Citrus Lane

First off I would like to say that no one from Citrus Lane is paying me for my opinion or offering me anything to write this. (Though if someone from Citrus Lane sees it and decides to send me something I won't say no!) I am, however, including a link for Citrus Lane subscription boxes that can get me spending credit, but if you follow my link you can get half off your first box! Win win!

That being said, let me begin!

Last August I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I came across an ad for Citrus Lane. It promised a box full of age appropriate goodies delivered once a month valued at $30 or more. The cost for the boxes was $30 a month but they were offering a special of half-off  your first box. I thought $15 worth of stuff for $30+ sounded like a pretty good deal, so I signed up. I fully intended on getting that first box and canceling my subscription, but when I opened up that first box I was hooked. Now, nearly a year later we are receiving two monthly boxes, one for each client, and we couldn't be happier. We love Citrus Lane! And I've come to discover that the awesomeness of Citrus Lane goes beyond their monthly boxes.

Subscription Boxes
These are the boxes that come every month. When you sign up you enter your child's birthday to ensure that the items that come in your box are age appropriate. Sometimes, you may get an email to customize your box where they allow you to choose a particular brand or style of toy. Some months the entire box is a surprise. As with anything that is geared towards a wider range of children, not every box will be your favorite. There have been some boxes that I have opened up and known right away that everything will be used. Other months, I wonder if anything will be used. But, in the end, no box has ever proven to be a real disappointment. Some of the boxes I thought weren't as great have actually ended up being the most useful! The worth of the box is always there. I'm the kind of person who always adds up everything and I have yet to get a box that wasn't worth more than the $30.

You are billed automatically at the beginning of each month, but if you ever decide to cancel, it's easy enough. You can cancel by calling them directly or you can cancel via their website. (And when you go to cancel the usually offer you a great discount on more boxes!) If you have any questions or problems of any sort, their customer service is excellent and very accommodating!

Each box usually contains a toy, another item or two specifically for your child, a snack and a mommy gift. Sometimes the box has more toys and books and sometimes you get other stuff like first aid kits, hand wipes, doddle paper and night lights. The mommy gift is often a nice little sample of something like lotion or sunscreen but sometimes you get a coupon for a free trial or discount for something special. Each box comes with  a little inventory sheet that not only lists and describes all the items but also usually includes discount codes for the websites of the items you received. I have found this sheet very handy because I have been introduced to many brands and products I did not know existed and probably would not have tried on my own.

I highly recommend signing up for these boxes and giving it at least a month or two trial. Simply click here to sign up and you will automatically get half off your first box.

The Shop
At first glance, the shop doesn't seem like anything special. Many of the items are the same price you would find them anywhere else. In fact, some of the items you can actually find cheaper other places. But, mixed in with everything else, are some really good deals. Plus, Citrus Lane offers some great additional discounts and credits for things so you end up getting them cheaper than most places and sometimes even free! (I'll explain more about that in a minute.) The shop has several great features to it that make it a super tempting and easy place to shop.

Shop the Box
This option pops up in the shop shortly after subscription boxes start arriving. It features a few of the main items that came in the boxes as well as similar items that are the same brands. This comes in handy if you want to order a duplicate of something you got or simply order something that came in a different age box. July was Client Two's first box, which meant that he missed out on the box in June. Many parents were raving about the awesome Innobaby fruit teethers they had received in their babies' boxes, so I headed over to the "shop the box" section and purchased one. It is one of the best teethers and he loved it so much we now own three Innobaby teethers!

Add to Box
This section is only for the people receiving the monthly boxes because it is exactly what it sounds like. About a week before boxes start shipping you start getting options to add specific things to your box for no additional shipping. There are two rounds of this with different items. The first round will actually be added to your box. The second round usually ship separately and will arrive around the same time as your regular monthly box, but there is still no shipping charge. The super awesome thing about this category is that you can often use codes and credits (more on that in a minute) to get stuff completely free or for just a couple of dollars since there is no additional shipping cost! I have easily gotten $50+ worth of add-ons for pennies!

