Erin Sluka - Parenting Healthy

2020 Summer Guide

Welcome back to another guide full of seasonal topics. Our 2020 Summer Guide is here! This is all about summer from getting your body summer ready, indoor and outdoor organizing, play for the kids and travel. If it fits the sunny weather topic, we will feature it.

Keep checking back throughout the 2020 summer months and see what new topics and brands I have added! In July we will have a fun giveaway for visitors so stay tuned on the blog!

Make sure to also visit our 2020 Father’s Day Guide and stay tuned for the Back to School Guide!

The 2020 Summer Series Giveaway

1 lucky US reader will win a $25 Happy Eats Gift Card below! Keep scrolling down to enter…..

Fun and Physical Backyard Activities for Kids

Bug Bite Thing Suction Tool for those pesky critters

10 Family Safety Tips You Must Know

Ukoke Ultrasonic jewelry Cleaner – get that jewelry summer clean

Before you travel, make sure your shoes are ready to bring your comfort! I love Superfeet insoles!

Yay! to low carb road trip snacks! Stock up on Fat Snax!

The Ultimate Summer Home Maintenance Checklist

Flip Critts – the comfort of sandals and the security of normal shoes!

Get Outside With These Stay Safe at Home Activities – Here!

My Passport Go – portable SSD with built-in cable

Insect Repellant for Clothing by Sawyer Repellants for the Outdoor Dad

Neutrogena Kids Sunblock Spray offers superior broad-spectrum protection against skin-aging UVA and burning UVB rays.

Pickup Sports kits and virtual coaching at home for kids

Build a foundation of learning over the summer with the Panda Crate for ages 0-24 months. Save 30% with code: panda30off

Learning Resources has summer learning covered!

Swiss Digital Women’s Smart Massaging Backpack – Review

5 Tips to Help Kids Overcome the COVID Learning Slump this Summer

Stay Healthy: 6 Summer Travel Tips

2020 Back to School Guide

More coming to this link up above…keep checking back!

Enter to win a $25 Happy Eats Gift Card! The gift card will be redeemable at a few eateries – Jamba Juice, Panera, Burger King, Dave & Busters or Cold Stone. This is MY giveaway and I am responsible for prize delivery. To enter, complete any or all tasks in the widget below. Parenting Healthy is responsible for prize delivery– US only. Good luck!

Entry -Form

Education, Parenting, Tips and Tricks

Supporting your children through their studying years

June 16, 2020June 16, 2020 Erin Sluka

Regardless of the age of your children, you want them to be good students. Without a decent education and high grades so many avenues are shut to them. As a result, most parents want their children to do well at school so that they can go on to study at college or university. Or, secure a good apprenticeship.

With this in mind, I thought I would take a look at some of the ways you can teach your children to be exceptional students with healthy studying habits. To be able to excel and stand out in a way that will benefit them later in life. Below, I cover practical things like using scribbr.com to double-check important work to make sure it passes the plagiarism test.

Show them that there are no shortcuts

Securing good grades is not easy. So, unsurprisingly, at all stages of your child’s educational journey, they are going to be faced with the temptation to cheat. To let someone else do the work for them or copy something rather than doing the research and writing something fresh.

It is important to show your children that taking that approach is not wise. From an early stage, make them aware that the educational institutions they attend will be putting their papers through a plagiarism checker. Show them how tools like Scribbr work.

Teach them not to be fazed when things do not go well

Help them to appreciate the value of doing things such as studying themselves. Show them how far they have come by doing that. If they try something and don’t quite pull it off, don’t be over critical. Help them to focus on what they can learn from the experience and encourage them to work on the skills they were missing so that they can succeed the next time they try.

work together — Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

Be ready to work alongside them

If they can’t figure something out, be prepared to sit down and help them to find the answers. Don’t take over, just point them in the right direction and help them to practice the skills they need to be able to do their own research, in the future.

Help them to find enough time to study

Provide your children with structure. Having a routine makes it easier for them to make studying a priority. A lot of parents find getting their kids to do their homework after school works best. You can click here to find more tips about how to create the right environment for your children to be able to study effectively.

