Drops of Awesome

Personal Blog of Author Kathryn Thompson

Archives for June 2009

Full Disclosure – FTC Regulation and the Blogosphere

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The FTC is in the process of placing new standards on bloggers who review products for compensation. They do not distinguish between monetary compensation and compensation by way of product samples. I’m not sure if product samples that are then given away as prizes will be included in this forbidden zone of review topics. I have done this several times in the past , reviewed a product for my blog and then passed along the review copy to my readers in the form of a giveaway.

I’m all about full disclosure. If Laylee were providing me monetary compensation to blog about how cute she looked in her ballet recital, I’d for SURE let you know. It’s kind of the other way around though. I think I paid about 3 million dollars to see her in that green tutu for 5 minutes and it was worth every penny.

If a company is compensating me to write about their products, I sure as heck am not going to act like I just happened to discover this lovely $200 set of maternity clothes by happenstance. Your trust is more important to me than that. But if I gush about it, the gushing is sincere.

This blog is primarily the documented journey of my life as a mother, a woman and an attempted humorist. Within those roles, there are often products I use and love and want to tell you about. Sometimes I do. Nearly every day I am also offered free products to talk about on my blog. I say “no” to the VAST majority of these offers either because I don’t think I’ll like the product, I feel like my blog is turning into something too commercial (It was never meant to be a “product review” site.) or because I just don’t feel like doing it that day.

My policy is this —

I will never review a product for monetary compensation. I personally believe that being paid cash to endorse a product on a personal blog is not in line with my values or the intent of this writing outlet.

I will never accept free product with the understanding that I will write a positive review about the product. First of all, I try not to accept a product unless I think there is a good chance I will really like it and want to tell my readers about it. On the few occasions that I have received a product I did not particularly like, I have either offered to send it back to the company, given it away with no review attached hoping someone else would like it, or given a review that points out its failings.

Where book reviews are concerned, I do not talk about books I do not like unless I’m trying to offer a buyer-beware type of warning. I do not always point out that a particular book was sent to me by Harper Collins or some other publisher as a review copy, because of the low price of the items and the frequency with which they are sent to me, but I only review about 1 in 10 books sent to me. I don’t want to waste my time talking about a book that I wouldn’t recommend anyway. Now you know. Some of the books I review are sent to me by authors, book publishers or publicity firms. I will give honest reviews regardless of how I obtained the book.

The practice of receiving something, reviewing it and then giving it (or one of its clones) away has three benefits:

1. I can give an accurate review of a product only if I actually get my hands on it and try it out. Isn’t it nice to hear that I wore those maternity clothes and washed them a ton and they still didn’t ball or pill?

2. When my readers get free stuff, I usually get a boost in readership, which I like.

3. I love to get great free stuff and therefore love to give it away. Isn’t it so much more fun to plan and pick out the gifts you’ll give for Christmas than to see what you’re going to get. I, like Oprah before me, really enjoy finding something great and giving it away to someone who’ll love it. I believe my serotonin levels rise when someone who desperately needs a stroller gets one for free because I was able to give it away on my blog.

So there you have it. All reviews and giveaways on this blog express my actual and true opinions. If I say I really like something, I really really like it. I do not pretend to be an expert in consumer safety so if your little Jimmy wins a trike on this site and then the handlebars fall off, resulting in catastrophic facial injury, I am not liable for his sad demise. I am not Consumer Reports or an independent safety testing agency. I did not, for example, attempt to light my maternity clothes on fire to see if they would burst into flame.

I just periodically want to tell you about stuff I like.

