Erba Vita kids dietary supplement giveaway (closed)

The most miserable thing about Lily starting school last year was all the colds she caught. The sneezing and sniffling as one cold ended and before the next one began was a close second. She also passed most of them on to everyone else in the family too. So when Erba Vita, Italy's leader in herbal medicine, contacted me about reviewing some of their products, the one that might prevent some of last year's misery was at the top of my list.

Although they have several products especially for children, Immun Kids is the one that helps support a healthy immune system. It contains no artificial colors, no dairy, no lactose, no soy, no eggs, no fish/shellfish, no peanuts/tree nuts, no yeast.. AND it's vegetarian. Each serving (which you just add to water, juice, etc) contains 0.2 mg of copper (which is apparently the immune system's most lethal weapon), 2 mg of zinc, 15 mg of Vitamin C, and 150mg of Echinacea.

It's all very sneaky to add a dose to Lily's juice and she doesn't know the difference. But hopefully her immune system will.

There is also Lax Kids (for healthy intestinal function), Gassy Kids, Quiet Kids (for a healthy night's sleep), and Throaty Kids.

We haven't tried the Throaty Kids yet, but it could also be a big help this school year as it helps to support a healthy respiratory tract. It contains honey, eucalyptus, red currant (excellent source of vitamins and antioxidants), and several other ingredients. Again, it contains no artificial colors, no dairy, no lactose, no soy, no eggs, no fish/shellfish, no peanuts/tree nuts, no yeast, and it too is vegetarian.

I'm really happy to have discovered this line. More details about Erba Vita and their kids line can be found at https://www.erbavitausa.com.

The products in the Erba Vita kids line normally retail for $10 to $20 each, but you can enter to win one Immun Kids and one Throaty Kids now through Sunday, August 18, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Make one comment below (only one per household please). Open to U.S. addresses only. One winner will be randomly selected and notified by email- they will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. Please make sure your email address is in your comment or blogger profile.

(Giveaway prize provided by Erba Vita.)

winner: #3 Tangee C

more tales from the preschool trenches

Sometimes, while I'm waiting 20 years for Lily to go to the bathroom or hug everyone in the universe goodbye or finish looking at a book, I watch the other kids playing and interacting with each other. Sometimes I see things that the teachers don't. Or often times I guess.

On one of my more recent "waitings" I watched one of Lily's friends, C, and another boy pretend fight- I don't think they were even making contact with each other, they were just enacting semi-karate moves in each others general direction, but I was pretty sure it was a time-outable offense anyway.

There were three teachers in the room. One of them was sweeping near where I was standing and the other two were chatting on the other side of the room. None of them were looking at the two boys or any of the other kids sitting on the carpet around them. Which seemed weird to me, and I thought "should I say something?"

But as it went on, I figured they must have seen it.. and were alright with it? Which, I'll be honest, confused me. I can never figure out what is alright at that school and what isn't. When Lily first started going there and wanted to hug a few people when she left, they would tell her not to touch the other kids. Now she hugs pretty much every single person.. and they say nothing.

I stood there watching the two boys and then glanced over to see if Lily was out of the bathroom yet. Nope. But in the few seconds that I looked away, apparently C had pushed the other boy. (Of course they saw that.) C was removed from the situation to be sat in a chair off to the side. The other boy? I'm not sure.. he went to read a book. I almost said something, but didn't.

I looked down at C sitting in the little chair next to me and smiled at him. About half the time I pick up Lily, poor C is sitting in a chair somewhere. The teacher that sentenced him to the chair, said something like "I'm so sad to see you sitting in the chair." He just looked blankly at her, but didn't respond- the look on his sweet little face said it all- "you told me to sit in the chair, so I will do it, and then move on with life. But otherwise, this doesn't mean anything to me."

When Lily was done with the bathroom, we left. Well, she left. I stopped to get her project, first, and then followed her out the door. Most of the kids were outside with one of the teachers. As I held Noah and tried to talk Lily down off one of the toys, one of the kids came up behind me and whipped a wooden swing towards me. It hit in me in the back of the head- I winced and grabbed the back of my head as I turned around.. but whoever had done it was gone. And nothing. No one said anything.

Really? It was hard to miss the swing flying around crazily as I stood there holding my head. It was the type of swing that a 4 or 5 year old could reach their hands up and hang from, so it wouldn't have hit a child, but it is a major stress for me knowing that things happen at school.. and no one even notices.

It's a nice school.. it is.. I get the impression it is, but.. I'm pretty sure this stuff goes on all the time.

I guess I assume that because I have a child that requires me to be beyond hyper-vigilant with, that everyone is the same way with their kids and the kids they are caring for. And that's probably unrealistic. What am I supposed to do? Do I say "oh, excuse me, could you please pay more attention to the children?" I really would rather not say that.. 'cus that wouldn't be an awkward moment at all..

sunday walk

We accidentally went for a walk on Sunday. The plan was to stay in the yard and play, but Noah just wandered off down the driveway.. so we toddled along after him. (And I had actually thought to bring my DSLR.)

The weather has been perfect and I wish it would stay this way forever, but I know it's only a matter of time before the heat and humidity are back. However, as it's practically mid-August, it won't be too much longer before the weather cools down even more, the sweaters come out, the leaves start changing, and I switch back to hot coffee.

But.. I suppose Lily and Noah still need a few more pool days. And I still have more vegetables to grow. So, let's go summer.. just be nice.

window garden pictures

Lately, I've been taking more pictures of my garden than of my children. And I don't know, that's fine I guess. Gardens are only in the summer- so just another month or two.. and then these children of mine will be back in the spotlight full time.

I don't know what it is about a window garden- it's mesmerizing. I've never had a real garden, but I can't imagine it's quite the same thing. Every time I look out the window, something else is going on; there are giant green beans where there was practically nothing the day before and all different types of bees are pollinating the flowers.

It's right at eye level. If it's raining, if it's 100 degrees.. I walk right up to it and see something new. It's relaxing and I'm becoming a garden nerd, I fear.

My tomato plants appear to be ready to have tomatoes- I wanted to scream when I saw the buds. I'm so relieved that they are thriving and the stems are as thick as my fingers. I had worried that they would need some type of "cage." Maybe I will eventually, but not quite yet.