Parenting Healthy

Send your College Student off with this stress reliever - The Grumpy Octopus

Kids are graduated, the Country is heading to post-COVID and once again, we prepare to send our oldest of teens off to College. This means phone calls instead of walking through the door and care packages as our thread of line we have left to them. I had fun putting together care packages when our son went off to College. Had I known about this cuddly and hard-not-to-love plush, The Grumpy Octopus would definitely have lived in a dorm with him!

It is simple, an angry red octopus who is a plush with glitter eyes and a velvet feel. It is hard to stay in a bad mood because when you look over and see its grumpy face it is hard not to crack a smile. I can see him being a dorm pal at homework time or the stormy weather, he will sit and dwell in the pity with your child away from home.

Seriously, you want him, don’t you? He even has an Instagram page! He is created by San Diegan Amr Ahmed, who wanted an original plush for his sister. Inspired by the iPhone emoji and a touch of traits from Oscar the Grouch, Squidward, Grumpy the dwarf, Diego the saber-tooth tiger from Ice Age, Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec, and the infamous Grumpy Cat, he is a great companion who loves to hate everyone as much as they love him.

The Grumpy Octopus is available on Amazon and is a must-have for the dorm, Dad or a gag gift!

Travel

NEW ComfiGO booster seat that provides better comfort

June 16, 2021June 21, 2021 Erin Sluka

My youngest is 13 and I keep encountering new and brilliant infant, toddler and child products I would have loved to have when he was younger. This is one of them! The new ClypX ComfiGO® booster seat is more comfortable and travel friendly than those bulky booster seats. The ComfiGO booster seat is FMVSS 213 certified for use in the US and made for children ages 4 – 12, weighing over 40 lbs, and between 40 to 57 inches tall.

There are 2 adjustments you have to make at first with your child, then it is set up for their use. You will only need to readjust as your child grows (every few months). Don’t worry, the adjustments are very easy and no tools are needed. Once you have these adjustments made, your child can even buckle themselves into the seat easily.

To start, you need to place your comfiGO on your car’s seat, centered and NOT on top of any covers. There are 2 secure clips (optional) to use if your car’s seat has the hooks to attach. This just keeps the booster seat in place as your child gets in and sits down. It has a skid pad so it stays in place fairly well on its own or you can hold it as they get in. I would just attach mine and not have to worry about it shifting. Now you are ready to make those 2 adjustments (the first use).

Attach the car’s shoulder strap into the shoulder belt positioning strap of ComfiGO. To adjust the height of that positioning strap, you just open the (red) gate on the clip and adjust it so it rests about 1 ” above your child’s shoulder. I have the video below that shows you in steps.

The second adjustment is for the lap belt. If your child is tall/older than this may not be as necessary, but for most children in booster seats, the lap belt will fall too high (above their thighs) and this is why we use booster seats with them. The lap belt clip is the device that is between your child’s legs. You want to open the gate (red) in the clip and adjust so that the lap belt runs across their upper thighs (1″ below belly button) rather than across their abdomen. Then just simply slide the car’s lap belt up into the clip and buckle them in. The video below shows more.

Getting out of the car is easy. Just unbuckle your car’s seat belt, unclip from the hip belt and that’s it. The shoulder positioning clip can stay connected to the car’s shoulder strap unless you are taking ComfiGO on travels with you, then unhook the shoulder clip and go! The ComfiGO booster seat easily slips into a seat back for storage or in a large purse. If a guest is in your back seat, no need to remove the booster seat. It can be sat on and straps will stay flat when not in use. What a great option to keep in a seat back if you ride share passengers who may have kids and traveling! Adjustments are easy and it is so compact.

Learn more about ComfiGO by visiting the ClypX website!

Will I Lose Weight If I Eat In Moderation?

June 15, 2021June 21, 2021 Erin Sluka

Want to know why a naturopath and why a naturopathic doctor might prescribe the Atkins’ diet to you? Keep reading to find out.

If you are on a mission to lose weight, then you’ve probably tried just about every diet trend out there. From Hydroxycut to the Atkins’ Diet, trending diet regimens change from one day to the next. What you need to realize, though, is that eating in moderation is the key to losing weight, regardless of the diet remedy that you’re following. After all, when you stay within the limits of your suggested calorie intake, you will at least maintain your weight, and when eating under the suggested number of calories, you will lose weight.