The Add to Box items usually run seasonally. For instance, this most recent round included things for Halloween. Before that you had the option to add back to school stuff to your box. No matter what the options are, they are always great!

Mystery Boxes
Mystery Boxes are probably the best thing about the Citrus Lane shop. They guarantee $60+ worth of stuff for only $30. I have even seen boxes that been nearly $75 worth of stuff! They let you see one item in the box and give you a basic age range and gender specification so you can choose the box that is right for you. These boxes are loaded with awesome stuff, so they sell out quickly. Usually within hours. Citrus Lane will send out an email to let you know when they become available but sometimes the email doesn't come soon enough. Your best bet to get a Mystery Box is to check the website first thing each morning. Many people will speculate over when the boxes will become available, but no one really knows for sure until they come out. The only negative thing about Mystery Boxes is that they are made up of leftovers from past boxes, so you might get some duplicates if you buy the same age and gender as your regular subscription box.

Discounts, Codes and Credits
Citrus Lane is great about discounts! Sometimes its a general discount across the whole shop. Sometimes it's a general code to be entered at checkout for a certain percentage off. Sometimes it's a code for a certain amount of money off (usually $5 or $10). About once a month, they also send out mystery codes worth $5, $10 or $15. Each person will get their own personal code to be entered at checkout for that amount of money off! This can add up to free stuff!

You can also earn or win credits that work like money. General credits are earned through referrals and can be used in the shop or be put towards your subscription boxes. When someone signs up through your special referral link, you get these general credits. Shop credits are mostly earned through different contests. If you follow Citrus Lane on Facebook, you will get plenty of chances to enter these contests. If you have an iPhone or iPad you can also download the Citrus Lane app. The app gives you a chance to shop, connect with other parents and check out the gift guides. There is also a play portion of the app where you get to like or want items for a chance to win $15 in credits. This game is tedious at times, but can introduce you to some cool products. The more you play and use the app, the better your chance of winning.

So, in a very big nutshell, that is Citrus Lane. We love it! And I'm not just saying that to get credits! Client One has been getting boxes for over a year and we've been very happy! Client Two has only gotten a couple of boxes, but I signed him up for a three month subscription. Clearly, I love this company! And I want you to love it to! Even if you aren't really interested in getting a box every month, I highly recommend trying it at least once. You are guaranteed $30 worth of stuff and only pay $15 if you follow this link. That's a great deal. You can even set the box aside for Christmas or use the items for birthday or shower gifts. If you decide to stop your subscription it is super easy to cancel. You can do it online through the link under the FAQ section or call and do it over the phone. Their customer service is amazing! 

So, don't delay!Join today!

What Frozen Things Do in Summer

Client One is one of the millions of little girls (and boys) obsessed with Frozen. Any time we visit a playground, she has found a friend and they are playing Frozen. Luckily, Client One's favorite character is Anna and most girls are obsessed with Elsa so there's no struggle over who gets to be which princess. I love that she enjoys Frozen and wanted to do a fun Frozen movie night for her friends, so we threw a little end-of-the-summer Frozen party.

 I didn't want to spend a ton of money, since there was no real special occasion, but I wanted it to be nice. I think we accomplished my goal. Instead of paying through the nose for party supplies with characters' faces on them we went with simple blue and white decorations with homemade paper snowflakes dangling from the ceiling. For good measure I propped Client One's Anna doll up on the table. The food also followed the same simple, snowy motif. 

Upon walking through the door, guests were greeted with a couple of activities to pass the time until the movie started. Thanks to the dollar section at Target, I had a couple of cute dry-erase Frozen boards giving instructions to the crafts. The first craft was making your own ice crown out of sparkly pipe cleaners and pom-poms. There was also the option of building a snowman (glueing Olaf on a piece of construction paper). And when all else fails, you can always search the internet for color sheets! 

