To many, the holiday season means it’s time to dust off those tried and true festive recipes from years past. Chex cereal has unveiled new recipes that will bring some extra cheer to 2020. The holiday party staple ingredient has teamed up with Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, who know the keys to a good celebration, to deliver some serious cooking inspiration.
Teigen and Legend created these recipes to help foodies put a new twist on this year’s holiday celebrations, including:
Legendary Muddy Buddies: this deliciously sweet spin on classic Muddy Buddies™ was created by Teigen and Legend with double the chocolate and peanut butter flavors for a truly legendary holiday snack mix.
Sugar and Spice Chex Holiday Mix: seasoned Chex cereal, pretzels and peanuts are combined with vanilla coated Chex and marshmallows for a salty sweet treat with a kick.
“Chex has been my go-to snack forever. It’s in my cookbooks and is always in our pantry for when I need to mix up a last-minute party snack, so when I had the chance to team up with Chex to create some holiday ideas, I was all in,” said Teigen. “Chex is a versatile staple that enables creativity and fun with kid-friendly recipes. My hope is these recipes inspire families to get into the kitchen together with Chex for the holidays.”
With more people than ever planning to be home for the holidays, cooking is sure to continue as a pastime to both celebrate and stay entertained with everyone at home together. Popular, easy-to-make Chex recipes are the perfect way to get the whole family involved in making festive snacks that become holiday traditions.
As a part of the holiday campaign, fans can find Teigen and Legend on specially marked Chex cereal boxes, as well as videos on Chex.com where Teigen and Legend show how to make the Legendary Muddy Buddies recipes in two minutes or less as well as one with Legend on bended knee sharing a very special holiday gift with Teigen.
“We know the holidays are going to look different this year, but that doesn’t mean they will be any less special,” said Taylor Gessell, Marketing Communications Manager for Chex. “We are here to bring joy to families with easy recipes and activities that will help them make the most of this holiday season and who better than Chrissy and John to share a modern take on classic recipes to remind us all of how much fun we can have together in the kitchen.”
I was in church a few weeks ago. It was the first time I’d been to mass since before COVID and it was a different experience, wearing masks and socially distancing, trying to come together as a church community when the very nature of this virus demands separation.
I started thinking about all COVID has taken from us, all the ways it’s demanded we stop doing the things that make us human. And, conversely, all the ways it’s encouraged us to be better, kinder, and stronger people. 2020 has been a crappy year (change my mind) and people across the globe are struggling. This Thursday is Thanksgiving. We are eight months into a pandemic whose curve we thought we could flatten in two weeks. I know I am not the only one struggling. It’s hard and while I could (and have) sit and focus on the variety of ways this virus has taken from us, I can’t do that anymore. This week, I want to push my brain to think about a few things I can be thankful for in the age of COVID:
Stronger Relationships with Family & Friends
Whether it’s my husband, kiddos, friends, or family, my network has both opened wider and gotten tighter. My husband and I had to push past the discomfort and sheer annoyance of everyone being home all the time and needing to work and raise children and, it wasn’t always perfect, but we got better at listening to each other and working together. I feel like we had a crash course in building a stronger marriage and I love where we are now. With friends, we did Zoom happy hours (like the rest of the country!) but we also just got better about checking in, offering support, and being there for each other—in spirit or real life. Knowing everyone was struggling in their own way and no one was getting it just right allowed people the room to offer help and support but also to ask. I think that as we moved apart, physically, we opened up some more room to connect emotionally and I will always be grateful for that.
Giving Grace
More than anything else this year, I heard, “we need to give each other grace.” I think the pre-COVID world of constant motion, overscheduling, and inability to slow down blocked the extra room we often needed to give grace and patience to those around us. We’re only human: working hard, continuously learning, and frequently making mistakes. To be given the time and space to take a step back and offer grace to an employee, an employer, a friend, an acquaintance, or someone who simply bugs you is a generous gift. It costs nothing but can demand a lot. Grace has been extended to me and I’ve gratefully accepted; it’s been something I’ve struggled with when I needed to extend it to others. Having been on both sides of that fence, it’s not something I’ll take for granted again.
