Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Guaranteed to Make You More Awesome Than You Already Are!! (in just seven days)



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You know how there are a bunch of shower products out there that claim to do something awesome and totally amazing to your skin/hair/nails/teeth/sex life in JUST ONE WEEK!!!

Yeah. I have to admit; I’m always totally smitten by the claims. I drag whatever product it is to my house and add it to the collection in our shower (what, you don't have a shelf in your shower busting with new products that your husband 'lovingly' refers to as CVS?) yet pretty much always end up totally underwhelmed with the results. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that I only take one shower a week. 

No joke.

For the most part, I’m guessing these "better FILL-IN-THE-BLANK in a week"!! items are actually meant to be used for a complete seven days in a row.

Oops.

Anyway, recently I tried Dove®’s new VisibleCare™ Renewing Crème Body Wash which promised me visibly more beautiful skin in just one week.  It is part of a revolutionary new line of premium body washes from Dove and apparently contains the highest concentration of NutriumMoisture technology across the entire line of Dove products.

I will admit: though I have always held high hopes for any Dove product -- we’ve used their body bar for years (which is semi due to the fact that my husband and I both have a habit of picking up lifetime supplies of it from Costco, not realizing that the other of us has already picked it up, but also due to the fact that we like it in the first place) -- I just didn’t give any merit to their BETTER SKIN IN A WEEK promises.

And here’s the part where I eat a little crow, because this stuff rocks. As in, I’m writing this to you having showered ONCE using the body wash and I can absolutely, without question see a difference in my skin. With this amount of awesomeness, I kind-of wish their claims extended to fixing broken ankles…but baby steps, people, right?

Let me give you an idea of what I’m talking about here. My skin isn’t so bad. It isn’t that dry, it actually gets compliments whenever I "see" a skin care specialist (and by "see" I mean: that one time I had a facial before my wedding [hey, I’ll take what I can get]). But really, aside from a-whole-lotta-freckles -- which I attribute solely to my Scottish roots and not at all to the lazy, Jersey shore summers of my youth -- my skin is pretty good. (This may also be related to my only taking one shower a week.) So yeah, I have pretty good skin.

Well, after just one use of the VisibleCare™ Renewing Crème Body Wash, my skin was actually glowing – in the St. Tropez desirable way (as opposed to the Three Mile Island way). See…I even took a picture for you:



So yeah…color me WAY impressed. Also color me now admitting to the fact that apparently my skin DID need some improving -- again blaming the once-a-week shower for this. Imagine what using this for an entire week COULD do!  Maybe it WOULD fix my broken ankle!*

So, much to the chagrin of my husband, who's lonely bar of soap and a razor are slowly getting crowded out of the bathroom, I have yet another product to add to the shelves in the shower.  But this VisibleCare™ Renewing Crème Body Wash I plan to keep in rotation for quite a while.

You can check out this new line as well as all of your old Dove favorites on the Dove website. Once you've done that, head back here and enter yourself to win one of two $500 spa gift certificates that Dove is giving away to a lucky reader like yourself.


*While there are three variants of the product with different claims: New Dove® VisibleCare Toning Crème Body Wash helps to promote skin’s elasticity and strength; Renewing Body Wash nourishes and replenishes skin and the Softening Body Wash softens skin and dry spots -- they most decidedly will not fix a broken ankle.  With that in mind, answer this question for me**:  If you could be guaranteed to be more awesome than you already are (a difficult feat, I know, since you all are already awesome)...what would choose to, um, enhance?  Aside from my ankle, I think I'd like some patience creme.

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Visit Dove® VisibleCare® to get a coupon for $1 off!


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Enter to win one of two $500 Spafinder gift certificates!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.


You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the **Promotion prompt (see question above)

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 7/18/2012 - 8/22/2012

Be sure to visit the Dove® VisibleCare™ Crème Body Wash brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Reasoning about reasoning...with three year olds

This morning, while dropping off Little G at "camp" (it is a program that runs over the summer by the school he has been attending, but it is structured differently in that they go EVERYWHERE around the city...Children's Museum, Science Museum, Pools, Parks, Playgrounds, etc.) there was a very (and I mean, very) minor incident.

