Hallmark Reveals New Keepsakes For Fall & Winter

While at BlogHer '12 in NYC just over a week ago, I had the chance to join friends to visit Hallmark for a sneak peak at what was new for the holidays this year.

There were some awesome new products that we sampled, but of course my first interest is always seeing what's new for the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. Our Christmas Tree/Hanukkah Bush (it's what we call it) is the ultimate geek tree, and there's always at least one new Hallmark ornament selected for the tree each year. I think the oldest Hallmark geek ornament is my Star Trek shuttlecraft ornament with Spock's voice. My mom got that for me years ago - when I was a teen, I think - and it still works just as well as the day I opened it.

Looking over the new ornaments, I immediately saw the ones Aaron and I would want:

Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, The Amazing Spiderman

They also will have an Avengers set, but it wasn't on display. I'm sure my mom will get that set for us - she gets Aaron a superhero ornament every year.

For the kids, there were several new items. I loved the interactive storybooks that actually wait for a child's response and customize the story based on what option the child picks. It's like the old Choose Your Own Adventure books, only these are digital and voice responsive. Mira is going to love trying out one of these books - she always wants to have a say in the story.

Along the same line are the Interactive Story Buddies - they're plush animals who come with their own books. When you read the book out loud, the plush animals "listen" and then respond to key words in the book. The voice recognition is amazing, and it feels like the toy is listening to the story as well. (And chiming in just like any kid who wants to add a little more to the story!) It's quite possible that Nugget and Watson will find themselves at our house very soon.

In their back-to-school line was a cute little bug called Bug 'Em. It's a pint-sized plush that can hold cards and other tokens of encouragement and give an unexpected lift to any youngster’s day. My two girls have already claimed this little guy and asked that I use him to hide rewards for them when they've had good days. So I do - if they find him sitting out, they know they've done something good and look inside to see what goodies he might hold. They're so excited when he appears on the table or the couch!

Hey there, I've got a happy surprise for you!

Another cool kid product I got to try out was Text Bands. Text Bands allow kids to send text messages from wristband to wristband, expressing themselves and spreading encouragement in a fun, new way. How? Kids enter up to 10 characters into the screen on the band and bump fists or shake hands to pass the message. The bands light up and the messages transfer from band to band. They look and feel like an 80's flashback to me - but a good kind of flashback.

Getting a sneak peek at some of the new Hallmark products was so much fun. I love how they're working interactive technology into many products for kids - it's fun, educational, and gives kids a chance to feel like they have some control over their stories. And I know we'll have some new superheroes to add to our tree this year, taking their place among all of the other older ornaments.

Full disclosure: I was invited to attend a gathering with Hallmark to see the new products and received a gift bag with a sample of some of the items we tried out. All opinions are my own.

Arm & Hammer's New Laundry Detergent for Sensitive Skin - With Fragrance!

We're a family of sensitive skin. OK, maybe not my husband - his skin can withstand anything. But both of daughters inherited my rash-prone skin that reacts to any tiny affront. Our skin erupts into an itchy rash at chemicals, fragrances, grass...too many things to list. As a result, we can't use lotions with fragrance or too many chemicals in them, we have to sleep on cotton sheets, and we need laundry detergent that is completely dye and fragrance free.

Or so I thought.

Mom Central asked if I was interested in trying the new Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin Plus Skin-Friendly Fresh Scent laundry detergent, and beyond the long name, I was intrigued by the product's claims. Unlike other sensitive skin formulas, which are usually dye-free and fragrance-free, this one has an added "fresh scent" that is designed to keep sensitive skin free of irritation. Pretty big claim for me, so I was willing to put it to the test.

I've appreciated that our other previous laundry detergents kept us itch-free, but I'll admit I do regret that they don't leave my clothing with that fresh laundry scent. But keeping our skin safe has always been my first concern, and with no clothes lines allowed in our neighborhood I've resigned myself to laundry with no scent when clean. (Which I guess is still better than dirty scented laundry.)

I tried the detergent with a load of my own clothing first, choosing to play the guinea pig before taking the risk of making my girls uncomfortable. As I poured in the liquid detergent, I was surprised at how strong the scent was. At first I was worried that this might be a bad idea, but added my clothing and hoped for the best.

After washing and then drying, I pulled my clothing into a laundry basket and took a deep breath over the pile of warm clothing. The strong scent of the detergent had mellowed out quite a bit, leaving behind a light, fresh scent. (In case you were wondering, I used a fragrance-free laundry softener in the washer.) It was actually quite nice.

The moment of truth was putting on my first set of clothing from this load of laundry. Thanks to an unusually hot few weeks, I put a lot of sweat into the outfit (which often makes reactions worse for me), but had no difficulties with itching or redness. Yay!

After a week I switched my kids' clothing to the Arm & Hammer laundry detergent. They spent the past week out in the hot, humid weather every day with no issues at all. My five year old told me she liked that her dresses smelled "pretty" now.

As for the cleaning power of the laundry detergent, I saw no noticeable differences between it and my previous detergent - both did an excellent job at stain fighting. 

So for us it's been a success. We're nearly all the way through the bottle of detergent that we received and no reactions so far. I know it can sometimes take a few exposures to see a reaction, but after two weeks I'm ready to declare it safe for us.

I appreciate that Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin Plus Skin-Friendly Fresh Scent laundry detergent has a pleasant scent that is safe for sensitive skin. (Finally!) I also like that the scent is very light on dry clothing - you'll notice it when you put something on, but it won't be overpowering and will fade after a bit against your own skin.

For more information on Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin Plus Skin-Friendly Fresh Scent laundry detergent, check out the product page on the Arm & Hammer's website, or visit their Facebook page. 


Full disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Arm & Hammer and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

A Mother's Day Gift That Shows You Really Care

Mother's Day is coming up fast, and my inbox is being flooded with emails about what moms really want for Mother's Day with tips for finding that perfect gift. I don't think the talented people who wrote these gift guides have ever met my family, however.

A sentimental gift? Nope, that won't do for my mom. She generally doesn't like a lot of stuff, feeling it's just one more thing to clutter up her house. As for me, I like some sentimental gifts, but I'm also in the process of purging a lot of useless junk from my house, so... not so much at the moment.

A spa day? Yes for me, no way for my mom. She has never liked anything girly, preferring a simple shower to get the dirt off of her after a day of working hard in the garden than anything involving smelly lotions or people touching her.

It's taken me years to figure out my own mother. When I was younger I tried everything to get her to have that big WOW moment with a gift, but I never managed more than a "oh, how nice, thank you," that was in many ways sincere, but clearly indicated it was nothing she really wanted.

As a mother myself, I now understand what I can do to really show how much I care for my mom. Mother's Day now is usually about providing a service for her in some way. She's amazingly talented - she could teach you how to grow the perfect garden, clean your house, shoot a gun, balance your checkbook, cook a fantastic meal, and gather honey from hives without getting stung by a bee. But even though I used to think there was nothing I could ever do that my mom didn't already do better, I've found her one weak spot.