Embracing the Outdoors
I am a huge fan of open windows. Every spring when it warms, and every fall when the heat finally breaks, you’ll find my house coated in pollen and dust, echoing with birdsong, and open to the air. This was the first year I’ve heard and seen the neighborhood kids outside as well. As things slowly opened back up, the embrace of outdoor drinks, gatherings, and picnics is incredible. We pack up blankets and snacks and go find parks or cool public properties. The kids run and bask in the heat of the sun or the shade of a quiet afternoon. My kids thrive in sunlight and fresh air. As the weather cools, we wear jackets and jump in leaves but warm our faces in the sun. Being outside feels cleaner and safer and freer; I don’t want to lose that when we return to “normal,” whatever that might look like.
COVID may have snatched our usual way of doing things and this year may go down as one of the most challenging and frustrating times of the modern era; I hope it will also be remembered as one of the most human. 2020 has been angry and defiant and messy and heartbreaking. It’s also been inspiring and kind and revolutionary and strengthening. I want to end this year on a positive note and say, I hope 2020 makes us better. Stronger. Infinitely more grateful.
I'm 38, not single, but I do enjoy long walks on the beach. I'm a mom to 3 little boys, ages 5 and under; married to a wonderful man for almost 6 years. I work at the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks!) and live with my family in SC.
Dust off your tutu. Disney+ announced that the complete original six-part docu-series On Pointe will premiere exclusively on the service. On Pointe captures a season in New York City’s world renowned School of American Ballet (SAB).
Featuring unprecedented access to one of the top youth ballet institutions in the world, the series follows the lives of the students ages 8 to 18 pursuing their dreams to become ballet dancers. While older students from all over the country rigorously train for professional careers, younger students from New York City are put through their paces as they rehearse and perform in New York City Ballet’s holiday classic George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker onstage at Lincoln Center.
On Pointe is produced by Imagine Documentaries and DCTV, with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes executive producing from Imagine Entertainment; Matthew O’Neill serves as executive producer from DCTV. Directed and produced by Larissa Bills, On Pointe premieres Fri., Dec. 18, with all episodes streaming only on Disney+.
There are so many pressing questions for parents to answer when it comes to the tooth fairy and tradition. How much does she leave? What does the tooth fairy do with the teeth? Does she have a day job? We’ll leave the answers up to you, but if you’re looking for ways to add magic to this memorable moment in your kid’s life, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to find your inspiration.
Shop in Fairyland
The Tooth Fairy is always looking for ways to make things more magical. Hold The Magic is all about inspiring magic and stories (no money required), with adorable tiny gifts that are Tooth Fairy approved. Each gift includes supplies for three Tooth Fairy visits and a gold bag that holds a miniature treasure, a tiny Tooth Fairy letter in a sparkly envelope and Fairy Dust.
A keepsake leave behind makes your sidekick’s encounter with the tooth fairy even more magical. In addition to the traditional cash stash she leaves, drop the tooth fairy’s own pressed penny coin as a extra treat. Parents can choose from two different finishes, and a hole punch location if you want to turn this keepsake into a wearable memory.
Cost: $4.00
Find it on Etsy
Fairy doors are all the rage, so why not install one for the Tooth Fairy to use? Hello Little Cloud’s fairy door has everything you need to create a magical experience for your sidekick. The included ladder, wand, fairy dust and key make it easy for your kiddo to prep for the tooth fairy’s arrival. And the poster strips that won’t damage your walls are just for you.
Your winter elf leaves messes. And your family’s leprechaun drops gold coins in the trap. So it only figures the tooth fairy would leave behind some trace too. We love these shimmery little footprints you can stick just about anywhere, if you’re looking to up your tooth fairy game. They come 10 to a pack.
Peter Pan fans know it takes a pinch of fairy dust to fly. Leave some behind on a dollar bill to really make your kid’s eyes light up. Find out how to turn make believe into reality at tenkidsandadog. We guarantee your kiddo won’t easily part with this special keepsake.
Help your Little know where the tooth fairy can find him with this hand-sewn door hanger designed by Pins and Seams. Each one has a little pouch, which means mom or dad doesn’t have to sneak in to find a pillow in the dark. And it doubles as an extra incentive for your kiddo to get up and at ‘em in the morning.
If your kids are anything like ours, they’re firm believers in the give/get exchange rate. So if they leave a tooth, they’ll expect something in return. When they wake up to find this fairy wand bracelet with a simple poem composed by the tooth fairy, they’ll know they’ve gotten the big end of the stick. Parents can go with the gold wand pictured, or customize their kid’s card by adding a name and charm of their choice.
