I went to Savers yesterday to find sandals for all the kids. The Savers near our new house also happens to be on the line of one of the ritziest neighborhoods in Vegas, so it actually had GREAT shoes. Really expensive ones (Diesel, Puma) in size 13, which almost never happens. And, in a great miracle, there actually were sandals for everyone of the kids. So we went to look for shoes for me and I found two pair of clogs.
I've never been fond of clogs, but I'd heard these brands were great, so I tried them on.
And fell in love with them.
Because of the fibromyalgia, it is extremely difficult for me to find shoes that don't leave my whole body hurting like crazy, but these worked like a charm, so that I want to wear them.
The first was a pair of looked-brand-new light suede Eccos. They are incredibly designed so that they stay on without any stress to your feet, and the heel is just the right height, and they actually look really nice even though they're comfortable. The second pair was a chocolate brown pair of Merrells, which my sis-in-law told me are fabulous and she was right. They're soft inside, so I feel like my feet are being cradled in cushions, but they still have the support I need and look nice on.
I count it a miracle. Well worth the $35 I paid for both pair, especially considering new they would have cost me over $150.
So there you have it: Ecco clogs: A+ shoes; Merrell clogs ("Jungle Primo" style): different, but also A+ shoes.
Showing posts with label product reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label product reviews. Show all posts
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Comcast is Incompetent
Don't use Comcast if you can help it.
We moved and mistakenly thought we'd bought our modem four years before, so we took it with us. It was a mistake on our part.
Naturally, we got a bill saying we owed them $100 for nonreturned equipment.
I called to say, "I thought we owned our modem."
The first lady I talked to said, "You do. Just ignore the bill. We actually owe you $35. It's standard procedure. We always overbill when people disconnect."
Stupid standard procedure, but she assured me it was taken care of. So I tore up the bill and ignored it.
A month later we got another bill from them for the same reason. I called again and said, "We thought we bought our modem AND the last lady said this was taken care of." He did some research and said that we actually didn't buy our modem--our mistake, I admitted--but that two days after the bill was sent (but before we received it) the debt was discharged, so don't worry about it. It was all taken care of. Tear up the bill and they'd send us $35.
So I did.
Now today I received a bill from a collections agency for the same amount! Apparently the "discharged" was supposed to be "discharged to collections." Now, this would have been annoying because they did that before we even received the last bill. The fact that TWICE Comcasts own employees said to forget about it and tear up the bill is absolutely unforgiveable.
Absolutely.
I called the collections agency and disputed the bill (we want to buy a house in a few months. We can't have that kind of black marks on our credit right now!). Then I called Comcast and said the mormon equivalent of "wtf!!!!!!!" (if you are mormon and don't know that phrase, don't ponder it too long, just go on with Becca almost swore at them).
The lady took my payment over the phone (since I acknowledge--we DID make a mistake), but first I had to convince her that I couldn't pay through collections. The last lady I talked to was really really nice. Really nice. She submitted a complaint for me.
But this whole situation is still UNFORGIVABLE. It should never have happened. What should have happened is they should have done the research on the first call, explained we made a mistake, and let us send back the equipment. That would have solved everything to everyone's satisfaction. I wouldn't have even yelled at them.
As it is--don't use comcast if you don't have to. (How they manage to be a true monopoly in some states has always bothered me, but that's okay....). If you do have to get your cable through them, at least buy vonage for your phone.....
We moved and mistakenly thought we'd bought our modem four years before, so we took it with us. It was a mistake on our part.
Naturally, we got a bill saying we owed them $100 for nonreturned equipment.
I called to say, "I thought we owned our modem."
The first lady I talked to said, "You do. Just ignore the bill. We actually owe you $35. It's standard procedure. We always overbill when people disconnect."
Stupid standard procedure, but she assured me it was taken care of. So I tore up the bill and ignored it.
A month later we got another bill from them for the same reason. I called again and said, "We thought we bought our modem AND the last lady said this was taken care of." He did some research and said that we actually didn't buy our modem--our mistake, I admitted--but that two days after the bill was sent (but before we received it) the debt was discharged, so don't worry about it. It was all taken care of. Tear up the bill and they'd send us $35.
So I did.
Now today I received a bill from a collections agency for the same amount! Apparently the "discharged" was supposed to be "discharged to collections." Now, this would have been annoying because they did that before we even received the last bill. The fact that TWICE Comcasts own employees said to forget about it and tear up the bill is absolutely unforgiveable.
Absolutely.
I called the collections agency and disputed the bill (we want to buy a house in a few months. We can't have that kind of black marks on our credit right now!). Then I called Comcast and said the mormon equivalent of "wtf!!!!!!!" (if you are mormon and don't know that phrase, don't ponder it too long, just go on with Becca almost swore at them).