Make sure they have enough time to relax too

Studying is important, but relaxation is vital too. If your children do not get the chance to relax and unwind often enough they will be too tired and stressed out to learn effectively.

Of course, every child is different. So, you will need to adapt the advice given above to fit in with the needs of each child. But, following these basic principles will prove to be beneficial for most young students.

Fashion, Kickstarter

Flip Critts – the comfort of sandals and the security of normal shoes!

June 10, 2020June 13, 2020 Erin Sluka

Have you had shoe wars with your child? This 11 year old took his shoe frustrations to the drawing board until he came up with his perfect shoe! These are Flip Critts “Critts”. Carter, who’s nickname is Critt as in the shoe name, needed flip flops that were comfortable but a sandal that also protected his toes. Sone shoes do that, but they left his feet (same with myself from my experience) sweaty and with blisters. Take off the back and you have a flip flop with a croc-style protection at the toes. These are Critts!

Now, not only are Critts that perfect cross between the comfort of sandals and the security of normal shoes, they made them fun! With over 200 combinations of colors/designs you can get one for the toddler to Mom and Dad too! The one’s I am featuring are red champagne flutes. The design cut outs double as breathing holes. Choosing your design and color combination makes buying these shoes so much fun!

Critts Comfort

Flip Critts uses Vibram Soles that are considered one of the best outsoles in the world and have always been at the forefront of sole technology. You can climb, hike or just walk comfortably all day in these. The grip allows this and the environmentally Conscious Sweetfoam™ is its midsole that protects the foot from feeling hard or sharp objects.

This leaves the footbed! Memory foam molds to the body in response to pressure. This makes sure that the shoe can support your feet against impact and evenly distributes body weight. I challenge you to find a blister after your day in Critts.

How to buy this brand new shoe?

Visit Flip Critts on Kickstarter (they met their goal in 45 minutes)! Because we know and would have assumed anyway that this shoe would be a hit, you get the deal that Kickstarter campaigns offer.

Head to Flip Critts Kickstarter page and click that green Back this Product button. Choose your Pledge Reward and once the campaign ends you will pick your design/color and product will arrive at launch- around November 2020. With this Kickstarter campaign you can get a pair of Critts that will retail at $65 for $40! This campaign will save you so don’t wait. This campaign ends July 19, 2020. They should be to you in time for the Holidays! Visit Critts today!

Children's Books, Parenting

Children’s Books about Culture, Differences, Standing Up for Others

June 4, 2020June 4, 2020 Erin Sluka

Children’s Books about Culture, Differences, Standing Up for Others are topics we need to share with our children…yesterday! Talking with kids about cultural awareness and using their voice is tough. We want to talk in a way they understand or they don’t retain what they hear and remember some points down the road if it was too much, too little or even too informative. Perhaps we can leave the conversation starters to Authors, many of which are Teachers, Counselors and Speakers that know how to guide us in these conversations within stories and illustrations.

Books are the greatest tools we have as parents to teach subjects and topics with our children and these titles below, specifically, help us start the conversation about culture, differences and even when and how to use our voice to stand up for others.

I have reviewed many books and I have reached out to the Publishers and Authors I know to help me put such a list together. I didn’t want to wait until these books make it to me and communication can happen between myself and publishers so I started my list below with books you have already seen me discuss but now I bring them forward again.

I will update this list EVERY time I come across a title within this topic that I feel will help you start these important conversations. Make sure you follow my socials (buttons are in my header) and bookmark this page so you are updated when I suggest a new title. I will announce for you every time a new title is added.

I will work hard to find the books that you need to have the conversations of being a kind human to all! If you like this list, be sure to hit the Rating button at the end of this post! Some affiliate links may be within.

Now at over 20 titles….

Guion the Lion

Topic: Appreciating differences and embracing others’ ideas

Author: Rebecca Wilson Macsovits, Mom of a son with Down Syndrome