit sturdier). But the side of the pouch has a seal just like a plastic storage bag. Simple open up the side and fill it with whatever your little ones like! I add plain yogurt, apple sauce, and even baby food purees.

There is a bit of a learning curve with the reusable food pouches. The first few times I filled them, I over-filled them, only realizing it as I was closing the pouch. When it is too full, excess food will just spill out over the closure as you are trying to close it. Which, of course, is messy. But I have a better sense now for how much it can hold and tend to get it right.

I do wish that the caps it comes with would be attached to the pouch. This would make losing them much more difficult, and would also be a bit safer, as the caps are small, and not something you would want to be within reach of anyone under 3.

Overall, though, we are very pleased with the EZ Squeezees reusable food pouches. These save us a lot of money and still give the girls the opportunity to have their favorite type of snack. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE that these are dishwasher safe. I just put them in the top rack!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a set of 3 EZ Squeezees resusble food pouches!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

How to Get Healthy Hair in 7 Days (and a Free Sample)

March 16, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Have you been wondering how to get healthy hair? Is your hair a victim of product build-up, flat iron damage, and breakage from being thrown in a ponytail day after day?

I can certainly identify with you! I want to share with you what my hair care routine was up until 2 weeks ago. I was actually doing the no ‘poo thing, and I used to get really great results from this. That is, until I started dyeing my hair again (my hair has started to get serious about producing more gray, so I’ve had to get serious about covering it!). Once I started dyeing my hair, I noticed that using baking soda and vinegar on dyed hair made it SOOOOOOOOOOOO dry. It just wasn’t working.

So then I switched to some organic shampoo and conditioner. I like to go green any time I can. But, unfortunately, I noticed after using it for about a week that my hair looked DIRTY. Just gross and dirty. So until recently, I’d been waffling back and forth between the no ‘poo method and the organic shampoo and conditioner method. My hair either looked dry or dirty pretty much at all times. It was not awesome. I couldn’t figure out how to get healthy hair again.

That’s when I decided to take the 7 Day Scalp & Hair Challenge from Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy (maybe you’ve seen the commercials? They feature Heidi Klum talking about repairing hair at the roots). For the past 7 shampoos (I wash my hair every other day) I have been using Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Damage & Color Repair Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner.

Here is what my hair looks like today. I took this picture without having done anything special to my hair. I had straightened it yesterday, but I didn’t put any shine product on it, whatsoever. Look at all that natural shine!!!

Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy focuses on scalp nourishment and has a product that they are confident will give you stronger, more beautiful hair in just seven days. They even have a money back guarantee!

My experience taking the challenge was very positive. I’m ditching my old routine and switching to Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy, for sure. I love the results and I love knowing that my hair is not only clean, but also really healthy. You can find this product line at retailers like Walgreens, Walmart, and it is also available online at Amazon!

Want to take the challenge, too and find out how to get healthy hair in 7 days? Head over to the Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Facebook page to request free product samples!

I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Best Bath Toy Storage at a Bargain Price (Giveaway!)

March 15, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 101 Comments

At our baby shower for Darah, we received a popular brand bath toy storage scoop that was on our registry. It was adorable (looked like a ladybug!). We installed it as soon as we moved her from the infant bath to the big bath tub.

It lasted 2 weeks before it stopped working. We couldn’t get it to stay attached to the bathroom wall, no matter what we tried. And internet research revealed that lots and lots of other people were reporting the same problem.

What a waste…

So, we’ve had a bit of a bath toy storage problem over the past few years. But we really didn’t know what to do! When Munchkin asked if I’d like to check out their bath scoop, I was skeptical. We’d been down that road with another company. But I decided to give them a chance and to see if they had a better design.

And they do!!!! Our Munchkin Bath Scoop has been going strong for over a month with absolutely no signs of trouble! It is staying put!!!

It holds a good amount of toys. It is easy for my 3 1/2 year old to take off the wall and put back on, and it has an attractive design. It also has holes for drainage to help keep the toys inside from molding. And here’s the best part: the price! Right now the Munchkin Bath Toy Scoop is on sale at Amazon for under $9!!! . That is such a bargain as compared to the old scoop we had which cost around $25!

Which would you choose? The bargain that actually does what it is supposed to do, or the overpriced scoop that quits on you?

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

Baby Food Ideas for Older Babies

March 14, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 5 Comments

Layah is 10 months old now.

Let me just catch my breath for a second while that sinks in….

Whew!

Anyway, she has certainly developed an appetite at this point. Sometimes I ask out loud if someone traded Layah’s stomach for that of a teenage boy. And I’m only half-kidding. She LOVES to eat, and she really loves to feed herself. While she still eats pureed baby food, I can tell that she is growing a little tired of it, and wants to have more of each meal be foods with more texture. I’ve been in need of some baby food ideas for her as an older baby.

Baby Food Ideas

In addition to finding new finger foods for Layah to sample (like bits of olives!) and I’m still making good use of all that baby food I have made and purchased by making it more appetizing to her.

Want to know my trick?

Whole grains! I love to add brown rice, quinoa or bulgur to Layah’s purees. If I ever have cooked pasta on hand, I’ll chop it up (usually in my food processor) and add that to her baby food, as well.

She is also really enjoying the stage 3 foods from Earth’s Best. They have a soft chunky texture that she absolutely loves.

I’d love to hear how you transitioned your baby away from pureed food and over to solids. Any tips or tricks to share? Any ideas of other things I can start adding into her baby food?

I am a blog ambassador for Earth’s Best, and as such I have received complimentary products as a thank you for my time. All thoughts and opinions express here are strictly my own.