The time invested in preparing your kids for a trip to the dentist will be well worth the sanity you save! Here are a few simple tips to help you get your kids ready for a visit to the dentist.

Take Your Dentist’s Advice

Personally, I have a terrible fear of everything related to the dental profession. When I got my first job with health benefits, I knew that regular dental check-ups would be one of the ways I could continue to keep my teeth, so I’ve gone twice a year since then.

My dentist happens to be awesome and we’ve worked on my dental fears over the years. When it was time to bring my oldest child to the dentist, he gave me great advice which was the equivalent of “never let them see you sweat.” Only for me, it was “never let them know how afraid you are of the dentist.” My kids can learn the truth several years down the road, when they already have a positive association with the dentist!

Be a Good Example

Kids watch everything we do, and everything we don’t do. If you want your kids to go regularly and cooperatively to the dentist, it will greatly help your case if you go yourself every six months. It’s also vital to have a good attitude not only about going, but about the different activities like getting x-rays and your teeth cleaned. Show your kids the “loot” you get from the dentist – they’ll be excited about a new toothbrush, the toothpaste and the floss they’ll get as a result of their visit!

Explain What Will Happen

Since this will be a new experience for your child, it’s best to have as many conversations as you can. Some of the elements to cover include:
• the dentist chair that tilts back
• the bright light and the sunglasses
• the fact that your child’s mouth needs to be opened for the dentist
• the special toothbrush the dental hygienist will use, as well as the water sprayer and suctioner

Before you take your child to the dentist, ask if the first visit can be an introduction to all of these elements if they don’t already provide this kind of service.
Use Books and Videos

Head to your local library and check out picture books about kids going to the dentist. While you’re there, search for any DVDs that also address this issue in a positive way.
Read the books and watch the DVDs several times in the two weeks before your child’s first dentist visit. This will help your child internalize important information, and young children love repetition.

Special Treat

Usually dentists have their own rewards to reinforce good memories of the visit. My kids love the toothbrushes and toothpaste they get to choose, as well as the pencils and balloons. If your dentist doesn’t offer these treats, make a suggestion and see if he/she would be open to it. You can also take your child to a local store for an inexpensive toy or balloon after this first visit to reinforce your child’s good choices at the dentist.
When it comes to taking small children places, I’ve found that preparation is the key to happiness for all involved, including a first visit to the dentist!

Kelly Wilson is a mom and freelance writer who visits her awesome Dentist in Silverton, Oregon every six months to maintain a fabulous smile.

Chili’s Free Chips and Queso!

It seems like every time we do a Girls’ Night Out, we always end up somewhere with chips, salsa, and margaritas. Most of the time when my kids pick where they want to eat, it is somewhere with chips and salsa. There’s a reason for that. Sitting around a a basket of chips hanging out with friends or family makes for a fun evening.

That’s why I am excited that Chili’s is offering a coupon for a free order of Skillet Queso and Chips if you sign up for their newsletter. It’s a great way to get exclusive offers and keep on top op the latest deals and menu changes at Chili’s. If you have never had their Skillet Queso, it’s like a cheesy, spicy, saucy bowl of goodness! Head over to Chili’s now to sign up and get your free coupon!

A long time ago, I started my websites as a hobby. Over time, they grew into a business. That jump from hobby to business was a scary one for many reasons including income, the time it was taking away from my family, and the legal ramifications. Although I am an attorney, I did not specialize in business law and it took me a lot of time and money to figure out everything that I needed to do to start my business. Because of my journey, I can say that I wish that I had a company like CorpNet to help me.

CorpNet provides business filing services for many different types of businesses including Corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), which is what I ended up setting up. They also help with DBA/Fictitious Business Names (of which I have a couple!), Registered Agent Services, and other documents that vary from state to state. In short, they help moms take care of the formal/legal sides of their business quickly so that we have more time to spend on the creative end. They even have a Free Corporate Name Search.

I had an opportunity to meet with the owner of CorpNet, Nellie Akalp, when I was in New York last month. What struck me most was that she was a mom just like me. Her intent with her company is really to help other people. Check out the short video of her below and then click through to learn more about how CorpNet can help you with your business.  You can also use coupon code HELPINGMOMS-20D to save $20 off of any service on the CorpNet site.

Everyone in my family loves yogurt. In fact, I would say that most of us eat it every single day. My husband is a plain vanilla eater. My older daughter loves the Yoplait Red Velvet Cake. My younger daughter sticks to the Go-GURTs. I bounce back and forth between a number of the light flavors (like Pineapple Upside Down Cake), the Light Thick & Creamy (Lemon Meringue), and Fiber One (Key Lime Pie).

