Shopping With Kids or Babies is Very Hard So Are Some Stores With Great Return Policies

Shopping With Kids or Babies is Hard So Are Some Stores With Great Return Policies:

Every time I shop with either one of my children something can go wrong. (Someone has a tantrum, or is tired or hungry) Then I have to grab what I can and get out of the store ASAP!
So I am making this list in case you bought something out of impulse, desperation or is went on sale or you changed your mind. It's hard enough to make decisions as women but with unpredictable babies/toddlers in tow it can seem impossible.

Target: I love Target! Their Up and Up store brand is super cheap and great quality but besides that they will take back anything without a receipt or tag because they track your purchases through the card you used. Paid with cash? No problem they will use your ID and give you a credit and you can do this 2 times every 12 months, you can use other people's ID's too ;). It also doesn't matter how long ago you purchased the item.

Victorias Secret: Since I live in their PINK Collection I go there and shop online A lot! The online store and catalog has a No Sale is Final return policy. That means if you bought it two years ago you can still mail it back and return it! Yay!
The in store policy is 90 days and they will do Price adjustments within 14 days if something just went on sale. It's good to hold onto those receipts and tags since they are extra lenient if you have them.

Nordstrom: Everyone has heard the story (which I don't know if it's true) of the lady that returned a car tire to Nordstrom claiming she bought it there. It's not really like that but you don't need a receipt you just keep the tags and even if it's been three years you can get cash back. With no tags a store credit. I heart them!

Bed Bath and Beyond: They also have no time period, no receipt required and you can get a credit. I once returned a three year old broken lamp and got the full credit for it!

Costco: They track everyone's purchases so no receipt required and you can return almost anything whenever you want to. I know someone who has been getting new patio furniture this way for years!

Kohls: No time limit again. With a receipt full refund without a credit!

Macy's: 180 day return policy just keep the sticker they give you and get a refund.

Start keeping a receipt/sticker/tag box if you shop at any of these stores and keep your merchandise in decent condition. It doesn't have to be brand new and unworn to return it.

For Tired Moms..Here is a New Best Friend

Newfound Beauty Product

I just bought this for my dark circles since I haven't slept in days. It seems like everyone has some kind of sickness or the swine flu and I had a baby teething on top of it.
The concealer Erase Paste by Benefit actually covers and then Brightens the eyes! I look rested and awake! (At least I can fake it) :)

Milfymom chosen as featured Blogger for Radical Parenting!

Click Here to check us out!!

Vanessa Van Petten guest blogs for our Baby Blog!

 We will be posting guest blogging articles over the course of the week from Radical Parenting . Hope you enjoy the insight into our children's minds as much as we did! (it even helped us give perspective to how we relate to our own friends/family)


Teacup Parenting


We have all heard of helicopter parenting. You know, the kind of parents that are uber involved in every aspect of their child’s life and sort of buzz and run circles around them as they grow up.
I work with a lot of parents and kids, I hear from a lot of parents and kids, and I spend all day reading about parents and kids today. Something about the term helicopter parenting wasn’t fitting right with the kinds of questions and problems that parents and youth bring to me and talk about.
Teacup parenting is a much better fit.

I do not want to offend anyone with this post, I am just simply stating a trend that I see in the parenting community. Some of the traits of teacup parenting are good, and some, in my opinion are a bit scary.

1. Cherished Possession
Like a teacup heirloom, children are often treated as their most cherished possession. This is great!

2. Teacups Break Easily
This one is not so good, many of the kids I mentor and went to school with can break at any moment. When they do not get their way, like do not get a class schedule they want or cannot get driven to a place they want to go they literally crumble.

3. Once It Gets Chipped, It Feels Ruined
Many members of my generation feel the need to be perfect all the time. When something bad happens or do not get a perfect grade, they feel unworthy, like a bad person and ruined. I wish this was not the case and realize that chips and smudges build character and we learn from them, they are not to displayed prominently or tarnish your character.

