Back-to-School Must-Haves: Travel Packs of Wet Ones Antibactierial Hand Wipes

School starts for our children next week.  I am starting to panic because I jumped from having one child in grade school to three this year.  I am slowly wrapping my brain around having to buy or pack 3 lunches a day.  That's 15 lunches I have to make each week!  I also need to buy supplies for 3 different classrooms.  The only thing that saves me is making checklists.  I have a checklist of supplies I still need to buy based on the 3 lists I've received from our children's teachers.  I also will have a checklist for everything that needs to be done the night before each school day.  It will look something like this . . .

School Night Checklist

CLOTHES:
_____ Outfit
_____ Socks
_____ Hair Accessories
_____ Hat/Gloves

BACKPACKS:
_____ Homework
_____ Friday Folder (Sundays)
_____ Clean Blanket (Sundays)
_____ Lunchboxes

LUNCHES:
_____ Snack (Nut-free)
_____ Lunch
_____ Small Snack
_____ Water Bottle
_____ Juice Box (Optional)
_____ Utensils
_____ Napkin
_____ Wet Ones
_____ Mints (Jake)

A few things on our list are new for this year.  Our oldest son did not attend full-day kindergarten, so having to send in a washed blanket for rest time on Mondays for each twin will definitely take some getting used to. Another new addition to our list is a package of Wet Ones antibacterial hand wipes in each lunchbox.  I always wanted to put a small travel size bottle of hand sanitizer in our oldest son's lunchbox for him to clean his hands before he ate, but I was worried about the possibility that the bottle would leak if it was not closed tightly.  I also worried that he would use it and then touch his eyes before the gel dried.  A package of Wet Ones seems like the perfect solution.

 
I always carry a package of Wet Ones in my purse, in our to-go bag, and I leave a package in the car.  I really don't know why it did not occur to me before now to include them in our son's lunchbox.  Even if the teachers have each child wash their hands before they walk down to the cafeteria, I shudder to think about how many things the children touch (like railings, the walls, doorknobs, picking things up off the floor, etc . . . ) between that point in time and the time they handle their food at lunchtime.  Wet Ones hand wipes would be an easy way to keep our children's hands germ-free before they eat.  They would also come in handy to help clean sticky fingers after our children have finished eating.

For more great tips about how to keep your family germ-free and healthy, visit WetOnes.com.


I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Wet Ones. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. All opinions expressed are my own.

Giveaway: LYSOL Blue Ribbon School Attendance Challenge (2 $25 GCs) [CLOSED]

Our 3 children have had colds on and off (more often on than off) for over two months now. It seems like just about everyone we know has one or two family members who are sick at any given time. This seems to be the trend this year. For this reason LYSOL has teamed up with Scholastic to develop the LYSOL Mission for Health. Part of this mission is to integrate lesson plans about healthy habits both in school and in the home into the school curriculum to help improve reduce absenteeism.

As part of the LYSOL Mission For Health program, LYSOL and Scholastic are sponsoring the Blue Ribbon School Attendance Challenge. This challenge extends through April 1st, 2011. LYSOL will provide all the schools who enter with the materials they need to teach their students healthy habits for germ prevention. Parents will be asked to take a pledge to work towards the same goal. Simply put, the school administrators, along with other school leaders, will track their school's attendance for a chance to win money for their school. What school could not use extra funds? LYSOL will be awarding $75,000 in total. After last year's round of school budget cuts, I am scared to find out where our town will be cutting this year.

To read the official rules for this contest challenge, visit Scholastic.com . You can learn more by visiting the LYSOL Community, where you can chat with other members to share experiences and tips for smarter germ prevention.

What you can win:
TWO lucky readers will each receive a $25 AMEX Gift Card.

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Leave a comment telling me how many people you personally know who are currently suffering from cold or flu symptoms (yourself included). You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, join the LYSOL Community (for opportunities to review LYSOL products, receive exclusive offers, chat with experts, and more). Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

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Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

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<br /> <a href="http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/Busymonkeez/Graphics4Me/NEWBlogButton125x125.jpg" /></a><br /><br />

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, December 27th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Help Classrooms Take the "Save the Sleeve" Pledge with Boogie Wipes

Our household just began round #3 of colds this fall. We are only one third of the way through October! This does not bode well for the upcoming winter. We are not the only family who is experiencing this. I have heard parents complaining locally and online about cold symptoms making their way through each member of their families, as well. I even had a parent ask me back in August about whether my children have had their flu shots yet. It is clear that germ prevention is on every parent's mind.

Mindee Doney and Julie Pickens, the founders of Boogie Wipes, a company that offers a saline wipe as a solution for crusty stuffy noses, have begun the Save the Sleeve movement. This well thought out program, encourages children to take the Save the Sleeve Pledge and to become an official "Boogie Kid." All your child needs to do to become a Boogie Kid is to enter the secret code under the tab of any 30ct pack of Boogie Wipes at SaveTheSleeve.com . Your child will even receive an official Boogie Kid badge in the mail

For the holidays, instead of buying your child's teacher yet another tree ornament, why not gift Boogie Wipes and other classroom essentials instead? You can buy Boogie Wipes online or find them at your local retailer of health and beauty products. You can even order a Boogie Wipes Classroom Kit and have it sent to your child's classroom with a personal note card included. Boogie Wipes was nice enough to send 50 Boogie Wipes singles for both our twins' preschool classroom and our 1st grader's classroom to help our children's classmates start to "Save the Sleeve". The teachers were so happy to receive these products and would like to extend a big thank you to Boogie Wipes for being so generous.

