GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

What great timing! These two books, “Adventures at Walnut Grove : A lesson about Teasing” and “I Double Dare You!” by Lehman Publishing,  came through the mail when we were running out of books to read at bedtime. We started off with “Adventures at Walnut Grove” and it’s about Sammy the Squirrel, who looks different from other squirrels. He has two visible black patches over his eyes, making him look like a raccoon!

This book came at a time when I was looking for literature about showing kids how making fun of others, is really very hurtful. Not only that, just by pointing out their differences, is already very very painful. Often, kids don’t realise how much it hurts unless they are in that person’s shoes.

See, recently, one of my kids, saw another boy with a very visibly different face, and he started pointing at him and asking me, why didn’t that kid have a nose!

I turned beetred there and honestly wanted to disappear quickly. Unfortunately, no such luck as his mother heard my son as well. I had to apologize and reprimand my kid at the same time. But as I reflect back, my son, has only just turned 4, and it is obvious he hasn’t seen much of the world and he wasn’t so much as teasing, but rather curious. So, I have made it my mission to teach him that while there are differences in how people look and behave, we still have the same feelings inside ~ hurt, anger, love, happy, sadness.

Like I said earlier, this book came at the right time.

The second book called, “I Double Dare You!”, has Sammy’s cousins, “Silly” and “Sassy” visit Walnut Grove over the holidays.  “Silly” and “Sassy” are all about playing and getting into heaps of trouble, with their dares and double dares! This book relates to kids on how we must be responsible for our own actions. In other words, we can’t play the blame game, by saying, “It wasn’t my fault, he dared me to do it!”.

I guess, in life, it’s so much easier to blame others, but we’d still feel guilty for doing it. This books teaches kids, that even if you do own up, while you might receive some disciplinary action, it’s far better than feeling guilty.

It also aims to teach kids to think on their own feet, and not blindly follow their friends. Of course, it may seem a bit too early to teach my pre-schooler that, but not for my 7 year old son. I think this book reinforces the message that if he feels uneasy doing something wrong, then he should not, even if it may seem to be an unpopular decision.

About Lehman Publishing :

My name is Dana Lehman, and I am the author of Adventures at Walnut Grove. I am also the owner of Lehman Publishing. I graduated with my Associates Degree in general studies from Macomb Community College. I have always enjoyed creative writing. I currently reside in Allenton, Michigan with my husband, Brian, and our two sons, Danny and Joey. I am a stay at home mom, and I feel privileged to spend so much time with my children. As my children play and interact with each other, and other children, I discover new ideas for my books.

Buy It : Both these books are the 2009 Silver Award Recipients at the coveted Mom’s Choice Awards! I believe these are great books to read to your kids, imparting good sense, values and teaching them good social skills. You’ll be able to purchase both books here and they have a third book coming out soon!

Win It : Lehman Publishing was kind enough to let two lucky readers win their preferred title from these two books, and here’s how:

• One mandatory entry – Visit www.lehmanpublishing.com and let us know which book you’d like to win.
• Three additional entries – Tweet this post (leave your twitter id in our comment section)
• Three additional entries – If you Subscribe to Parent Reviewers
• Entry is open to everyone.
• Giveaway closes on  9th November 2009 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

Disclosure of Material Connection : http://cmp.ly/0

Parenting Spike: The seriously difficult child- Grandparents

by Andrew D. Gibson, Ph.D.

You know the old saw about how it is better to be a grandparent than a parent; you have less responsibility and you can love your grandchildren more because of it. It happens to be true, if it happens at all. It doesn’t always. Take Spike. Spike, an out-of-control ten year old, helps keep himself and his family isolated from other family including his grandparents. He does it by being obnoxious. You can’t take him to a family gathering for fear that he will cause some upset somewhere. Somebody will get hit or sworn at. Your relatives will be offended by his disrespect. All your brothers and sister and aunts and uncles stare at you, demanding that you do something and think what a loser of a parent you are. That includes your parents, Spike’s grandparents. So they don’t have much of a connection with him and it is at a time when you could really use some help.

