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?

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This is a review for the Parent Bloggers Network.

Comfy Easy PC Review

I was recently asked to review the Comfy Easy PC Learning System for toddlers. Since we're a computer savvy family (okay, we're computer obsessed) and I do allow my daughter to play simple online kid-friendly video games I was intrigued as to what Comfy could offer my child as far as fun and education.

The setup was easy but I still had my husband, the computer geek, take care of that. We installed the Comfy software we were sent - Christmas in Comfyland, First Steps, and My Neighborhood - on an old laptop of mine that I don't use anymore and let Chicky have at the programs with the brightly colored keyboard. We didn't hear a peep from her, except to change software or to help her navigate the harder games, for the next three days. The Comfy Learning System was the first thing she would request in the morning and we had to tear her away from it at bedtime.

She easily navigated her way through the First Steps software, which makes sense since it's rated for beginners aged around 1 year old, and Christmas in Comfyland (also a beginner software package) so we moved on to My Neighborhood, an intermediate ages 3-5 software package.

Chicky is a few months away from her third birthday but the My Neighborhood games posed just enough of a challenge for her on the beginning level (all games come with beginning, intermediate and advanced levels within each software title) to keep her interested without being too difficult and frustrating. Not only that but there are so many games that she can easily navigate through so she never gets bored with it. There are even some games that catch me by surprise because I haven't seen them yet.

Now, the drawback. Some of the games creep my out in that sort of Sid and Marty Krofft way. Some are so over the top happy that my husband and I get the biggest laugh but Chicky doesn't seem to notice. But I have to admit that for what amounts to a kid's video game (albeit educational) the graphics and colors are pretty good. And, believe it or not, I have noticed Chicky learning. She's gotten much better with her colors and her trouble shooting and awareness of the world around her have really improved.

We've had the Comfy system, including the easy to use keyboard, for about two weeks and it's still Chicky's favorite toy. Which any parent of toddlers and pre-schoolers will tell you is nothing to scoff at. She doesn't show any signs of getting bored with it and we will certainly be purchasing the Adventure in Numberland software to help her with her numbers.

Would I recommend the Comfy Easy PC Learning System to my friends, even with a price tag of about $69.99 (including the First Steps software) and with each additional software title retailing for about $19.99? I would, whole heartedly. Computers are nothing to be afraid of and this one is easy to use and fun to boot. We're very impressed with the Comfy Easy PC.

Comfy Easy PC Learning System - $69.99, Each additional software title - $19.99 - Ages 1 to 5 years