Bypass the long raging debate about just how much parents should leave under the pillow, and focus on the presentation instead. A carefully crafted origami design tucked under a pillow is always more magical than a dollar bill stuffed into a pillow, no matter what the occasion. Try your hand at folding a heart, butterfly or how about a crane to leave in exchange for one clean, pearly white tooth.
Imagine waking up after losing your first tooth to find your tooth gone, a little something special left under your pillow and—look!—a stamp that magically appeared on your hand. If she wasn’t convinced before, she will be when she wakes up to find the tooth fairy’s signature stamp that appeared magically overnight. Thanks goodness for sound sleepers!
If proof is what your little skeptic is looking for, make like a cashier and leave a receipt for him to find. Parents fill in the important details on this official looking document that includes a sweet reminder to brush, before silently slipping one under the pillow. Our favorite part? They can help you fill in those blank baby book dates when you finally get around to it.
When your kid wakes up and finds a special pint sized note the tooth fairy left behind just for him, he’ll flip. And with this pack of 20 personalized letters it’s easy for you to make his day, even if you’re short on time. Need letters for more than one kiddo? No problem, there’s more than one series to choose from at this shop, which means they’ll be none the wiser.
When that first tooth starts to wiggle, add this adorable kit to your Etsy cart. It includes tooth-themed trinkets and baubles for your kid to play with, as well as a jar of fairy dust, the tooth fairy rules and a simple note from the night visitor herself. It all comes in a drawstring bag so you can keep everything together. And parents can personalize the kit.
Follow the lead of mom-blogger, Lisa Moore of Moore Minutes who suggests leaving gold coins, and some fairy dust to match, under your kiddo’s pillow. Call your bank ahead of time to find the golden Sacajawea or Presidential dollar coins and then stock up. Sure, they’re legal tender, but your gap-grinned kiddo may prefer to hold on to these special fairy coins.
Tis the season for Christmas trees, poinsettias, mistletoe and scented candles. But if your nose looks like Rudolph’s, it’s a little hard to feel jolly. Although allergies typically peak in the spring and fall, the holidays may surprise sensitive sufferers with a gift of unexpected triggers. Here are five holiday allergens and allergy triggers, along with some advice to help you stay merry and healthy during the holiday season—not sneezing, coughing or scratching.
Holiday Allergy Trigger #1: Christmas Trees
Mold is the biggest problem with live Christmas trees. Often, they are cut in advance and kept in humid environments, promoting mold spore growth. Within just two weeks of bringing a tree into your home, indoor mold counts can increase significantly, according to one study.
The sap contains terpene and other substances that can irritate skin and mucous membranes; and pollen stuck to the tree may be released inside and lead to reactions, so you make think an artificial version is better, BUT they could harbor dust and mold from their time in storage, also triggering allergies.
Precautions: Slip on gloves and wear long sleeves when handling your fresh tree to avoid the sap coming into contact with your skin. Before schlepping your tree inside, give it a good shake (or a blast with a leaf blower) and spray it down with a garden hose (especially the trunk) to help remove some of the pollen and mold. Then sit the stump in a bucket of water and let the tree dry for few days on a covered porch or in a garage. For an artifical tree, give it a good wipe-down before decorating with lights and ornaments. Follow directions carefully when spraying artificial snow or flocking. Inhaling these sprays can irritate your lungs and trigger asthma symptom s (better to avoid altogether in my opinion).
Holiday Allergy Trigger #2: Festive Foods
The most common food allergens are milk, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat. Of those, peanuts and tree nuts will most often make it into holiday dishes without people knowing, and have the potential to cause severe reactions.
Precautions:: It’s a good idea to let your holiday host know about your food allergies; it’s important to ask about the ingredients in each dish; and it’s very nice to volunteer to bring something that’s safe for you, and shareable with others. But what’s crucial is to be prepared with an epinephrine auto-injector (Epi Pen), an emergency dose of antihistamine, and an inhaler if you have asthm. Learn which foods and recipes are unexpected sources of allergens at FoodAllergy.org and AAAAI.org.
Holiday Allergy Trigger #3: Cocktails
You raise a glass to your loved ones, your boss and colleagues, friends and neighbors, and even the strangers sitting next to you at a bar. There’s lots of celebrating at this time of year, but be mindful of what you’re using to toast. Some people may experience mild wheezing or other symptoms from the sulfites in wine, for example, and certain alcoholic beverages contain major food allergens.