Help doesn’t happen. You want your folks to spend some time with him, get to know him, try to break through the nastiness and create something. You know you can’t but you hope maybe they can. If only they would. But they don’t. They have lots of reasons. But in the end they just don’t.

They weren’t brilliant as parents so this is an opportunity for them to correct how they did their job and try again. Actually had they been better, Spike as we  understand him, might not have happened. We model our parenting on the parenting we got and often with the same results. That can be good or not so good. Probably in Spike’s case it wasn’t so good. So there is no shortage of motivation to try and do for Spike what may not have been done for one of his parents. But you have to see the motivation in order to act on it. What it mostly takes is time. These same grandparents might join Big Brothers/ Big Sisters and extend a hand to some unfortunate child when at home they have one of their own who is struggling. The irony should be obvious. It often isn’t. Or they dedicate themselves to their church’s outreach programs. Or they write checks for some far off social programs. Or they are active in local charity. Their obliviousness is galling. You sometimes want to scream but screaming at them is as effective as screaming at Spike. Clearly, some things give them pleasure; some things don’t. Spike doesn’t. You’re on your own.

Grand parents are a hidden resource if they will be. It doesn’t take much money. It does take patience. Spike isn’t perfect; far from it. He won’t be overnight if they engage. His grandparents will have to tolerate some behavior they would prefer not to. If they are willing to put into the time they may get a lot in return; maybe more than writing a check to a far off project. In the meanwhile, they can go to the mall, get a burger or work on a (short) project together. They will need to keep expectations modest. Don’t push. Don’t lecture. Let Spike take the lead. Go slow. Don’t show disapproval. Writing a check to a far off project may give them a warm feeling, but engaging with Spike may make them even warmer. In the end, caring matters.

About The Author

 
Dr. Andrew Gibson was born in Detroit at the close of WWII. He grew up in the midst of farming country in central Michigan. Both parents were teachers. He keeps a picture of his childhood companion, Wags, to this day (you had to see the tail to appreciate the name). After discharge from the Navy after the Viet Name war, he graduated with a BA and MA from San Diego State University and earned his Ph. D from the University of Connecticut. He has taught at Portland State University, n Portland Oregon, at the University of Maine, Presque Isle and at SUNY New Paltz. He resides in Eastern Connecticut, with his wife of 41 years, where he conducts a private practice in parenting seriously difficult children. His book “Got An Angry Kid? Parenting Spike-A Seriously Difficult Child’ is the first of a series examining seriously difficult children at various age and emotional disturbance levels. He invites you to find him on the web at DrAGibson.com.

The Exergen Temporal Scanner is changing the way we take temperatures. I still remember the old fashion way of sticking a mercury thermometer under my tongue, during a fever. As a child, I always felt it very cold, hard and uncomfortable, trying to keep still for about a minute. And to think, sometimes, I had to retake my temperature over and over again, just because it wasn’t placed properly.

Now, thanks to Exergen’s patented software, the TemporalScanner Temperature provides arterial heat balance. This unique process determines temperature by accurately measuring the balance between the tissues warming from arterial blood and tissues cooling (warming) caused by heat loss (gain) to the environment. All it needs is a gently swipe on the forehead. Yes! It’s that simple!

More about Exergen Temporal Scanner :

The TemporalScanner Thermometer is designed to measure the temperature of the skin surface over the temporal artery, a major artery of the head. The temporal artery is connected to the heart via the carotid artery, directly leading from the aorta, the main trunk of the arterial system. It offers constant blood flow. It is the only such artery positioned close enough to the skin surface to provide access needed to take an accurate measurement. It is easy to use because it is ideally located at the front portion of the forehead. The TemporalScanner is easier and gentler to use than other types of measurement devices such as oral, rectal, underarm and in-ear thermometers because it is truly non-invasive.

Here we have real-life accounts of how the Exergen TemporalScanner works, from our reviewers :

Katydid and Kid :  The thermometer is extremely easy to use, even on a wiggly toddler who was very interested in the device and wanted to hold it rather than let me use it. It takes literally a few seconds to use, and you don’t have to sit there waiting for an accurate reading while your child keeps a traditional thermometer under his tongue or arm.

