Reviews about Stuff

We like to look up consumer reviews before big or unique purchases. Maybe you are ocd smart like us and need the low down on products we heart.

Items to Make Your Life with a Toddler Easier

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These products will help you make life with a toddler easier. A quick search about having a toddler will come up with comparisons of being in prison or a dysfunctional relationship. Although I prefer to focus on the best things about having a toddler, it is no surprise that parents of toddlers can use a little help.

*FTC disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through my links. All opinions remain my own

Here are the products you need to make toddler life a bit easier:

must buy products to make life with toddler easier

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

So 1 and 2 are potties, but they each serve different purposes. Right now we use 1 as a toilet seat on our regular toilet (it bends flat), but it is also used in travel situations as needed (like vacations, long car rides, etc.). 2 is used full time in the bathroom. We actually have the Summer Infant Lil’ Loo (which is cheaper), but for some reason seems to have been discontinued. It it hadn’t been an option, 2 would have been my choice as friends have recommended it. I’m all for less pieces (less to clean!) and a streamlined design.

Toddler-proofing can be really frustrating. Install is about as easy as it can get with 3 but I still used these in minimal places. In the kitchen I used these on our junk drawer and on the cabinets underneath the kitchen sink (which houses all our cleaning supplies. I also used these on the cabinets in both bathrooms. That’s it. I hate being locked out of my own stuff. I use a metal nail stud in both the kitchen and bathroom as the place where I keep the unlocking key (it’s magnetic!).

4 – Car seats can be pretty personal, I needed a seat that can fit rear facing in a really small car (Honda Fit!) . This was among the cheaper options that had good user and safety ratings. Pro tip: Keep an eye on pricing for different color options. I managed to get mine for about $80 cheaper by purchasing a close out color!

5 – This should actually be on my must have baby items that’ll last until toddler years post because we’ve used this since our little started on solid foods. I love that it is easy to clean. In fact, I have put this entire seat in our dishwasher!

6 – I couldn’t find simple metal silverware for children cheaper any where else than Ikea. This isn’t there children’s set (which were bigger in size, strangely enough. Their Dragon dessert/salad forks, and Dragon coffee/tea spoons have been perfect. Our two year old seemed excited to use “big kid” silverware.

7 – These knit doorcovers from Etsy are the best! If you know a knitters, they can probably make these for you. Those “other” doorknob protectors (of which I will not name) don’t even come close in awesomeness.

8 – This stool is used both to get on the big potty and to brush teeth. It is lightweight and my toddler can easily move it without scuffing the floor.

9 – We have a sliding patio door and this is perfect. Easy to install and use! It can also be used on windows or sliding bathroom shower doors.

10 – So we actually made our own learning tower and other easy Ikea hacks are out there. If you aren’t into DIY, you can always buy your own kitchen helper. Most of the time our toddler is using this to play in the sink, but it often occupies for the entire time it takes me to make dinners, so it’s worth it.

What Didn’t Make The List: We contemplated adding our baby gates. We have this gate at the top of the stairs and this one at the bottom. But honestly, we’ve stubbed our toe with the bottom gate too many times. I wish we had purchased two of the top stair gate.

We all have our own sanity saving tips, so what is making your life with a toddler easier. Seriously, we need to know. Share now!

 

 

 

 

Book Review: “Hot Seat” by Dan Shapiro

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Since we placed an order for the GlowForge laser cutter (more on this in another post), we got a pre-released copy of the Dan Shapiro’s upcoming book on Startups and Entrepreneurship “Hot Seat  The Startup CEO Guidebook” Dan is the CEO of Glowforge and has a string of successful startups behind him such as Ontela (now Photobucket), Sparkbuy which he sold to Google, and Robot Turtles which is a board game designed to teach children as young as 4 years old about programming and logical thinking which he did as a kickstarter and which is now available in Target stores.

“Hot Seat” is basically a cheatsheet on startups broken into 5 parts. Founding, Funding, Leadership, Management, and Endgame. Dan explains his history and cites specific people and examples of practices that will help you navigate the dark waters of a startup.  The first section of the book is all about Founding. There are some great tips here I wish I used in my previous business ventures. Founding is a dirty and scary thing for every startup. You want to think about contingencies from the start. Dan recommends to do this before you even incorporate.

In the first section of the book, Dan gives advice on everything from who should be a cofounder to even providing a template for a decision matrix on what projects your startup should focus on. He also gives great examples of how shares might be calculated for different types of cofounders, answering the question of “How much is each cofounder really worth?”.  These kinds of things are what make this book awesome. Dan also freely gives advice that I’m sure he learned the hard way. Some of this advice is common sense, but there are plenty of gems you’d only learn from a good mentor.

Each section has several chapters in it. Again, the information comes straight from Dan’s personal experience. For the Funding section, there are slides directly from the pitch deck of some of Dan’s successful ventures.  He breaks down what to put on each slide, and how to best present it. Arguably, this could be considered style more than anything else, but with a record such as his, and the fact that he now is an investor in other startups I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s more than just style. There ae several other chapters in the funding section that explain the differences between different types of investors and what each of their motivations are, which is what you need to keep in mind if you are pitching ideas to them.

In the Leadership section, he discusses the different duties of a CEO, and how to cultivate a good company culture. I think anyone applying for a new job or even considering changing jobs would find this section interesting because you can tell a lot about how day-to-day interactions reflect the culture. The CEO is the taproot of the company’s culture and is the archetype all the other management will follow. It says a lot about a company if everyone is constantly gossiping…

While I’m not a CEO right now, I am in a newer management position at my full-time gig. I found the management section of this book very helpful. I’ve memorized some of it as one-liners that I can repeat to myself to help me learn this new set of skills. My favorite and most obviously useful advice in this section was on “playing the CEO ‘Inspire’ card”. This section also gives great general tips on hiring, whether you should buy or lease furniture, how to deal with a board of directors.