I'm my mother's technical support.

It sounds funny, I know, and probably not very sentimental. But helping my mom build a laptop with everything she needs, or configuring her wireless network so she can take that laptop anywhere in her house, or walking her though the steps to set up her Netflix account? Those offers of help mean a lot to her and make her life easier.

She's done so much to teach me throughout my life, and now I finally have a skill I can teach back to her so she can enjoy all of the advances in technology that she wants to embrace but doesn't fully understand.

So this Mother's Day, I'm setting up an iTunes account for her and teaching her how to use it so she can download her own apps on the iPhone I gave her recently. (It was my old iPhone - she didn't want to spend a lot on her own iPhone.) She's genuinely thrilled about this upcoming event, and can't wait to learn how to get her own apps. My mom doesn't need a lot, but this simple task for me - which is something she would struggle with - shows her just how much I care about her.

As for me? I'm slowly becoming more like my mom each year. Instead of objects, I want someone to do something for me that I can't do myself or provide a service for something I don't like to do. A massage would be nice to help with all of the stress I store in my back. Or a Maid Service gift certificate to unburden me from my least favorite chore, leaving me time to devote to things I enjoy. Or a Time Lord to take me back in time to give me more hours in the day.

Honestly, house cleaning is my ultimate weak area. Not only is my house a wreck, but I hate cleaning more than just about any other chore and I'm sure I'm not alone. Yes, I'm sure there are some people who truly take pleasure from a job well-done in making their house spotless, but many of us don't count ourselves in that group.

This year, not only am I getting what I want for Mother's Day, but you can get the same special treatment!  I'm giving away a $100 gift certificate to Molly Maid so one reader can also relax in a clean home, spending more time on the things she really cares about than scrubbing the toilet.

Giveaway Rules
Win a $100 gift certificate toward a cleaning from Molly Maid!

Please note that Molly Maid does not offer service in the following locations: Louisiana, Wyoming, Vermont, West Virginia, Maine, Montana, and Alabama. Also Molly Maid does not have coverage in the following Metro areas: Madison, WI, Green Bay, WI, Buffalo, NY, and Syracuse, NY. If you live in any of these locations, you can still enter to win, but will not be able to have a home in those areas serviced. Home cleaning estimates will vary. Winner may use gift certificate toward total cost.

This giveaway will end May 7 at 11:59PM PT, so enter now! A winner will be selected randomly from the comments on May 8 and contacted via email.

Enter up to four times by doing each of the following:

• One Entry - Tweet about the Molly Maid contest (you can even use the handy-dandy Tweet below, if you like) and leave a comment here with either the Tweet or the URL to the Tweet. Please be sure to tag your Tweet with #MollyMaid4Mom.
• One Entry - Post about this contest on Facebook, and leave a comment here saying what you posted. Please tag the post with the #MollyMaid4Mom hashtag.
• One Entry - Write a blog post about the contest and -- you guessed it -- leave a comment here with the URL to the blog post.
• One Entry - Just leave a comment on this blog post!

Sample Tweet: I just entered to win $100 toward a cleaning from Molly Maid! You can too! http://bit.ly/JJCm0B #MollyMaid4Mom

Good luck, and may we all get exactly what we want on Mother's Day!

Full disclosure: Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.

ZeroWater Means 100% Pure Water and Zero Chemicals

When I was a kid, I hated drinking plain water. Our small town's tap water always tasted of chlorine with a slightly metallic aftertaste. My mom would push me to drink water instead of sugary drinks, but drinking our water felt like a punishment rather than a healthy choice.

It wasn't until the rise of filtered and bottled water that I found myself willing to drink plain water and even like it. As an adult, when I bought our first refrigerator, I made sure to pick one that featured a filter for our water dispenser. Convincing our kids to drink water, however, has proven to be almost as hard as it was for me. My oldest is sensitive to the slightest change in tastes, and she often says water tastes "icky" to her.

Even with filtered water, I often worry about just how filtered it really is. Does the filter really remove all chemicals, minerals, and other trace particulates? It may taste better, but is it really pure?

I recently was invited by Mom Central to try out the new ZeroWater 10-cup filter-pitcher. This pitcher is like many in that it has a filter reservoir built in to the pitcher to filter the water before it reaches your cup. But that's about where the similarities with other filter-pitchers ends.

ZeroWater's patented 5-stage water filter system is the only system certified to meet the Food & Drug Administration's standards for Purified Bottled Water. That means you can count on crisp, great tasting water every time. And if you're not sure if it's really removing all dissolved solids in your water, ZeroWater includes a laboratory-grade TDS (total dissolves solids) tester to prove just how well it works.

The pitcher is sleek in design and fits well in my side-by-side fridge. Not only can you pour a glass of water from the top of the pitcher, but there's a handy push-button spout at the bottom of the handle if you don't feel like pulling it out of the fridge. (Or have kids who have trouble lifting a full pitcher.)

Back to the lab-grade TDS tester for a minute: this thing is so much fun, and a little scary. I of course wanted to see just what kind of difference was made between water from our tap and the ZeroWater pitcher. Could it really remove all dissolved solids?

First, I tested water straight from the kitchen faucet:

283 ppm (parts per million)

Then I tried water from my built-in fridge filter. (Note: the filter needs to be replaced, so I'm not too surprised that there wasn't much of a difference.)

200 ppm - not much better!

Finally, I poured a glass of water from the ZeroWater pitcher and tested it:

Yep, it says zero. I checked it twice!

OK, I'll admit I was surprised. I was not expecting it to read zero after the other two were so high. As for the taste? Perfect. It tasted like...nothing, just as water should taste. Cool, refreshing, and no hint of aftertaste. Even my older daughter is willing to occasionally drink water now. It's a work in progress with her, folks.

(By the way, you'll find yourself using that water tester everywhere. I've even tested water at restaurants with it. I have yet to find anything under 100ppm.)

My only complaint? The pitcher takes longer than other filter-pitchers to filter the water. If its empty, I fill the reservoir, then wait about 3-5 minutes, then fill it again, place the top on and place it in the fridge. The reservoir and filter take up a lot of space in the pitcher, so I often need to refill it frequently because I like to drink a lot of water.

Overall, I really like the ZeroWater pitcher. The design is great, the water tastes fantastic, and I have peace of mind knowing that this is the purest water I can provide to my family. The included tester is both fun and informative.

You can find the ZeroWater pitcher at Amazon and several other national retailers, including Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Home Depot, Meijer and Fry's. You can also save 30% off a 10-cup ZeroWater pitcher at the ZeroWater site with the special coupon code MC30.

ZeroWater also has a Facebook page where you can find out more information about their products.

Giveaway!