Stacy Moore : We are thrilled with our new Scanner. It’s such a quick and reliable way to take our little one’s temperature! With one gentle stroke of the scanner over the forehead we were able to determine if our little one had a fever! We highly recommend this great product to everyone!

The Mom Buzz :  The Exergen is my best friend when my oldest spikes fevers to 104 and I just want to give a reading to the pediatrician ASAP. Plus, I can also get his temperature when he is sleeping – he never knows that I am checking up on him again. And those times when your kids feel “warm”, but you aren’t sure if they are feverish – well it’s a lot easier to just grab the Exergen and double check than any other thermometer in the house.

Hotomom : I’ll be honest this takes some getting used to, usually after 5 scans you’ve got it down. I would practice a bit first but then also be sure you are more gentle because the first time I made L’s forehead red. But, seriously I wouldn’t lie, it’s easy.

Reviews & Reflections : Before it even arrived in the mail, I started doing my research.  The thing that really excited me was the speed with which this scanner reads the body temperature.  With just a quick stroke over the forehead, you have a reading.  And it’s amazingly accurate – to within .2 degrees F (that’s POINT 2!)

Three Different Directions : The reason it is so accurate?  In the couple of seconds that it takes to sweep over the forehead to the temple it takes about 2000 readings and it selects the most accurate. It takes some practice to use it right, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll feel like you’re a medical professional.

Short Pump Preppy : Dude, I would have gotten one of these a long time ago.  Everyone in the house gets sick at the same time, and I have never liked sharing thermometers.  Now I’m not keeping up with 4 different thermometers.  (call me crazy, that’s what we did).  To me it’s like sharing toothbrushes.  *go ahead, talk behind my back*

Mom on the Rise : Nonetheless, I didn’t have to worry about changes to the temperature due to drinking, positioning,talking, or moving. An important thing to note is that if your patient is sweating, the temperature should not be taken across the forehead but rather the on the neck behind the ear lobe.

My Quest for Sanity : Honestly this review couldn’t have come at a better time. The day before I received the Exergen temporal scanner, I was diagnosed with H1N1 and 3 days after I was diagnosed my poor sweet Sophia caught it. Now, I would never wish to be as ill as we were but having this God sent product on hand made it a little easier. Like I said before, checking the temperature on a finicky 3 year old is one heck of a job but add in a nasty flu and it is just THAT much harder.

One House Schoolroom Review : We have had quite a few opportunities to test the Temporal Scanner during this flu season and we have had wonderful results.  It is so quick that my little ones didn’t even know we were taking their temperature.  We often had to hold my youngest child still while taking her temperature under her arm, causing her even more discomfort and tears.  With the Temporal Scanner this was not any issue at all.

Buy It! : This is a fantastic gift for any new and been-there-done-that parents. With its’ ease of use, during a difficult time, I’m pretty sure your name will be blessed a thousand times, for sending the perfect gift. Or, you can just get it for yourself, and bless yourself a thousand times.

Here’s where you can get them (retail and online) : ToysRUs, Costco, Walmart, Walgreens, Shoppers Drug Mart, BabyCenter.com, Sam’s Club.

Disclosure of Material Connection : http://cmp.ly/0

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

I have never had the privilege of visiting the LoneStar State, but if I know anything about Texans it’s their love of great foods. Texas Treats brings that love of food to fans everywhere. Beginning in 1991, Texas Treats founder, Jackie Schwitter has been creating wonderful Texas-size gourmet baskets and gifts with a Lone Star State theme.

I was thrilled to receive a package from Texas Treats, complete with Texas Snack Mix and Salsa with Tortilla Chips.

We eagerly delved into the box once it arrived. I was quick to decide the snack mix was for Daddy and I, as it has a bit of a spicy taste. My husband gobbled it up and was really impressed with the great flavor and quality of the mix.

The tortilla chips were claimed by both my son and daughter- luckily there were two bags so they weren’t forced to share. I was able to snatch a few from them to test out the salsa. The chips were good but combined with the salsa they were great!! The flavor of the salsa was a bit different than I am used to, a true Texas Treat!!

