Knitting Zeal

CleanSmart alcohol-free hand sanitizer for cold and flu season

Alcohol Free Hand Sanitizer, finally!

Recently I received this new hand sanitizer product, CleanSmart, to try out and review.  With a kid in school exposed to lots of germs, as well as my own weekly volunteer job in his elementary school, I use a lot of hand sanitizer.  I spend one afternoon each week in the elementary school's library, handling the books kids take home.  We sanitize the books when they are returned and I sanitize my hands constantly while there.  My hands dry out fast, especially in the winter months, so the alcohol in the traditional hand gels do not help.  CleanSmart is supposed to be different and work just as well as alcohol based sanitizers.  

I received two types of CleanSmart to try, a bottle of  hand sanitizer in a gel consistency and a spray bottle of a liquid version.  I keep the spray bottle in my car to use on the go.  I like that it dries fast and is not quite as messy as the gel sanitizer I had been using, which I often somehow "drop" the gel while trying to use it.  So far the CleanSmart sanitizer has not dried out my skin and I feel comfortable letting my son use it.  The company claims that the product is "naturally moisturizing."  The bottle hasn't leaked either, something that I was concerned about initially.  

CleanSmart contains replicated Hypochlorous acid, "the only non-toxic germ killer that destroys the viruses, bacteria and pathogens that can harm your family."  I am not a scientist with access to a lab to test out the company's claims, but I did look up Hypochlorous acid online to learn that it is formed when adding chlorine to water and is oftne used in sanitiation related to food/kitchens.  There is no alcohol listed on the ingredient list, whereas the regular hand sanitizer gel I use contains 68% alcohol.  If you are looking for an alcohol free product, then this is good for you.

The CleanSmart product is not scented but immediately out of the bottle smells lightly like chlorine or a pool.  The scent seemed to fade immediately and did not leave my hands scented.  I liked that as some scents set off my allergies!  Here's hoping to have few colds and no flu this winter! I'll be sharing the extra samples sent with some of my mom-friends so they can be protected too.

CleanSmart won't be available in stores until next year, but in the mean time can be purchased online at CleanSmartHome.com. 

 

Disclosure:  I received samples of the product to initiate this editorial review.  No monetary compensation was receieved. The opinions shared here are mine. 

Aaah-choo, tackling fall allergies and school

This school year has brought us lots of changes, challenges and adjustments.  My son started kindergarten in September, in a full day program at a new school.  It's meant figuring out new routines and adapting a new schedule.  The first week of school he started showing symptoms of seasonal allergies, especially after a playdate at our friends' home where one of his buddies had picked lots of ragweed and put it in jars all over the house!  His reaction was bad!  It was that night that we began our now nightly routine of using allergy medicine before bed, since that's an easy time for us to remember it.  I also began checking the pollen reports for our area and learned that the weeds were listed as high.  Having a constant cough and the sniffles for the first month of school made the adjustment a bit of a challenge, but he is now doing great!  

As Children's Claritin Mom Crew member, I received some great tips to share with my readers regarding helping kids deal with allergies at the busy time of year:

1. Be sure to have Children’s Claritin, the #1 pediatrician-recommended non-drowsy allergy brand, on hand!

2. Multi-vitamins are building blocks to having a strong immune system. Make taking a multi-vitamin part of your child’s daily routine. My son takes a dye-free multi vitimin, a probiotic, and a fiber gummy every morning with breakfast!

3. Let there be light! Mold doesn't like sunlight, so try to keep your curtains open during the day. Should be easy during the summer months!

4. Did you know that most pillows trap allergens, dust mites, and bacteria? Monitor the cleanliness of the pillow your child with allergies sleeps on and replace if necessary.

5. Back to school season means lots of laundry for many moms. Be sure to remove laundry from the washing machine promptly. Allowing wet clothes to sit in the washer means mold can quickly grow there.

6. Monitor pollen counts and adjust outdoor before and after school activities accordingly. Dry, windy days can be particularly high in pollen.

7. Showering or bathing at the end of the day as opposed to the morning can be helpful in removing allergens from body surfaces and hair. 

8. Stay hydrated! Always send your child to school with a bottle of water. Drinking lots of clear fluids through the day can help get rid of toxins and flush out body.

9. Peak pollen production typically occurs in early morning, so try to plan outside activities at other times of the day.

10. My son keeps packets of tissues in his pockets and in his school bag.  I also let his teacher know about why he was congested. 

So while this first week of October our weather has shown us a taste of summer with high temps and humidity, we have a good handle on fall allergies now.  

As a member of the Children’s Claritin Mom Crew, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as I see fit. No monetary compensation has taken place and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience.