Want to try ZeroWater for yourself? I've got a ZeroWater 10-cup filter pitcher to give to TWO lucky readers!

To enter, visit the ZeroWater site and enter your zipcode to get your free TDS reading for your area. Once you get your reading from the free TDS lookup tool, come back here and leave a comment telling me what the results were. Be sure to include your email address so I have a way to contact you if you're selected as a winner. One entry per person.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will be open until Monday, April 9 at 11:59pm EDT. After that time, two winners will be randomly selected and contacted by email. Winners have 48 hours to respond or alternate winners will be selected.

Good luck!

Full disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of ZeroWater and received a water pitcher to facilitate my review, two pitchers to giveaway, and extra filters to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Organize It ALL With AboutOne

It was August, a week before school started. I had waited until the last minute to fill out my daughter's required preschool admission paperwork. As I sat there writing my mother's name and phone number as the emergency contact six dozen times, I then came across a paper asking for my daughter's vaccination records.

Where did I put her shot record?

I knew it had to be somewhere in the house. I first tore through the stack of Very Important Papers that had piled up on my end table. Then through the disorganized filing cabinet, tossing aside cell phone agreements from plans we no longer have as I tried to find that piece of paper with those important dates on it. Then I moved to a box of papers in the guest room that had originally started on the end table.

Why did I do this to myself? How could I be so disorganized?

I'm guessing I'm not the only mom who has experienced moments like this. Yours may not be as extreme as mine, but it's very difficult to keep all of our important papers, dates, receipts and items we'd like to remember together in a neat, organized spot. I often feel like my home is slowly being devoured by paper and I have way too many things that I need to hold onto - just in case - but then when that just in case moment comes I can't find them.

It doesn't have to be this way. You'd think with all of the power of the Internet and the "cloud" that someone could invent a better solution. Which is why I'm thrilled to find out that someone has created that solution.

I was recently told of AboutOne, and I think it might be the miracle I was looking for. The AboutOne website and mobile app provide you with the technology to digitally store all of your information - receipts, important papers, dates, photos, kid artwork, health records, or any other important data - in one secure online account where you can easily retrieve it from any location. (We're talking bank-level security here, so you know it's safe.)

For example, have access to your auto insurance policy number and contact information from anywhere. Useful, no?

Your private timeline is as easy to manage as any of your social media accounts, and the technology makes it even easier by entering much of your information automatically and helping you to sort it into practical categories for quick access. Your entire family can have access to your account, too, meaning when you're at work and your husband needs your business travel receipts when preparing your taxes, he can pull up the information without calling you to ask.

Or you can provide your babysitter a detailed printable sheet with all necessary information on your kids and contact information:

Oh, how I've needed a babysitter report for special needs & food allergies!

Along with all that data at your fingertips, AboutOne also can sync your Google, iCal, or Outlook calendar/contact tools to make them more useful.

Birthday reminders! I'm no longer at the mercy of Facebook for birthdays!

If I somehow didn't fully explain it to you, click through this slideshow below for even more information on how AboutOne works:

You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Personally? This is like a dream come true for me. A very organized dream come true. Sign up now and be ready when version 2.0 is released soon!

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with AboutOne. All opinions expressed are my own - my husband's opinion would be that I'm even MORE disorganized than I'm letting on here.

And no, I never found the shot records until two weeks after they were due. Our pediatrician's front office staff hates me. Trust me, sign up for AboutOne and spare yourself the evil eye at the doctor's office.  

Babycakes Makes Baking Easy

I'm a lousy cook. There's no denying it. But I'm a slightly better baker. Given time, lots of counter space, and a lot of mess, I can turn out semi-decent muffins or quick breads. My daughters beg to have lots of baked goods in the house, and knowing I can make muffins has them convinced I can whip up any baked good in a flash.

Ha.

No, I'm usually a disappointment to my kids, coming up with excuse after excuse as to why I won't bake anything for them. It generally is a big mess, uses a lot of bowls and muffin tins, heats up my kitchen, and the results are rarely spectacular.

In our case, though, running to the grocery for a quick cupcake pickup can't happen either. My older daughter is sensitive to many ingredients, so I have to carefully screen the ingredients. And most store cupcakes come with brightly colored frosting that she can't have.

I was recently offered the chance to review a little machine that promised to be the answer to my prayers. The Babycakes cupcake maker heats up in five minutes, requires very little cleaning, and can bake treats in eight minutes or less.

This is the Foreman Grill of the baking world. Actually, it looks a lot like our (much used) Foreman grill, only in a pretty shade of pink.

With this device, you can use the recipes they suggest or use a boxed mix. (Go with a moist cake mix if using a prepackaged mix.) Me being lazy, I used a box mix for my first try, but have my eye on some of the delicious recipes in the included booklet.

The girls had fun mixing up the batter while I got the cupcake maker ready.

Then we added two tablespoons of batter to each cup, plugged it in, and let it do its magic!

The instruction booklet suggested it would take 5-7 minutes for the cupcakes to cook, even when starting with a cool appliance. They weren't kidding: after 5 minutes, I checked them and the cupcakes were fully cooked!

Getting them out of the cupcake maker was the most difficult part. It says to use a plastic utensil to pop the cupcakes out, but I didn't have anything that was plastic that was both thin enough and wouldn't melt from the heat. So I performed a big no-no and (gently!) used a butter knife to get the cupcakes out. Despite the nonstick surface, I still had trouble getting some of them out, leaving a few cupcakes looking mangled.

Proof that no gadget can make me perfect.

Overall, half a box of cake mix produced 20 cupcakes, all in under 20 minutes! (It normally takes me at least 20 minutes to find my muffin pan.) After they were cooled, we added frosting and let the kids have their first bites.

Success!



I like the ease of use of the Babycakes cupcake maker and I can see myself using it often in the future, especially around the holidays. It makes cupcakes lightning-quick, and clean up is easy - just wipe it off after it cools. My only complaint is that it can be tough to get the cupcakes out of the wells without damaging them; I might need to hunt for the right plastic utensil to help me out.

But most of all, I like it because I'm now a hero to my kids, able to make them cupcakes anytime they want with little chance of (fatal) error!

Full disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Babycakes and received a product sample and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Are You Ready For The Next Big Storm? (Giveaway!)

Last month's series of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across the midwest and south was a scary reminder of the power of nature. Seeing entire cities flattened by a tornado was a wake-up call for me to review my family's plan for what to do in case of weather emergencies.

Here in Ohio, our primary concern is thunderstorms and tornadoes. An earthquake is rare, and seeing how we're nowhere near any large body of water in Columbus, any threat of sudden flooding is minimal. Storms, though - they can get pretty ugly around here.

In our house, we have no basement. You'd think that a girl who was home alone in a tornado when she was 12 would have planned better when buying a home, yet I neglected to think of needing a basement. (Note to self: our next house will have a basement.) So if there is a tornado warning, we have to go to our tiny living room coat closet, which first requires throwing everything out of the closet so we can fit in it.