The lady took my payment over the phone (since I acknowledge--we DID make a mistake), but first I had to convince her that I couldn't pay through collections. The last lady I talked to was really really nice. Really nice. She submitted a complaint for me.
But this whole situation is still UNFORGIVABLE. It should never have happened. What should have happened is they should have done the research on the first call, explained we made a mistake, and let us send back the equipment. That would have solved everything to everyone's satisfaction. I wouldn't have even yelled at them.
As it is--don't use comcast if you don't have to. (How they manage to be a true monopoly in some states has always bothered me, but that's okay....). If you do have to get your cable through them, at least buy vonage for your phone.....
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A Pre-Thanksgiving Feast
Tonight we got struck by a big ol' snowstorm.
So the kids played outside and then came in cold and I grabbed the new groceries I was unloading and fed them chips and guacamole, and hot cocoa, and threw some frozen pizzas in the oven. For many moms, a typical meal. Very atypical for us.
The kids said, "Wow! We're having a real feast tonight!"
I guess it's not the quantity that makes it a feast. It's the novelty.
Oh, and my take on frozen pizzas. We like them okay. Cheaper than buying pizza from a pizza place and the kids don't seem to notice the difference. Tonight I got Tony's pizza for the first time. We don't usually get it because it's usually not much cheaper than other brands, and, while the box is big enough to hold the same size pizza as the other brands (Red Baron, Kroger, etc), the pizza is smaller (compare the weights). So you're not really saving money. But it was really on sale today, so we got a few. One was "white whole wheat crust"--Great! I thought in the store. Whole wheat is good, right?
Then I got it home and my brain turned on. Okay--we're eating frozen pizza. Has nutritional value similar to a bowl and half of sugar cereal with whole milk, only with lots more sodium and less refined sugar (but the same amount of carbs). I compared the white whole wheat crust nutritional facts with the regular crust--more fat, less protien, but not much different. The whole wheat is the fifth ingredient on the crust (or something like that), with the first being regular old refined flour.
And then I realized that wheat is brown. To get the healthy whole wheat, you get the brown stuff. What's with "white whole wheat?" Since wheat grows brown, that means it may be whole wheat, but it had to be bleached or processed somehow. Isn't the point of getting whole wheat to avoid the processing?
Then I tasted it. It tasted like someone put extract of wheat flavoring into cardboard. You could even smell the "healthy tastes like dust" flavor.
My advice: if you want healthy, make your own pizza with whole wheat crust (preferably that you ground yourself). If you want frozen pizza, just get the normal kind.
So the kids played outside and then came in cold and I grabbed the new groceries I was unloading and fed them chips and guacamole, and hot cocoa, and threw some frozen pizzas in the oven. For many moms, a typical meal. Very atypical for us.
The kids said, "Wow! We're having a real feast tonight!"
I guess it's not the quantity that makes it a feast. It's the novelty.
Oh, and my take on frozen pizzas. We like them okay. Cheaper than buying pizza from a pizza place and the kids don't seem to notice the difference. Tonight I got Tony's pizza for the first time. We don't usually get it because it's usually not much cheaper than other brands, and, while the box is big enough to hold the same size pizza as the other brands (Red Baron, Kroger, etc), the pizza is smaller (compare the weights). So you're not really saving money. But it was really on sale today, so we got a few. One was "white whole wheat crust"--Great! I thought in the store. Whole wheat is good, right?
Then I got it home and my brain turned on. Okay--we're eating frozen pizza. Has nutritional value similar to a bowl and half of sugar cereal with whole milk, only with lots more sodium and less refined sugar (but the same amount of carbs). I compared the white whole wheat crust nutritional facts with the regular crust--more fat, less protien, but not much different. The whole wheat is the fifth ingredient on the crust (or something like that), with the first being regular old refined flour.
And then I realized that wheat is brown. To get the healthy whole wheat, you get the brown stuff. What's with "white whole wheat?" Since wheat grows brown, that means it may be whole wheat, but it had to be bleached or processed somehow. Isn't the point of getting whole wheat to avoid the processing?
Then I tasted it. It tasted like someone put extract of wheat flavoring into cardboard. You could even smell the "healthy tastes like dust" flavor.
My advice: if you want healthy, make your own pizza with whole wheat crust (preferably that you ground yourself). If you want frozen pizza, just get the normal kind.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Review of Time4Learning.com
We couldn't enroll Anda in kindergarten this year because Colorado State Law says that kids have to be 5 to start school. I understand this--the schools would be overloaded with kids who really aren't ready for the structure of school because their parents wanted free daycare. Even five year olds often aren't emotionally and socially ready for school.
But Anda recently figured out reading and took off with it. I watched her successfully answering the questions Caleb was working on for school, and she is comfortably on a first grade level, even though she's only four.