Precautions: There aren’t good tests for sulfite sensitivity, but your reaction to dried fruit—high in this sulfur-based preservative—could be an indicator. Pay attention if you have asthma, as sulfites can trigger symptoms. Maraschino cherries contain small amounts of sulfites, as well. Stick with organic wine for a sulfite-free sip. Other triggers to be aware of: Tree nuts may be found specialty beers, particularly seasonal ales; milk is in Irish crème and white chocolate liqueurs; and egg whites may be used to add froth to specialty drinks.
Holiday Allergy Trigger #4: Travel
Staying in a hotel for the holidays may be wonderful, but not if you have allergies. Pillows and bedding can harbor a lot of dust mites. You may have difficulties with some of the detergents they use as well. If you will be staying with family, they’re pets may trigger your symptoms.
Precautions: Consider bringing her own pillow, or at least a dust mite cover for the pillow. Also make sure you get a nonsmoking room. If you’re allergic to your family’s pet, taking medicines with you. If possible, avoid petting the animal, and wash hands after direct contact.
Holiday Allergy Trigger #5: Stress
Be aware that stress can lead to asthma attacks. Chemicals released by the body during stressful times can cause the muscles around your airways to tighten, making it difficult to breathe.
Holiday Allergy Trigger, Bonus Round! Poinsettias
This festive plant is a member of the rubber tree family and contains compounds similar to those found in latex, so stay away if you have a latex allergy. Certain groups of people—such as healthcare workers and people with spina bifida who have had numerous surgeries—are more likely to be allergic to latex. One study Showed that 40% of latex-allergic individuals were also allergic to poinsettias.
The key is to be prepared and plan ahead. Consult with your doctor in advance.
Dr. Patel is an allergist in Pasadena California. She is board-certified in Allergy-Clinical Immunology and Pediatrics. She is the co-author of The Mommy MD guides to Twins Triplets and More! She understands that parenting is the hardest and most fulfilling job you can have. You can find her @TMommyMD.
So would begin the litany of questions when I assigned my sons even the most basic weekend chores. Whether charged with watering, dusting, or raking, the boys inevitably would whine, slump their shoulders and feign sudden, fretful bewilderment. “How do I know which plants need water?” “What’s a Swiffer?” “We have a shed?”
Truthfully, my children were not sparing me much labor by pitching in. I cannot count how many times I would stop what I was doing to liberate an area rug being swallowed by a vacuum or to rescue a vase perched a micrometer from a mantel’s edge. Still, I soldiered on, determined to instill in my kids a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility. Each weekly outburst, though, stoked simmering doubts that my mission was succeeding.
Then one dreamlike Friday the tables turned.
My seven-year-old announced that he would need to finish his science fair project over the weekend. With a toothy smile, he turned from my husband to me and with complete sincerity asked, “Who wants to help me?” I waited for him to appreciate the irony.
Though that night did not afford our family any lessons on paradoxes, it did produce our new favorite tool for a stress-free weekend: The “Help Wanted Bulletin Board.” Our family has found this device to be most valuable when used in the following way.
The “Help Wanted Bulletin Board” is literally a bulletin board that hangs next to our refrigerator, the most visited spot in the house.
Throughout the week, each member of the family takes a piece of paper, jots down a chore they anticipate may require assistance and pins it to the board. Each person posts two jobs in total.
The activities must be reasonable in scope. Our family defines “reasonable” as any task that can be performed by any family member in one hour. Jobs have included cleaning out the toy chests, skimming the pool, practicing math facts, and weeding the back yard.
All requests should be posted by Friday night.
Although everyone peruses the job postings throughout the week, no one commits to any until Saturday morning. At that time, each member of the family signs their name onto two posted job requests. I have found that my boys have a greater sense of control and approach their responsibilities more eagerly when they can select their jobs. To that end, the adults choose last so that the kids have more tasks from which to pick.
All jobs must be completed by early Sunday evening. The job solicitor and the job assistant decide together when they will work to complete the assignment.
When a job is done, the posting is crossed out. I am still amused by how triumphant the boys look when they do this, but I also understand that the “x” is tangible proof of their success and a validation of their work.
Finally, right before bedtime on Sunday night, we gather at the bulletin board and review what our family accomplished. Each job solicitor thanks his or her assistant, and it is impressive how much goodwill is fostered before our children retire for the evening.