Radio Shack recently released a list of 5 items every family should have in their severe weather preparedness kit, and I was ashamed to realize I didn't even have a kit ready in case of an emergency! Sure, we have flashlights, but I'd have to take a few minutes to find them.

Of course, Radio Shack took pity on my poor preparedness and sent me a kit to make sure my family is ready for the next storm with some great items that every family should have in their home.

Items to put in your kit include:

A weather radio: This one is a must. FEMA estimates that having a weather radio gives you up to eight minutes to move your family into a safe location in the event of a weather emergency. I received the RadioShack® Desktop Weather Radio with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) alerts, which provides local weather and warnings several minutes before other radio and TV broadcast alerts. It functions as a basic alarm clock/radio, but will sound an alarm when a severe weather watch or warning has been issued for your area.

Flashlights: Should the power go out, you can't guarantee it'll be back on immediately. One or two flashlights with long battery lives (like the LED ICON Flashlight Rogue 2, which can keep you out of the dark for up to 75 hours) should be waiting in your safe area. You might consider an emergency flashlight/nightlight as well, like the Etón Red Cross BLACKOUT buddy emergency LED flashlight/nightlight. On any normal night, it serves as a nightlight in the hallway for the kids. But should the power go out, it provides a strong LED beam of light that can be removed from the wall and used as a flashlight.

Portable power supply: Cell phones are useful when the power lines are down, but with heavy use the battery drains quickly. A backup power supply for portable electronic devices, like the Enercell® 2400Ah Portable Power Bank (or the one for your iPhone), is very handy to keep in your emergency kit.

Walkie talkies: So you've got your cell phones and backup power supply, but what happens if the cell signals are down? In that case, long-range walkie talkies can come in handy to keep you in touch with family and friends. I received the Midland® GTX10000VP4 50-Channel GMRS/FRS Radio (2-Pack) for my preparedness kit, which have up to a 36-mile range and 28 extra channels for optimized communication.  They also include an SOS siren that allows you to send out distress/locator signals in an emergency situation. I haven't tried the full 36-mile range yet, but they do very well even across town!

Comfort items: Experts recommend letting each child choose 1-2 items to put in the weather preparedness toolkit, such as a toy, game or personal item to help keep your child/children occupied and calm in the case you have to take shelter for a long period of time. My daughters each chose a stuffed animal and a book to place in our kit in the closet.

We've already had the chance to try out our weather radio. Two nights ago, a siren suddenly sounded from the radio, followed by a voice explaining there was a severe thunderstorm warning for our area. And yesterday the "Watch" light remained lit up all day while we were under a severe thunderstorm watch. The radio is already providing peace of mind - now I don't need to feel like the TV must be on in case a weather situation arises!

Win your own weather preparedness kit!

The nice folks at Radio Shack understand how important it is to be ready for the summer storms, and that's why they not only provided me with a weather preparedness kit, they're also giving a kit to one lucky reader as well! (Kit includes all of the items mentioned above. Except the comfort items - you'll have to get your own for those.)

To enter: leave a comment below telling me where your "safe spot" is in your house. (Where you'd go if there was a weather emergency.) One entry per person. Please be sure to include your email address in the comment or in your profile so I can contact you if you're the winner.

Entries will be accepted until Friday, July 1 at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be selected by random drawing. Winner has 3 days to respond or another winner will be selected in his/her place. US mailing addresses only.

Good luck!

Full disclosure: I received a weather preparedness kit from Radio Shack to facilitate my review. No further compensation was received, and no guarantee of a positive review was promised or expected. All opinions expressed here are my own. Thanks again to Radio Shack for easing my storm anxiety with a little more preparedness.

Navigating Food Allergies: Class Recap

I wrote last week that I was a proud co-host of an online class about cooking for food allergies, and if you didn't attend the class, you missed a lively and interesting discussion covering all kinds of topics, from eating out, to preparing an allergy-friendly kitchen, and even how to handle birthday parties if your child is allergic to something being offered at the party.

However, even if you weren't able to attend, you can still benefit from the information that was shared. A class recap has been posted on TheMotherhood.com and the entire discussion from the class is there as well. If you have a family member with a food allergy, this class is a must-read!

Thanks to TheMotherhood.com, ConAgra and Lori for a fantastic session!

And finally, I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite recipes. My daughter can't tolerate cinnamon, and this french toast recipe is still a favorite of ours, showing that a simple substitution can make a forbidden food OK again. (Courtesy of Stop, Drop and Blog.)

Safer Scented Candles With Scentsy! (Giveaway)

When I was young and childless, I loved candles. I had candles all over my apartment and enjoyed spending evenings surrounded by the warm glow and soft scent of the candles. When I got married, we registered for a frightening number of candle holders and candelabras.

Now that I have pets and kids, candles have become somewhat impractical. I still love the warm glow, still love the way the house smells when scented candles burn, but fire doesn't mix well with young children and small animals. My candles collected dust on the tables, unused except for decoration.

I've missed that sensory experience, but I've found the next best thing with Scentsy. Scentsy is a collection of flameless, scented candles and decorative burners that are perfect for anyone who worries about open flames or hot wax in their homes.

How does it work? The wickless candle, called a Scentsy Bar or a Scentsy Brick, is a highly fragrant wax bar that is warmed to release fragrance into the air. Because the wax is gently warmed rather than burned, it can hold more fragrance oil than a traditional candle. And, because there is no flame, there is no smoke, soot, or lead.

The Scentsy bar is warmed using a low-watt light bulb in a Scentsy ceramic warmer. These warmers come in full-size, mid-size and plug-in models, in designs and colors that would fit just about any interior. Some allow more light out than others, giving you the ability to select the warmer just right for your home.

I selected the Torino full size warmer along with three Scentsy bars: Welcome Home, Christmas Cottage, and Black Raspberry Vanilla. Honestly, there are so many scents to choose from that it's almost overwhelming!

I love scents that are fruity or have hints of vanilla in them, and all three of these scents fit perfectly. Welcome Home is a warm scent that reminds me of being wrapped up in a blanket at grandma's house. Christmas Cottage is like a cloven orange in scent: spicy and fruity at the same time. And Black Raspberry Vanilla is exactly like it sounds, with a very natural, non-artificial smell to it. Even my husband - who often finds scented candles overpowering - likes these scents!

Another feature I love? I was pouring out some wax so that I could add a different scent to the warmer, and I accidentally bumped my arm and spilled some of the wax onto my hand. I instinctively tensed up, waiting for the horrible burn of hot wax, but it didn't burn. It was warm on my hand, but not hot enough to burn because the wax melts at such a low temperature. It didn't even leave a red spot and was easy to wipe off. Wow! Having small kids around, I'm far more likely to use the Scentsy system around them, knowing they can't burn themselves with the wax.

