text: 5 products that make me thankful
  This time of year, we’re supposed to count our blessings. For me, it is a very, very long list — too long for a blog post, certainly. Instead, I decided to focus on five products I’m thankful for as a mom, which is a much shorter list and seems more appropriate for this particular venue.
  Now that my son is two, he has something to say about everything. Going for walks with him in the Xplory is even more of a treat now than it was when he was a baby, because we chat the entire time. I’m amazed by the charming and funny person he’s becoming, and I’m grateful we have that “bonus” time together.
  Magic Beans has been so fortunate to have a relationship with IdeaPaint that goes back to the early days of their company. We did a little work on our house this past year, and IdeaPaint sent me some paint to use in our kitchen. It has been such a boon for our family. We use it at adult-height for important phone numbers, grocery shopping lists and notes to and from babysitters. At kid-height it’s a free-for-all creative zone. The kids love to scribble and draw all over it. There’s no end to its potential for both fun and function.
  Both of my daughters have long, thick hair, and my middle daughter’s hair is just like mine – very curly. Daily hair brushing was becoming completely traumatic for all of us. I found this detangler on the internet and tried it – I’m thankful for it every day. I’ve never seen a detangling spray so thick and effective. It makes my kids’ hair SO easy to brush and comb. I’m working on bringing it into our stores, hopefully soon.
  When I saw this new product at the ABC Kids Show in October, I placed a big order for our stores and also bought two for my kids right on the spot. This is a genius design that solves two constant problems many parents face when packing school lunches: lost ice packs and spoiled food. The PackIt has cooling gel sewn right into the walls of the bag. Simply put the whole bag in the freezer overnight, then it will keep lunch chilly for a whopping 10 hours – enough time to pop that uneaten yogurt back in the fridge. We’ve been using PackIts ever since the show, and I can’t say enough good things about them.
  A lot of parents struggle to convince their older kids to sit in a belt-positioning booster seat in the car. When my daughter turned 8 earlier this year, and I mused that soon she’d be tall enough to sit in a car without a booster, she looked horrified. “I’m not giving up my Clek! You can’t make me!” I might have to pry it out of her fingers when she’s finally taller than 4’9″, but for now, I’m so grateful that we don’t have to argue about it every time we get into the car.
  Bonus: My iPad
  It’s not really something that was explicitly designed for kids, but I’m very thankful for it, so it bears mentioning. Whether I’m checking email, organizing tasks and schedules, keeping track of my kids’ allowance, catching up on episodes of Modern Family, reading the latest Jennifer Wiener novel, or turning it over to my kids for them to play Cut the Rope or watch Pocoyo on YouTube, the iPad has unexpectedly become a central part of my day-to-day life.
  What products are you thankful for?