 

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My soccer champ

My little guy is playing real soccer this season on a real team with actual uniforms.  They play real games too in their teeny tiny cleats.  It cracks me up to see a bunch of five year olds chasing the soccer ball across the mini field.  Up until now he has played instructional soccer at the Y and for our township which was basically not soccer and just learning how to kick a ball and run.  This season he's playing for our local soccer club and so far he is enjoying it.  He has a game every Saturday.  This weekend was his third game against another kindergarten team.  The kids had fun and scored lots of goals, but they don't keep score because they are supposed to be playing for fun and sportsmanship, not competition at this age.  (Thankfully!) 

My kiddo is not very aggressive, which is a characteristic I like in him in most situations.  The exception, he is almost too polite on the soccer field. We've been trying to encourage him that it's ok to kick the ball away from other players and to jump into the action.  This weekend's game he figured out how to get in there and managed to score a goal with assistance from a teammate.  We were more excited than him.  He said to me, "I just gave the ball a little kick and it went in."  

Besides learning how to play on a team and improve his soccer skills, playing for the local soccer club means he also plays with all kids that are in kindergarten at his school.  While no one on his team is in his class this year, I hope that establishing these contacts will help as he grows in the school.  

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Kindergarten!!

So we officially have an elementary school student residing here.  No more preschool!  It was an exciting week leading up to the start of school, a day off and then one more day of school.  It went well for him.  I'm hoping next week's full week schedule goes just as well.  

He had agreed to do photos before his first bus ride.  While we were taking them, some of our neighbors walked past, and he quickly became embarrassed and disinterested in posing! Next year I'll have to take a few photos in the back yard!

He loved taking the school bus.  He met a neighbor who is on his bus and they have been sitting together.  His description of school was "it was awesome, I think."  So far they've spent time coloring and playing on the playground.  I'm sure they've done more, but that is what he remembers.  

The big change is eating lunch at school everyday. I packed his lunch the first day and he said he did not have enough time to eat it.  He wanted to buy lunch on Friday. He said he still didn't have enough time to eat everything but he did eat most of the main entree.  I am hoping that as the routine of lunch settles he'll figure out how to manage his time better.  We agreed that he could buy lunch some days after consulting the school menu.  I'm not convinced that it's healthy, like the school thinks, as they offer chocolate and strawberry flavored milk, dyed yogurts, and french fries are a veg.  But, it is teaching him some independence by having to be responsible for selecting his lunch choices and buying it.  

I was excited to pack his first lunch.  The top photo is what I packed, although I swapped out the applesauce squeezie for an apple in the moring upon request.  The bottom picture is what came home.  He said he didn't have time to eat his yogurt and that the pretzel container made the food taste yucky. I did notice he had no problem eating the hershey kisses! He ate most of his apple.  It's going to be an interesting year.

 

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Getting ready for school: packing lunch bags

Getting ready for school: packing lunch bags

There are just about two and a half weeks left of summer, which means its time to get ready for the kiddo to start "big kid school!" He'll be in full day kindergarten this year (gulp) and will need to take lunch to school, along with snacks, daily.  I am more stressed about this than necessary.  To make it fun, I've been assembling supplies for packing school lunches.  I had about half of the things already and supplemented with a few new tools.  

At the end of last school year I bought a new back pack and matching lunch bag (the red one) from Lands End because they were less than half price on sale.  At Target this month, the kiddo saw the Lego minifig lunch bag and asked very nicely if he could have it for kindergarten.  

I bought the square ice packs and the Reduce water week bottles, both found at Wegmans.  (I love the water week bottles.  They come with a fridge tray and it gives him one bottle a day that can be set up on Sunday and used all week. I order sports tops for them too from the Reduce Everyday website, since I think they will be easier to use for him.)

The sandwich cutters I bought a couple of years ago.  They are a pack of puzzle pieces that cut up a sandwich into a working puzzle.  I love them.  The kid has decided he no longer likes sandwiches, so these might not get used much this year!

We've been using the fabric snack bag for a while now and has held up well.  I do handwash it occasionally, but it usually only holds pretzels, so it's easy to keep clean. 

I have a tiny obsession with bento boxes and would love to pack a fun bento box lunch for my son.  I am not convinced that he would love it as much as me!  I discoverd Marine Parents on instagram and on her blog and love the cute lunches packed.  I do have some ideas for how to pack him some fun lunches using the boxes I have and hopefully as the year progresses we will both have fun with it!  I'm really hoping his picky eating habits start to fade too!  That will make packing lunches much easier too!

This is going to be a fun and exciting year here! We are almost ready for back to school!  Are you?

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