Try it for yourself!

Scentsy is a product that is sold by independent consultants, giving many women and men the chance to work from home, creating an income while working for themselves. My products were provided by http://scentsified.com/, a certified independent Scentsy consultant, and they are giving away a full-size Scentsy system to one lucky reader as well!

One reader will win his or her choice of a full-size warmer and three Scentsy bars. You can pick any combination you like to create the perfect system. 

To enter, visit their site and then leave a comment below telling me which full-size ceramic warmer is your favorite. (Mandatory entry.) Be sure to leave your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you are the winner.

For an additional entry, browse the selection of Scentsy bars and leave a separate comment listing the scents you'd most like to try. (1 additional entry)

For a third entry, click the "Recommend" Facebook button at the top of the Scentsified website and leave a separate comment telling me you did so with your Facebook name. (1 additional entry)

Entries will be accepted until Monday, February 14, 2011 at 11:59pm ET. One winner be selected by random drawing after that date and contacted by e-mail. Winner will have three days to respond or another winner will be selected. US shipping addresses only, please.

Good luck!

Full disclosure: I was provided with a full-size warmer and three Scentsy bars by Scentsified to facilitate this review. Scentsified is also an advertiser on this blog, but no compensation beyond what has been mentioned was received in exchange for this review. All opinions on this product are my own, and as always, your experience may vary.

Navigating Food Allergies With ConAgra and TheMotherhood

In our house, we often have to be careful with food. My husband is allergic to onions, so anything we prepare must be onion-free. This often means carefully scanning ingredients, and relying less on prepared meals due to the high chance of onions being present.

My older daughter has a food sensitivity to cinnamon - not a full-out allergy, but if she eats more than a small amount of it she develops a rash. She is also extremely sensitive to food additives like artificial colors and flavors. If you've ever bought pre-packaged foods and read the ingredients, you'd know that nearly everything has some kind of artificial color or flavor in it, unless you're shopping exclusively organic.

(Mira has no food allergies that we know of. She's just picky, which can present similar challenges.)

So when we do cook, we often have to modify recipes to make sure everyone in the house can enjoy the food without discomfort later. Thankfully, onions can often be removed from a recipe without drastically altering the flavor. And when making food with cinnamon, nutmeg can be used as a substitute for many dishes.

This week, I'm joining part of an exciting new project with The Motherhood and ConAgra Foods called Cooking Connections. This is an 8-week live blogging series led by some fabulous food bloggers (with some other non-food bloggers like me joining in!) where they will tackle many of the common struggles moms and dads face when it comes to preparing a healthy meal for their families with little time to spare.

My session this week covers the topic of food allergies, and I hope you'll stop by to learn about cooking for family members with food allergies. (Applies to picky eaters, too!)

Here’s what you need to know to participate:

When: Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 1 p.m. ET

Where: TheMotherhood – here is the link to the page where the class will be held: http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show/id/62140

And here is the registration page for all seven Cooking Connections classes: http://www.themotherhood.com/cookingconnections

What: The class I am co-hosting is called “Navigating Food Allergies,” and it is hosted by Lori Sandler, founder of Divvies Bakery and author of The Divvies Bakery Cookbook, http://www.divvies.com/. During the class, we all will share our experiences and expertise on cooking for kids, family members and friends with food allergies. Lori will also lead us through the basics of clean preparation and understanding ingredients, and then we’ll present a food allergy-friendly recipe that looks good and tastes great – whether you have allergies or not!

The class is sponsored by ConAgra and hosted by TheMotherhood.

My other fabulous co-hosts are:

Kelly Rudnicki, Food Allergy Mama, http://www.foodallergymama.com/

Emily Paster, West of the Loop, http://www.westoftheloop.com/

Caryn Bailey, Rockin' Mama, http://rockinmama.net/

Christy Matte, Quirky Fusion, http://www.quirkyfusion.com/

Nirasha Jaganath, Mommy Niri, http://www.mommyniri.com/

Mary Jo Strobel, FoodAllergy.org, http://www.foodallergy.org/

Piera Jolly, Jolly Mom, http://www.jollymom.com/

Nicole Shields Smith, Allergic Child, http://allergicchild.com/

Stefany Thode, To Be Thode, http://www.tobethode.com/

Clarissa Nassar, The Posh Parent, http://www.theposhpreneur.com/

I hope to see you there!

Full disclosure: As a co-host of this class, I am receiving compensation for my time.

Bosch Tassimo Home Brewing System: Coffeehouse Quality In Your Kitchen! (Giveaway)

In my family, both my husband and I like tea and coffee, although our tastes seem to be opposites. When I want coffee, he wants tea. When I want tea, he's into coffee. And our kids both like hot chocolate. It seems like we can never agree on what we want, but brewing up a pot for each of us seems like a real waste.

We bought a single-cup brewing machine about a year ago, and while I like it, there are some limitations. Mainly, I can't get it to make my favorite drink: a chai latte. And it can take a really, really long time to warm up. So when I was offered the chance to try out a new single-cup brewing machine that promised it would be faster and would even give me the perfect chai latte, I couldn't pass up the chance.

The Bosch Tassimo T20 Brewbot (such a cool name, no? Can't you imagine a little robot brewing your coffee for you?) is the smartest little beverage maker you can find. It can brew 40+ single-cup drinks for you in about a minute, including coffee, tea, lattes and even hot chocolate. Not only does it brew each drink, but it's smart enough to know which type of drink it's brewing and how to make it so it'll be just right.

OK, so the T20 doesn't get all of the credit. Part of the credit goes to the bar codes on each T-disc you put in the machine. The T20 has a bar code reader that scans the bar code to determine how much water to add, what temperature to brew the water, and how big the drink will be. Want a latte? Just grab a milk T-disc and use it with a coffee or chai tea T-disc to create the perfect frothy drink. Also, if you want a little more coffee than the T20 automatically prepares, you can hit the button near the end of the brew cycle to add a little more to your cup.

I've had the chance to use mine for two weeks now, and I love it. I've made coffee, tea, hot chocolate and lattes with the Tassimo, and all of them were excellent. Christmas was a breeze, because whenever anyone wanted a drink, I offered up the T-disc selection and let them make a cup of whichever drink they wanted. Everyone was impressed with how easy it was.

As for my chai latte? Perfect. It tastes just like the pricey one I buy at the coffeehouse. And is ready in my kitchen in about a minute. 

What I like about the T20

- Easy to use: Insert a disc, close the compartment, and push the button - that's it! No temperatures to set, no brew times to configure, and certainly no messy grounds to dispose of. When you're done, simply take the disc out (the grounds are still container in the disc) and throw it away. Even my kids can make a cup of hot chocolate without my help.

