Elmer’s Bag It Forward Charity Post
I was tagged by Robyn of Robyn’s Online World to take part in the Elmer’s Bag It Forward Charity Post -
The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward is charity blog meme, bloggers are able to raise $10 per blog post for Adopt-A-Classroom by writing a blog post and donating a virtual bag of school supplies . Elmer’s will donate $10 per each post written to Adopt-A-Classroom, up to $10,000.
HOW CAN YOU JOIN? It’s easy.
- Participate in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward and by giving away a virtual bag of school supplies and creating a blog post with specific rules described below.
- Elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom.
- You can give as many virtual bags as you want.
- The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward will officially begin at 12 AM EST on July 22, 2010 and end at 12 PM EST on September 10, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted.
- The blog post link has to be submitted in the comment section below for your participation to be counted.
- In addition copy and paste the following text into your blog post:
ELMER’S VIRTUAL BAG IT FORWARD RULES
- Copy and paste these rules into your blog post.
- Create a blog post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your Back to School shopping trip at Walmart.
- Link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies.
- Let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag.
- Leave your link in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward comment section. You can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.
- Elmer’s is donating $10 for each blog participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $10,000 for blog posts written by August 12, 2010).
- Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.
Here is the photo you can use for your virtual bag or create your own!
I’m giving virtual bags to anyone who wants to accept them and write a the same type of Elmer’s Bag It Forward charity post.
Back To School Shoe Shopping
While we’re still enjoying summer and the activities that go along with it, some of us are back to school shopping. We have to buy school supplies, uniforms or clothing, accessories like backpacks and lunch bags and shoes. If you’re like me, you want to get the best quality and longest use for what you buy, especially when it comes to children’s clothing and shoes.
Children grow quickly and there’s often that struggle choosing between clothes and shoes that fit perfectly and those that have a little “give” so they last longer. It’s rare for a child to go through a school year with the same pair of shoes or the same outfit.
When buying children’s shoes and clothing, look at the fit carefully. It’s important not to buy anything too large as it will feel uncomfortable and not look right on your child. Shoe fit is very important for children because shoes that are too large or too small can cause blisters, pain and difficulty walking.
Remember back in the day when you’d go shopping for children’s shoes and there would be a salesperson to fit shoes? They knew exactly what to do. They ‘d measure, try on shoes and check the fit as you walked. I found a video that teaches you how to do your own fitting for boys school shoes. You can use this for girls shoes as well. You’ll learn how to check fit around the ankles, heels and the width of the foot.
You’ll be buying the right fitting shoes on your own after you watch this video.
Dental Health For Children
I recently found a battery powered toothbrush that helps my daughter stay interested in cleaning her teeth, but having her maintain her dental health has been a big issue this past year. On top of that, she has problems with her teeth that she was born with. She’s only 11 and has had 3 oral surgeries. She will definitely need braces and possibly further surgery.
Keeping her teeth healthy is a chore. It’s hard to clean her teeth because she has a small mouth, because her teeth are crowded and because she doesn’t make it a priority. My husband and I have done many things including using a reward system to help her brush her teeth, but nothing seems to work.
I dread if she’ll need more oral surgery or dental work that requires needles. When she had an IV in the past, it was scary for all of us. We’re fortunate to have an oral surgeon and his staff that works well with our daughter. I understand that there’s a San Diego sedation dentist that does good work too. We live in Florida so traveling there is out of the question, but for anyone in that area take a look at what he does.
Ten Tips To Prepare Your Tween For A Cruise
Ten tips to prepare your tween for a cruise vacation:
- Planning The Cruise – When you’ve narrowed your choices down by what you can afford, let your tween in on the planning phase. Gather brochures, library books about the areas you’ll be visiting and visit the online cruise sites. Many of the online sites provide video tours. The brochures and sites include information on what is available for children, tweens and teens to do on board, which is plays a big role in the choice of your cruise.
- Buy Clothes – Choosing cruise attire will help your tween get in the mood for the activities on board, the excursions, the pool, etc.
- Countdown The Days: As your cruise gets closer, mark off the days on your calendar or use an online countdown calendar. This increases the fun!
- Music Downloads: Find music from the places you’ll be visiting and download it for your tween. Let them get an idea of what to look forward to.
- Attend A Formal Dinner: Either prepare one at home or go to a formal restaurant so your tween is ready for formal nights on your upcoming cruise. It will make you all comfortable not having to remind them what fork to use, etc. Although mistakes are overlooked on cruises, it’s nice to at least know some of the basic manners.
- Visit The Cruise Forum: Almost every cruise line has their own forum now. Join and/or visit to learn about what regular cruisers are sharing. There’s usually up to date information about the tween clubs on board.
- Choose Excursions: Involve your tween with deciding on what excursions to take. Read about the rules and regulations carefully to see if there is an age limit.
- Earn Money: Give your tween extra chores so s/he can earn some extra money for the cruise. There’s souvenirs, tween club sleepovers and other extras that are tempting. Provide the opportunity for them to make money so they can pay what they want.
- Camera: Let your tween have their own camera and be responsible for it during your cruise. Find an inexpensive one at a yard sale, online or give them your hand-me-down. Let them practice taking photos before the cruise so they’re ready to shoot lots of their own when you’re on board and sight seeing.
- Motion Sickness Items: Just in case, talk to your tween’s doctor about what is recommended for motion sickness. Buy it and bring it along.
- Image by jshyun via Flickr
We’re off on a Carnival Cruise within the next few weeks. This will be the third cruise for my 11 year old daughter. She’s enjoyed every one.
Do you have any questions or suggestions for tweens traveling on a cruise? Please leave a comment.
Supplements For Health
My 11 year old daughter goes through phases of eating everything in sight to not eating at all. Common problem, right? Add to this that she has serious allergies and gets sick often, causes me to be concerned that she needs something extra to make up for the food she’s not consuming. I’ve bought vitamins and supplements that are made for tweens. She’s OK with taking them, but when she doesn’t have an appetite, it’s like trying to ask her to eat something extra. So we’ve gone back to those gummy, yummy, candy-like vitamins. She’ll eat two of those each day without a problem. Of course she understands that they are not candy.
Another thing that helps my daughter remain on track with her vitamins, is to take them when I take mine at breakfast time. I take vitamins, glucosamine and prescription medications every day. We eat a healthy breakfast, talk and both take our vitamins while we’re enjoying our meal.
I’ll continue to teach her about nutrition and provide healthy foods for her, but while this stage is going on, supplements are a way to get the things she needs to continue growing and be healthy.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.