MOM CONFESSIONALS

{ disclosure : received My Little Pony’s RC Rainbow Dash Plane as a gift, the opinions expressed here are always my own }

I’m definitely living vicariously through my daughter.  As a kid my parents couldn’t really afford toys for us.  Christmas gifts usually involved more practical gifts like a new outfit and school bag.  But I do remember all the girls with their dolls, Strawberry Shortcake toys and My Little Pony.  Oh how I wanted ones of my own!

My daughter is a mix of girly and tomboy and the My Littlle Pony’s RC Rainbow Dash Plane is perfect for her!  Maybe I’ve been living in a bubble but this was the first RC toy I’ve seen that wasn’t targeted at boys.  I can’t imagine a little girl not wanted to have an RC controlled toy of their own.  I can’t believe there aren’t many more out there.  Ava shrieked with delight when we opened the box to reveal a My Little Pony gift.  Little did she know that it was way more fun than she could have ever imagined having only played with RC “boys” toys.  I laughed in amusement because my 6 year old was begging to play with it himself — you know, with a girl’s toy.  It was appropriately rated for ages 3 and up, with a simple 3 button remote that took seconds for the toddler to figure out without any instruction. Out came all her Pony’s and they took turns riding Rainbow Dash’s plane as I’m always trying to teach the toddler another socialization skill.

My Little Pony’s RC Rainbow Dash is being added to my arsenal of gifts.  Perfect for little girl’s birthdays, Christmas presents or in this case… just for being her.  With a suggested retail price of $24.99, it requires 3 AA batteries which are not included.

For a limited time, get $10 off when you spend $30 on select new items from My Little Pony at Amazon.com. See details and restrictions.

I also spotted it at our neighborhood Target on sale for $18.99 – STEAL!

On an exploratory trip to Target for no other reason than we were bored, we leisurely strolled the store aisle by aisle.  It’s a lot of fun, and very dangerous.  You just FIND things to buy.  At one point we stopped at the accessories counter and I decided to check out some earrings for the toddler’s newly pierced ears.  After internally rationalizing for a bit, I decided maybe REAL diamonds for a 3 year old might be a little extravagant.  I mean what might she have to look forward to when she’s say, 5 or 6 years old then?  Unfortunately there was no salesperson to be seen and I told the toddler we’d have to come back in a little while to see them up close.  She was fine with that and happily danced around the store, lingering of course in the toy section.  After about an hour, a toy bought for each child and munchies for mom, we headed home.  Halfway home, it occurred to me that we had forgotten the earrings and I gasped, “Damn! (ugh!) I’m sorry Ava, Mommy forgot to check back on the earrings. Sooo sorry!”  The toddler’s quick response back had me floored.  “That’s okay Mommy, just go online.”  And that was that!

Anyone think I shop online too much?

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Kids all over the country are readying themselves for the first day of school.  Many many years ago, I recall this being one of the most highly anticipated days of the year.  Part of the fun was the preparation.  These days kids have an amazing arsenal of tools to get them ready.

HP’s new Photosmart e-All-in-One printers are a must have in any family’s household.  Being an HP printer household ourselves, there is no limit to what these printers can do.  Not only will the kids be able to print out all of their homework assignments and photos for show and tell, but they can also access new print apps including Crayola for coloring pages, PBS Kids for literacy, math and science activities or Disney for fun and educational after-school activities including coloring pages, games and crafts. Starting at just $99, e-All-in-Ones are also equipped with ePrint, a unique simple email address assigned to the printer that allows the sender to deliver a print the same way they would send an email message.  For some parents that are still not very tech savvy, that’s an awesome feature and still keeps us “cool” with our kids.  They’ve got a printer for every level of need, from a family who prints homework and occasional pieces of artwork and photos to the family with a professional parent who works from home or at home.

Parents will also love Snapfish photo gifts that are practical for the daily routine including personalized notebooks for keeping those notes in order (available for $9.99) or a desktop organizer to display a favorite photo of family and friends while keeping all those school supplies handy (available for $26.99).

Tired of looking at the same old book cover and locker?  Download and print free book covers and locker posters from the HP Creative Studio for FREE!  The HP Creative Studio also offers bookmarks, flash cards and mini journals to keep you on track and record your special memories from the year. In fact, while you’re out shopping for supplies, pick up a pack of HP’s Multipurpose Paper, Everyday Photo Paper or Advanced Photo Paper. With each purchase of these select products, parents can unlock the magic of Mickey & Friends to create their own collage masterpiece from the Disney Print Center presented by HP. For more, visit www.disney.com/printmagic.

GIVEAWAY: To get the school year started off on the right foot, ONE lucky winner will win a $50 Gift Certificate to Snapfish.  To ENTER, from now until September 10th 2010, fill out this FORM.  Get up to (two) bonus entries. 1st Bonus – If you follow me on twitter@momconfessional and re-tweet this giveaway (Win $50 Gift Certificate to Snapfish @momconfessional http://wp.me/pLvfH-zj) 2nd Bonus – If you “like” us on Facebook and share the giveaway with your friends.  DON’T FORGET to visit this FORM again and leave a separate entry for each action. Giveaway only open to those with U.S. addresses and must be 18 years or older. Giveaway ends on September 10th 2010 at 11:59 EST. A winner will be selected randomly by Random.org and notified by e-mail.

