Sock It to Me, I'm Back!

Hello Everyone,

I know it has been a long while, like 4 years since my last blog post. I thought I had reached a point in my life where it was time to move on to other projects, but then I realized that I really did miss writing in this format. So for those of you who are returning with me: Thank you for your patience. I am excited to get back to this. For those of you who are just discovering this blog: Welcome! Now lets have some fun.

When I was a little kid the absolute worst present I could get were clothes. The excitement and mystery of a wrapped gift fading and souring a little as I pulled back the wrapping paper only to discover fabric of a nice shirt, or (heaven forbid) socks and undergarments. Birthdays, Christmas, any other holiday, it did not matter. To my little kid brain, clothes were not impressive; they were not fun, or exciting. That is not to say that I was an ungrateful child. I DID appreciate the fact that someone took the time to get me a gift, but lets face it, to a child clothes vs. toys? Toys will win out every time.

When did that all change? I love receiving clothes now, especially socks. I love a fun sock (and yes, socks can be fun.) I recently found a company that specializes in socks. Not just any socks, SockThat will take any photo that you want and turn them into socks. Imagine having kooky, one-of-a-kind socks that are specific to you. You and your bestie have an inside joke? Put it on a sock! You could wear your favorite meme, or even have your pets featured on your feet. I know that when I see someone with unusual socks I stop them to ask them about it. Most of the time, the sock wearer is more than happy to tell me about them.


Your socks can be an icebreaker to get conversations started or they can be a statement piece!

With SockThat it is more than just socks with them. They are also dedicated to the finer details. The subtle touches. A celebration of the understated sock should also be about love, giving back to people who need it the most, and turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. SockThat works closely with various charity organizations, LGBT communities, as well as local arts and cultural communities providing them the help they need to receive the support they need to prosper.



You can check them out at SockThat! or on Facebook or Instagram. And should you be so inclined to give the company a try, use the discount code Bell$5 for $5 off your purchase!!

Happy sock-making and designing!




As always feedback, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have new posts delivered right to your email inbox and never miss an update.

Disclaimer: please be aware that any item mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own regardless of how the items were acquired.

The Difference Between Well and Good

Proper grammar has always been important to me.

I grew up in the deep south but I have extended family far above the Mason-Dixon line. I remember the first time I went to go visit them. I was ten years old and when I uttered the southern hallmark colloquialism "y'all", it felt as though time stood still. All conversation stopped and I almost heard a robotic creaking as all heads turned to me in disbelief. I could have died on the spot.

Of course this is an exaggeration, but this is how it honestly felt to my fragile pre-teen self. Right then and there I vowed to neutralize my southern accent, and grammar and pronunciation became my obsession.

Since then, this compulsion for accurate grammar has haunted me and has become almost second nature to the point where I mentally correct the grammar of what I hear.

 Two weeks ago my best friend from high school shared an article from MentalFloss.com called The Top 10 Grammar Myths. She stated that there was one point on there that she did not quite agree on. Number 8 to be exact.


8. IT'S INCORRECT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION "HOW ARE YOU?" WITH THE STATEMENT "I'M GOOD."

Wrong! “Am” is a linking verb and linking verbs should be modified by adjectives such as “good.” Because “well” can also act as an adjective, it's also fine to answer "I'm well," but some grammarians believe "I'm well" should be used to talk about your health and not your general disposition.

I have to agree with her. There are many reasons why 'good' and 'well' are not interchangeable.


About a week before my friend shared the article, I was trying to get minion Number 2 to fall asleep. This usually entails laying down with her in the complete dark and just waiting for her to wind down. (She usually goes to bed pretty easily.) We had been laying thusly for about 15 minutes. Everything in the house is quiet. I was sure she was almost asleep as she was also laying very still.

"People taste good."

That one little statement uttered without warning and without further elaboration cut through the silence. Many thoughts swirl through my confused brain. I have to admit the statement did have cannibalistic/zombie under tones.

Then I remembered that Number 2 is still working on grammar structures and finally realized that this was a perfect moment to emphasize the difference between well and good.

What my daughter meant to convey was that people have a great sense of taste. (i.e. - They can taste well.) Instead she said that they taste good implying that the taste of people pleases her. She also got a brief age appropriate lesson on cannibalism.

Furthermore, I always see the differences in good vs well in answer to 'How are you?' to be pretty distinctive as well.