Little G tried to climb onto the mini-trampoline that his friend was jumping on and his friend leaned over and hit him squarely (though not hard) on the back.  I saw it and the woman who runs the program saw it.  It wasn't a huge deal, but I can imagine that if the situation had been reversed and we had been elsewhere, that I would have taken Little G off of the mini-trampoline and carried him away (mostly likely crying) and then would have sat him down and told him that our hands are not for hitting.  It most likely wouldn't have 'gotten through' to him because he probably would have been hysterical over being taken off of the trampoline  and then I would have been annoyed that I felt like I had the only kid in the world that wouldn't listen and it would have escalated from there.

Instead, the program director handed the Ladybug to me (she had been holding her because the Ladybug LOVES the program director).  She looked at the other little boy and took him by the hand and said sternly, "Excuse me," while she led him off of the trampoline and over to the little table that was less than a foot away.  She sat at the table and the little boy stood in front of her and she held his hand and started talking to him.

"We do not hit our friends", she said.

The little boy looked away, so she directed him back towards her and told him to look into her eyes and she continued.  He looked away several times during the conversation, but she never lost her train of thought or her control.  She held his hand and redirected his attention to her eyes each time, all while telling him, "We do not hit our friends.  We use our words to say, 'Little G, it is my turn on the trampoline because I was here first'".  Then she asked him if he had something to say to his friend.  The little boy walked over to Little G and mumbled something that no one could hear and the program director said, "Excuse me, Little G did not hear you." To which the little boy looked at Little G and said, "I'm sorry.  Are you ok?"  Little G said he was and the morning continued.

It was one minute out of so many in the day.  But it is minutes like those that have been changing my parenting and affecting the entire lives of my children.

"You can not reason with a three year old!"

That's what I have heard people say for years.  Years before I ever even dreamed of getting married and having kids, I heard people say, "You can not reason with a three year old!"

"You can not reason with a three year old!" isn't a new thought or a singular one. It was basically a movement from well before my or my parents' generations - a way of thinking along the lines of 'children should be seen and not heard'.  And I would venture to say that for most young parents, the thought of how to discipline isn't one that comes to mind when gazing at the newest of babies in wonder.  Instead, around a year old, the need to discipline your child starts to rear its head - whether it be for their protection or the protection of other people or things - and many people haven't figured out or even thought about what they will do.

So new parents, myself included, fall back on what they've heard all their lives.  "You can't reason with a three year old!"

And I am not saying that three year olds are reasonable, nor am I saying that reason will work every time nor that three year old's will even listen.  But I am learning that my children deserve my respect and that the best way to show that is to try to reason with them.  By respecting my children they(hopefully) someday return that respect.  In the end, isn't that what we are trying to teach our kids?  To respect their elders and their friends.

And in doing so, in learning to respect others, I can imagine that those unreasonable three year olds are also learning to respect themselves.

And that's definitely reasonable.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

THREE!!!

Sunday was a big day around here.  Little G turned three years old.  It's pretty funny to me now how time flies so fast - slipping through our fingers faster than we can try to hold onto it.

Day one in the hospital - and the eve of your birthday at a celebration for a friend's birthday

It seems like it would be relevant for me to write a post all about turning three and how much we love Little G and how awesome he is and how much he has grown.  I might even throw in a funny story from the year or an anecdote or musing on his latest accomplishments.  But as is evidenced by the photo above, time does slip away from us faster than I care to admit. And I don't want to miss out on any of it.

I once likened having a baby to standing on top of a mountain looking down...the ride promising to be intense and fast and furious and fun.  I feel like we've made it down the first cliffs without too much damage.  There's still an entire range to traverse.  But we survived thus far and the ride has been everything it was promised to be.

Happy birthday, Little G.  You are amazing!!

All the love in the universe,

Mom and Dad


Birthday morning special treat - Sesame Street

Birthday breakfast waffle!!

Birthday present pile (and mommy's brace)

Alphabet train puzzle from Gram

Verrrrrry looooooong alphabet train puzzle

Cars book from Grammy

FaceTiming with Grammy and Grampy

Marking new heights!

Celebrating our neighbor, Sam's, 1st birthday (your party is next weekend)

Lounging at the pool

Birthday corn!!

Birthday cupcake.
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Born - 07/08/09
1st Birthday - 07/08/10
2nd birthday - 07/08/11
3rd birthday - 07/08/12