About Texas Treats:

Texas Treats offers Texas themed gourmet gifts, gift baskets and Texas packaging. Send your friends and family a taste as big as Texas with gourmet treats from the lone star state. Our baskets are brimming with treats like Texas shaped tortilla chips, salsa, Texas gold popcorn and Texas pecans and pralines, just to name a few.

We specialize in creating Texas themed gift baskets for any corporate or personal gift-giving occasion. Celebrate birthdays, holidays or send a warm “thank you” with a gift basket full of Texas goodies. Give a gift from Deep in the heart of Texas with our sampler gift packs – perfect for home-sick Texans or those who’ve just recently moved to Texas. Our snacks and Texas souvenirs make great favors for parties or weddings.

Texas Treats, Inc. provides hospitality from the heart of Texas. Since 1991, the company has created Texas-size gourmet baskets and gifts with a Lone Star State theme. Texas Treats is a certified woman-owned business.

Founder and CEO Jackie Schwitter rides herd on Texas Treats, providing her culinary expertise and down-home customer service. In addition to creating innovative themed gift items, Jackie annually serves as a judge for the Texas State Fair annually. Texas Treats is located in Richardson, a North Dallas suburb.

You can choose from the following great products offered by Texas Treats:

• Gift Baskets
• Personalized Items
• Seasonal Items
• Salsa- Chips- Snacks
• Texas Kitchen
• Texas Souviners
• Texas Brides and Wedding Favors

Buy It!: You can purchase the Texas Treats goodies exclusively from their website. Do check out their blog frequently, as they have many goodies/treats to offer!

Win It!: Texas Treats has generously donated a personalized  gift basket to one of our fabulous readers. To enter to win:

• One Mandatory Entry- Go to Texas Treats website and tell us which yummy product catches your eye.
• Two Additional Entries- Tweet this review/giveaway and leave us a comment with the tweet URL and your Twitter ID.
• Three Additional Entries- Subscribe to Parent Reviewers.
• Giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only.
• Giveaway closes on 3rd November 2009. A winner will be drawn using the Random.org number generator.
• We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

Good luck!!

TO THE WINNERS OF

GO PICNIC READY TO EAT MEALS

Susan@my2boyz #191

whoisbaby #115

Jill Myrick #225

WINTER’S TAIL PRIZE PACK

The winner is required to do the following:

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAD PARTICIPATED!

Some kids are resilient; place them in tough situations and they will (seemingly) do just fine. Resilience is like Bozo the clown, that almost life-sized blow-up creature with sand in its base. Punch him, he rocks, and soon enough, corrects himself, he stands upright again and all is right with the world. So you punch him again. And again. No matter how aggressive you are you can’t knock him over, at least not for long.

Some folks believe Bozo should characterize kids in general. Kids today are too weak, they say, and back in the day were made of sterner stuff. They think kids should take whatever broken glass comes along and keep on moving; stiff upper lip and all that. They think far too much is made of maladjusted children; it seems like so much whining. These folks want life to be simple. Their idea of childhood is stuck in some mythical American past where failure didn’t happen. Just give kids some fresh air, they say, and kids will be fine. Like the nursery rhyme says (almost) leave them alone and they will come home wagging their superior adjustment abilities behind them. But most unhappy kids aren’t resilient. Assuming they should be is just one more indignity the maladjusted child has to deal with.

Too bad its not true. Every kid probably begins life with a capacity for resilience. Many loose it. Spike, the out-of-control ten-year old, lost it. What happened? As with many kids, it isn’t clear what made Spike so unhappy. His parents don’t really know. Spike can’t articulate his feelings nor has he the insight into his own life to be able to tell us. You can’t pinpoint it; there was no single time when somebody beat the crap out of his Bozo. It probably was a series of subtle things that built up. We can guess that life overwhelmed him and he reacted by becoming angrier and angrier.