I really didn't want to waste any more time with her. We wasted a lot with Caleb and then had trouble convincing anyone to let him go ahead (although his teacher is fabulous and she finally said he's working at least on a third grade level, so let's go there). Anyway, she really wanted to start school, but I didn't see how I could possibly do a traditional home school with her because I was already supervising Caleb constantly to keep him on task with the extra lessons his teacher assigned (for first grade, not the ones on his level) that he thought were boring (they were, for him. Anda thought they were great), plus I have four kids and the oldest is six. I was already struggling with balancing schooling, making meals, doing laundry, and writing my book. The house was so far down on the list that my mother hired someone to come pick up for me because I had to let something go. I can't juggle that many balls at once.
To complicate things, Anda had been watching Caleb doing the Compass Learning Odyssey curriculum online, and she wanted to do that. But Compass doesn't contract with homeschoolers.
But they did recommend a solution to me: Time4Learning. (I told them I'd be reviewing their site, and they said they'd pay me for it and if I wanted to help them with SEO stuff, could I please put multiple links to their site in? So if you find lots and lots of links, it's just a favor to them--it helps them move up in the search engines online so they're easier to find).
So we looked up Time4Learning.com.
They are a company that makes the CompassLearning curriculum (plus some math logic curricula for gifted kids--'gifted' apparently means math gifted to them; my kids are profoundly gifted, but in language arts more than math). The curriculum is extremely affordable--as of this writing the subscription costs $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for an additional child (I don't know about more than two--Dan's not ready for school yet). Plus they have a two-week money back guarantee so you can test the program (they asked me to mention that).
We were already sold on the program before we contacted them because Anda wanted to use the Compass curriculum. I like Compass--it is considered "challenging" by lots of people. I have found that it's just right. (The other curriculum Caleb uses repeats everything ad nauseum so he can hardly stand to do it for beating the subject to death in the name of educating him). We love Compass.
The things that Time4Learning have added to their access to Compass that are really valuable are the "playground" and the "Lesson Plans."
First, the playground: The Playground is a page FULL of over a hundred links to fun, non-addicting games and websites for kids, several with "one computer-two player" games that I love the kids to play together. It links to things like Brainpop (most of which is only accessible with a subscription, which Caleb's school has), PBSKids, and classic games, puzzles, and activities. The thing I like about the playground is that the link is disabled until the student has done their lessons. The parents set the timer for the amount of lessons they want done, and when the timer counts to zero, the playground is activated. There is not a ding or notification, though, so Anda actually finishes her lessons instead of quitting as soon as the playground is "open." Then, even more valuable (and what I've often wished Caleb had), the playground also has a timer on it, which the parents can set to any amount of time up to 59 minutes. Whent the timer runs out, the playground shuts off until more lessons are done. This is great--nobody gets too into their games because they know the games are going to shut off automatically!
We do sometimes circumvent the playground and just open another browser window for "recess", though, like when the kids want to go to Brainpop for recess. I personally don't consider BrainPop recess--so why would I want to stop them?
The other really valuable thing that Time4Learning provided me was the "lesson plans", which are actually the "scope and sequence", or list of activities, for the entire Compass program, from pre-k all the way through 8th grade.
This has been like gold for us. The lessons include the activity numbers. The way Compass works is the child is placed on a level. For Time4Learning, the parents can request a level and have their child placed there without justifying it. (With Caleb's public cyberschool, we have to justify everything and can't just move him up, even if he's ready.) Whatever level you are on, Compass gives you access to one level up and one level down (so Anda has Pre-K, K, and 1; Caleb has K, 1, and 2). With the scope and sequence available to us, we can skip ahead to any lesson we want, on any level, in any subject, including subjects where there are a few lessons but not a whole curriculum available yet (like Social Studies). With compass, if you have the activity numbers, you can access any lesson from the home page, so I've been able to set Anda to work on some third grade lessons, and Caleb, too.
For kids who are self-motivated and love learning, this is fabulous. I printed the scope and sequence, and I mark off activities on the list as they are finished or excused because I see no reason to do every activity Compass offers, which messes up their system of always showing you what lesson to do next.
Time4Learning makes homeschooling easy--even with my four kids under 7 years old. The thing I like about the system is I tell Anda what activities to do (I stick a post-it note on the screen each day with the activity numbers), and the computer does the teaching. I keep an eye on things (and you can get reports on the child's progress to help this) and answer questions, and we re-do activities where she doesn't get 4/5 or more on the quiz at the end, but I don't have to teach every lesson to both kids. I don't have to come up with worksheets (they're included as printables) if they need more work on something, it's easy to repeat lessons, and the kids can go as fast and as far as they want.