Here are some tips and information that will shed some light on how eating in moderation will help with weight loss and living a healthier life.

Limiting the sizes of the portions that you eat

One of the hardest habits to break is eating within a reasonable portion size. You should always limit the amount of food you put on your plate and replace unhealthy choices with healthy ones to obtain proper nutrients from the meal. Ideally, a larger plate full of fruits, vegetables, and red meat will always be healthier than a small plate of pasta and desserts.

Avoid eating when upset

Eating when you’re upset can become a crux for dealing with negative emotions, and as a result, you will likely find yourself overeating. Any time that you find yourself sad, angry, or anxious, make sure to stay away from the kitchen cabinets, and if you do eat, make sure you’re snacking on veggies and fruits until your bout of emotions is properly worked through.

Drink plenty of water

Appetites can be curved by drinking plenty of water, and in doing so, you’ll also keep yourself well-hydrated. Many people find that by replacing sugary beverages with one to two glasses of water, they are able to lose anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds or more.

Avoid second helpings

After a tasty first round, second helpings often sound like a fantastic idea, however, you don’t want to fill up on the leftover foods just yet. Your body hasn’t digest what you’ve already eaten, and it might be telling you that you’re still hungry, but in actuality, if you’ll wait 10 to 15 minutes, you’ll likely find that you aren’t as hungry as you thought you were.

Eat more fiber

Fiber is a great filler for the body. Sometimes, when the body gives off signals that it’s hungry, it’s actually searching for more fiber to be ingested. It’s because of this that you’ll want to eat foods that are rich in fiber to help curb your appetite, which will do wonders in terms of being able to eat in moderation.

The Takeaway

Too much of anything in life is never a good thing, and this especially applies to food. By eating in moderation, you’ll find that you are able to keep yourself full, while at the same time be on a positive pathway to losing weight. And if you want to take weight loss to the next level, make sure to combine your eating in moderation practices with 15 to 20 minutes of moderately-intensive exercise — briskly walk for two miles — three to five times a week.

Toy Reviews

Speedy Scribbles is a game of fast thinking and drawing for memory

June 15, 2021June 22, 2021 Erin Sluka

We have had a blast with this new game of pressure and scribbles by Goliath Games. Speedy Scribbles is a memory game where you have to rely on quick scribbles to remember the 20 words read aloud in a round. My son is 13 and this game will be going in the RV for camping game nights this summer. It is addictive and you will easily get several rounds in on game night.

Set up is easy. Speedy Scribbles is a 4-8 player game. There is a colored score game board and colored pegs. It also comes with the scoring sheets, game cards, bell and scoring sheets. You do not need anything else to play this game. It is ready to go right from the box.

Each player chooses a peg to play. Notice that where you start on the board is a red rectangle? This means round 1 will be played from the red side of the game cards. The long card holder is numbered 1-20. These are the 20 words played on that round from the red side of 4 cards drawn by that round’s Reader.

The steps are easy. Dealer draws 4 cards from the deck. Depending on the color being played that round, the 4 cards will be placed in the card holder 1-20 (overlapping so the correct words by color are in the corresponding number slots as shown above). The Reader is the only one who draws, sets and sees these cards. The Reader will read each word 1 second at a time. The other players use the scoring pads to quickly sketch whatever will help them remember that word and move through the 20 boxes as the 20 words are read in 20 seconds. Notice above, here is an example of how a round will look like after words are read and because it was Round 1, red cards were used due to everyone starting on the red START on the score board.

Scoring now begins. The Reader will choose a player and ask them to name a word in any box (“Joe, what was word 13?”) If Joe gets it right, he gets a point (Reader will say “Correct” or “Incorrect” to Joe without giving away the right answer). If Joe gets it wrong, any other player can be first to press the bell for their chance to get it right and earn that point. Only 1 extra guess per word and the Reader will move on to ask a new player for a new word. A round ends when every player was given a first chance by the reader 3 times each (If there are 4 players: 1 is a Reader, 3 are players. So, the Reader will ask all 3 players 3 times each for a first guess – any 9 words of the 20 total). The players will move their pegs the number of points they earned that round and the player with the most points dictates the next game color according to where their peg lands). It is fast-paced and so addictive.

Buy Speedy Scribbles on Amazon!