If Spike were resilient he wouldn’t be Spike. He’d have absorbed the blow(s), whatever they were, righted himself and kept smiling. In order to be resilient, a kid has to maintain a sense of optimism. No one is likely to characterizable Spike as optimistic. In order to maintain a sense of optimism a kid must grab onto someone, probably someone older, as though that person were an anchor. That person can be anyone who is perceived to be strong, reliable, stable and permanent. That person, moreover, really likes the potential Spike, thinks is he is neat, bright, attractive and all the rest. That person is a life preserver that the potential Spikes of this world hang on to while their boat swamps. It allows them to weather all kinds of situations because they know that someone is there for them, no matter what. It can be a grandparent, a neighbor, a teacher, or virtually anyone. They become more than friends. They are a mutual admiration society. They ultimately love one another.

We don’t know but Spike may have tried to reach out when he was just beginning his slide into misery. He may have tried, and no one picked up. He may have tried to find a Mother figure or a father figure. Either one would probably work. The fact that he didn’t find his anchor meant he was at the mercy of events he didn’t understand and could not control. His reactions were instinctive and stereotyped in a way that if he had his anchor, they probably would not have been. So he took control the only way he knew how; by fighting back. It isn’t a fight he can win. His failure to find his anchor probably just made him feel all the more isolated from normal kids. Resilience does not happen by itself. The kid takes an active role in his own rescue. Only those kids who are lucky enough to connect at the right time with someone significant will walk away(more or less) free. He may yet make such a connection. But, he has become so obnoxious and cynical in the meanwhile that he pushes everything away. It makes the outlook for this bit of relief poor. It isn’t too late for members of the extended family or friends of the family to step forward and see if Spike will allow the connection to grow. But they will have to do it in spite of him.

About The Author

 
Dr. Andrew Gibson was born in Detroit at the close of WWII. He grew up in the midst of farming country in central Michigan. Both parents were teachers. He keeps a picture of his childhood companion, Wags, to this day (you had to see the tail to appreciate the name). After discharge from the Navy after the Viet Name war, he graduated with a BA and MA from San Diego State University and earned his Ph. D from the University of Connecticut. He has taught at Portland State University, n Portland Oregon, at the University of Maine, Presque Isle and at SUNY New Paltz. He resides in Eastern Connecticut, with his wife of 41 years, where he conducts a private practice in parenting seriously difficult children. His book “Got An Angry Kid? Parenting Spike-A Seriously Difficult Child’ is the first of a series examining seriously difficult children at various age and emotional disturbance levels. He invites you to find him on the web at DrAGibson.com.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

My middle child used to be really scared of water. Anything to do with water. For a long time. Well, for the first 3 years of his life. Which is kinda long for him.  If we were at the beach, he’d stay on the sand. He never ventured out onto the waves, because of this fear.  Then, early this year, I decided to let him overcome this fear by going for swim classes. As the layers of fear stripped off him, week by week, I literally saw him dive in and out of the water, like a lil seal pup.

Getting this CD from Birdsong, was a real bonus in reinforcing a love for the water, the habitat and sea animals. When I played the CD from my Mac, he took my hands and started dancing with me. He got pretty upset, when I stopped and insisted that I dance with him, until the song was finished!

And which song was that? The very first song on the CD, “Clickity Clack!”!! We both pretended to be dolphins, swimming with our other imaginary sea-friends (one of which, was my 1 year old “turtle” son).

Everytime he goes into the pool, he thinks of the different animals he wants to be. Sometimes, the shark, sometimes, a dolphin. And he says quite earnestly that, he can’t be an “y-octopus”, because he doesn’t have enough arms to be one! I can’t wait to go to the beach, and explore the tidepools together with him! I’ve seen many of the animals she’s sung about ~ hermit crabs, barnacles, sea anemones, so I’m pretty excited for him to see it for himself! I’m pretty sure, he’ll say, “Hey! It’s like that song! The Tide Pool Song!”. In fact, this song was featured in an Emmy Award winning short film “Tidepool Scene”!

What a great combo! Music and Eco-education!

About Birdsong :

Birdsong is an educator, songwriter and recording artist who is passionate about music, kids and restoring the earth for future generations. She holds a Masters Degree in Social Work and a Bachelors in Special Education.