I don't have to teach, I don't have to be the bad guy, I don't have to decide what to do next (other than to say "yea" or "nay" on each activity--I'd suggest you skip the level 2 lesson on hygiene that openly teaches that you get colds from dirt and worms, which just plain isn't true, but that's the only really awful lesson in the three grades worth of lessons we've done), I don't have to wonder if we are meeting State Standards, I don't have to keep the attendance records and portfolios required by Colorado law (it's automatic!), and I don't have to worry that we might not be covering the stuff other kids that age are supposed to know.
It's also comforting to me that this is not a Colorado program, so no matter where Tim gets a job and we move, one or both kids can get a good, self-paced education. And, since Compass is used by 90% of schools in the nation (or so they say), if the kids do decide to go public eventually, I can take the reports in and prove that the are on an advanced level using something the teachers can accept, since they don't like to take my word for it.
Most of all, the kids love it.
I know a lot of homeschool moms think I'm nuts for going cyber(when you have only one kindergartner, and they are functioning close to grade level, homeschooling is easy and the materials are cheap), but Time4Learning is worth checking out. There are even free sample lessons on the website, and a forum for parents for support.
The only downside to the entire system that I've found so far is that the website is designed poorly so that instead of looking classy (and, therefore, trustworthy), it looks a little like a scam--too many words per page, too many testimonials, just like ads for nutritional supplement snakeoil and chiropractor ads in magazines. But my experience with the site has been good, the curriculum is so fun we have to stop the kids from playing, and the parents forum and scope and sequence are great resources (and accessible, at least partially, even if you don't join).
But Anda recently figured out reading and took off with it. I watched her successfully answering the questions Caleb was working on for school, and she is comfortably on a first grade level, even though she's only four.
I really didn't want to waste any more time with her. We wasted a lot with Caleb and then had trouble convincing anyone to let him go ahead (although his teacher is fabulous and she finally said he's working at least on a third grade level, so let's go there). Anyway, she really wanted to start school, but I didn't see how I could possibly do a traditional home school with her because I was already supervising Caleb constantly to keep him on task with the extra lessons his teacher assigned (for first grade, not the ones on his level) that he thought were boring (they were, for him. Anda thought they were great), plus I have four kids and the oldest is six. I was already struggling with balancing schooling, making meals, doing laundry, and writing my book. The house was so far down on the list that my mother hired someone to come pick up for me because I had to let something go. I can't juggle that many balls at once.
To complicate things, Anda had been watching Caleb doing the Compass Learning Odyssey curriculum online, and she wanted to do that. But Compass doesn't contract with homeschoolers.
But they did recommend a solution to me: Time4Learning. (I told them I'd be reviewing their site, and they said they'd pay me for it and if I wanted to help them with SEO stuff, could I please put multiple links to their site in? So if you find lots and lots of links, it's just a favor to them--it helps them move up in the search engines online so they're easier to find).
So we looked up Time4Learning.com.
They are a company that makes the CompassLearning curriculum (plus some math logic curricula for gifted kids--'gifted' apparently means math gifted to them; my kids are profoundly gifted, but in language arts more than math). The curriculum is extremely affordable--as of this writing the subscription costs $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for an additional child (I don't know about more than two--Dan's not ready for school yet). Plus they have a two-week money back guarantee so you can test the program (they asked me to mention that).
We were already sold on the program before we contacted them because Anda wanted to use the Compass curriculum. I like Compass--it is considered "challenging" by lots of people. I have found that it's just right. (The other curriculum Caleb uses repeats everything ad nauseum so he can hardly stand to do it for beating the subject to death in the name of educating him). We love Compass.
The things that Time4Learning have added to their access to Compass that are really valuable are the "playground" and the "Lesson Plans."
First, the playground: The Playground is a page FULL of over a hundred links to fun, non-addicting games and websites for kids, several with "one computer-two player" games that I love the kids to play together. It links to things like Brainpop (most of which is only accessible with a subscription, which Caleb's school has), PBSKids, and classic games, puzzles, and activities. The thing I like about the playground is that the link is disabled until the student has done their lessons. The parents set the timer for the amount of lessons they want done, and when the timer counts to zero, the playground is activated. There is not a ding or notification, though, so Anda actually finishes her lessons instead of quitting as soon as the playground is "open." Then, even more valuable (and what I've often wished Caleb had), the playground also has a timer on it, which the parents can set to any amount of time up to 59 minutes. Whent the timer runs out, the playground shuts off until more lessons are done. This is great--nobody gets too into their games because they know the games are going to shut off automatically!
We do sometimes circumvent the playground and just open another browser window for "recess", though, like when the kids want to go to Brainpop for recess. I personally don't consider BrainPop recess--so why would I want to stop them?