The final part of this book discusses the Endgame. What are the different types of acquisitions? Who do you negotiate with?  It stresses how important it is to have done things correctly and thoroughly from the beginning of the startup.  Technically, the entire goal of any startup is to either be bought or to reach critical mass and go “Google” on the market and end up buying other startups. Either way it is important to know what to expect. Dan gives the example from his previous company Sparkbuy’s acquisition by Google and breaks down the different parties involved and somewhat what to expect in negotiations.

Overall, I really enjoyed Dan’s book. It gave more gritty details than any of the other books on buiness and startups I’ve read. The devil is in the details and while this book stops short of giving you legal advice, you get insights on how things are supposed to work.  Personally, it reaffirmed my intuitions on getting a business started correctly and having contracts in place for the “big day”; be it an exit, acquisition, or other huge event for you or the company. The book will be available in paperback May 2015 and

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

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I can no longer recall how this book came into my possession.  Based on the title, my guess is it was purchased in person from a used bookstore.   It is my binges at used bookstores or library book sales that result in my random and large assortment of books.  My online book purchases are very deliberate and I usually remember purchasing them. I think I would have been drawn to this book because Indian culture has a pull on me.  Side note: It is this same pull that results in me watching movies like Barfi! on Netflix.  Whatever the serendipitous span of events that brought me this book, I am thankful. 

Read moreUnaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Bringing the Poolside Inside – Our New Office Rug

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As we shared earlier, we went ahead and made the plunge on a new rug for our office from overstock.  This 8 foot by 11 foot rug set us back $185, but it has already proved resilient against our “vomity” cat.  This is likely because this rug is meant to be poolside (outdoor), so it is super durable as an indoor rug.

 

 

Here is a before shot of our office.

And here is an office shot from another angle.  Yes my husband sits on a pillow.  (Maybe I need to surprise him with a new chair!)

You can see how the current green rug is just too small for the space. Now for the big reveal.

Ta da!  And here it is again from another angle.

It is rug love! It fits in the space beautifully and the pattern provides a nice modern touch.

Seeing this “after” picture puts me in a cleaning and organizing mood.  Got to go!  Tell us what you think of the new rug!

Installing Kayak Foot Braces Using Your Head

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A few years ago, we got a deal on some low-end recreational (Old town Otter, now replaced by the Old town Heron model) kayaks. Instead of opting for the model with all the bells and whistles, we got the base models. For years we were fine with them paddling on flat water (lakes and such). We’ve been using the kayaks a lot lately, and getting more into small rapids (in which foot braces are incredibly helpful).

I researched online for the best foot braces out there. The Old Town foot brace kit is $50!  That price is ridiculous. I settled on Harmony Slidelock foot braces. Everywhere I could find them online they were $33 per set. Just by chance, a friend of mine flew to Florida for work and happened into a great kayak outfitter store, Canoe Country.  He was able to get me the exact same Harmony foot braces for $16 per set– half price! They have great prices on dry bags too. I had to buy some neoprene washers from the hardware store, but they were very cheap. Overall It was a great buy.

Once I got the foot brace kits, I had to figure out how to mount them in the kayaks. The first step was to sit in the kayak and hold the braces against my feet to see what felt comfortable. Remember to wear your water shoes and life-preserver during this step so the braces will be the correct distance. I neglected to do this. Mounting position isn’t critical since the braces are adjustable, but try to at least keep them even with one another.

I mounted the braces by looking at pics online of my kayak model with foot braces and tried to use a little math to figure out the distances from major features on the kayak. I measured where I wanted them to go, and drilled a 3/8” hole in the kayak. This was worrisome for me because I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I don’t want to ugly up my boat with a bunch of holes in the wrong place, etc. Drilling was very easy. The Otters are made out of a single layer linear polyethylenethat machines like butter, though it is very strong and generally deflects anything that might try to scratch it. I suggest using a knife to cut a small starting hole before using the drill bit to prevent it from wandering. I should have angled the drill to be perpendicular with the mounting hole on the foot brace, but I didn’t think about that until later. Once the first hole was drilled, I screwed in the first screw just until I could feel it penetrate the inside a little. On the inside, I placed the neoprene washer on the end of the screw before aligning the mounting hole of the foot brace. From the outside to the inside, it is mounted like the image below. This will keep the boat water tight.

To align the second hole, I held the brace up inside the boat to the approximate place I wanted it to be, then used a bright laser pointer from the inside of the boat to help me find where to drill the second hole (this was my friend Daniel’s genius idea). It worked great! The foot brace needs to bend a bit to be able to screw tightly to the side of the boat, so don’t worry about that when installing them. After the first brace was installed, the second one went in much quicker. We just mirrored the measurements and it was a breeze.

After installing them on my boat, it was time to install the braces on Jessica’s boat. Now, this wasn’t visible on mine, but her kayak had some spots from the mold that shows where the standard foot braces should be mounted. These holes didn’t match up with the new braces I got, so I just centered my screw holes to be along a line that connected the visible dots on the boat. Once again, I drilled the lower hole and screwed that in (with the neoprene washer) and used the laser to help me find the correct spot for the second hole.

The next day, we went on a two-day kayaking/camping trip. We paddles 16 miles down the Uwharrie river! Those foot braces made navigating the rapids a breeze and increased the overall comfort of the overall trip. The next step will be to add a seat pad and maybe even some knee padding. Future plan also include kayak sails, and a keel of some type as well. Keep checking for updates on trips as well.