Category Archives: Sponsored

Parenting, Sponsored, Uncategorized

How To Get Inside the Teen Brain & Stop Medicine Abuse

Have you heard of dextromethorphan abuse? I hadn’t either.  Unfortunately, a lot of teens have. Only they probably call it DXM, Dex, Triple Cs, Syrup Head or even Skittles.

DXM is an ingredient found in most over the counter cough medicines and is a safe medicine that alleviates coughs…when used appropriately! Some teens, however, take excessive doses of DXM to get high. The side effects from cough medicine abuse aren’t pretty and include vomiting, hallucinations, loss of motor control and inhibited breathing and heart rate. When combined with other substances such as drugs and alcohol, it can be very dangerous and even lethal.

I recently attended a forum as part of the Stop Medicine Abuse campaign called “Inside the Teen Brain: Is There an App for That?” It was very informative and I’m thrilled to share this important information with you all!

The brain of an adolescent is only about 80% formed.  During this time, the young brain has more excitatory synapses than inhibitory synapses.  Darby Fox described this phenomenon perfectly with the simile, “Teen brains are like Ferraris with no brakes. It is our job as parents to be the brakes for them.” The information in this post will help all of us know how to push that pedal on the left and see those brake lights while our teens are trying to floor it!

The Stop Medicine Abuse prevention campaign started 3 years ago and the insights are helping us get inside the teen brain! The fear of social consequences emerged as a leading motivator in preventing teens from abusing cough medicine. Teens described the unpleasant physical and social consequences of their peers who get high on DXM in terms such as “sloppy,” threw up,” “acting like jerks,” and “nobody wants to be around them.”

Stop Med Abuse info 1Much is reported about “peer pressure” in teen friend groups.  And while that can lead to bad decisions, it can also keep teens in line by preventing them from doing something that is considered uncool.  And many things about DXM abuse are just that – uncool.  The campaign uses the negative perception of DXM abuse and teen’s fear of social disapproval to make DXM more undesirable.

The specific target audience for prevention of DXM abuse is teens between 14 and 19 who have considered using DXM to get high but have not yet tried it. When teens are curious about DXM abuse, because they have a friend who has tried it or heard about it in pop culture, they look for more information online. The goal of the campaign has been to figure out how to bring strategy to life in a way that educates the “fence sitter” teens without exposing those who know nothing about cough medicine abuse.  They have accomplished this by targeting teens WHILE they are searching online for information on DXM.

This award-winning effort (WhatisDXM.com) has used real-life testimonials, games, apps, and bait-and-switch videos to interrupt teens’ searches and change their perceptions of this behavior. And most importantly, teen abuse of OTC cough medicine is at an all-time low. The abuse rate is about 1 in 30, which is down from 1 in 20.  That’s fantastic progress but that means there is still a teen in about every class abusing cough medicine, so the effort needs to continue in full force!

In response to the question “Inside the Teen Brain: Is There an App for That?” Yes, there IS an app for that.  No, you can’t actually get in there and disable the “teen ‘tude” or use it to figure out how to get them to clean their rooms, but the DXM Labworks App has taken an interactive approach that gets inside the teen brain to show the effects of couch medicine abuse.  Stop Med Abuse App 2The app is a video simulation appropriately using robots as a play on words for the common reference to a DXM high as “robo-tripping.” In the app, teens have to complete tasks while (virtually) under the influence of DXM.  One “task” is to keep the robot from puking, which is one of the most common side effects of cough medicine abuse.  As Jimmy Fallon would say, “Ew!” Each time the teen is unable to complete a task, he or she loses a “robot friend” in the app to simulate the social consequences in real life.

The premise behind techniques such as the robot app is if you make an educational message engaging, the teens will soak it up and pay attention. Since teens are spending an average of 7 minutes on these types of PSAs, this technique is definitely having an impact!

  • Teens have been exposed to the integrated campaign in the digital space 525 million times.
  • Teens have directly engaged with the campaign’s content online (viewed, shared, clicked, commented) more than 21 million times.
  • Teens have visited the website one million times.
  • The apps have been downloaded almost 300,000 times.

I know what you are asking now.  As parents, how can we help our teens if we find out they are considering abusing cough medicine?!?