4. Want to Display a Beautiful Set
There is absolutely nothing wrong with parents who brag and talk about their kids, but recently I see parents putting their kids on display like they are going up for auction: “Carrie is applying to Harvard and Yale, she has a 4.2 GPA and a 90 percentile SAT score, she plays tennis in the Junior Olympics, any takers, anyone? going once, going twice…”

5. Want to be like the Others
Parents especially want their kids to fit in and be a perfect part of the family and uphold all of your values. This is not always the case. There is a lot of pressure on kids to not only succeed, but succeed in what their parents want them to do. We need to be different, we strive to be different, we do not fit into a set.

6. Only Feed it High Quality Tea
Again, not always a bad thing. But many parents are ob.sess.ed. with the idea of only high quality, organic, positive energy, luxury, natural foods and products on, in or near their kids. Unlike a teacup, we do not get stained when we eat a big mac, and many kids are now afraid of regular food and have developed all sorts of crazy food allergies because of it.

7. The Quality Reflects Your Taste and Status
Teacups or a tea set often reflects the owners taste and status depending on the price and style of the set. I know that kids reflect on their parents, but if we mess-up, we mess-up let us get a little dirty and wear mismatching clothes if we want to, it is our way of experimenting.

8. You Do Not Want It to Leave the Collection
I have known parents to move to their kid’s college town or take an apartment off-campus for visiting times. Unlike a teacup, we need to leave the home permanently (some parents are looking forward to this day!)

9. Must Be Very Delicate with It
We fall, we get in trouble, we lose sports games we feel general ickiness. You cannot–and should not protect us from this. We need to feel those bumps so that when we grow up we do not fall apart at the first curve in the road.

10. All Teacups Have Essentially the Same Function
A teacup, although it can have all different designs and styles, is essentially just used to drink tea. Kids on the other hand do not all grow up to be mommies and daddies. I am now 23 and oh my goodness I cannot believe that some of my friends are deciding to get married and have kids (freak out!), but some others have decided they really do not want to have a family and are getting a lot of grief from their parents. We might lead a different kind of life than you and I hope this is ok.
Not everyone is a teacup parent. Are you? Do you know any teacup parents?




This article is by Vanessa Van Petten who runs RadicalParenting.com a parenting blog written from the kid's perspective with 20 teen writers. Their goal is to give parents a secret view into the world of kids and youth.

Babies R Us and Toys R Us "One Night Only Sale" Coupons!

Babies r us and Toys r us are having a private sale! In case they didn't email you about it here is the link to the coupons you need to print out to get the discounts! The Sale is only this Wednesday night October 28th 2009 from 5-9pm.

Click here to print the coupons!

Baby/ Toddler Blogging: Sippy Cup Review

After buying so many sippy cups for babies and toddlers it seemed that parents where having trouble cleaning them after a while. The multi valve sippy cups and straw ones are the toughest and can get mold inside that can't be removed. So here are the reviews for Sippy Cups.

We decieded they must be:

Easy to clean

Leak proof (like for real not just say it on the package)

Cute of course!

Inexpensive

And have only one valve so there are no removable parts to clean

These are good for toddlers or 12 months+





These are good for 7 months+ and beginners because of the handles



For a first timers sippy cup about 4 months+

Does your baby ever poop and just the wrong Time/place?

It seems like no matter how much I plan ahead of time. Both my kids poop just as the wrong time and place.

Like when everyones buckled up and ready to go

Or I'm at a friends house (and they don't have kids) and we stink up their house. Some people are very uptight about this, plus it's like now where can I change them without getting looks. They want to send me down the the dungeon somewhere.

Or out somewhere where there are no changing tables (there should be a law about public restrooms and changing tables!)and I have to get creative (use a bench, the car, the stroller, my lap or anywhere I can balance their little bodies). It just draws a lot of attention when it's poop and people start making faces.

Am I oversensitive or does anyone else ever feel this way? We gotta do what we gotta do as moms you know?!

Before Baby there was you

Remember when..........

- You saw a toddler having a tantrum in public and thought "that will never be me"


- You saw a baby crawling in a public place and thought "I would never let my baby do that!"


- You saw a babys pacifier fall to the floor and mommy picked it up, wiped it off and gave it back and thought "eew"


- You saw a mom changing her baby in her car in a parking lot and thought "why isn't she using a changing table?!"