Ending the weekend on a harmonious note is but one benefit of this approach to chores. Others have followed. With the board sitting in plain view every day, my sons understand that the weekend will bring housework. This visual reminder allows the boys to prepare mentally for chores. By eliminating any surprises, the board has reduced much of the whining in our house.
Though household duties are still inevitable, they no longer feel arbitrary. The board lets my children consider how they will contribute in the days ahead. They have developed a sense of ownership by having a say in what they do, and this autonomy has fostered pride in their work.
Each family member appreciates the support they receive while simultaneously feeling good about helping someone. There now exists a feeling of our family operating as a team. We enter the weekend knowing that someone has already offered to help us. What’s more, no one is shunted off to a corner of the house to work alone, as sometimes would happen before we used the board. Instead, each of us enjoys companionship while we work. More than once my kids have spontaneously offered up stories about what is happening at school while occupied with sweeping or washing dishes beside me. For me, these unprompted talks are the happiest consequence of the way we handle housework now.
My kids now take time to discern which of their own tasks they can do by themselves and which are best suited to a team effort. Subsequently, they have become more transparent about which responsibilities they find difficult and which they just do not want to do.
Finally, the “Help Wanted Bulletin Board” reinforces the notion that everyone needs help. Often children are told at school or at home that asking for help is not a flaw, but an asset exhibited by strong leaders. The “Help Wanted Bulletin Board” reinforces this sometimes-challenging idea. Each day it literally shows my boys that even the “oldest and wisest” can seek support and even the smallest and youngest can provide it.
I spent many joyful years in education, but I made the difficult choice to leave the classroom to focus on my children and my writing. I recently published a short children’s book, Many Miles to Walk, an extended conceit written for my younger son to explain his birth via surrogate
“Do you want to do the scavenger hunt?” said the woman with a nametag that read “Peggy” at the gate of the botanical garden. It was a loaded question. Just an hour earlier, I had exploded in rage over a jelly jar abandoned on the counter yet again with its top off and its inside salaciously visible. The rage, which was less about the crime than the five months of quarantine, propelled us all out of the house and into the car to a botanical garden over 100 miles away where Peggy was asking a rhetorical question.
Of course we wanted to do the damn scavenger hunt.
Our family of four got in the car with no real plan but to get away from the place with the topless jelly jar and endless bad news about a modern-day pandemic. Home was the place that kept us safe and captive but we needed to go somewhere—anywhere. Then came the sign for the botanical garden, lit up like a beacon of hope.
The first person in our family to find all of the items will receive a sticker, Peggy explained.
“I will give you a clue,” she said to my kids. “One of the plants you will be looking for are epiphytes. Epiphytes are plants that do not need soil to grow. You will find them mostly in the greenhouse.”
We thanked Peggy and walked toward the greenhouse, a COVID-19-friendly building with a roof, but no walls, which made me wonder out loud if the building were more a green canopy or pergola. My son walked ahead of us, shoulders squared.
“You lied,” I heard him hiss under his breath. He is 8 years old. Tall for his age, so strangers often think he is older. In early March, his friends at school started playing a game of tag called Coronavirus in which an infected person would chase down its victims. The infected would fall to the asphalt and lay still until the playground became a sea of prostrate little bodies.
When the world was still normal, my son asked a question I did not yet know how to answer: Will the real virus kill a lot of people?
Without really thinking twice I said no. It is not something he needed to worry about.
I lied.
Five months later at the botanical garden, when Coronavirus was claiming many lives, my son was not calling me out on my blatant flouting of truth about the virus, but about a truth I told him when he was 5 years old: all plants need water, sun and soil to live.
That year, we sprouted pinto bean and watched green leaves unfurl from the beans and tendrils of roots lengthen into curly tufts. The sprouts need soil, I explained while we dug our fingers in the black earth in our back yard. In went the sprout and little hands pushed soil around it.
Early one morning, I found him in the back yard watering the sprouts in his Star Wars fleece pajamas, soaked from the knees down. He was, back then just as he was March, taking me at my word and trying to maintain a balance based on fallacies. Not all plants need soil to live and the Coronavirus has really taken a whole playground full of lives.
The name epiphyte is derived from the Greek words epi which means “on top of” and phyte or plant. It’s nickname, “air plant,” suggests a meager existence. Take away soil and epiphytes can grow on top of other plants deriving nutrients from air, water and dust.