The other really valuable thing that Time4Learning provided me was the "lesson plans", which are actually the "scope and sequence", or list of activities, for the entire Compass program, from pre-k all the way through 8th grade.
This has been like gold for us. The lessons include the activity numbers. The way Compass works is the child is placed on a level. For Time4Learning, the parents can request a level and have their child placed there without justifying it. (With Caleb's public cyberschool, we have to justify everything and can't just move him up, even if he's ready.) Whatever level you are on, Compass gives you access to one level up and one level down (so Anda has Pre-K, K, and 1; Caleb has K, 1, and 2). With the scope and sequence available to us, we can skip ahead to any lesson we want, on any level, in any subject, including subjects where there are a few lessons but not a whole curriculum available yet (like Social Studies). With compass, if you have the activity numbers, you can access any lesson from the home page, so I've been able to set Anda to work on some third grade lessons, and Caleb, too.
For kids who are self-motivated and love learning, this is fabulous. I printed the scope and sequence, and I mark off activities on the list as they are finished or excused because I see no reason to do every activity Compass offers, which messes up their system of always showing you what lesson to do next.
Time4Learning makes homeschooling easy--even with my four kids under 7 years old. The thing I like about the system is I tell Anda what activities to do (I stick a post-it note on the screen each day with the activity numbers), and the computer does the teaching. I keep an eye on things (and you can get reports on the child's progress to help this) and answer questions, and we re-do activities where she doesn't get 4/5 or more on the quiz at the end, but I don't have to teach every lesson to both kids. I don't have to come up with worksheets (they're included as printables) if they need more work on something, it's easy to repeat lessons, and the kids can go as fast and as far as they want.
I don't have to teach, I don't have to be the bad guy, I don't have to decide what to do next (other than to say "yea" or "nay" on each activity--I'd suggest you skip the level 2 lesson on hygiene that openly teaches that you get colds from dirt and worms, which just plain isn't true, but that's the only really awful lesson in the three grades worth of lessons we've done), I don't have to wonder if we are meeting State Standards, I don't have to keep the attendance records and portfolios required by Colorado law (it's automatic!), and I don't have to worry that we might not be covering the stuff other kids that age are supposed to know.
It's also comforting to me that this is not a Colorado program, so no matter where Tim gets a job and we move, one or both kids can get a good, self-paced education. And, since Compass is used by 90% of schools in the nation (or so they say), if the kids do decide to go public eventually, I can take the reports in and prove that the are on an advanced level using something the teachers can accept, since they don't like to take my word for it.
Most of all, the kids love it.
I know a lot of homeschool moms think I'm nuts for going cyber(when you have only one kindergartner, and they are functioning close to grade level, homeschooling is easy and the materials are cheap), but Time4Learning is worth checking out. There are even free sample lessons on the website, and a forum for parents for support.
The only downside to the entire system that I've found so far is that the website is designed poorly so that instead of looking classy (and, therefore, trustworthy), it looks a little like a scam--too many words per page, too many testimonials, just like ads for nutritional supplement snakeoil and chiropractor ads in magazines. But my experience with the site has been good, the curriculum is so fun we have to stop the kids from playing, and the parents forum and scope and sequence are great resources (and accessible, at least partially, even if you don't join).
Review of Diapers-a post for mommies
We recently from Huggies (provided for us) to Parent's Choice, my usual favorite diaper. Then Daniel got a whole-body sandpaper rash, and started scratching around the top of his diaper constantly, and pushing it down to get it off his skin. So we assumed he was sensitive to diapers.
So now I've tried several kinds in the last week, and thought I'd give you the rundown.
Previous Experience: I have used Target, Albertson's, and King Soopers/Smiths store brands before and found them fine. The Comforts Plus (King Soopers) were a Pampers clone. All three store brands worked great, were fairly decent clones of national brands, and didn't become my diaper of choice because they cost more than Parent's Choice, the WalMart brand. That was the only reason, though, and they are cheaper than the national brands they clone. Also, Albertsons offers "Double Ups", a pad you put into the diaper for long trips or nighttime that really does stop the leaks by making the diaper twice as absorbent. I haven't seen these elsewhere. FMV diapers (a generic brand) are cheap--in every sense of the word. They leak, they fill quickly, they tear when you put them on, they fall off. They are a classic case of not worth the savings. The cost of diapers should be judged by the day: how much per diaper times how many you use in an average day. FMV diapers cost less per diaper, but you have to use so many per day that they end up costing more. I haven't used Costco brand that a lot of parents love because I don't find I save more by shopping store sales and stocking up than I do buying national brands at Costco's discount price, especially when you consider you have to save more than the membership fee before you've actually saved any money.