As a child, Birdsong loved animals, trees and all things wild. Easily awed by the wonders of the natural world, she adopted her spirit of earth stewardship in high school after participating in her first ecology class. As an adult, she has woven images of nature throughout her original songs of healing and inspiration.

Buy It! : What I really liked about Birdsong, is that all the songs are fun, easy to sing to, and it teaches them how wondrous the world is! From her site, you’ll find cool stuff for kids, even more info about animals above the sea! Plus, her songs are being used as teaching tools in the state and county parks in southern California, as well as in classrooms throughout the U.S.

Win It! : Birdsong has kindly agreed to give ONE lucky reader this wonderful CD “If I Were A Fish and Other Ocean Songs“, and here’s all you have to do :

• One mandatory entry – Visit her wonderful and colorful website and tell us, one song from her CD.
• Two additional entries – Tweet this giveaway (leave your Twitter id in our comment section)
• Five additional entries – Stumble this post (leave your SU id in our comment section)
• Entry is open to everyone.
• Giveaway closes on  26th October 2009 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

Parenting Spike:  The seriously difficult child  – School

by Andrew D. Gibson, Ph.D

Spike and school don’t mix. Spike is a ten year old, out control kid who would just as soon burn down the place as sit on one of its seats. Why should that be? Well, he has pretty much destroyed home life and has decided to move on. The next logical place to move is the school. Miserably unhappy kids generalize their misery from one place to the next. First it is home, then Sunday school, then public school, then the neighborhood, then the cops and then the judge. This process takes time. If it can be nipped at the bud of home, that’s great. But nipping often doesn’t happen. Spike’s parents are aware that something is wrong. They’ve known it for a while. They drag Spike (to the extent that he will allow anyone to drag him anywhere) from service to service in hopes of finding the connection that will fix him. He is a little beast but for probably very good reason. We don’t know the reason and Spike doesn’t either, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. If Spike will ever agree to go to a therapist, they may be able to figure it out.

Schools, for parents like Spike’s, are often unfriendly places. His parents get calls at work from the principals office saying, “ Come get your Kid. He’s fighting again.” So one of them slinks out of work muttering something about having to pick up their son. They hope everyone in the office will just think the boy broke a leg on the playground; not that he broke a chair over someone’s head which is closer to the truth. To be Spike’s parents is to be embarrassed.

They get called to the school for meetings. It makes them feel two inches tall. None of the meetings are productive. None of them make things better for Spike. It is just meeting after meeting. The school loves meetings. Everyone is very serious. Everyone says, in one way or another, “ Put boundaries around that kid!” as if the school had the remotest idea how to do it or as if Spike’s folks had never thought of it themselves. “Did you ever think of a reward system?” one of them says. They’d like to reply, “What? Are you nuts?” But they don’t. None of them ever had a kid like Spike so they haven’t a clue that reward systems do not work with kids like him. That does not stop them from acting vaguely superior. These otherwise sophisticated parents shrink a bit in their seats. It makes them mad. Spikes’ parents are educated, professional people who are used to respect and authority. Not here. They are obliged to listen to complaint at unproductive meeting after unproductive meeting from people who want them to do something they can’t do themselves; put boundaries around that kid.

The meeting room is an inquisition site; they are always outnumbered: there is the principal, the teacher, the counselor, the school psychologist, the special ed teacher, the aide, the janitor and the bus driver, somebodies girl friend and God knows, who else. On the other side, is just the two of them. They’ve all got complaints but none has a sensible idea. Oh, they fiddle with this part and that part of his school day, but everyone knows its nonsense. There is no way Spike’s parents will prevail in any conversation about him here. They just have to sit and take it. They come out discouraged. They always come out discouraged. Isn’t the school supposed to understand kids like Spike? Surely he can’t be the first one they’ve ever had. Did they do as badly with the others, too? But it doesn’t much matter if they did or didn’t. These folks still have Spike to come home to and all the frustration and disappointment of not knowing what to do there, either.