Maggie Maternity — Review and Giveaway

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So I’m pregnant and I know a guy, a guy (well gal) who works with Maggie Maternity and wanted to hook me up with some maternity clothes to review on my blog. The clothes looked gorgeous and more expensive than I’m used to paying for maternity clothes so I said, “Sure.” Besides, on their site they mentioned that Angelina Jolie was seen wearing their tank top at the Cannes Film Festival and I thought it would really do her self-esteem some good if she found out she was wearing the same clothes as me.
maggie summer
So they sent me their summer box and I was a bit skeptical because everything in it was black. However, I know black is slimming (which I need) and decided I’d try and wear it mostly in air-conditioned locations or on overcast days (which we have a lot of here).
I was pregnant with both of my other kids primarily during the winter and nearly everything I have is dark, thick and long-sleeved. When I wear it, I boil.

That is not the case with these clothes. Despite being black in color, they’re very lightweight and breathable. They really are perfect for summer. The fabric is a Spandex/Rayon blend and feels amazing next to my skin. These truly are the most comfortable clothes I have ever worn, maternity or otherwise, including pajamas.

maggie-maternity1I decided to do my serious testing of “the box” when I was running our PTA fundraiser. The event lasted for 4 days and I spent much of my time on my feet working with kids and walking around the school. For 3 days I wore at least one piece from the box and felt like I was walking around in my most comfy PJs. The best part was that I got compliments on everything I wore. Words like “elegant,” “classy,” and “why are you so dressed up?” were thrown at me.

I felt super cute when I wore them and again, you can’t beat the comfy. After my 4-day test was over, it had sort of become a tradition to wear them… every day. I wear at least one piece almost daily. I wear them to church, to the park, to dance recitals and just lounging around the house. When we leave for summer vacation, they’ll be the first things I’ll pack. I’ve washed them all several times and they are holding up great. The look of the fabric has changed slightly but they haven’t balled or pilled.
maggie-maternity
They are machine washable but should be laid flat to dry. I hang them on a drying rack. I love them. Honestly I’m a very cheap person and I look for bargains in maternity clothes because you wear them for such a short period of time, but if I get pregnant again and my size has changed, I plan on buying another set of these in my current size. Because they’re so versatile, you wear them so often that it makes them worth the price. The sizing is a bit generous. I was wearing a 14/16 when I got pregnant and I got the biggest size they make (4) which says it’s a 12/14 equivalent and if anything they’re a tad on the large size.

The pants are probably my favorite piece because of the way they’re designed. You can wear them folded over at the beginning of the pregnancy but then pull them up as you get bigger or to avoid showing a waistline under your shirt. They work well as take-your-kids-to-the-park pants or you can dress them up with a classy top and wear them to the ballet and no one knows that you secretly feel like you’re wearing nothing on the bottom. The skirt is a close second favorite. It looks great and is cooler for summer weather.
maggie-maternity2
If you’re pregnant, plan to be, or know someone who is, you should check out the site. For now, leave me a comment on this post and I’ll enter you to win a $100 gift certificate to Maggie Maternity. I’ll chose a winner on Thursday at noon PST.

Click to Read My Product Review Policy

Too Much “Info”

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We do not have the cable. Our television has two wires on top of it in the form of an antenna. Sometimes it’s dressed in foil. We decided to try and live without cable for a few months when we bought this house… 3 years ago. Once you go without that bill for a while it’s just so hard to justify adding it in again. Do I really need to watch reruns of Trading Spaces whenever I’m a wee bit bored? Do I need it $40 worth? Am I enjoying reading books and you know, having a life?

So we stuck with our rabbit ears. When we heard that the digital transition was coming, we got our magic box and waited. When it finally happened, we lost channel NINE! THE PBS WAS NO LONGER WITH US! Channel 9 is our favorite channel not only for the great documentaries, motivational speakers and antiques road show, but also because it has cartoons the kids can watch and learn something from with no offensive content and no obnoxious commercials.

Well the digital box didn’t pick up PBS but it did pick up a station playing reruns of the A-Team and Airwolf and one that seems to play Dances with Wolves about half the time. There was also a cartoon station called Qubo that I was excited for. It could be just like PBS in the mornings only different.

The difference comes in the lesser quality of the programs and the fact that it’s chock full of commercials and not just commercials but annoying obnoxious commercials about selling all of your spare gold to make a fortune or infomercials about fabulous must-have beauty products.