- So much variety: If I want tea and my husband wants coffee, we can each have what we want without brewing enough for several people. He can use the T20 to make a cup of coffee, and then I can use it for tea, with nothing to clean in-between. And with the ability to use milk discs to create lattes and cappuccinos, there are endless drink combinations you can create!

- Saves counter space: The Tassimo T20 is amazingly compact for all it can do. It fits easily on my counter without taking up too much space. It's also easy to transport - I took it to work and made drinks for myself all night from my desk, while still having plenty of desk space for work. (I could see the T20 being perfect for apartment or dorm dwellers as well!)

- Brands I like: Some of the T-disc varieties include Starbucks, Gevalia and Twinings tea, all favorite and trusted brands. The Starbucks coffee tastes just like what you'd get from the store, only at a fraction of the cost. (And without leaving the house in your pajamas.)

This is an amazing little beverage machine, and perfect for a busy family with different tastes. With the T20, everyone gets the drink they want, it's cheaper than buying it from a coffeehouse, there's no messy cleanup, and with one machine to brew so many different drinks, you conserve precious kitchen counter space.

Win a Tassimo T20!

Of course I couldn't tell you all about this brewing beauty without giving you the chance to try it as well, right? That's why I'm excited to tell you that I'm giving away a Bosch Tassimo T20 to one lucky reader!

For a chance to win, visit the Tassimo site and then leave a comment below telling me which brewed beverage you'd most like to try. In your comment, include a link to the specific product from the Tassimo site, as well as your e-mail address so I can contact you if you're selected as the winner.

Entries will be accepted until January 9, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. One entry per person, US residents only. Winner will be selected by random drawing after January 9 and will be contacted by e-mail. Winner will have 3 days to respond to the e-mail or another winner will be selected.

Good luck and happy brewing!

Full disclosure: I was given a Tassimo T20 machine and a couple of T-disc packs to facilitate this review, with no further compensation received. I've already purchased several more T-discs, and my old single-cup brewer is now collecting dust, so I think we can agree that I genuinely like it. All opinions expressed in this review are my honest thoughts. As always, your mileage may vary.

The Smart Grid: A New Way To Look At Energy

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to gather with a group of local bloggers at Alana's (amazing restaurant with to-die-for food!) to learn more about the GridSmart program through our local energy provider, AEP. Like most readers, I pay my electric bill each month, groaning at how much I'm spending but never really thinking about how much energy we're using or how that energy is managed and delivered to us.

AEP is starting a pilot program of SmartGrid technology (provided by Silver Springs Networks) in the northeast corner of Columbus to evaluate if this technology could help better manage energy consumption, reduce outages, save consumers money by allowing them to participate in choosing how they pay for their energy use, and develop more environmentally friendly ways to save and generate energy.

At the moment, a meter reader comes to our house each month and we get a bill for the total amount for that month. I can't tell if I'm using a lot of energy one day and not as much the next, and I have little control over keeping track of my energy usage during the month. Now imagine that my meter was digital with a chip that constantly transmitted data back and forth across a secure network between my house and AEP. This network is vast and allows the energy company to manage and track energy in regions, in neighborhoods, and even your own house. I'd also have complete access to my home's energy usage with the ability to track it down to fractions of an hour.

old meter on the left, digital smart meter on the right

One enormous benefit of this new technology is reducing the number and length of power outages. If the meter can communicate back and forth with the power company, they won't need to rely on phone calls to tell them there is an outage - the system will tell them who has no power and where the problem is. Also, power can be re-routed for many people with this network, making it easier to get the lights back on even faster for most people. Another component will feature a battery-backup to be shared by several neighbors, so your power can shift over to a local battery backup until repairs can be made.

This new technology will also allow consumers to opt in to new models for buying their electricity. Energy consumption is highest during the afternoon, especially in the summer when everyone is trying to keep their homes cool. New pricing options might include paying a lower cost for off-peak energy usage, but a slightly higher cost for peak periods - this would be perfect for families who are out of the house during those hours and don't need a large amount of energy during that time. Best of all - you can opt-in only if the plan fits you!

Another proposed program - called SmartCooling - would give a communicable digital thermostat to homes with the agreement that on summer days of extremely high energy usage the power company could increase your thermostat by up to 4 degrees for a couple of hours to help with the burden on the grid. In exchange, you'd receive an $8 credit on your bill every month, including months when it's not needed. And you could opt-out at any time, either for a single event or for the entire program all together.

Personally, I love these ideas and only wish this program was already in my part of Columbus. I'm a control-freak over my money, so being able to see daily or even hourly energy usage in my home would be awesome. I'd get a kick out of trying new things and seeing how much of a difference it made in our usage.

Some might argue that the SmartGrid technology is an intrusion and affects our privacy, but I don't see the argument. The privacy and encryption controls used by AEP are similar to the ones used by banks for online banking. The number of people who would have access to my private records would be small, and honestly, I don't care that much if people see how much energy we use.

Knowing that AEP would be able to better predict and prepare for peaks in energy use and therefore reduce their need for additional fossil fuel burning plants is well worth any minor risks to privacy. And having fewer and shorter power outages is an enormous benefit as well. I see the GridSmart program as a way for AEP to be more transparent with consumers about energy generation and consumption. And hey, digitally reading the meter is way better than having a meter reader tromping around my backyard!

SmartGrid technology is the way of the future, and Columbus is lucky to be one of the early-adopter markets. Other cities have integrated the SmartGrid technology ahead of us with great results, and I'm hopeful we'll see the same benefits here as well. Saving money through better use of resources, all while providing greater access to my personal energy use information and making me a more informed consumer sounds like a great idea to me, and I only wish they'd hurry up and implement this in my part of Columbus!

The GridSmartOhio website also features a huge amount of energy savings tips even if you're not on the pilot program. Take a look to learn how LED Christmas lights can save you money, and how to recycle your energy-efficient CFL lightbulbs. 

Full disclosure: I wrote this post after attending an informational luncheon on behalf of Silver Spring Networks and Mom Central Consulting and received a gift bag and gift card as a thank you for taking the time to participate.

12 Weeks Until Christmas: Week 3 Declutter Week (GIVEAWAY)

We're down to the last few weeks before Christmas, and now its time to focus on the little details. For my family, clutter is something that seems to sneak up on us every week, and no matter how I try to keep it tamed down, it keeps coming back.

Here are some tips for decluttering your house before the guests arrive:

- Papers from school seem to be one of the greatest sources of clutter. The more kids you have, the more the paper clutter grows. Set up a bin or folder by the door, along with a calendar. When taking papers out of your kids backpacks, immediately put any important dates on the calendar, then recycle those papers. Anything requiring you to fill out a paper should be placed in the folder so you can find it when you have time to fill it out. For younger kids, homework can also be kept in the folder to make sure nothing gets lost.