This Week:
Parents' Choice diapers--the WalMart brand, these really are cheaper than anything around ($10.50/bag vs Pampers $20/bag). These are also usually the only diaper that doesn't leak on my kids. The absorb quite a lot before they fall off (don't criticize--most Moms who have more than two kids and more than one in diapers know this). They have no scents, no colors, no additives (lotions, etc), so I personally am not allergic to them. Despite this, some kids are sensitive to them for some reason, but my kids mostly haven't been. The disadvantages: the tabs. The tabs are horrid. Two or three diapers per bag has tabs that tear off while you're diapering your child. This sounds like no big deal, but when you've hand to wrestle the kid down in the first place, the room stinks, and they are rolling around while you're diapering, this can been worth swearing about. Also, the tabs stretch and slip, making the diaper less tight (and therefore more leak-prone) the longer the kids wear them. And the tabs roll when active kids wear them, eventually becoming unstuck completely. The tabs are newer (last 2 years), and I need to complain about them because they're ruining the best diaper out there. Whoever designed them tried to jump on the "stretchy sides" bandwagon without understanding that the lack of stretch in the sides is what makes it possible to tighten a diaper enough that it doesn't leak. Oh, and they don't print the diaper size on the diaper like the other brands do. This is no big deal if you only have one in diapers, but I'm a Mormon mommy. I have two. All the time. Oh, and they sag when wet.
Luvs--have a strong "baby" smell that walks around with your kid. They don't leak, but they do get saggy. Also, the outer cover becomes translucent when wet, so you can see the pee in the kid's diaper. I find this unacceptably disgusting. There are tabs on the front and back of the diaper, which makes it go on and stay on better. Plus, Luvs have the old-fashioned velcro plus sticky tabs that are the best tabs that were ever made. They stay put. Daniel actually prefers the Luvs, but it's purely because of the picture of Blue (from Blue's Clues) on the front. I know this because he won't wear the ones that have Magenta, Green Puppy, or any of the other characters on them.
Huggies--I hate Huggies. The tabs are so stretchy that you have to overlap them to get the diaper tight enough, but they aren't fuzzy tabs (the kind made to overlap), so you have to do them up off-set, and there isn't enough panel for that, and the tabs won't stick off the panel. They leak up the back if the kid's in the right size diaper and out the legs if you go up a size. Or both if the kid makes a big mess. They don't get saggy or yellow when they get full, and if you want your kid to pee on Disney characters, these are the ones you need.
Pampers--My sister swears by these, but the cost twice as much as Parents' choice (literally), so I can't afford them, even when I have extra cash.
White Cloud--A good Pamper's clone, and the next-cheapest diaper at WalMart. They cost about as much as Luvs, but are a far superior diaper. We used these when potty training Anda, but only as night diapers because they can hold a LOT and not leak. They don't sag. The tabs stay put. They have the stretchy sides that don't stretch out (if that makes sense) so they don't restrict the kid, but actually stay tighter in place than non-stretchy-side diapers (and this is rare; stretchy sides have generally been a disservice to diapers because you tighten the legs by tightening the sides). The only problem we've had with them is Caleb was allergic to them--they made everything they touched turn bright cherry red. I think these are my choice as diapers, but they do cost more, so when I'm buying, I still buy their cheaper little sister--PC.
As for wipes, we swear by wet paper towels. They are cheaper, more absorbent, significantly bigger, and better for the kids' skin. More than one doctor has told me that kids get rashes from baby wipes, and then the rashes exacerbate the situation. And when a kid gets a severe diaper rash, the wipes hurt them (they scream and try to get away). When your kid gets a rash, the first thing a doctor says is stop using wipes. Even hypoallergenic wipes gave Benjamin a cherry-red bum when he was a baby. Plain water doesn't put chemicals on your child's skin, dries better (thus preventing yeast infections, which kids get all the time), is good for cleaning with, and is readily available. And if you are really concerned about having a wet wipe available on the spot, you can keep a few damp paper towels in a plastic baggie. They do mold if you try to keep them indefinitely, but, really, in America, water is available everywhere. Even when you're traveling. How many of you don't have a water bottle around almost all the time? (Oh, me. I don't. But I still find water easily when I need it. I suppose, in a pinch, I could spit on the paper towel, but I've only ever done that to clean faces, not bums). I usually carry a pile of dry paper towels in a baggie or in one of those diaper wipes cases and then wet them as I need them.
We have used Scott paper towels as wipes happily because they are so good at picking up messes and they're really cheap. Lately, we are using Brawny Pick-a-Size because little bums only need a half a paper towel anyway, and big ones need one and a half paper towels, so this is a perfect way to not run out as often. Even the scratchy cheap paper towels get soft when they're wet, but the really cheap ones don't pick up messes, so they tend to smear the stuff around rather than wipe it off (just like really cheap baby wipes). They also shred when wet, so you can't wet them, squeeze the excess water out, and then shake them open again to wipe with. The worst are restaurant or gas station paper towels (you know, those brown ones?). They hardly work at all, but we end up using them when we're traveling because they're there. You just have to use five or six instead of one or two to clean your kid, and wring them out well before using them.
