Travel
At our house, Summer means family road trip time. Why fly somewhere when you'll miss all the out-of-the-way places that you can easily visit if you drive instead? TwitterMoms inspired me to write this post and you can find out about lots of other great family activities there.
Here Are MommyBlogExpert's 5 Tips to Finding Fun Family Trip Stops That Are Also Really Inexpensive, Too
1. Factory Tours are a novel way to learn and have fun at the same time and luckily, even with inflation and the closure of many U.S. factory tours to the public, there are still plenty of these you and your kids can visit for free or for a very low fee. Check out this website for factory tours in the U.S. and search by state to find places along your route. One of the most fun things we've ever done as far as factory tours go, was taking a tour of a pretzel bakery and then having the chance to make our own in Pennsylvania.
2. Sign up for a family membership at a museum, such as Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, which as a member of an international science museum group ASTC has reciprocal relationships with other science museums around America and elsewhere in the world. All you do is buy one pass and then use it at other museums in their network to get your family in free or at a reduced rate. We've been to museums in many, many states by using this pass without spending hundreds of dollars more on admission fees for our 6-member family.
3. Buy an Annual National Park Service Pass for just $80 and use it for your family to visit more than 300 parks and monuments in the U.S. without paying entrance fees at each location. We've seen more than 150 of our country's parks, monuments, and other park lands on both coasts, as well as in between, such as the Brown vs. Board of Education National Park site in Topeka, Kansas where a landmark decision about racial integration was made, saving hundreds of dollars if we had to pay entrance fees to enter each park individually. After just 3 or so parks, depending on entry fees which vary, the pass pays for itself.
4. Another great way to find out about fun, inexpensive things to do is while traveling check the brochure racks at any venues you do go to for other area activities. Don't forget to pick up local newspapers in your travels too, and look at the phone books in your motel each night. Also, don't overlook all the fabulous brochures that are in the lobby of many motels and hotels, large and small, to look for more off-beat things your family will enjoy. And, at all costs, always pick up any giveaways at rest stops and when you fuel up. Be sure not to overlook truck stops, as we have found lots of booklets there to save money on motel rooms along the way.
5. Last, but not least, don't leave on any road trip without a full set of free maps and travel guides from your Auto Club. If you are a member of any of these clubs, such as the Automobile Club of California that we belong to, you will have access to lots of fun activities and there are even some that offer discounts to AAA members.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the Williamsburg Tourism and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Procter & Gamble's Pampers and Mommy & Daddy Bloggers Are At Odds
by Janis Brett Elspas
After reading the story on Businessweek.com by Burt Helm published Friday Procter & Gamble in Bind Over Moms’ Web Attack on Pampers Brand it's my personal guess that this controversy is just starting to heat up and has yet to reach its peak.
But let me not get ahead of myself. If you have not already heard, this should bring you up to date: a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's investigation began on May 3 in follow up to consumer complaints that Pampers Swaddler and Cruisers with Dry Max, new to the P&G die-tee line up, causes rashes and chemical burns. Procter & Gamble continues to deny these claims and is at odds with the potential image-damage that blogging parents -- both moms and dads -- might be able to cause through their demands for a Pampers recall.
Pictured here:
My own triplets some years ago wearing Pampers Diapers, which we never had a problem with personally, when they were just a few months old. At the time my DH and I were changing 8 diapers per day. With 4 kids in diapers at once (our oldest was only 1 when his younger sibs arrived) we were changing 32+ diapers per day, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert since we were buying multiple cases of diapers that we stored in our "diaper warehouse" in the garage.
Apparently many other babies since ours have worn Pampers without any side effects, too. The chatter on both Twitter and Facebook, though, seems to be lively right now, and the winds may be changing direction. Now there are various fan and like pages on Facebook advocating accountability on P&G's part including a group called Pampers Bring Back the Old Cruisers/Swaddlers which currently has 9,169 followers. Also, the like page on Facebook that was set up just 8 days ago called Recall Pampers Dry Max Diapers has 861 followers as of the time this post went live, having picked up hundreds of more parents speaking out just since Friday alone. There appears to be a building awareness about the issues now at hand on Twitter, especially among moms who blog, too.
I just don't get it. While my kids are now tweens, and we are well-past the diaper stage, I have to say I would definitely not be buying this brand until all the facts are in and would not wait for a product recall which may or may not be on the horizon. If there is even a small amount of potential danger, I wouldn't want to take a chance if my kids were still in diapers since there are so many other brands of disposable diapers to choose from, not to mention cloth diapers which are actually much more eco-friendly and increasing in popularity.
What do you think? If you are still using diapers, does the Pampers with Dry Max controversy scare you? Or do you think this is a bunch of nonsense and you aregoing on with "business as usual" and continuing to use the product any way?
Leave a comment below this post, NOW, and let your parental voice be heard!
Eco Friendly Household Cleaning Products That Are Safe for Kids & Pets Too - PawSafe PRODUCT REVIEW
Eco-friendly cleaning products for the home are all the rage these days. While many of these earth-conscious brands are a good thing because they do either minimize or prevent damage to our environment, the public is often not always aware that many of these same products are not necessarily safe for use around pets and/or children.
Since early this year, I have been reading and educating myself as much as I can about small things our family can do to change the way we live so that we are being kinder to the Earth. One of the first eco books I read and reviewed for this blog several months ago, Living Like Ed by actor turned environmentalist Ed Begley, taught me -- among other things -- much about the dangers of using toxic substances in the home.
Which brings me to the discussion of doing housework. If you are one of my many regular readers you might recall the post proclaiming that I hate spring cleaning. Nevertheless, I do clean my house and I've tested various brands of eco-friendly products such as one I used to successfully remove heavy stains from a light colored carpet. The problem with that particular product is that even though it is eco-friendly, it is also strong smelling and the label warns against breathing in fumes and other dangers if it is not used properly. Always, without exception, check with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Household Products Database before buying products you are unfamiliar with to access the latest detailed health and safety information.
When talking about household cleaning products, safety can sometimes be a bit of a vague term, so what exactly does safe for pets and children really mean? PawSafe Cleaners, as I learned from reading the products' labels, are different than some of the other green products on the market in that they are not formulated with anything that is hazardous for a person breathe in. A note appearing on all the manufacturer's products in this line states, "In case of eye contact, flush with water. Be safe and keep cleaning products out of reach of pets and children." So, just like with other household solutions, you should ere on the side of caution when using and storing these.
PawSafe Window Cleaner, on the other hand, did not smell "chemically" and I think that's largely due to the fact that the latter product is made with just a few components including deionized water, vegetable derived surfactants, ethanol, emulsifiers, fragrance and organic pigment. Another product, PawSafe Toy Cleaner, is labeled safe to use for cleaning both children's toys as well as pet food & water bowls, animal toys, collars & leads, and litter boxes. The safety qualities of these two products are representative of the other solutions the company markets.
A detailed product-by-product list of all the PawSafe Cleaners and what each contains is available here.
Where to Buy PawSafe
Even though PawSafe products -- from the makers of Simple Solution -- can be found primarily in pet specialty stores nationwide at present, the product line is labeled as safe to use to clean your home, especially around children, too. Perhaps it will be available in a wider range of retail locations soon as the market for this product expands. See the company's Where to Buy directory for the store closest to you.
Even though PawSafe products -- from the makers of Simple Solution -- can be found primarily in pet specialty stores nationwide at present, the product line is labeled as safe to use to clean your home, especially around children, too. Perhaps it will be available in a wider range of retail locations soon as the market for this product expands. See the company's Where to Buy directory for the store closest to you.
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