For example: How are you doing in school?

I am doing well. -- To me this implies that you are learning and completing work and other assignments and generally earning decent to good grades.

I am doing good. -- To me this implies that you are doing feats for the greater good as if you are attending a school for super heroes.

So if in the future you begin to wonder if the difference between well and good is as big a deal as it is made out to be, Just remember, it could come down to whether or not people have a great sense of taste and cannibalism. 

As always, feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow my blog and register your email address at the top of the page to receive updates in your inbox and never miss a post!

Shared TV Time with the Kiddos

Television time for children has been a hot debate ever since the TV box was produced to be accessible within the home. Several studies over the years have been conducted many of which have had conflicting results. I personally take a viewpoint similar to the Canadian musician Raffie.

Young children need to be able to run around to develop motor skills and they need to be able to interact with real people in order to develop communication and social skills. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages media use by children younger than age 2 and recommends limiting older children's screen time to no more than one or two hours a day. The Mayo Clinic wrote an article regarding the necessity of limiting children's television time, the effects of too much television time on children's health, as well as some tips and strategies on how to limit that time. You can read the full article HERE.

I know that we are supposed to limit TV time for children, and for the most part I feel that I do an alright job at that. My children have limited TV exposure before the age of 2, and like Number 3, most of my kids were always more interested in running around than sitting and watching TV.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that all television is bad. My mindset falls in line with the philosophy of The Child Development Institute.

It’s Not All Bad!

Since television is definitely here to stay, parents need to look at it as a resource and not necessarily as a menace. A good way to start is to consult the listings of the public television stations which offer magnificent programs on nature, literature, history, current events, the arts, etc. Also, consider:

•  Studies have indicated that television does increase the general vocabulary of children, especially when it involves term referring to outer space.
• Television does provide opportunities for children to learn about all kinds of things, although whether they do so to any great extent depends largely on the specific programs the child actually watches.
• Television can increase a child’s range of interest since it exposes him to a variety of activities and topics he might not otherwise encounter-archeology, science of all kinds, architecture, music, etc.
• Television has probably been the most effective of all the mass media in making people aware of a wide range of human problems ranging from pollution to homelessness. It also has increased awareness and acceptance of various kinds of illness, both physical and mental.

Read more: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/family-living/kids-media-safety/television/#ixzz3pFrBZLVU

I generally limit the TV time for the older two kiddos. Not because I am concerned about how much they watch, but more because stuff needs to get done first (ei: homework or picking up a little). What TV time they do get, I get involved in. I know what shows they are watching and what type of content is in them. For the most part I like the shows they watch. Sometimes, though, the shows can get to me with how repetitive they get.

Some days I want to pull my hair out if I have to hear the screeching of the children with British accents sing about Thomas and his friends.

Now, my older children are pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. (Not to toot my own horn, or anything.) I will never forget the evening when I was channel surfing for a tolerable show for my oldest and I to watch before bed. As I was flipping through the channels heading to the usual channels he watches, he tells me to wait and stop on a channel well before we get to his usual line up.

My son sat mesmerized as the screen flashed machinery left and right of an assembly line. I asked if he wanted to continue looking for a show and he replied "No, I want to watch this.". That show was How It's Made.

Another show that my kids like to watch with me, I introduced them to it. It is a cooking show that matches science with fun cinematography. That show is Good Eats. Alton Brown the show's star and creative engine finds fun within the scientific explanations of food in a way that my children can relate to. I started watching Good Eats back in 2005/2006 and I will watch it every chance I get. My children have grown to love the show too and if given the choice, will choose it over any cartoon.

In the clip above Alton Brown consults with a relative of the famous Cookie Monster on the intricacies of baking cookies and why cookies can turn out in various ways (chewy, thin and crispy, cake-like and crumbly) even though it is all the same basic recipe.

Sadly though, Good Eats is no longer in production. It did have a very long run and has since (much to my and my children's delight) been released on Netflix. If you have a Nexflix subscription you can watch them HERE. If you have not checked them out before, I would highly recommend you do.

If nothing else, the two shows that I have discussed, created some common ground for me and my kids. It is something that we can all agree on when it comes to our TV time, and that creates one less battle for me to have to fight.


As always, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome! And remember to follow Reviewing Whirlwind and sign up for email updates at the top of the page so you never miss a post!

