Parenting - Parenting Healthy

I have partnered with Brilliant PR for this mifold feature

mifold Grab-and-Go Car Booster Seat Is Making Carpooling Easier. How? It is very portable. It adjusts for child’s size in seconds and fits most seats and belt systems to safely hold onto your child as you drive! Let’s explore more…

Anthony is almost 10 and not in a car booster seat anymore but as you can see him holding it the size is very convenient. Despite how small it is you get an approved seat by the standards. For ages 4 and older and 40-100 pounds you can fit this booster in a bag. Just see my video below….

The long strap clips onto the should belt at your child’s shoulder height for proper restraint. It is so easy and works with your cars lap belt. It comes in many fun colors too. Now you can just unbuckle your child, fold and hand off to the grandparents or daycare for carpooling needs when in their care. Even airplane and rental car travel becomes easier. It makes our travel lives so much easier without sacrificing safety!

As your child grows you simply adjust the width. The padding is comfortable and it is just enough lift to give them that window view for their entertainment. You can find these on Amazon and at Target stores nationwide! Learn more at mifold.com Available at Target!

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Education, Parenting

New Teenage Drivers – 3 Things To Go Over with Them Before Their First Solo Drive

February 23, 2018 Erin Sluka

This is a sponsored post for Cars.com. Thoughts and topic are my own

The third boy is 6 years away from driving while the older 2 have been driving a few years already. A teen learning to drive is about the most nerve wrecking of our parenting phases. It can be bittersweet as we fear them hitting the roads solo yet we now have an extra driver for errands and pick ups which is nice. Having taught 2 boys and eventually the third, I can look back and know that they not only survived the teen years, but survived driving through the teen years.

Drivers Ed teaches them the bulk of hat they need to know as drivers, but as parents we have to finish that off with a few rules and tips of our own before their first solo drive. Before this day even comes we have some tasks such as finding the best and safest cars for our teens. Cars.com has the Best of 2018 Car Awards to help you get a feel of what makes these the best cars to own right now. Here are 3 things to go over with them before their first solo drive!

Driving is a privilege NOT a right

We used this phrase from their practice drives to their solo drives. Driving is a privilege and NOT a right! It can easily be explained with less eye rolling from them if you help them visualize their expectations and consequences like this.

We would tell the boys our honest feelings, that we are very nervous and a bit scared letting them go. We assured them we love them “…and because we want to protect them handing over keys is like handing you the end of a rope. On one end is US and and the other end is YOU. YOU get so much slack to start off and as long as you obey curfew and rules, the slack will be there for you. But, as soon as you break the rules we get to pull in that slack. If it gets pulled in enough, we control both ends of that rope and you hand over the keys. Obey often and keep within the rules and we can let even more slack out giving you more freedom as time goes by.” This type of conversation is a great analogy for them and typically they should respond well if they understand why the rules are most important (because you love and protect them) and that there is a potential to earn more freedoms yet there is a point you may need the keys back for a bit.

Technology Is On Our Side

Before you think I am going to make your child feel like a prisoner of being watched and tracked by their every move, understand that we have the ability to track their every move! When the middle son began driving this technology was just coming out and we used it. The 2 important options you can use with your new driver are: tracking and online usage viewing from your cell providers app. Tracking is a great tool to not only feel comforted you know where your teen is but it is a great way to send them off with a constant reminder that driving is NOT a right but a privilege. I would never track your child without their knowledge and let them know you respect them enough to never do that without being transparent about it, however have rules up front if they turn their phones off at certain times to disrupt the tracking. No teen ever turns off their phone unless absolutely necessary so if it is 8pm and they are “out with friends” and their phone is off? Hmmmm?! Make sure they know you just pulled in a lot of slack on that driving rope and another incident means the keys are yours!

The second piece of technology is your cell providers app. Why? Here is how we used it when they were new drivers. It’s simple-when you set your rules the most imperative is distracted driving like no cell phones, crowded car or blaring music so they can concentrate on the roads. So when I knew my ‘bonus’ boys were (say) leaving their Mom’s house to drive to ours which was about a 20 minute drive, a little peek at the app once their arrival time is noted will show you if they sent a text or message during their drive time. There were those moments we got to pull in slack because they had no good excuse for the text sent outbound 10 minutes into their drive home?!

Weather

In helping the boys through drivers ed, I noticed something. Weather was a very short mention in the book. Please take the time if it is harsh weather to remind them about distance and stop time. Not to mention that the biggest concern for them needs to be OTHER drivers so they need to remember to keep their head up and stay alert for others who may be having issues and keep distant. Also, remind them to NOT get out of their car in trouble spots unless very necessary because if they had problems on that road then others will too and they are sitting ducks for a car coming along that loses control near your child standing in the way. It sounds like common sense, but remember their age and ability to think these things through in an instant are not as sharp as it is for us adults!

For more car buying and driving advise, visit Cars.com. It is so great to have these sites to guide us and make sure we have checked all our parental boxes before our teen hits the roads.

Kids, Parenting

New Babysitter Tips and Printable Checklists #MommyMustHaves

February 8, 2018February 17, 2020 Erin Sluka

I have been compensated by JOHNSONS® Baby for this post; however, I am sharing my own thoughts. All opinions are my own.

I was always fortunate to live across town from family with our son. With my 2 older bonus boys we can just rearrange custody days so we could send them to Mom’s if we had plans and she can do the same with us. Even though family would take the boys at various times, it was always nice to hand them tips and necessities.

