Super Mommies

Travel Buddies

I wanted to create “Good Stuff” to bring you fabulous products you couldn’t pass up, but I have one you CAN (and I wish I had).

This all started last year as we prepared to make a lengthy road trip. I must have passed the stand of Noddleheads a million times in the grocery store. Every week I would stop to do that whole, “should I get one, should I not” mêlée with myself. They were absolutely adorable, incredibly soft and seemed like such a brilliant idea. I mean who wants to watch their kid’s head bopping all around when they finally fall asleep in the car? However, despite my immediate attraction to them, at $15.99 a pop I just could not justify the purchase (and I knew my hubby would not be amused at my dropping $30 on animal pillows).

Flash forward to this year as we prepared for another road trip. 

There I was, heading straight toward the stand I'd pondered over so many times before when... low and behold there were just TWO Noodleheads left! 

A pink pig and a blue whale, abandoned on a shelf looking utterly pathetic. Covered in sticky red goo (clearly some other mother had done the same internal battle with herself while her kids mucked them all up). They’d been adorned with giant red $5.00 clearance stickers, this was my chance.

I scooped them up and hoped that after a good washing they’d be good as new. I felt as though I’d won the lottery, I was that excited. My little darlings would never suffer from head-flop again! Finally, after a year of wanting one, I was taking them home with me… and I saved myself $22.00!

Now for the downer...

Did these pillows snuggle the precious heads of my kids as they drifted off to sleep on our nine hour car ride? Not exactly...and I’m VERY glad I only spent $10.00.

After ONE washing the pig had a hole in it, neither one actually fit properly around the neck without being extremely uncomfortable and awkward. In fact, with the car seat padding I’d say they really didn’t fit at all around either neck. When I realized they weren’t going to work in the direction they were intended to be used I attempted to put them on AFTER they fell asleep backwards, hoping that would work better…nope. In the opposite position they kept falling off every time the kids moved. The absolutely adorable, incredibly soft, waste of money pillows ended up on the floor of the car the entire ride home.  In the end, when we arrived back home these two pillows were tossed into the bottomless pit of stuffed animals in the playroom...

...maybe to be played with?

Have you tried this product? What were your thoughts?

Raise a Healthier Generation!

Earlier this year the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that childhood obesity is determined before the age of five, which means we only have a few short years to establish healthy eating habits in our bambinos.

Deirdre Pizzferrato, a registered dietitian has created the perfect product for SuperMommies who want to their preschoolers to develop healthy eating habits. Her Beanstalk Express Snack Time Survival Kitencourages children to choose healthy snacks at the same time improving their time-telling skills. The kit features a refrigerator clock board with moveable clock hands for parents to set snack times (which also helps with the inevitable "can I have a snack now?" question).

Below the clocks are hooks for 35 snack cards featuring many tot favorite foods. The cards are color coded like traffic lights with green cards representing healthy foods, yellow cards featuring more processed foods kids should only eat in moderation, and red cards showing foods we need to really think about before we eat. Empowering children with personal responsibility promotes healthy eating habits they will take with them for years to come.

The Escape Artist

Over the past few months we’ve transitioned Kokobean from her booster seat to an actual dining room chair. Up until this point we never had a problem keeping her in her seat for the duration of the meal. However, now that baby brother is occupying the booster our perfect little diner has become Houdini.

How did we solve this problem? Family Time Fun’s Beginner Dinner Games! This little tin box is filled with 51 fabulous games to play while seated at the dinner table. Even better, this game requires no pieces and will encourage your three to six year old to eat their food!

We’ve found the game of choice in our house is one in which the child is asked to make up a song about each item at the table (could be because we have a future mini-Idol in the making) but there are many other equally entertaining games.

Beginning Dinner Games will not only keep your little one firmly planted in their seat, but it will also help keep the conversation rolling-- and it may even help to clear their plates!