  • First, we need to make sure they know we understand it isn’t easy being a teen and we will always be there for them if they make a mistake.  If we are solely punitive, they won’t come to us for help or with questions.
  • Risk messaging has to be credible – don’t spout off scare tactics if you don’t have facts to back them up.
  • Disapproval should be focused on the behavior and consequences, not the teen. The abuse is bad; the abuser is not.
  •   Make it a natural, open conversation, not a lecture.  Also pick the right time.  If you try to have a chat right before they are going out on a Saturday night, they won’t hear you.  You will sound like the grown-ups in the Peanuts cartoons!
  • Don’t generalize by saying things like, “Don’t do it. There are consequences.” Give them specifics they can relate to such as, “Cough medicine is designed to suppress coughs so if you take too much, it will suppress additional things in your body like your heart rate and breathing.”

Whew.  As parents of teens, the worry of what could happen is overwhelming at times.  But try to remember that teens who learn a lot about the risks of drugs from their parents are 50% less likely to use drugs! So keep those communication lines open! Plus we have great educational programs such as Stop Medicine Abuse to help us keep our kids on the right track!

Stop Med Abuse info 2

Check out the links below for more information:

This blog post is sponsored by the CHPA’s Stop Medicine Abuse educational program. I was compensated to attend the event but all opinions (and teen stress induced gray hairs) are my own.

Cooking, Crafts, Giveaway, Sponsored

7-Day Switch Up & The Most Fun You’ll Ever Have Cleaning Your Floor

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Thanks to Viva® Vantage® for sponsoring this post and for helping me clean up my messes!  

We sometimes have an odd way that we clean our kitchen floor. We turn it into an ice skating rink, except instead of ice, we cover it with water and instead of skates, we use paper towels.  Yes, paper towels!

I pour a bunch of water all over the floor, wrap the kids’ feet in paper towels and let them slide around the room until the floor is (mostly) clean and (mostly) dry.

We don’t do this often because it tends to end in someone wiping out or getting out of the designated “skating area” and soaking the adjoining hardwood.  Plus, the scooting usually causes the paper towels to rip pretty quickly so we end up going through multiple rolls!  But when I DO let them do it, it’s always a lot of fun.  Until the tears and/or yelling begin.

When Viva® Vantage® asked me to try out their paper towels, I thought I’d give it the floor skating test.  The boys were already asleep so I did the test myself.  No wonder the kids laugh so loud – skating around the kitchen was quite entertaining (and I didn’t even fall)!  And the best part: I didn’t have to keep rewrapping my feet because the paper towels stretch, so they didn’t rip!!  I only went through a small part of one roll during my test.  Score!  Speaking of score, maybe I should give them hockey sticks next time they skate the floor clean.  Or maybe not.

I shared this idea recently with some fellow bloggers at the Viva® Vantage® 7-Day Switch Up Party.  It was a great event where we learned more about Viva® Vantage® while having loads of fun!

Viva Vantage 1

We started off the day by decorating glasses with paint pens.  Getting to sit around and “color” was pretty fun, even though my glass was the equivalent of a stick figure to the Mona Lisa masterpieces around me.   Viva Vantage Glass Paint

Next we prepped food while learning some great uses for Viva® Vantage®.  I never knew I could put a paper towel under a cutting board to keep it from slipping on the counter.Viva Vantage food prep

One of my favorite tips was using the paper towels as a colander,   especially because it seems like my colander is always dirty when I need to use it! Viva Vantage colander

It wasn’t all work and no play, of course.  We got to devour all the yummy food.  Nom nom nom! viva vantage food

Then it was back to work again.  Doing dishes!  But the great scrubbing power of the paper towels made cleaning a piece of cake.  I for one hate using a nasty old sponge that’s been sitting around. With the sponge-like absorbency of Viva® Vantage®, sponges can be a thing of the past!Viva Vantage dishes

We were all sent home with rolls of  Viva® Vantage® to do our own 7-Day Switch Up. My favorite feature of these towels when using them at home – besides the fact that they STRE-E-ETCH – is that they don’t leave any icky lint behind when cleaning glass or mirrors.  Viva Vantage group

I invite you to kick off your own “7-Day Switch Up” by visiting http://bit.ly/1T3mdFX for a Viva® Vantage® coupon to purchase and try the product yourself. After experiencing the stretchy-strength and great scrubbing power of Viva® Vantage®, return to the website to dish about your switch and enter for a chance to instantly win a $100 gift card!

Here are some 7-Day Switch Up tips:

  1. Ditch the bulky colander in favor of a paper towel. Place veggies and fruit on a sheet of Viva® Vantage® paper towels under a running faucet to function as a strainer; the stretchy-strength will keep the towel intact when wet.
  2. Keep lettuce fresh longer by wrapping a paper towel around a head of lettuce to soak up excess moisture.
  3. Hand wash and dry wine glasses and other stemware using the cloth-like texture of Viva® Vantage® paper towels for a sparkling finish.
  4. Replace the need for a vegetable scrubber by using the great scrubbing power of Viva® Vantage® paper towels to properly clean mushrooms, potatoes, etc.
  5. Need to chill white wine quickly? Don’t dilute it with ice; wrap a damp paper towel around the bottle and put in the freezer to chill rapidly.
  6. Slip a damp paper towel under your cutting board to prevent it from shifting while slicing and dicing.
  7. Need to get that grime off your stove? The great scrubbing power of Viva® Vantage® paper towels allows you to clean the toughest messes and restore your kitchen’s shine.