Our youngest is 9 and has always been very habitual (like my husband). For instance, if he was in need of a bath the night we are out he would expect his same bubbles and shampoo. I always use JOHNSON’S® Baby Shampoo and eventually began using their BEDTIME® Lavender wash. He loves the bath washes that smell good and this one is so relaxing.

He also has other habits like reading in his book and being allowed some video game time leading up to bed. These are all nice to note for a babysitter so they can keep the routine as normal as possible for the kids. Having these babysitter tips handy helps the kids moods and excitement levels and that helps the sitter as well.

Babysitter Tips Main Checklist

This is the stationary checklist you can keep up and only need to replace if major contacts, medical information or routines change.

Download the Babysitter Checklists

Use this checklist below every time you leave the kids with a babysitter. This checklist has that day’s notes and meal plans for the babysitter

Another handy thing to leave out for a sitter is a ‘babysitter emergency box’. Kids get bumps and small cuts, they get messy and even get fevers and bugs. A sitter is not going to be familiar with where you keep all of your essentials, so having a basket with main essentials out is always a good idea. Even if I send our son to family to stay, I put these items in a large ziploc in his suitcase because relatives may not have these children essentials in their homes if he needs them. What do I keep in mine?

Infant/Children’s Tylenol
JOHNSON’S® Band-aids
Cleaning Wipes
Cotton Swabs
Ointments
Benadryl

Then I also double check that his shampoos/washes are available near the bath and his oral care products are ready by the sink. Or if he is being watched out of the home, those go into a large ziploc as well and sent in his suitcase.

With brands like JOHNSON’S® Baby available at Walmart they are trusted to be easily found and available for many more generations to come. Having a habitual child means using brands you know you can consistently buy and have available for them at bed, bath and routine times.

Do you have a routine for your babysitter to follow?

If someone is reporting an adverse event or a product quality complaint, please tell them to call the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) North America Consumer Care Center at 800-361- 8068 during normal business hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. After normal business hours, they can report adverse events or product quality complaints through www.jnj.com Contact Us page.

Parenting, Seattle Area Attractions, Travel

Visiting the Oregon Coast – Seaside, Oregon

January 4, 2018May 21, 2019 Erin Sluka

This New Years we took a drive to the Oregon coast and stayed in Seaside. It has been many years since I have been to Seaside and we know it is plenty entertaining for our son. The weather was gorgeous for heading into January and Seaside is located less than 20 miles from Astoria, Or which is a fun town to stay and shop in and Seaside is also about 7 miles from Cannon Beach which is a gorgeous beach town. There are many great beaches on the Oregon coast!

Staying in Seaside, Oregon

We chose one of the several hotels located along the river and only blocks from the ocean. Broadway is the main stretch of Seaside where you find the arcade, shops, restaurants and even a summer fun center with activities so staying on the ocean side of the river and close to Broadway is best. The Comfort Inn was where we chose and the staff were all so fun and pleasant. Not just one staff member, but all of them!

The Comfort Inn on Broadway has a pool, hot tub, sauna room and free hot breakfast. The breakfast had a ton of options like waffles, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, cereals, breads, yogurt and much more. They kept a couple beverage items out all day to stop and and grab if needed. They also put fresh baked cookies in the lobby every afternoon!

Eating in Seaside, Oregon

If you drive to Seaside for a few days you won’t only eat in Seaside. With Cannon Beach and Astoria nearby there are several good eating options. However, with all of our stops over 3 days our favorite was Dundees in Seaside on the main Broadway and walking distance to many hotels. The staff is great and they have TV’s for the games and are family friendly. I had nachos and my husband ordered a pizza. We also had beers and mixed drink. Anthony ordered spaghetti and meatballs off the menu. Warning! The Nachos can easily feed 2 if you add meat!

We did go over New Years so hours of eateries were shortened. But when my son had a late night ice cream craving, the Dairy Queen 1 block over from Broadway was open late to serve. They were closing and loaded up his brownie sundae for him and offered him a bag of fries they were going to dump so he was a satisfied 9 year old.

We spent Sunday watching the Seahawks game at the Public Coast Brewery in Cannon Beach, Oregon. If you love unique brewed beers, they have many and are delicious. If you are not a beer drinker, their root beer is amazing! It was family friendly, order as you walk in and fast service.

What to do in Seaside, Oregon

Besides staring at the ocean? For the adults, there is shopping and good eateries. Located between about 6 pubs within a 30 mile radius you’ll eat well and enjoy some good Northwest beers.

For the kids, Funland about 2 blocks up from the beach is the hot spot! It is a huge arcade attached to a pizza place that has good food. It is called Fultanno’s Pizza and is a hit spot for lunch and dinner while the kids play. It is a ticket arcade so kids can earn fun prizes.

With the beach at my back, I took this shot of Broadway in Seaside. A long street of shops, food, hotels and fun!

In the summer, there is an indoor activity center across form the arcade with mini golf, bumper cars and more. There is no shortage in ice cream and candy shops and there are even swings and bathrooms on the beach.

It is also a pet-friendly beach and town! I think everyone in Seaside brought their dog on vacation with them. There is a dog around every corner and everyone stops to talk dog and owner with each other. With our new puppy, Maya she was in heaven and we got to meet and chat with so many other dog owners on our walks.