About The Author

 
Dr. Andrew Gibson was born in Detroit at the close of WWII. He grew up in the midst of farming country in central Michigan. Both parents were teachers. He keeps a picture of his childhood companion, Wags, to this day (you had to see the tail to appreciate the name). After discharge from the Navy after the Viet Name war, he graduated with a BA and MA from San Diego State University and earned his Ph. D from the University of Connecticut. He has taught at Portland State University, n Portland Oregon, at the University of Maine, Presque Isle and at SUNY New Paltz. He resides in Eastern Connecticut, with his wife of 41 years, where he conducts a private practice in parenting seriously difficult children. His book “Got An Angry Kid? Parenting Spike-A Seriously Difficult Child’ is the first of a series examining seriously difficult children at various age and emotional disturbance levels. He invites you to find him on the web at DrAGibson.com.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

I was recently given the opportunity to try this product by Jota Sox. I was so excited to have the opportunity to review this product as I am one of many who struggle with dry feet on a regular basis. Although not as severe as some cases I have seen, my constantly dry heels have often made me a bit unsure about wearing sandals.

About Jota Sox :

Jota Sox are the newest, most innovative foot care product on the market today. Jota Sox were developed to meet a growing need among podiatrists, dermatologists, spas and individuals who were looking for a product to increase the effectiveness of both prescription and over the counter moisturizers.

These form fitting, disposable socks help repair rough, dry feet in a unique way. Jota Sox enhance the effects of prescription and over-the-counter lotions to heal and moisturize feet faster.

Jota Sox include soft and comfortable disposable latex or non-latex socks and outer cotton socks that you put on after the application of your favorite cream, lotion or ointment. Jota Sox act as a barrier, allowing the lotion to absorb deeply into your feet instead of absorbing into a cotton sock. The cotton sock is worn over the Jota Sox, which holds the Jota Sox in place and adds the heat needed to allow maximum penetration of the applied moisturizer.

If you can rub cream or lotion on your feet and put on socks, you are on your way to softer, smoother, healthier feet.

I was a bit unsure when I first opened the box of Jota Sox. The kit consists of a pair of latex or non-latex disposable socks and a pair of cotton socks.

The directions are as follows:

1. apply your favorite lotion, cream or ointment
2. slip on easy to wear disposable socks followed by cotton socks
3. relax for a couple of hours or rest for the night
4. remove hours later revealing noticeably smoother feet

The first night I tried the Jota Sox, I put on the lotion as directed and then “slipped on the disposable socks, followed by the cotton socks”. I stood up to put the lotion away and had a very strange sensation of walking on jell-o. It took a few minutes to get used to the feeling, but I went to bed and slept that night with no problem.

The next morning I woke and removed the socks. My feet were noticeably softer without being greasy. It was really interesting. The next few nights I repeated the process and within a few days I noticed a marked improvement in the condition of my feet.

I have since washed and reused the Jota Sox twice for a touch up, but have had great success in finding the product that has permanently helped my feet.

Buy It! : Jota Sox can be purchased in a single pack or a box set. They are available exclusively on the Jota Sox website.

Win It! : TWO of our lucky Parent Reviewers’ readers will win their very own gift box set of Jota Sox which includes 3 pairs of Jota Sox and a pair of cotton socks.

To enter:

• One mandatory entry- visit the Jota Sox website and tell us one fabulous fact about the Jota Sox product.
• Three additional entries- Subscribe to Parent Reviewers (or tell us you already do).
• Five additional entries – Stumble this giveaway (please leave your SU id)
• Giveaway is open to US shipping address only and closes on 19th October 2009.  The winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.

TO THE WINNERS OF

Eebee’s Adventures DVDs

ktanjatk #114

Santa Cruz Organic Fruit Sauces, Peanut Butters and the R.W. Knudsen Sensible Sippers

 cathy (Psychic Mama*Indigo Child) #99

Winners are required to do the following:

1. Submit your relevant info via the Winner’s Submission Form Below; AND
2. Leave a comment in this post to let us know you have submitted.
3. If any winner does not claim her prize by the 12th October 2009, we will do a second draw.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED

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