I consider yogurt to be one of the best ways to get my family to consistently eat something that we all love and that is good for us in many different ways. That’s why I was excited to receive a prize pack from Yoplait Whips! and MyBlogSpark. The prize pack contained a yogurt coupon, a canvas cooler bag, and a set of four ice cream cone shaped popsicle molds. Here you can see my girls eating their frozen yogurt popsicles that they made with the molds and their favorite Yoplait yogurt. These were a huge hit!

I’m happy to announce that Yoplait is giving my readers a chance to win an identical prize pack! Here are the flavors of Yoplait Whips! to think about before you enter: Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Raspberry, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Burst, Orange Créme, Peaches ‘N Cream, Raspberry Mousse, Strawberry Mist, and Vanilla Créme.

To Enter:

1) Leave a comment below telling us which flavor of Yoplait Whips! you would most enjoy frozen (one entry).

2) Twitter about the contest and leave a comment below with your Tweet (one entry).

3) Sign up for our newsletter on the right and leave a comment below (e-mail will be verified) (one entry).

4) Blog about this contest or post the contest in your giveaway section and leave your link to the post below (two entries).

Drawing will take place September 7 at noon Eastern. Must be a US Resident, age 18 or older to enter. Winner will be notified via e-mail and have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Even if you don’t win the contest, you can win with this great coupon: Click here to download a printable coupon for $.55 toward the purchase of any 2 cups of Yoplait Whips! yogurt today.

If you were a kid in the 80s, you probably watched the Smurfs. If you had kid who watched the Smurfs in the 80s, you probably watched the Smurfs. And if you have kids now who watch rerun cartoons, you have probably watched the Smurfs. I don’t know many people who have not. The Smurfs have always been big and they are about to get bigger.

Next summer, a new Smurf live action movie will be released. The movie trailer doesn’t give much, but the list of voices in the movie is incredible (including Katy Perry as Smurfette and Jonathan Winters as Pap Smurf). Word is starting to spread and new Smurf Comics are even being released.  Smurf Halloween costumes are popping up at major retailers (for both adults and kids!).

Here’s the trailer. What do you think? Do you love the Smurfs?

Sundays in our house are completely family time. Whether it is winter and we are watching football or summer and we are swimming, we spend almost the whole day together. It’s the one day of the week where we spend time making a family breakfast and hang out in our pajamas. As a result, I really appreciate the My Sweet Sunday Moment contest by Pillsbury.

In addition to reminding us how Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls can be a party of our Sunday morning, they are giving visitors a chance to win a “week of Sundays” vacation to California, including a visit to theme parks and SweetHarts, the sweet shop owned by Melissa Joan Hart. To enter, you just need to visit the contest and tell them why your family loves Sundays together and wants more of them. Can you imagine 7 days in a row that feel like Sundays??

I was lucky enough to get a “My Sweet Sunday Moment” prize pack from Pillsbury that includes a Pillsbury Doughboy Giggle Doll (which my daughter absolutely loves!!), a blue silicon spatula, a blue silicon pot holder, and dishcloths. Even more exciting–I have a whole prize pack to give away to my readers as well!!

To Enter:

1) Leave a comment below telling us about Sweet Sunday moments in your home (one entry).

2) Twitter about the contest and leave a comment below with your Tweet (one entry).

3) Sign up for our newsletter on the right and leave a comment below (e-mail will be verified) (one entry).

4) Blog about this contest or post the contest in your giveaway section and leave your link to the post below (two entries).

Drawing will take place August 31 at noon Eastern. Must be a US Resident, age 18 or older to enter. Winner will be notified via e-mail and have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

*Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls for my items and the prize! Be sure to Visit Pillsbury on Facebook or Pillsbury on Twitter for more contest news as well as tips and recipes.

Edited to add Winner: Janet Fricano

I don’t usually enter Twitter contests but when I saw that Indiana-based SKP-Popcorn was running one two weeks ago, I wanted to help spread the word. Each Friday they give away samples of their popcorn to lucky winners. You can find them at www.twitter.com/skppcrn.

I participated in the contest, was lucky enough to win, and then left town for a week. I completely forgot about the popcorn until I was going through the mail stack this morning and found the sample. When they say “sample,” they don’t mean handful. They mean enough for my whole family to try (if it’s still here when any of them get home today, which it might not be!).

I’m not a buttered popcorn girl. I don’t even eat it at the movies. But ever since I was kid, I have always loved flavored popcorn. I can actually remember going to a birthday party in Evansville in 6th grade where the mom bought different flavors and we stayed up all night snacking on them and watching movies. Ever since then, I have been hooked.