After everyone had a chance to craft it up, we enjoyed a frozen treat- ice cream! Then, of course, came the movie. I had set the playroom up like a little movie theater and each little guest got a ticket and a personalized popcorn bag. While the kiddos started the movie, we parents loaded our plates and theirs with the other treats.

Overall, it was a success! My favorite part was all the kids singing the songs (particularly "Let It Go") at the top of their voices! In fact, it was such a hit, a few of the guests cried when it was over! (Of course it was bed time...) 

The Dye-it

Yep. I have become one of those aisle-blocking moms at the grocery store meticulously scanning the ingredients on everything. No, my children do not have food allergies. (Thank goodness!) I am looking for food dyes.

Now, half of you probably just rolled your eyes and muttered something about "Hippie nonsense," and that more or less used to be me. I thought the whole food dye thing was something way overblown by people who had nothing better to write about. But then, I started having problems with Client One.

Now Client One is the kind of child who is kind and considerate. She is gentle and sweet. She's the kind of kid who says, "please" and "thank you" without being told. She goes out of her way to help others. And above all, she's extremely loving.

But then she has "moments." She screams and hits and just goes crazy. Now, I am aware that three-year-olds have tantrums. I've seen them first hand. But these fits are worse than tantrums. They are above and beyond what any tantrum is or should be. They are uncontrollable. She would lash out at everyone and everything, including her little brother whom she loves more than anyone else in the world.

At first I thought these breakdowns might be related to all the TV she had been watching lately. Towards the end of my pregnancy with Client Two and the weeks following his birth I was super tired so she got away with watching a lot of TV so I could rest. TV watching became a bad habit that was consuming too many hours a day. Anyone, myself included, gets grumpy when she sits around and watches TV all day. So, I cut her TV down drastically to one or two episodes of a favorite show or one movie a day. It helped a little bit with the grumpiness and some of the smaller fits, but the big blowouts were still happening. Then, I found an article on food dye in one of my parenting magazines.

Skimming through the article, I found that food dyes, especially Red 40, can make kids go CRAZY. In fact, the description of the kids fits and tantrums fell perfectly in line with the way Client One had been acting. So I did more research. Did you know that food dyes have actually been outlawed in a few countries? While food dyes have not been proven to cause ADHD or other similar disorders, they can provoke them. They can help to tip the scale in a negative direction. Kids, like Client One, that have a lot of energy can be most affected in a negative way, making them act out in an uncontrollable manner. Sometimes these symptoms from food dye are confused with ADHD and often misdiagnosed. All these kids need is a change in diet that does not load their systems up with artificial food dyes. (I am not saying that all ADHD children can be treated by changing their diet. Some children may need actual medication.) These artificial dyes provide nothing to food beyond color. They are pretty much unnecessary, and yet they are in almost everything. I started pulling down all her snacks and foods off the shelf and was bewildered at how many "healthy" things had food dye. Some you expect (Fruit Loops have food dye- shocker, I know.) while others were not as obvious (why did applesauce need food dye?). So, we made a trip to the store for all natural, dye free foods. Luckily, Aldi has a brand called "Simply Natural" that provided us with a variety of kid snacks like fruit bites.

Since we have changed her diet, her attitude has changed with leaps and bounds. Now, whenever she has the occasional snack or treat with food dye, we can see an almost instantaneous reaction. My mother, who has been teaching for twenty-something years, was originally a bit skeptical of the whole food dye thing until she say the effects of a snow cone. Client One went off the walls throwing an uncontrollable fit because the blanket in her lap wasn't situated correctly. My mother admitted that if she had not known any better, she would have thought Client One was ADHD or worse.

Most days, we can go through the day completely avoiding food dyes and those days are good and mostly drama-free. I mean, Client One is three, so tantrums ARE going to happen and no amount of diet manipulation can change that. I do let her have the occasional treat of food dye, but I try to limit to non-red and only one thing a day to keep her from exploding.

Now, I am not a medical professional. I took one science class in college and I flunked it really badly. I can't tell you if food dye is making your kid cray-cray, but it has helped us a lot by removing it. Maybe it can help you, too.