- Another source of clutter is kids' artwork. Oh, don't get me wrong - they're all beautiful expressions of creativity, but you know we can't keep every drawing, macaroni art and and watercolor painting. To cut down on the clutter, start by picking out your favorites to keep and display. Select a box to keep in a closet where all kept artwork can go after new artwork replaces it. What about the ones that don't make the cut? They don't have to be gone forever - take a digital photo of each masterpiece before you toss it so you'll have a memory of it for years to come.

- Put everything in its place. So much clutter is simply stuff that needs to go back to its home. It's easy to leave something sitting out when you're in a hurry. Take the time to return everything to its proper home. If it doesn't have a drawer or box or container, find a spot for it or get rid of it.

- Don't be afraid to label it! Labels can help you find things quickly, and make sure everything gets returned back to the right place. This makes it easy for any member of the family to find what they need quickly and - more importantly - get it back to where it belongs! A personal labelmaker is worth the investment to help with this task.

Giveaway!

To help you with your decluttering, I'm giving away a Dymo personal labelmaker and 2 refill cartridges! 

To enter, leave a comment below sharing what kind of clutter is the hardest for you to manage in your house! (mandatory entry)

For additional entries:

2. Leave a comment here with your best tip - other than the ones mentioned above! - for decluttering your house. (one entry - separate comment)
3. Follow me on Twitter @mommystory and tweet this contest leaving me a link here in the comments. (one entry)
4. Write a blog post about your own tips for decluttering your house and link back to this post. (1 entry - leave a comment here with your link)

Giveaway will close on Sunday, December 12 at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be selected by random drawing to win the labelmaker. Winner has three days after being contacted by e-mail to respond or another winner will be chosen in his or her place.

Good luck!

Full disclosure: This Dymo labelmaker is provided fully by myself. I was not approached by the company and received no compensation at all for this giveaway. Model #LT-100T.

12 Weeks Until Christmas: Week 6 Garage Week (GIVEAWAY)

I'll admit, the garage is my final resting place for many items. After removing items from my black hole closets a few weeks ago, several boxes ended up in the garage where they're still waiting to be moved to Goodwill or some other place outside of my home. But many items in my garage have been waiting an awful long time for a new home, making the garage a purgatory for clutter, awaiting the final judgment.

While the clutter is annoying, it's also keeping me from getting my car into the garage.

So while the weather is still not yet freezing, I'm going to take some time to get my garage in shape to park at least one car in it. If your garage could use a little help, too, here are some tips I'm following to organize this space:

- Start by getting rid of the space wasters. Have you touched it in the past two years? If not, then get rid of it immediately. Have you used it in the last year? If so, then take a careful look at it and decide if it's worth the space it occupies.

- Next, get tools and sports equipment off the floor. Think vertical and use your wall space to your advantage. Use tool organizers and bicycle hooks to organize equipment and keep your most needed tools easy to reach.

- Sort holiday decorations into bins by season and store them on shelves. Again, think vertical when planning out your space to leave you with the most floor space available for your vehicles!

- Finally, clean up the floor. Make sure bags of fertilizer, mulch, and pesticides as well as gas cans are properly sealed and stored away from electrical or heat sources. If a bag is torn, transfer the contents to a plastic container that can be sealed.

Be sure to visit Kelly, Heather and Lisa for more tips this week!

GIVEAWAY!

To help you in your garage clean-up, I've got a $50 gift card to The Container Store to give to one lucky reader.

To enter, leave a comment below sharing what (other than your car) takes up the most space in your garage! (mandatory entry)

For additional entries:

2. Leave a comment here with your favorite organizational tool for keeping your garage and shed neat and tidy. (one entry - separate comment)
3. Follow me on Twitter @mommystory and tweet this contest leaving me a link here in the comments. (one entry)

4. Write a blog post about how you plan to (or already are!) getting your garage organized and ready for winter and link back to this post. (1 entry - leave a comment here with your link)

Giveaway will close on Friday, November 26 at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be selected by random drawing to win the gift card. Winner has three days after being contacted by e-mail to respond or another winner will be chosen in his or her place.

Good luck!

Full disclosure: Gift card to The Container Store is provided fully by myself. I was not approached by the store and received no compensation at all for this giveaway. Links to Amazon do include my affiliate code, meaning if you purchase something at Amazon after clicking that link, they give me a small percentage of that sale. Win-win, everyone.

12 Weeks Until Christmas: Week 2 Closet Week (GIVEAWAY)

After week 1, are you now ready to tackle getting your house organized and ready for the holidays? OK, then it's time to start big with the one area we're all most likely to have disorganized: the closets.

It's true. When you have visitors five minutes away from your house and clutter in the living room, where do you stash it on short notice? The closet. When you need to get the laundry off the guest bed, where does it go? The floor of the closet, of course.

It's the perfect hiding spot for anything out of place, although it then becomes a black hole of out-of-place items, when actually your closets can be one of your best tools for staying organized!

So this week's challenge: clean out those closets and get them organized! And we've got tips from me, Lisa, Kelly and Heather to help you along the way.

Living room/Hall closet

The hall closet often has a mix of outerwear, family games, cleaning supplies and other random stuff crammed in it. So the first step is to pull it all out of the closet. Get yourself some boxes or laundry baskets to help you sort it all, along with a trash bag.

First, make sure all trash immediately goes into the trash bag: lost paperwork from kids' backpacks, a torn mitten, broken toys, or anything else that can no longer serve a purpose. Take anything that belongs elsewhere back to its proper place.

Next, take all out of season items (if you live in a climate where it gets cold) and toss them in one box or storage container. Sandals, sunhats, light jackets and anything that screams summer need to give up their spots to make room for winter coats, scarves and snow boots. If anything in the closet is too large or too small for anyone in your family, place it in a different box to either save for a garage sale or give to a charity like Goodwill.

Finally, put it all back in place. I like to use an over the door shoe holder to keep track of mittens, scarves and other accessories for my family, but small plastic containers can do the job, too.

Bedroom closets

Now is the time to tackle all of that laundry and store away clothing you won't need until it's swimsuit season again to make room for all of those wonderfully cozy sweaters. The hardest part for me is taking the time to gather up everything that I won't be using for months, make sure it's all washed and then store it away.

Now, laundry isn't my favorite chore, but it needs to be done. And when tackling a massive project like this, it's best to sort it all out into 1-load piles each, and set aside an evening or a weekend afternoon to get this done. I hate taking the time to pre-treat stains - or worse, re-treat stains and try again - which is why I'm a big fan of Tide with Acti-Lift. It's the best detergent I've tried at getting out stains the first time, while still keeping my clothing looking bright and new.

Also, when washing clothing you plan to store away, add just a little extra fabric softener in a scent you love. If you keep them stored in air-tight containers, your clothes will still smell fresh when you open them again. This year I'm using the new Ultra Downy Sun Blossom scent - when I open up the storage containers in the spring, I know I'll still have that fresh, just-washed scent to greet me!