I left the kids watching Qubo for the first time and went upstairs to take a shower. When I got back, Laylee was bursting at the seams.

“I just saw the BEST. COMMERCIAL. EVER!”

“Oh yeah?”

She then proceeded to describe a magical product she had discovered called something like “Heel Magic.”

“It’s a kind of a stick that you rub against your feet and it takes off all the cracked dead skin and yucky stuff. You can have perfect smooth feet. Dad can use it. You can use it. We can all use it and our feet will be beautiful!

“It only costs $20 and it comes with a nail file and all this other free stuff!”

“Wow. That’s pretty cool,” I said.

“But it gets better. If you order NOW, it only costs $10! I mean $20 is pretty good but $10 is practically nothing.”

I told Laylee seriously, “You know I hate those kinds of commercials. They always make the stuff they’re selling look way better than it really is. I’m sure that magic heel stick really isn’t as good as they say it is.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right. But imagine if it WERE. Then we’d buy it for sure.” She looked dreamy.

So, um, no unsupervised Qubo watching for now. My kids are just way too easily shaped by the media they see. And besides, Dan figured out which direction to point our antenna and pick up channel nine. We have to sacrifice one of the major network stations to get nine but it’s not hurting us any and the kids are back to learning to read via the magical blue box of light.

I Prefer My Glucose in the Form of Peach Rings

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Today I took the dreaded glucose test, or as the instructions on the bottle of sugar-water read, the test that you just fit into your daily routine without any inconvenience. (I’m paraphrasing there a bit.)

The bottle basically says to go about your business as usual, eat your breakfast and/or lunch as usual, then wait exactly two hours, then drink the bottle of putrid sugar water that’s supposed to be lemon/lime flavored but really tastes like rancid sugar dissolved in barely-potable water. You must drink it all in 5-10 minutes, stand on your head, not vomit, begin driving the 40 minutes to the blood draw facility where you should tell the employees exactly when you finished drinking it so they can take out half of your body’s total quantity of blood at exactly 60 minutes past the time that you finished your last drop of liquid. You should continue not vomiting and not eating until after your blood has been taken.

I’m not sure what all those vials of blood were for. I know one is to test for gestational diabetes, which is what the sugar-water is for. (Am I the only person who thinks of Edgar’s wife from Men in Black when I say “sugar-water”?) I suspect the other 13 vials are either just to make you feel like your whole trip was worthwhile or to continue the Jane Austeny tradition of “bleeding” someone to get the oogies out of their system.

I had an OB appointment directly following the glucose test in the same building so I wanted to plan to get done with the blood work and to the doctor at precisely the correct time, which meant I made a plan where I followed the directions backwards from the time of my appointment, figuring out when exactly I had to eat breakfast in order for all the planets to align.

It worked. My blood has been taken and I visited with my doctor. I told him that the test went fine but I’d rather have taken my glucose in some other way, like by eating a pound of peach rings. He said someone has actually calculated the exact number of jelly beans a pregnant woman has to eat to equal the amount of glucose in one of those drinks. I told him that next time I’d take the jelly bean route.

“Next time? There’s going to be a next time?” he said with raised eyebrows.

“Well, you know, if,” I backpedaled. I told him that a next time would be much more likely if he could help relieve some of the symptoms I’ve been having lately. So I’m off to physical therapy, water aerobics with old people, and he even gave me a little something that’s supposed to stop me from waking up coughing on my own stomach acid at night. Such a helpful lad.

Only 12 more weeks to go, peeps.

Old Lady Stereotypes as Witnessed by a Young Mom While Shopping at Costco

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They walked slowly and with apparent effort and their gait actually reminded me of the way I walk right now, pregnant sick and slightly crippled. They made me think about how similar many of my symptoms are to the symptoms of old age, the indigestion, the swelling, the upset stomach, the painful joints and general discomfort. “At least my pain has a timeline,” I thought. 9 months of this and my body will start to bounce back.