So there's the rundown. My experiences with diapers (and I have a lot of experience--I've had someone or two in diapers for six years straight.)
So now I've tried several kinds in the last week, and thought I'd give you the rundown.
Previous Experience: I have used Target, Albertson's, and King Soopers/Smiths store brands before and found them fine. The Comforts Plus (King Soopers) were a Pampers clone. All three store brands worked great, were fairly decent clones of national brands, and didn't become my diaper of choice because they cost more than Parent's Choice, the WalMart brand. That was the only reason, though, and they are cheaper than the national brands they clone. Also, Albertsons offers "Double Ups", a pad you put into the diaper for long trips or nighttime that really does stop the leaks by making the diaper twice as absorbent. I haven't seen these elsewhere. FMV diapers (a generic brand) are cheap--in every sense of the word. They leak, they fill quickly, they tear when you put them on, they fall off. They are a classic case of not worth the savings. The cost of diapers should be judged by the day: how much per diaper times how many you use in an average day. FMV diapers cost less per diaper, but you have to use so many per day that they end up costing more. I haven't used Costco brand that a lot of parents love because I don't find I save more by shopping store sales and stocking up than I do buying national brands at Costco's discount price, especially when you consider you have to save more than the membership fee before you've actually saved any money.
This Week:
Parents' Choice diapers--the WalMart brand, these really are cheaper than anything around ($10.50/bag vs Pampers $20/bag). These are also usually the only diaper that doesn't leak on my kids. The absorb quite a lot before they fall off (don't criticize--most Moms who have more than two kids and more than one in diapers know this). They have no scents, no colors, no additives (lotions, etc), so I personally am not allergic to them. Despite this, some kids are sensitive to them for some reason, but my kids mostly haven't been. The disadvantages: the tabs. The tabs are horrid. Two or three diapers per bag has tabs that tear off while you're diapering your child. This sounds like no big deal, but when you've hand to wrestle the kid down in the first place, the room stinks, and they are rolling around while you're diapering, this can been worth swearing about. Also, the tabs stretch and slip, making the diaper less tight (and therefore more leak-prone) the longer the kids wear them. And the tabs roll when active kids wear them, eventually becoming unstuck completely. The tabs are newer (last 2 years), and I need to complain about them because they're ruining the best diaper out there. Whoever designed them tried to jump on the "stretchy sides" bandwagon without understanding that the lack of stretch in the sides is what makes it possible to tighten a diaper enough that it doesn't leak. Oh, and they don't print the diaper size on the diaper like the other brands do. This is no big deal if you only have one in diapers, but I'm a Mormon mommy. I have two. All the time. Oh, and they sag when wet.
Luvs--have a strong "baby" smell that walks around with your kid. They don't leak, but they do get saggy. Also, the outer cover becomes translucent when wet, so you can see the pee in the kid's diaper. I find this unacceptably disgusting. There are tabs on the front and back of the diaper, which makes it go on and stay on better. Plus, Luvs have the old-fashioned velcro plus sticky tabs that are the best tabs that were ever made. They stay put. Daniel actually prefers the Luvs, but it's purely because of the picture of Blue (from Blue's Clues) on the front. I know this because he won't wear the ones that have Magenta, Green Puppy, or any of the other characters on them.
Huggies--I hate Huggies. The tabs are so stretchy that you have to overlap them to get the diaper tight enough, but they aren't fuzzy tabs (the kind made to overlap), so you have to do them up off-set, and there isn't enough panel for that, and the tabs won't stick off the panel. They leak up the back if the kid's in the right size diaper and out the legs if you go up a size. Or both if the kid makes a big mess. They don't get saggy or yellow when they get full, and if you want your kid to pee on Disney characters, these are the ones you need.
Pampers--My sister swears by these, but the cost twice as much as Parents' choice (literally), so I can't afford them, even when I have extra cash.
White Cloud--A good Pamper's clone, and the next-cheapest diaper at WalMart. They cost about as much as Luvs, but are a far superior diaper. We used these when potty training Anda, but only as night diapers because they can hold a LOT and not leak. They don't sag. The tabs stay put. They have the stretchy sides that don't stretch out (if that makes sense) so they don't restrict the kid, but actually stay tighter in place than non-stretchy-side diapers (and this is rare; stretchy sides have generally been a disservice to diapers because you tighten the legs by tightening the sides). The only problem we've had with them is Caleb was allergic to them--they made everything they touched turn bright cherry red. I think these are my choice as diapers, but they do cost more, so when I'm buying, I still buy their cheaper little sister--PC.