Mommy Needs...

A New Pair of Shoes New Apple Charge Cord


I don't know about other parents out there, but I seem to have the worst luck when it comes to the Apple Lightning charge cords.

This little accessory rules supreme in my house hold. It is needed for our iDevices, like mommy's iPhone or the family iPad. However, the Apple branded cords all seem to have roughly the same short life span, just over 2 months.

Most of them meet the same untimely demise of fraying cord casing and internal wires at points in the cord where they meet up with the connectors.

As you can see in the picture above as soon as this fraying occurs it has to be thrown out as it now poses a fire and health hazard. With official Apple branded cords priced at $20.00 each and only lasting for a few months, I had to find a more affordable and sustainable alternative.

Now I have found two brands of cords that I like as my replacement lightning cords. Kash and Beam Electronics both make functional and affordable replacements.

The Beam Electronics lightning cord is only 1 foot long but is great for charging devices at the desk. The cord covering appears to be a little thicker and a bit more durable than the Apple branded cords. It charged my iDevices in roughly the same amount of time that the original Apple branded cords used to.

For longer lightning cords, I prefer Kash Technologies. They have a four pack of 3 foot long cords that as of October of 2015 were just under $16.00.
They like the Beam Electronics have the thicker cord coating making it more durable than the original Apple branded cords. However the length of the Kash Technologies cords are more suited to charging the iDevices in the car where a little extra reach on the cord can go a long way.

Not all lightning cords at my house get the pleasure of living out their sort lives to the fraying end. Especially when my whirlwind incarnate number 2 gets a hold of it. She is fantastically and almost comically accident prone (think Martin Short in the movie Pure Luck).

Our family had just received our beloved iPad back from the local tech repair team with a brand new screen after a particularly bad week of accidents staring Number 2. She'd had the iPad maybe an hour contentedly watching cartoons on Netflix with it plugged up. She then decided to change location from the couch in the living room to the kitchen. She got up and started walking, forgetting that the iPad was plugged in.

By the time she remembered, it was too late. The damage had already been done. She hung her head and brought to me the pieces of the newly deceased charge cord. Somehow, when she stood up and walked away from her spot on the couch and the outlet next to it, the metal connector of the lightning connector came out of the connector's housing. Thankfully there was enough to grip and we were able to liberate the metal connector from the connector receiver of the iPad.







Disclaimer: Items mentioned in the blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Do You Need a New Bedtime Story?

I understand that repetition is a part of learning and children are the masters of repetition.

(Mommy, Mommy, Are we there yet? Mommy? Are we there yet? Are we there yet, Mommy?)


Here is an excerpt from an article I read earlier this week on www.kindermusik.com

Three interesting facts about repetition and child development:

1. Learning requires electrical energy to create neural pathways. The less “automatic” something is, the more electrical energy is required. Think of something you do automatically – like count by 10′s. It takes very little electrical energy for your brain to travel that “counting 10′s” neural pathway, because you’ve done it a lot.

The more well-traveled a pathway, the less energy is required. That’s why you can do two things at once. Watch TV and knit, for example. When you are first learning to knit, it takes all of your effort. Looking, counting stitches, watching your needles. As it becomes automatic, you use less brain energy, so you can layer another activity on top of that without fear of accidentally turning those mittens into a hat instead.

Neurons Communicating

2. Did you ever wonder why children expect a favorite activity to be repeated again and again and again? Repetition is a necessary building block of development. Children’s brains KNOW that they need repetition. They are pretty smart little creatures! Do you remember the show Blue’s Clues? (Never the same for me after Steve left…). The creators did research while developing the show as to what preschoolers wanted to see in the show, and you can probably guess the answer by now – repetition!

3. So what about the fact that we always have a hello and goodbye ritual, a bounce, a steady beat, rocking time, and story time (in the older classes)? As my friend Heather Wiebe says (she a Kindermusik teacher in Alberta who is fascinated about the way the brain works, just like me) “Patterns make children happy. Knowing what to expect and having things happen in that way not only helps children know what to expect and feel at ease, it’s also how they mark time.” When the environment and routine is predictable, then a child feels safe and learning can naturally happen.

Read the full article Here. 

While this does provide an explanation as to why repetition is important it provides little comfort when your little one is asking you to read the Goldilocks and the Three Bears for the gazillionth time or the cute little song they are listening to over and over again is starting to sound a little creepy like the playground screen in The Birds.