We have several clear plastic storage bins in the back of our closet to hold out of season clothing and linens. The clear plastic makes it easy to see what's inside, in case you do need to break out short sleeve tops but aren't ready for shorts yet. If you don't have clear plastic containers, any other storage solution will do, but make sure you label the boxes or bins so you know where to find things when you need them.

Finally, the biggest hurdle of bedroom closets is simply putting everything in its place. Match up shoes and line them up or put them on a shoe rack. Keep all of your pants together in one area, skirts in another, tops and sweaters in yet another. You don't want to be frantically searching through your sweaters just to find the one little black skirt you stuck in the middle somewhere. If you share your closet with your spouse, assign each of you one side of the closet to keep your clothing sorted out.

Giveaway!

We're going to get you ready to tackle all of that laundry in your closets with a little help from Tide and Downy! One lucky reader will win 3 bottles of Tide with Acti-Lift, as well as 3 bottles of Ultra Downy in the new Sun Blossom scent!

To enter, leave a comment below with your best organization tip for keeping your closets from turning into a jumbled mess. (mandatory entry)

For additional entries:

2. Leave a comment here with your best laundry or stain-fighting tip! (one entry - separate comment)
3. Follow me on Twitter @mommystory and tweet this contest leaving me a link here in the comments. (one entry)
4. Follow @Tide on Twitter and thank them for helping you get your summer clothing ready to be stored away with a link to this post. (1 entry - leave a comment here with you link)
5. Write a blog post about how you plan to (or already are!) getting your closets organized and ready for winter and link back to this post. (1 entry - leave a comment here with your link)

Giveaway will close on Friday, October 15 at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be selected by random drawing to win the Tide/Downy prize pack. Winner has three days after being contacted by e-mail to respond or another winner will be chosen in his or her place.

Full disclosure: This giveaway prize is being provided by Tide and Downy. I received no compensation nor was I given any free product. I just really like their products and reached out to them to join us in this series. Thanks, Tide & Downy!

Finally! A Non-Germy Hand Towel for the Bathroom!

I have a little confession - I hate bathroom hand towels. I mean, sure they're pretty and they can match your decor, but when I'm at someone's house, I feel really awkward using those towels to dry my hands after I wash them. I'm not a super germ-a-phobe by any means, but reaching for a hand towel only to discover someone else has used it recently and it's still damp grosses me out. 

Of course, your hands are only as clean as the towel used to dry them, so when no one else is here, I often go to the kitchen for a paper towel to dry my hands. But putting a big roll of paper towels in the bathroom isn't exactly pretty, and a roll of paper towels soaks up any water splashed on the counter by children (or adults), putting me back in the same predicament again.

But Kleenex clearly tapped into my head and realized something needed to be done about this, creating the new Kleenex Hand Towels. These single-use, disposable hand towels are perfect for drying hands and the cute dispenser makes them decorative as well as practical. I've been waiting for someone to think up this idea for a long time now!

The Kleenex Hand Towels are in a pop-up type dispenser that can either sit on the counter or be inverted on the towel bar. When one is pulled out, another is ready to go. The towels are amazingly soft and free of dyes and fragrances. Dry-touch fibers also make them super absorbent for the sloppiest of hand-washers.  

Many of you are aware I'm a nurse, and I can guarantee that you won't see anyone at a hospital using a cloth hand towel to dry their hands! No way - we have disposable paper towel dispensers over every sink! You also wouldn't expect to see cloth towels in a public restroom - if that's all they had, I doubt you'd go back again.

Hospitals know that wet towels can spread germs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for hand washing recommends hand drying with a single-use towel to help reduce the spread of germs, yet in the U.S. alone, people dry their hands on cloth bathroom towels approximately 200 billion times per year.

Kleenex conducted a survey on hand-washing perceptions, and found that three quarters of Americans (73%) believe hand drying is less important than hand washing when it comes to helping stop the spread of germs. This, of course, isn't the truth.

According to the CDC, freshly cleaned, wet hands transfer pathogens more readily than dry hands or hands not washed at all. The residual moisture determines the level of bacterial and viral transfer following hand washing. Careful hand drying is a critical factor for bacterial transfer to skin, food and environmental surfaces.

So even though we're often in a hurry, it's important to make sure your hands are completely dry after washing them. And Kleenex Hand Towels provide a clean, fresh towel every time for better hygiene. Of course, try getting this message to kids, right? It's hard enough to even make them wash their hands, let alone dry them. Kleenex thought of that, too, and came up with this clever little hand-washing song to encourage kids to thoroughly wash and dry their hands.

I've tried to get my daughters to sing the song on video, but they are being extremely camera shy with their singing abilities. But they love the new towels - the hardest part is making sure they only grab one and not try to pull more out of the box each time! Mira even tries to make up reasons to go wash her hands again, just to play in the water and then pull out a new towel for herself. 

I'm completely in love with Kleenex Hand Towels and they are now a staple in my house. Oh sure, the little cloth hand towels will stay in the bathroom, but everyone will know they're strictly for decoration only. Need to dry your hands? Try a Kleenex Hand Towel and keep the germ spread to a minimum.

Win Some Cleaning Of Your Own!

Kleenex knows how important it is to have a clean home, and to celebrate the launch of Kleenex Hand Towels, I have a $50 gift card to ServiceMaster to give away to one lucky reader! ServiceMaster is a fantastic all-purpose cleaning and house service company. Whether it’s used towards a Merry Maids cleaning service so your bathroom is clean, tidy and ready for a fresh box of Kleenex Hand Towels or towards a lawn care service (summer is just around the corner!), you can experience a clean, fresh home.

To enter, visit the Kleenex Hand Towels site, then leave a comment here telling me one hand-washing fact you learned from the site. This entry is required.

For an additional entry, join The Motherhood's Hand Drying Song Circle and leave a comment here with your username.

For another additional entry, follow @TheMotherhood and @mommystory on Twitter and tweet this phrase:

RT Learn the Kleenex Hand Towels Drying Song and win a $50 ServiceMaster gift card! http://tinyurl.com/22u9849 #kleenexsong

Be sure to leave a separate comment with a link to your specific tweet for this to count!

For THREE extra entries, create a video about Kleenex Hand Towels featuring the Hand Drying Song. (If you're not musically inclined, get your kids to sing it!) Leave a link to your video in three comments on this post.

All entries must be received by 5/15/10 at 11:59pm EDT. One entry per type of entry per person - duplicates will be removed from consideration. Please make sure you leave your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.

One winner will be chosen at random after the closing date and e-mailed confirmation. If winner does not respond within three days, another winner will be randomly selected.

Good luck and happy hand drying!

--
Full disclosure: I was contacted by The Motherhood and Kleenex to learn about the new Kleenex Hand Towels and spread the word about the Hand Drying Song. In return I received product samples and compensation for my time involved in this project. All opinions on this product are my own and are 100% honest.