Thanks Viva® Vantage® for sponsoring this post and inviting me to participate in this campaign (and par-taaay!).  While this is a sponsored post written on behalf of Viva® Vantage®, all thoughts and opinions are my own! Photo credit to Big Bash Photo.

 

Cooking, Life, Sponsored, Uncategorized

Pizza Pasta Recipe That Everyone Will Love

Hillshire Pizza Pasta
Thanks to Hillshire Brands for helping me share this recipe by sponsoring this post via the Mom It Forward Blogger Network. All thoughts, opinions and yummmmms are my own.

My kids all have very different taste buds so most dinners range from a solo whine to a full out chorus of complaints.

When I cook something that all 4 will happily eat, bells and whistles sound and fireworks go off.  This meal is one of those rare moments.

Since it is a family favorite in our house, I thought I’d share it with you!

We actually refer to it as Panther Pizza Pasta because it is my go-to dish for the high school football team pasta dinners.  I triple the recipe but always bring home an empty dish!

The beauty of this recipe is that you get the entire food pyramid in one dish!  Plenty of protein from the sausages, beef and pepperoni, bell peppers give you your veggie serving, pasta for grains, dairy is taken care of by the mozzarella and the tomato satisfies the fruit group. Yes, a tomato is botanically a fruit regardless of what the supreme court ruled way back when! 😉  Mushrooms are really none of the above, but they are still good for you.

This is one of those recipes that I usually don’t measure ingredients but I did this time…just for you!  You can use different “toppings” every time you make it – it will seem like a different dish and you’ll never get tired of it!

Print
Pizza Pasta
Author: 
Recipe type: One Dish Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 16 ounces Rigatoni
  • 36-48 ounces Spaghetti Sauce*
  • 3 cups Mozzarella Cheese
  • ½ pound Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage
  • ½ pound Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
  • ½ pound Ground Beef
  • ½ pound Pepperoni Stick
  • 2-3 Bell Peppers
  • 1 pound Mushrooms
  • Other pizza "toppings"
  • 1 Additional cup of Mozzarella Cheese, if desired.
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cook pasta per directions for al dente.
  3. Dice Peppers and Mushrooms.
  4. Cut half of Smoked Sausage and Pepperoni into small chunks.
  5. Cook Hot Sausage and Ground Beef in a skillet on medium-high until brown.
  6. Add chunks of Pepperoni and Smoked Sausage and add Peppers and Mushrooms.
  7. Cook until Peppers are soft.
  8. Drain.
  9. In a large pot, combine the Rigatoni, Spaghetti Sauce*, Meat/Veggie mixture and 3 cups of Mozzarella Cheese.
  10. Cut other half of Smoked Sausage and Pepperoni into slices.
  11. Put in large casserole dish and top with Mozzarella Cheese and sliced Smoked Sausage and Pepperoni.
  12. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
  13. *Make it a bit saucier than you think you should...because it dries out some when it bakes.

*You may notice that there is no pepperoni in the photo…because I missed that item on my shopping list.  Oops!  But just goes to show there are many variations for the recipe, right??

Hillshire Ingredient Collage with text

I shopped for my ingredients at Safeway.  Did you know they have eliminated the need for paper coupons with their J4U program?  I always have good intentions when it comes to couponing but I either (1) forget to bring them with me or (2) try to use them after they have expired.  With J4U, you can get eCoupons linked to your Safeway card that will be deducted from your bill.  No paper, no cutting, no organizing! No brainer!

Hillshire coupon

Now go check out these other great recipes in the Hillshire Brands and Safeway Blog Tour! I am definitely making the zombie and mummy ideas for Halloween!

Community, Life, Parenting, Sponsored

I Know Everything – Teen Driver Safety Week #JustDrive

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Teen Safe Driver Week Infographic 5
Disclosure: FAAR is compensating me for promoting I Know Everything and they provided me with statistics and research data but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was honored to be asked by the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility to help promote their program for Teen Driver Safety Week.  I Know Everything is a program designed to encourage conversations between parents and their teens to help teens stay safe while behind the wheel.  Please check out my public service announcement below – otherwise known as my first ever vlog! (And don’t ‘cha just loooove the screen shot it chose for the video preview?  Duck face gone wrong?? Also, if it is just a blank screen when you press play, expand it to full screen.)