You might think it strange that I’m sitting here eating chili cheese sticks from Black Hound Bakery (yum!) and drinking a glass of water when just a few hours ago I was sitting in an ambulance on my way to the hospital after my son had an anaphylactic reaction to a smidge of ice cream I gave him.  It really was just a smidge.  He seemed really to really want some of what his sister and I were so obviously enjoying after a day of shopping.  I didn’t think there was any harm in just a touch of it on his tongue.  That little touch wound up more around his mouth than in his mouth and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Within a few minutes his lips began to swell and I looked at him and thought this is NOT a good sign.  Despite my nursing school training I still didn’t trust myself to call it as I saw it, an anaphylactic reaction.  I immediately took a photo and messaged my pediatrician (who may rue the day he ever let me have his personal cell phone number).  Trying to remain calm, I wrote, “Hey quick q… Just gave Marcus a taste of ice cream and his lips swelled up.  Should we be worried?”  I waited a second before calling and leaving a message with his service as well.  I guess this is where my medical training instinctively kicked in because I knew if I was right, this could quickly turn into a bad situation. I started to notice Marcus getting lethargic and falling asleep almost instantly.  My phone rang and it was the pediatrician who confirmed what I already knew.  I sprinted to the front of the store with my son and as calm as possible asked them to call 911 as my son was having an anaphylactic reaction to the ice cream I gave him a few minutes ago.

It took about 3-4 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and we were trying hard to keep Marcus awake.  He was desaturating fast.  I could not believe how calm I was being.  I did exactly as the EMT’s told me.  Got on the stretcher with him and we were on our way.  Marcus was barely awake, but not trying to sleep anymore.  He was quietly observing all the commotion.  Definitely not his usual behavior but they placed him on an O2 sat machine where he fluctuated from 92% to 100% as they gave him oxygen.  He happily placed it in his mouth like it was some teething toy.  The EMT’s had evaluated that they should take us not to the nearest hospital but rather one that had a Pediatric emergency room and also happened to be en route to home.  In minutes we were in the pediatric emergency room where he was given a dose of oral Benadryl.  Once again, thankfully to an informed conversation I had with the EMT’s, instead of  shot of Epi(nephrine) or a shot of Benedryl, he was given an oral dose which eased everyone especially the infant who would have been wailing at the top of his lungs.  I guess that would have a been a good thing too, opening up his lungs.  It was funny arriving into the ER with the EMT’s informing the staff that “Mommy speaks Nurse”, all I could say was… um barely…  The swelling around Marcus’ mouth had gone down significantly and you would never know anything was wrong because he was the happiest patient.  He thought being in the ER was sheerly the best thing ever!  See Video. After being evaluated, we were cleared to go home.  The reaction was mostly localized thanks to it only being a “smidge” of ice cream.  Armed with a bottle of Benadryl and instructions to get his allergies evaluated as soon as possible, we went home.

The baby is now fast asleep thanks to the side effects of Benadryl, none the wiser to the fact he probably shaved like 20 years off my life.  But I guess I have no one else to blame but myself.  I gave him the “smidge” of ice cream.  The irony was that he had an appointment to get allergy tested earlier in the week but since I had just started school, my mother in law had to take him.  Because of a language barrier between my barely English speaking mother in law and the doctor, they thought it was simply a routine visit. 

{ disclosure : received a Filtrete Water Station to demo but the opinions expressed here are always my own }

After observing all of my environmentally conscience classmates over the summer with their reusable water bottles I was determined to kick the bottled water habit.  No matter how small a step I managed to take, my family never seemed to climb on board.  I couldn’t believe they thought the mere act of filling up the bottles before leaving was just too much for them.  Sheer laziness I tell you!  It was simply easier to grab a bottle from the shelf and walk right out the door. Yet I was shocked that they could remember to bring back the empty bottles for recycling redemption and yet couldn’t be bothered to fill up their own bottles and bring it back, as if the 5¢ really makes it an incentive.  If there was a sale at Target or BJ’s Wholesale Club my basement would be filled with cases and cases of Poland Spring water, much to my chagrin.

When I spotted the Filtrete Water Station at BlogHer, I thought it was sheer brilliance!  It took the Brita or Pur water pitcher idea one step further and was just the thing to help my family kick the water bottle habit.  The station is small enough to move under the faucet to fills 1 to 4 reusable crystal clear bottles rapidly.  When I say rapidly, it’s not a drip drip drip like the filtration pitchers I’m use to.  Within a couple minutes I have 4 bottles of water ready to go.  The bottles have a uniquely designed cap that creates a spill proof seal each and every time and also serves as a handy handle for transportation.  Every morning as I leave for school, I grab a bottle and go.  It’s been a life saver in the heat wave we’ve had this week.

My family is slowly coming around.  This past weekend as we headed out the door, we grabbed 3 bottles for the car and were on our way!  I guess the sleek bottled water design helps too!  Another added bonus, I can twist the cap off and add in a few ice cubes for an instant chill.  That’s one over on bottled water!

The Filtrete Water Station boasts a savings of 3000 plastic water bottles from landfills per year.  The filter doesn’t have to be replaced for an amazing 3 months, almost 2 and a half times longer thn traditional pitcher filters and is recyclable with #2 plastics. The Filtrete Water Station comes with a docking station, (4) 16.9oz bottles and 1 Filtrete Fast Flow Filter and retails for around $42.99.  Additional bottles can be purchase in a 2-pack for $15.99.  Replacement filters are only $12.99 and only need to be changed 4 times a year.  This mom loves Filtrete and Mom Confessional readers can download this coupon for $5 off their own environmentally friendly Filtrete Water Station.