My kids’ lives are built on a foundation of well-intentioned lies, rosy explanations of scary truths that gently take them by the chin and turn their eyes away from anything that threatens their innocence. I have long seen my role as a parent as a gatekeeper that dilutes bad news. By turning their gazes away, I heroically save their senses of safety in their own home, school and skin.
But the pandemic has revealed me. With its insidious reach, it has shown how I try and fail to protect my kids. How when I filter out the scary parts of life, I also surgically extract their sense of understanding and tolerance of real-life events.
In the second week of March, when their schools closed, I said it was temporary. Then when their schools said they would finish out the year at home, I turned their attention to all the scientists working on a vaccine. We placed all our hope there.
On his wall calendar, my son circled the first day of school in the Fall with a red Sharpie. As he saw it, being a third grader marked his official transition out of being a little kid. Third grade classes are located upstairs with other upper grade classes.
The night before the jelly jar spurred our family into a fugue state, I told my son he would not be returning to school on the date he circled on his calendar.
He stood in the living room with feet rooted to the floor. His little sister danced around him. The dog nudged up against his calf, but he remained still. Then he asked me a question I was better prepared to answer.
“We won’t be going back to normal in December, will we?”
I caught the impulse to lace my response with a silver lining. The gatekeeper in me, so fatigued by absorbing the influx of bad news, relinquished her post. Instead of standing in front of my son, I stood next to him and cried.
Turns out the transition to being a big kid does not depend on physically ascending two flights of stairs in school. It’s the abrupt end of accepting a mother’s filtered words as truth.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know.”
I move closer behind my son in the green pergola. Once hope is removed, we stop living for one day. We accept the right now.
Lynda is a creative person, a wife, a mom and half a CrossFit athlete. Just half, because rope climbs suck. Despite the shiny veneer, the cracks in her identity make her marginally okay.
If you are looking for a screen-free way to keep the kids entertained, Toyish Labs has created a new flexible play system to keep kids creating. Clixo combines the magic of origami, the ease of building blocks, and the power of magnets.
“Toys need just enough structure to help spark creativity, but not so much as to control it,” said Assaf Eshet, Founder and CEO at Toyish Labs. “Clixo isn’t built to collect dust on a shelf. It’s designed to be put together and then immediately be taken apart and rebuilt to form something new. That’s what the real process of creativity is like, and where research suggests we do our best learning.”
Clixo joins Eshet’s other award-winning designs to take free-form expression to the next level. Through intensive R&D, Assaf developed this first-to-market concept that allows children to transform lightweight, flexible pieces from 2D into 3D, clicking inventive ideas into infinite possibilities that can be worn, stuck on the fridge, or even tossed like a ball. The patented and proprietary design of colorful, twisting and interlocking shapes comprised of reinforced paper and durable magnets encourage improvisation, experimentation, and out of the box thinking.
“Clixo is pushing boundaries as a toolbox for self-expression,” added Eshet. “What drives me and my team is a return to simplicity and creativity in play, while helping kids develop STEAM skills. We knew we found the perfect Clixo chape when this philosophy came alive in our hands. We’re excited to let kids own their play while unlocking new pathways to experimentation and imagination.”
Clixo Pack Descriptions:
Itsy Pack ($29.99): With 18 pieces and a quick start guide, the Itsy Pack is the perfect size to stack and pack for independent play or for building (or wearing!) on the go.
Crew Pack ($44.99): With 28 pieces in 7 different shapes, 2 spinners, and a quick start guide for hours of fun and exploration, the Crew Pack is the value-sized collection, available in 3 different colorways.
Rainbow Pack ($74.99): With 39 pieces in 7 different shapes in a rainbow of colors, 3 spinners, and a quick start guide, the Rainbow Pack is the largest and most colorful collection and is perfect for larger scale creations or for collaborative fun with other kids.
All Clixo Packs come in eco-friendly recycled bamboo packaging that is biodegradable and compostable. The individual pieces are made from reinforced synthetic paper with strong-embedded magnets for maximum safety. Clixo is now available for purchase at www.myclixo.com.
From picking up toys to washing the inordinate amount of sippy cups your toddler seems to breeze through daily, most parents will agree that you feel like you’re cleaning—in some capacity—most of the day. But, how much time are you really cleaning? A recent study of 2,000 Americans, commissioned by ARM & HAMMER Clean & Simple, found that on average Americans spend 23 hours and 36 minutes on cleaning and housework per month. Read on for the down and dirty details of this eye-opening study.