Although I did not receive any compensation for sharing this information with my readers, Boogie Wipes did donate product to my children's classrooms.

Review: AC5000 UV-C and True HEPA Complete Air Cleansing System

Almost a year ago, I began experiencing the worse respiratory allergy symptoms I've ever had. I have no idea what triggered this. Perhaps my body decided, now that I am well past the 35 year mark, that it needs to spend its resources battling other things? In any case, for 6 to 8 weeks at a time, I would develop asthma-like symptoms, such as violent chronic coughing accompanied by shortness of breath. When I start coughing like that, I literally sound like a 90 year old smoker. This turned out to be something that was not restricted to the spring and summer seasons, but rather it occurred year-round.

We have a big monster of an air purifier in my bedroom, which is where the allergies seem to affect me the most. I hate running it for two reasons. It is very loud . . . even on the lowest setting. It also blows out cold air, which is not something I like during New England winters. The force of the cold air blown out is so strong that our cats are afraid to walk by it when the air purifier is running.

When I was offered a chance to review the Germ Guardian AC5000 UV-C and True HEPA Complete Air Cleansing System in my home, I was thrilled. I was extremely curious to see if the update technology of this unit would help with my respiratory allergies. Also, this air purifier uses UV-C technology to sanitize the air.

What I thought about our UV-C Air Purifier:

1) I was amazed at how quiet this unit is. On the lowest setting, I can barely hear it. It is easy to forget that the AC5000 is in the room.

2) This unit is definitely a space-saver compared to our previous air purifier, which was about 16" in diameter. The AC5000 measures 9"D x 5-3/4"W x 27"H.

3) This air cleansing system is extremely user-friendly. There are only two switches . . . one dial to turn the unit on and to set the unit to low, medium, or high. The other is a button to turn the UV light on and off.

4) It is also easy to tell if the unit is powered on and whether the UV feature is activated. There is a red power indicator light and the blue UV light is neon blue. Although it did not bother my husband or myself, if you are a person who needs pitch black in order to sleep, then you may want to switch off the UV feature during the night.

5) Although this air purifier is more compact, the 3-layered filter (pre-filter, true HEPA filter, and photocatalyst and charcoal filter) are actually almost as large as the unit itself. The cover located on the back removes easily and snaps right back into place. This unit takes the FLT5000 replacement filters, which should be cleaned once per month. The HEPA filter needs to be replaced when it turns from white to grey. The time between replacements will vary depending on how often you run your unit. We have not had ours long enough for the combination filter to need replacing.

6) Since starting to use the AC5000, I have only experience minor allergy symptoms . . . mostly just some sinus congestion. I have not had a soar throat, which is a sign that my throat is starting to close up or any indications that the coughing may start again. I hope this is still the case when spring finally arrives and it is time to open the windows.

7) This unit retails for $249.99 and the 3-layered replacement filters are priced at $49.99 each. If you can afford this item, it is worth it to have an air purifier and an air sanitizer in one compact unit. It is light enough for an adult to carry from room to room so you may be able to get away with just one unit per household or at least one unit per level.

As far as the UV-C technology working, it is impossible for me to determine the result. I cannot see germs, so I will just happily trust that the UV light is being effective. UV-C light is said to kill up to 99.9% of germs and is widely used in hospitals. In a household with 3 young children and 4 cats, I think I need all the help I can get.

To learn more about this and other home sanitizing products from Germ Guardian, visit GermGuardian.com .

Thank you to Germ Guardian for sending us a sample unit free of charge to base this review upon.

Review: Disney Character Musical Hand Wash Timer

With the nationwide scare of the regular and H1N1 flues, proper hand washing is more important than ever. As you can imagine, many children (and adults) are in such a rush that they do not wait for the water to get hot enough, do not use enough soap, and do not wash for a sufficient amount of time. That is why I wanted my children to try these extremely affordable musical hand wash timers. I thought my entire family . . . toddlers, kindergartners, and adults alike, would benefit from this product.

These Disney hand wash timers only sell for $3.99 each and are currently available in Disney Pixar Cars' Lightning McQueen and The Little Mermaid's Ariel. When pushed down upon, these timers play one tune and light up for 20 to 25 seconds and the user is not to stop washing until the music stops. I believe additional characters are coming soon.


What I thought about these musical hand wash timers:

1) The characters chosen to appear on these timers were a big hit with my children. These particular Disney characters are universally known by children and were a smart choice.



2) These timers are soft and somewhat flexible. I found them very easy to install on top of my liquid soap dispensers.

3) One does not need to push down hard to start the timer, just enough so that the soap comes out of the dispenser. This makes it very user-friendly for small children.

4) The quality of the music completely surpassed my expectations. It was as good as a ringtone on a mobile phone.

5) The batteries cannot be replaced in these timers. Normally, this would bother me, but since each timer is said to last over 1000 hand washings and the timer itself is so affordable, this is something I can live with. It would cost just as much to purchase a battery as it would to buy a new timer.

This timer has really helped my family, especially my kindergartner. He would be done washing his hands before you could blink. This hand wash timer makes him slow down to wash his hands properly. I definitely think this product would make a fun, but practical stocking stuffer for the holidays.

You can currently order these Disney Musical Hand Wash Timers online on GetHealthyHands.com .

Thank you to GetHealthyHands.com for providing us with review products free of charge.