As for wipes, we swear by wet paper towels. They are cheaper, more absorbent, significantly bigger, and better for the kids' skin. More than one doctor has told me that kids get rashes from baby wipes, and then the rashes exacerbate the situation. And when a kid gets a severe diaper rash, the wipes hurt them (they scream and try to get away). When your kid gets a rash, the first thing a doctor says is stop using wipes. Even hypoallergenic wipes gave Benjamin a cherry-red bum when he was a baby. Plain water doesn't put chemicals on your child's skin, dries better (thus preventing yeast infections, which kids get all the time), is good for cleaning with, and is readily available. And if you are really concerned about having a wet wipe available on the spot, you can keep a few damp paper towels in a plastic baggie. They do mold if you try to keep them indefinitely, but, really, in America, water is available everywhere. Even when you're traveling. How many of you don't have a water bottle around almost all the time? (Oh, me. I don't. But I still find water easily when I need it. I suppose, in a pinch, I could spit on the paper towel, but I've only ever done that to clean faces, not bums). I usually carry a pile of dry paper towels in a baggie or in one of those diaper wipes cases and then wet them as I need them.
We have used Scott paper towels as wipes happily because they are so good at picking up messes and they're really cheap. Lately, we are using Brawny Pick-a-Size because little bums only need a half a paper towel anyway, and big ones need one and a half paper towels, so this is a perfect way to not run out as often. Even the scratchy cheap paper towels get soft when they're wet, but the really cheap ones don't pick up messes, so they tend to smear the stuff around rather than wipe it off (just like really cheap baby wipes). They also shred when wet, so you can't wet them, squeeze the excess water out, and then shake them open again to wipe with. The worst are restaurant or gas station paper towels (you know, those brown ones?). They hardly work at all, but we end up using them when we're traveling because they're there. You just have to use five or six instead of one or two to clean your kid, and wring them out well before using them.
So there's the rundown. My experiences with diapers (and I have a lot of experience--I've had someone or two in diapers for six years straight.)
Friday, July 20, 2007
Google Does it Again
Google has lots of good ideas. This the newest I've found: scholar.google.com
This is a fabulous research tool. No joke. Instead of searching the wide wide world of the web, with all its info and misinfo and pseudoinfo and crap, scholar.google.com searches only scholarly publications, ranking them by the status of the researchers and publications. Very cool. In my test, I looked up the last thing I was trying to find scholarly info on: oxytocin. It plays a major role in the Poison Spindle Problem. In literally three minutes I had more information than hours of searching provided last time. I even had information at my fingertips (the name of the hormone that functions in men the way oxtyocin functions in women) that I never could find before. It doesn't give the full text of every article, but it gives as much as it can (abstract, full text, just a reference). It's fabulous. Even better than the University Library search. What more can I say?
Oh, and thanks to Scholar, I got to use the words "monogamous prairie vole" in my novel. Can't get better than that.....
This is a fabulous research tool. No joke. Instead of searching the wide wide world of the web, with all its info and misinfo and pseudoinfo and crap, scholar.google.com searches only scholarly publications, ranking them by the status of the researchers and publications. Very cool. In my test, I looked up the last thing I was trying to find scholarly info on: oxytocin. It plays a major role in the Poison Spindle Problem. In literally three minutes I had more information than hours of searching provided last time. I even had information at my fingertips (the name of the hormone that functions in men the way oxtyocin functions in women) that I never could find before. It doesn't give the full text of every article, but it gives as much as it can (abstract, full text, just a reference). It's fabulous. Even better than the University Library search. What more can I say?
Oh, and thanks to Scholar, I got to use the words "monogamous prairie vole" in my novel. Can't get better than that.....
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Allergen Warning
Since many of the people I know are highly allergic to substances you put on skin, I thought I'd pass this along. From Snopes.com, a warning about getting henna tattoos. Follow this link .
It's not natural Henna that's the problem. That's safe. It's adulterated "black" or "blue" henna, which is often mixed up not following FDA regulations and can cause a severe allergic reaction that produces a lifetime hyper-sensitivity to many substances, including antibiotics and analgesics (no epidurals for women with this sensitivity!).
Just an FYI, and verified by Snopes--for once an internet/email-lore that is legit!
It's not natural Henna that's the problem. That's safe. It's adulterated "black" or "blue" henna, which is often mixed up not following FDA regulations and can cause a severe allergic reaction that produces a lifetime hyper-sensitivity to many substances, including antibiotics and analgesics (no epidurals for women with this sensitivity!).
Just an FYI, and verified by Snopes--for once an internet/email-lore that is legit!
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