The new research aims to reveal how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the habits and household dynamics when it comes to cleaning. On average, American parents who live with a partner spend 23 hours and 36 minutes on cleaning and house work each month. That comes out to 5 hours and 54 minutes per week.
On the list of most time-consuming tasks: 50% of respondents said sweeping and dusting took the longest, 48% said cleaning the bathroom was the most time consuming and 44% reported laundry to be the time suck of their week. In fact, laundry alone took an average of one hour and 12 minutes per week.
Even though the pandemic has not lessened the load of house work, the study reveals that 39% of parents surveyed said their children have been more involved with doing the laundry since the start of the pandemic. In that same timeframe, 59% said laundry has been split more evenly between them and their partner—but 46% are still spending more time on laundry now than before the start of the pandemic. Further, 80% of respondents believe housework is being split more evenly between different partners, with millennials most likely to think so.
“Household dynamics and the way in which parents approach cleaning is constantly evolving, especially given the current climate,” said Laurie Kirschner, Director of Marketing for ARM & HAMMER™ Clean & Simple™.
And, when it comes to sharing responsibilities with your partner, a quarter of participants (25%) did admit to doing a poor job at some point on purpose in hopes of getting out of doing the task again. And, 22% would choose to have help with the laundry over being taken out on a date.
All this time together and likely, an even messier house with your clan all home, begs the question: how much time do you spend on cleaning and house work? Is the workload equitable between you and your partner? Share your ideas and this story via Facebook.
Sabrina Bradley knows all about the hard work and dedication needed to build a successful business. A passion for skincare and environmentally-friendly products, she worked hard to turn her dreams of creating a line of holistic treatments and owning her boutique spa into a reality.
When she became a mother, Sabrina knew she would be implementing the same values and skills she acquired as a business owner in her son Chase’s everyday life. She wanted to inspire him to be a risk-taker, create his own path, and walk to the beat of his own drum.
Teaching your children about entrepreneurship and the value of hard work at an early age will have a positive impact on their futures and increase their chances of success. Children are like sponges; they absorb information and actively make sense of it. When thinking about how to teach your kids about these topics effectively, make sure to make it an enjoyable learning experience. Here are a couple of helpful tips to inspire your little ones to become young entrepreneurs.
1. Set Goals. When Chase was younger, Sabrina created to-do lists with goals for him to accomplish. Then, she helped him create a vision board and set his own goals. Helping kids create challenging but attainable goals will not only boost their confidence but also value the time and hard work they have spent achieving them. Having their goals visible will set as a reminder and make it simpler for your child to keep track and celebrate their progress, keeping them motivated.
2. Break the News that “Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees.” Entrepreneurs are financially self-reliant; that’s why it’s necessary to encourage a strong work ethic and teach kids about the value of hard work. From an early age, Sabrina made it clear to Chase that money doesn’t grow on trees. When Chase started preschool, Sabrina would use old coffee tins as a “coin bank.” Every Friday (payday), she would give him money for doing his assigned chores; she would also deduct money when he neglected them. When Chase got a little older, Sabrina “hired” him as the “operational manager” for her company, where his duties included printing out shipping labels, packing orders, putting up flyers, etc. Giving your kids’ essential job roles and having them involved in your business to earn money instills a strong work ethic, a necessary quality for aspiring entrepreneurs.
3. Embrace Failure. Being an entrepreneur and starting a business is like going through an obstacle course: there will be setbacks, challenges, and roadblocks before getting to the finish line. That’s why it’s important to learn how to be resilient and embrace failure. Sabrina taught Chase that it was okay to fail; it was just a bump in the road on his way to success. She emphasized that to move forward, he would have to gracefully accept his mistakes, learn from his experience, and use it as motivation to try again. Teach your kids that failure is not an excuse to quit. The amount of times they fail or get rejected is unimportant; what matters is that they get back up, learn, dust themselves off, and try again.
As a momtrepreneur, Sabrina taught her son Chase the ropes of entrepreneurship—and it’s paying off. At 17, Chase is seen as a young mentor to children in his community and is working diligently to have his own business one day. Whether or not your child chooses the path of having their own business or not, the skills above will help them succeed in whatever profession they decide to pursue in the future.
Dena Roché is a multi-faceted communications professional who assists luxury, hospitality and wellness brands become publishers of quality content and writes for national and international publications, while helping brands create their own messaging.