If you have read all the books in your house for bedtime stories (when I was taking classes for my undergraduate degree I did read textbooks to my children for bedtime stories: two birds, one stone), it may be time to introduce some fresh characters.

I recently ran across a really cute and endearing series called Terry Treetop.

Pictured is the book Terry Treetop Finds New Friends.

I read this book with my children and it provided a great conversation starter to talk with both my six year old and my nine year old about what makes a good friend and helping people in need.

The book is well written and the meter of the book makes it an easy and enjoyable bedtime read. Tali Carmi uses literary devices such as repetition as well as alliteration making this a great practice primer for the six year old's reading skill.

I look forward to Terry's other adventures and sharing them with my children and reading them a couple hundred times.


Disclaimer:
I may have received any products mentioned in this post for free or at a discount in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Meatloaf was right with two out of three ain't bad, except when it comes to sick children.

These past few days has created a complex mixture of emotions within me. My two youngest children have been feeling under the weather with a stomach virus. My morning started out well enough. I had gotten to sleep in because the older two were out of school for Fall break.
I woke up and got Number 3 ready for day care and running errands. My plan was to run errands and then drop him off later. Number 3 was acting a little weird and that should have been my first indication, but I just chalked it up to a restless night for him. Right before we reached out second stop, he started whining in the back seat. I stop the car and look back at him just in time to watch him throw up. Well, not just trow up, but turn into a spewing fountain of curdled milk.

 (You would not believer how many pictures there are of babies projectile vomiting.)

From his car seat he projected the vomit so violently that he almost got it on the back of the seat in front of him. It took about two seconds for the shock of vomiting to register within his toddler brain. When it finally did he freaked out. Never in his 1.5 years of living could he recall his body betraying him in this manner. Then to top it all off, he was now covered in slimy milk curds. His little mind could not wrap around the events and so he sat there, too afraid to move for fear of getting the milk curds anywhere else on him and he cried. Needless to say my errand running for the day was over.

But that was only the beginning.

When I got Number 3 home, safely in the door, I started stripping him down less than two feet inside the house to contain the mess. Number 2 comes up to me before I am done stripping down Number 3 and informs me that her head hurts and that she has already thrown up this morning. Concerned with an emerging pattern I call Number 1 to interrogate him on his well-being. He reported that he felt just fine.

I cleaned up Number 3 and got him and Number 2 some Tylenol as they felt like they were running fevers and then I convinced them both that what they needed more than anything was some rest.

What then followed is what causes me to have my internal conflict. Number 2 and Number 3 slept. The got the rest their little bodies needed. Normally all three of my kids interact with each other antagonizing and fighting creating most of the noise within my whirlwind of a life. However, with Number 2 and Number 3 out of commission my house experienced a quiet peace it had not experienced since before we moved in. I watched Number 2 and Number 3 in their cute and peaceful slumber. I also got to read a book without being interrupted every other line. For the most part my day was perfect with the exception of the occasional instance of vomit in stereo as Number2 and Number 3 coordinated  stomach onslaughts. Part of me feels bad that my children were not feeling well, but the other part recognized that I do not get many breaks and rejoiced at the opportunity for quiet.

And So the Winds Rise

Hello Everyone,

This is the first post in what I hope will be many.

I am a mom of three kids (age ranges from 1-9 years old) and I work full time. From my life experiences I want to share with you the things that work for me and what does not in the hopes of saving you time, money, heartache, and maybe even a temper tantrum or two.

Mission Statement:

I want to provide honest feedback of not only items I try in my household, but even the life hacks we all want to try to see if they really work but maybe hesitate on. If ever you see something that you would like for me to try, please leave a comment and a link to it (if you can) and I will see what I can do.

A Little About Me:

I am 29. I have no shame in admitting my age. I have a bachelor's degree in Media Arts and Studies and I am only a few classes away from a Master's degree in Communications with an emphasis in Marketing and New Media.

As I mentioned above, I have three kids. The oldest, Jacob, is nine. My middle child, Bianca, is six. Nick is the baby, born in 2014.

I will be drawing on my personal experiences in day-to-day products and activities and hopefully my humor will shine through.

Life can be hectic, hopefully by showing you the inside of my whirlwind of a life, I can help you through yours.