Sylvania PalPODzzz LED nightlight - Keeping kids in their beds and monsters in the closet

As any parent of a three year old knows, nightlights are essential to keeping not only kids that age happy but also their parents. Something tells me if we didn't have the appropriate light to darkness ratio in my daughter's room we'd be seeing her a lot more in the middle of the night, and we don't want that to happen. No, that would be bad. Very bad.

Chicky has been thrilled with her Sylvania PalPODzzz ladybug nightlight. The PalPODzzz is this sweet detachable/rechargeable nightlight/flashlight LED doohickey (Okay, so no one will ever hire me to come up with professional descriptions for new products. I think I'll live.) either shaped like a ladybug or a spaceship. The thing she likes the most about it is that the ladybug itself can come off of its "leaf" charger (which also lights up) and she can keep the flashlight portion either in her bed or on the floor next to it and she knows she can use it whenever she needs to. I like it because it's rechargeable, so after I dig it out of the blankets every morning I pop it back on the charger and it's ready to go for that night.

Another plus is she now has her own flashlight to play with during the day when she wants to go exploring. No more stealing Mommy and Daddy's emergency flashlights. It's not fun to find out during a major ice-related blackout that your preschooler has been playing with the flashlights too much and now none of them work. Trust me on this. The flashlight itself is not super powerful - which is good since it always seems to be pointed in the direction of the baby's eyes - but it's the perfect strength for, say, couch cushion spelunking.

Also, not too bright to shine in one's own eyes. If you're into that sort of thing. Bonus.

She's playing with it right now, as a matter of fact. There is a missing toy and she's playing "detective" to find it. Carry on, Sherlock.

As a nightlight, I do wish the PalPODzzz was a bit more powerful. The light up leaf is a little dim for my daughter's liking (she likes her nightlights pretty bright) but as an emergency keep-the-boogie-man-away device the PalPODzzz seems to be working out just fine.

All in all the PalPODzzz is a pretty nigty product at a good price (just $19.99). So may we recommend the Sylvania PalPPODzzz portable LED nightlight for keeping those pesky monsters under the bed where they belong?

-------------

This is a review for the Parent Bloggers Network.

Be prepared - the Sequoia Car Surival Kit

I will admit, we don't get many natural disasters up here in ol' New England. We may get the occasional hurricane or ground rumbler, which technically qualifies as a earthquake, but that's usually the worst of it. Okay, in my early teens we had a nasty tornado come through a neighboring town that almost completely leveled a residential street, but that was the worst catastrophe of the kind I can think of.

No, up here we get snow, lots of snow. There was this little, teensy storm back in '78 that closed down the entire region for a week and though that was a strange fluke of nature anything is possible in New England. Anything.

So, yes, it's good to be prepared. Maybe not to the point where you make your husband go out to buy bottled water and canned goods - ahem - but it's never a bad thing to have cans of baked beans in your pantry. You know, just in case.

The Car Survival kit by Sequoia has exceeded my expectations in the preparedness department. It's packed tighter than Scarlet O'hara in her corset, which is to say a little too tightly for me (a little room for extras would be nice), but overall it's chock full of useful things.

I squealed like a little girl when I saw crank light/radio with cell phone charger (I loves me my gadgets) and the 151 piece first aid kit. There were also ready to eat meals (MREs) and packaged water that will last for a few years. There's even a multi-function hardware tool and leather work gloves in there. The more things my husband and I pulled out the more thrilled we were with this small, easy to stow kit.

The Sequoia Car Survival kit is very well thought out and it had just about everything I would need if, heaven forbid, I were trapped in my car during a snow storm - which, let's face it, is entirely possible in Massachusetts - like thermal emergency blankets and hand warmers, rain ponchos and waterproof and windproof matches.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I was most thrilled by the playing cards included in the kit. In times of hardship you have to have something to alleviate the boredom and tediousness and keep your mind off of what's going on around you. They really thought of everything!

I did mention that the kit is packed very tightly. With help from my husband, the master packer, we managed to get everything back into the bag, but barely. I would have liked a bit more room to pack a few things like a couple of diapers and wipes, a small package of dog food, and maybe some extra socks. But all in all, it was hard to find fault with the Sequoia Car Survival kit.

Would I recommend it to my friends? Absolutely! Well done, Sequoia. You've taken some of the pressure to prepare off of my shoulders and helped ease this mama's mind.

---------------------

This was a review for the Parent Bloggers Network.