- You went to a public restroom to change your baby and realized not all bathrooms have changing tables


- You went to the mall the first time with baby and realized you now need to locate all elevators everywhere you go


- Poop was not something you counted or took notice to


- Getting dressed did not include the requirement of "will spit up blend into this?"


- You gave your first evil look to your phone when it dared to ring at naptime

Buying a Stroller is like buying a Car

Shopping for Strollers sucks!

Since shopping for strollers is like buying a car, you need to know what you want and if it's gotten good reviews. We looked for:

1. Easy to maneuver

2. Less than $600 (and btw if you don't need a car seat the strollers are even less by themselves)

3. Large enough bottom basket

4. Cupholders or pockets for mom

5. Reclines for naps

6. Lightweight

7. Fits easily in car

8. Collapses easily

So I polled moms to find out if and why they love their strollers. The prices on Amazon seemed the cheapest and many are available for FREE shipping. These were the ones that received rave reviews:

Toddler boots should not cost as much as mine!

Finding boots for a reasonable price for a baby or toddler should be easy. Thinking "Oh they are smaller than my size they should be less expensive" Not true! Ugg, Emu and Bearpaw prices are so inflated when the latter two are just Ugg knockoffs! 
Comparing Payless to Sketchers to Target to Childrens Place and Nordstrom (I know they are way expensive but I was just curious) the average price range was between $30-$40 and I saw some for over $100+! That seemed steep for boots that will be grown out of in a matter of months.  But here are some cute deals I found:

Everything's a Virus

Why do we pay for health insurance when most times babies or children are sick the Doctor just looks at them, takes their temp and tells us it's a virus and must run it's course.

I hate that! I want Doctors to have magical remedies to stop the suffering my child is experiencing. 

Well since our Doctors don't graduate from Hogwarts we need to just pay our copay and go home to take care of our little ones.

Also I thought about writing this because of the recent Tylenol recall and a few months back there was that Motrin scare leaving us to be afraid of medicine when our children have fevers and pain and need it.

So here are some things I found to help with the attack of the VIRUS. If your child has any of these symptoms there are some remedies you can use to ease everyone's frustrations:

Fever over 99F

Diarrhea or Vomiting

No Appetite

Cough

Stuffy Nose

Extreme Diaper Rash (possibly bloody or very raw)

FEVER/PAINS: Obviously you can use Infant or childrens Tylenol or Motrin but I always buy the store brand Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS all have great store brands which usually go for about $5 for infant drops compared to brand names being around $9








DIARRHEA/VOMITING/NO APPETITE: Ya fun stuff. These are the worst because you feel horrible but are grossed out by cleaning it up. If baby will drink they are fine. Just avoid sugary drinks because they can make symptoms worse.
They don't necessarily have to eat, but it's best if they eat the BRAT diet:

Banana
Rice
Applesauce
Toast

 And they are supposed to drink Pedialyte or anything with Electrolytes. (Which also comes in store brands at Rite Aid and CVS) My daughter hated all the flavors. This one is flavorless and you can mix it with something or have it alone for about $6 for name brand!

They now make Popsicles for about $6 a box for name brand.




And to my surprise CVS and Walgreens make dissolving Electrolyte Strips that are flavored and hydrated your child without drinking!

These are amazing! They are $4.99 and you can go to CVS or CVS Buy Electrolyte Strips

But since kids get sick and you urgently need what you need you probably want to run to the store!

COUGH/STUFFY NOSE: Unfortunately there isn't much you can do medicine wise for these for small children and babies. You just need to use a bulb to empty their nose as often as you can and use a cool mist humidifier in their room (this Hello Kitty one comes with a night light too!). They can also drink chamomile tea.

DIAPER RASH: For girls this can be tricky because if it's an "angry" looking red it could be a yeast infection. Besides normal diaper creams/paste you can also used Hydro cortisone Cream mixed with Antifungal ointment to relieve a severe rash. You can even mix Neosporin in there too. When most Pediatricians write a prescription for a diaper rash, it is the same as mixing these together. It works like a charm. (Use this only if the rash is extremely red or skin is broken and other diaper creams aren't helping)