Please take time this week to have conversations with your kids.  Below are the four questions to get you started.  Perhaps ask one per day and then make up your own! Would love for you to comment with the scenarios you come up with!

Teen Safe Driver Week Infographic 1

Teen Safe Driver Week Infographic 2

Teen Safe Driver Week Infographic 3

Teen Safe Driver Week Infographic 4

The I Know Everything survey results show why these conversations are crucial:

  • 25% did NOT know how to handle a passenger who is drinking in the car
  • 27% do NOT know how to safely get home when their driver has been drinking
  • 38% are NOT sure how to handle a friend distracting them while driving
  • Half (53%) of teen drivers say sometimes they find themselves in a situation behind the wheel they are not prepared for.

And I know I said it in the vlog, but it is worth repeating…Motor vehicle crashes remain the number one killer of teenagers ages 15 to 20, even though underage drinking and drunk driving among teens is down across the nation.

Even though it is illegal for people under 21 to drink any alcohol and drive, one-third of all teen drivers killed in vehicle crashes had a .01 BAC or higher in 2011.

Everyone shares the road – teens, adults, law enforcement, first responders – and we believe this education effort will save lives, making the roads safer for all.

Stay safe out there and #JustDrive.  Nothing else!

Life, Sponsored, Uncategorized

Check Out a New Way To Check Out #PayWithMyPhone

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verizon softcard photo 1
Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Verizon Wireless and I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The Softcard related content is provided by Verizon Wireless. All stories and opinions are my own.

I have a confession: I have check-out-a-phobia.

Even if I am 100% sure that my balance is paid off and/or I have sufficient funds in my bank account, I am always convinced that my credit or debit card will be denied when I’m paying at a store.  Always.

My fear stems from two nightmare trips.  To Costco.  Yes, COSTCO!  Yes, Costco BOTH times!

The first time was my fault.

While paying for a huge cart full of wonderful “necessities,” I swiped my debit card, entered my pin, 5978*, and then it happened.  The dreaded message flashed on the screen.  “Incorrect. Try again.”

I followed the instructions and tried again, pressing 5978, but harder this time.  Incorrect.

I entered the numbers very slowly and deliberately…5…9…7…8.  Incorrect.

I could feel my face getting hotter and hotter and I’m sure I was as red as a beet.

Even though I KNEW I had entered my correct pin I kept frantically trying to enter it over and over. And over.  Incorrect.  Incorrect.  Incorrect.

As I looked behind me and saw the line stretched to the back of the store (or so it seemed), I wiped my sweat covered brow and admitted defeat.  The cashier cancelled my transaction and painstakingly slowwwwwwly re-loaded the items into my cart.  I stood by the cart for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for Jim to come with backup funds.

About a minute before he arrived, I realized the problem.  I had loaned Jimmy my debit card.  And I had borrowed Jim’s card.

I was entering MY pin correctly.  But it wasn’t MY card!  I should have been entering JIM’S PIN!!!  I wanted to hide in a corner for a week but I had to relive the embarrassment all over again when I explained to Jim what happened.  I felt like such an idiot.  Oy Vey.

The second time wasn’t my fault, but that didn’t make it any less humiliating.

My long time readers may remember when I hosted the community outreach event “Trick or Treat, Give Me Something Good To Eat.”    What I never did tell you was that the day of the event, I had a last minute panic that the enormous mound of donations I had in my living room wasn’t enough.  I left early for the event to fill up a cart at – you guessed it – Costco.

This time when I swiped my card, the cashier gave me the raised-eyebrow-judgy-Judy look as she said “Your card has been declined.”  My jaw dropped and I’m sure my eyes were as big as saucers.  Of course, I prolonged the agony by asking her to swipe it again.  And again.

Just like the first story, I had to stand there while she cancelled my transaction and slowwwwwwwwwwwwwly re-loaded the items.  So there I was, standing by my cart – again – avoiding eye contact with the exceedingly long line of people behind me (because there’s ALWAYS an exceedingly long line at Costco!).

This time instead of calling Jim, I called my bank.  And found out my card number had been stolen.

I wanted to shout out to the cashier and everyone else in the store “Hey!  It wasn’t my fault! I had money in my account!  Really!!!” but instead I was a tad more subtle – I just loudly repeated portions of the conversation with my bank such as “CARD NUMBER COMPROMISED” and “ACCOUNT FROZEN FOR SECURITY REASONS” to make myself feel slightly less embarrassed.  Very slightly.

