I recently had the pleasure of e-corresponding with John Flansburgh of the popular band They Might Be Giants. I was stoked when he offered to send me a copy of their new Here Comes Science DVD/CD for review. It has been a great hit with my kids with fun animated videos corresponding to science themes including my kids’ favorites: I am a Paleontologist, The Bloodmobile, and My Brother the Ape. This educational DVD Is a great purchase, with catchy songs and videos you can feel good about your kids enjoying.  The songs, like most TMBG songs, are high energy and fun, and my kids have enjoyed bouncing wildly around our house to the tunes of this album.
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How many items have been lost by your kids this school year?  As a parent, lost items can be both frustrating and expensive!  I was elated to find my daughter’s new jacket in the school’s Lost & Found this morning… in the past I haven’t been quite so lucky!  I immediately came home to write her name and phone number inside one of the coat pockets, wondering how well this will hold up through the wash.  I was reminded of a custom label company with great kids labels: ID ME Labels.  They have an array of self adhesive labels made for school gear (notebooks, lunch boxes, backpacks, water bottle labels, etc) as well as a line of fabric labels that would help keep your jackets, tote bags, and nicer clothes from disappearing.
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Halloween is quickly approaching! Now is the time to take the initiative and think Green with Halloween, along with the other big holidays approaching over the next couple of months. There are great tips for greening your holidays all over the web, one great list can be found at Kids Konserve. Many of you may be familiar with some of their cool reusable lunchboxes and other eco food gear, if not check out my Kids Konserve stainless steel lunchbox article. An added bonus for making your October (or November) more Green: KidsKonserve has extended their discount coupon code through November 30th. Use Kids Konserve Coupon Code “xobo” to get 15% off your next purchase!
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My five year old son still has trouble opening his Laptop Lunches Lunch Box. For those of you unfamiliar with Laptop Lunches, you have to push in a clasp while lifting the lid at the same time–can be quite tricky for the younger crowd.  Now that he is 5, I wanted him to feel good about lunchtime at preschool and find a lunchbox he could successfully open on his own. I also wanted to avoid vinyl lunchboxes and get a lunch box that is dishwasher safe.  The lunchbox we decided on is the Klip-It Slimline Quaddie Lunchbox. This lunchbox is made in New Zealand of BPA-free plastic (polypropylene) and is top-rack dishwasher-safe. After 2 weeks of testing, we are quite happy with this waste-free lunchbox!
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One of the newest products entering the waste-free lunchbox market looks pretty cool: the Goodbyn Lunchbox. These funky character lunchboxes come in four colors and a set of hundreds of stickers for decorating to one’s liking. Generally speaking, kids + stickers = fun, so this lunchbox looks like it would be an easy sell for most kids. I think this plastic lunch box would be most popular for kids ages 3-8.
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Fabkins sent me 2 of their kid friendly 100% cotton napkins and they have been a big hit in my kids lunchboxes.  I must admit that although I have packed mostly waste-free lunches for my kids over the past few years, I have ignored the importance of a cloth napkin in making a lunchbox truly waste-free.  I know my kids aren’t clean enough to not need a napkin! Now, when I stick a cloth one in their lunchbox, I know I am saving 1 (or a few) paper napkins at school from going in the trash can.
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Thanks to Gudrun of Kitchen Gadget Girl I realized that xobobox is mentioned in the September issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine! I feel honored to have the recognition on page 28 of their magazine where it reads:

“Looking for new ways to pack lunch for school (or the office?) We’re inspired by the fresh, affordable recipes at chefann.com and the savvy tips and cool lunchboxes at xobobox.com.”
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