So of course I had to open my bag immediately. It turns out that I got a “test” of chocolate and banana. I can hardly think of anything more perfect! I headed to their site to find out what other flavors they have and ended up learning some great facts about the company. Here are just a few:

• Their popcorn is 100% Indiana grown
• They are the official popcorn of the Indianapolis Colts (this Steelers fan can forgive them for that)
• They donate a portion of the profits from their “TYE-DYE”Licious popcorn to Rupert’s Kids (a great charity run by the Survivor winner)
• They do custom labels, corporate promotions, and fundraisers

I just couldn’t be more tickled to see an Indiana company that not only makes a great product but is also supportive of our community. Now I just need them to start an affiliate program so that I can add them to all of my websites and introduce them to my national marketing friends!

You can visit SKP-Popcorn on their website. And be sure to start following them on Twitter so that you have a chance to win this Friday.

Disney and Hanes have once again teamed up to give away a Walt Disney World Vacation. Although the trip is called the “Hanes Magical Golf Getaway,” it would be terrific even if you are not a golfer. Six Grand Prizes will be given away, and each prize consists of a trip for 4 people to Disney World for 5 days including airfare, ground transportation, a room at a Moderate resort, Park Hopper Tickets, custom Mickey Mouse Ears, a $500 Disney Gift Card, and golf passes for one of Disney’s golf courses. The value of the prize is $5,715.

Click here to visit the new Hanes Travel in Comfort website and get entered. The giveaway ends September 26, 2010.

If your kids love Camp Rock or the Jonas Brothers, you need to check out the Rock the Summer Sweepstakes on Amazon. The grand prize is a trip for two to California to see the Jonas Brother, Demi Lovato, and Camp Rock friends in concert. I actually just saw this concert in Indianapolis last week, and my kids loved it. The prize includes flights to California and a hotel room.

Additional prizes include outfits similar to those worn by Mitchie and Shane (worth $700) and Camp Rock DVDs and a soundtrack.

Contest ends August 31, 2010. Click here for more information.

I have to admit that I take the easy way of buying school supplies and always sign up in the spring to buy the back to school boxes that our PTO sells. However, there are still so many things that we need at the house to start the school year. I had never considered Sam’s Club before for school supplies although I’ve had a membership there for as long as I can remember.

When MyBlogSpark, Sam’s Club, and General Mills offered me the chance to review Sam’s Club and do a giveaway for my readers, I jumped at it! Armed with a $25 gift card, I headed to my local Sam’s Club to focus for the first time on something besides food. When I got there, I immediately found the Back to School section, which sort of merged in with office supplies as it continued a couple of rows. The first thing that I saw was the selection of pencils. We go through an unbelievable number of pencils at home for homework. We had to choose between mechanical and regular pencils and ended up with the mechanical. Either was a great deal and for less than $6 would last most families the whole year. Beside the pencils were markers, which we go through almost as quickly. I scooped up a couple of packages for coloring homework.

Next I started thinking about what we use a lot of during the school year. For lunches, we go through an insane number of sandwich bags. We got a huge box of Ziplock sandwich bags (my brand of choice) and the bonus was that each of the boxes inside the big box all had Box Tops on them. The other big item that I bought was detergent. We go through twice as many clothes during the school year because the kids usually wear one outfit to school and then something different in the evening–either dance clothes, gymnastics clothes, or clothes to play out in the yard. I stocked up on the biggest detergent that I could buy because I know that I will go through a lot of it very soon.

Bananas. I forgot that I actually did buy some food. I saw those big bunches of bananas and couldn’t resist. Perfect for lunch boxes because my braces-wearing daughter doesn’t need them cut up.

I also have a Sam’s Club “Plus Membership” coming and the cool thing about those is that if you upgrade between now and August 13, you get 150 Bonus Box Tops! Box Tops are huge at our school because we not only save them but we our classes compete to collect the most. Sam’s Club carries many different brands that have Box Tops, and the only thing better than Box Tops are Box Tops in bulk.

Now that I have gone on and on about Sam’s Club, how about I give away a $25 gift card??

To Enter:

1) Leave a comment below telling us what Back to School item you most want to buy from Sam’s Club (one entry).

2) Twitter about the contest and leave a comment below with your Tweet (one entry).

3) Sign up for our newsletter on the right and leave a comment below (e-mail will be verified) (one entry).

4) Blog about this contest or post the contest in your giveaway section and leave your link to the post below (two entries).

Drawing will take place August 26 at noon Eastern. Must be a US Resident, age 18 or older to enter. Winner will be notified via e-mail and have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

*Thanks to MyBlogSpark, General Mills, and Sam’s Club for my items and the prize as well!

Edited: Congrats to our winner–Cheryl F, the Lucky Ladybug!