Jim ended up coming to the rescue again with his debit card. And he actually entered HIS pin number…so it worked!

I still get the shakes every time I enter Costco.

verizon softcard campaign banner

Recently, compromised accounts have been in the news a lot, fanning the flames of my check-out-a-phobia!  The most recent I’ve heard about is the millions of card numbers stolen when Home Depot had a huge data breach.  WTOP just published 5 Ways To Protect Yourself from Data Breaches, and #1 on the list states “Any technology that avoids you having your credit card in your hand in a store is safer.” verizon softcard ready to pay

That’s where Verizon’s Softcard comes into play!  Softcard™ is a mobile wallet!  It is an app that lets you pay with a tap of your phone, save with special offers, and store loyalty, membership and rewards cards.

With Softcard, you can add eligible payment cards to pay for purchases and get all the benefits and protections you would with your physical card, or setup a prepaid account and add money to it with your preferred debit card, credit card or U.S. bank account.

Softcard also holds offers and stores loyalty cards, so you can get savings and loyalty points without having to carry around a bunch of cards and coupons.

I must admit I was a bit leery about security at first. Although I’ve never actually lost my phone – there are usually a dozen times a day where I THINK I’ve lost it.  I wondered if I did lose it, what would happen to my payment information??  But once I found out Softcard not only has a security pin number, but also a “Remote Wallet Lock,” my worries were eased.  One phone call or visit to a website instantly locks the entire mobile wallet.

There is a Referral Program which will give you up to $150 in Amazon gift cards for friends who activate ($10 per friend).  Plus your friend will get a $10 gift card too! And here are offers for Softcard users (terms may apply):

  • Get $1 back on each purchase of $1 or more up to $50 per month with Serve credit (ends 12/31/14)
  • If you sign up for “My Coke Rewards,” your first 3 Coca-Cola drinks are FREE. After the first 3 free drinks, if you buy 10 more, you get another 1 FREE (ends 12/31/14)
  • White House Black Market – $20 off $80 (ends 10/31)
  • Chico’s – $25 off $100 or more (ends 10/31)

There are over 200,000 locations where Softcard can be used and you can search for locations by zip code.  Go check it out!  How many locations are near you?

*No, that isn’t my real pin! 🙂

Life, Sponsored

Pee-your-pants Fun

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Thanks to Depend® for sponsoring this post.  Click here to find out how your tweet can get $1 donated to charity.  Depend® will donate up to $3 million!

There are certain times in life when you have such a good time, there’s no other way to describe it than pee-your-pants fun!  Mainly because you laugh so much, you might, well…you know.

retro prom 4 I recently had the good fortune of one of those lifetime experiences at Blog U.  I spent the weekend with a couple hundred of the funniest bloggers around, so – needless to say – it was non-stop laughter.  retro prom 7

Nick Mom pulled out all the stops for the retro prom night they sponsored, including an open bar, decorations galore and even inflatable furniture!retro prom 16

The DJ had everyone on their feet, dancing the night away to some good old 80s music.  I guess that’s referred to as the oldies now.  And that makes me feel oldie.

The dresses may have been purchased at thrift stores around the country, but the look of everyone in their outfits was truly priceless.  We all  felt as though we’d been retro prom 3transported back in time.  Most dressed in 80s attire, with 70s mixed in here and there.  I thought I would be representing the oldest decade there with my 60s dress, but Parri from Her Royal Thighness took it waaaay back to the 1900s.

I ordered my dress online and when it arrived in the mail, it was too small to zip.  With no time to purchase another, I had to improvise.  I literally taped the dress to my back.  With packing tape.  Yep, I did.  Good thing I picked a dress with a feathered robe to hide my “seamstress” handiwork.

I was going for the Zsa Zsa Gabor look but I think it came off more like Mrs. Roper from Three’s Company.

So to recap: 200 ladies laughing and dancing while squeezed in too tight dresses with access to an open bar.  In this case I guess we’d have to call it pee-your-prom-dress fun. Blog U selfie collage with text Blg U Really Bad Selfie collage with text ::

While I don’t know if anyone actually had the proverbial accident in their prom dress, Depend®‘s “Drop Your Pants for Underwareness” campaign is taking the stigma out of the literal pee-your-pants moments.  Their videos are quite attention grabbing and educational, showing the new Silhouette that looks like normal underwear .  And I love a good play on words, so they had me at “underwareness.”

Don’t forget to click here and find out how a few keystrokes can get $1 donated to United Way and the Simon Foundation.  Depend® will donate up to $3 million over the next 3 years!