Older women experience symptoms equal to or worse than I’m experiencing but their due date is never or at least not in this life. Maybe they’ve earned the right to be cranky. I’m so glad that so many of them don’t take advantage of the excuse. I can’t say as much about myself.

Read more about my encounters with old ladies at [Parenting.com]

A Foot-Long with Appendages

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When I was pregnant with Laylee, I read What to Expect When You’re Expecting religiously. Every week, every few days, I would read about the baby, how big she had grown, whether she had toe-nails yet, how much she was starting to resemble a humanoid.

With this pregnancy I’ve had so many other things on my mind, sickness to deal with, a home to repair, and 2 other kids to chase. I feel like I have a general picture in my mind of how a baby develops and I don’t necessarily need to constantly check the toenail directory to feel connected to my role as a mother. This baby is also a monster-muffin ninja-face, moving around with ferocious speed and force inside me so it’s hard not to be aware of her presence. She’s been making herself known for months.

But yesterday I saw WTEWYE sitting on my bookshelf and I picked it up out of curiosity. How big IS she that she can move in a way that I can see it from the outside and feel it from everywhere inside? The book said that at the 6-month mark she’s about a foot long. All I could think was, “A foot-long? My baby’s a foot-long?” Now every time I think about her wiggling and punching and using her nunchucks in there, I picture her as a subway sandwich with arms and legs sticking out between the lettuce and meat. And I laugh out loud when I’m all alone in my house. There’s a living, swimming foot-long curved into a C-shape and growing inside of me.

It’s a fun visual, much more humorous than a little human baby.

Laylee on the other hand is more realistic about things. When asked on her Father’s Day survey about Dan, “What does your father run like?” she answered, “My dad runs like a human.” It’s all too true. He is very homosapien-like in his athletic abilities.

Then at dinner, Dan observed a problem with our dining room light, he investigated the problem and solved it. I pointed out that what he did was very scientific and narrated the kids through the steps of his methodology. They looked skeptical. “Yes he is a scientist. He could totally be on Sid the Science Kid,” I remarked.

Laylee shook her head. “No he couldn’t! He doesn’t look like playdough.”

Oh that’s right. We’d already established that your dad looks and runs like a HUMAN. Sorry for the memory lapse.

Fun and Not

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When I don’t blog for a long time, I’m usually having a great time and too busy to post or I’m having a rough time and I just can’t bring myself to write about it. This past week’s been a little of both.

I had fun running our Elementary School Fundraiser all last week, in the school 4 of the 5 days last week and then had family in town over the weekend.

Then the past few days I’ve been having a rough time. I’ve written about it [over at parenting.]

No-nonsense Favorite Colors

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Laylee’s a recovering perfectionist. She works at not needing everything to be perfect but feels a moral imperitive that some things must be.

And although she’s very imaginative, she’s also quite a realist for a 6-year-old. Imaginary play is one thing but she knows what’s real and what’s not. She’s happy to tell you if you’ve got a minute or 30.

For the longest time when you asked for her favorite color, she’d say “pink” but then she started feeling bad about all the other great colors she was leaving out so she’d just sort of rotate through them when asked. “Hmmm… My favorite color today is pink… and yellow… and orange.”

Then she got sick of the whole favorite color construct. Who really actually has a favorite color anyway and isn’t the choice sort of arbitrary and riddled with indecision? Laylee’s solved these problems by creating what she calls a Favorite Color Chart.
favrit-colrs
She picked buttons that include all of her favorite colors and rotates through it every day. “Now I don’t have to choose what my favorite color is every day. I just look at the chart. Sooo… my favorite color the first day of the chart was yellow. That means today it’s purple. See? Easy.”

Now I’ve always thought I was pretty advanced in my organizational geekishness, carrying a Franklin Planner from the time I was 16. Laylee’s gonna need a pocket PC by next year sometime.